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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/31410-8.txt b/31410-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d4d0ad --- /dev/null +++ b/31410-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12579 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Slaves, by Mayne Reid + +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 Boy Slaves + +Author: Mayne Reid + +Release Date: February 26, 2010 [EBook #31410] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SLAVES *** + + + + +Produced by Mary Meehan and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE BOY SLAVES. + + BY CAPT. MAYNE REID + + AUTHOR OF "THE DESERT HOME," "THE OCEAN WAIFS," ETC. + + +With Illustrations. + +A NEW EDITION, +WITH A MEMOIR BY R. H. STODDARD. + +NEW YORK: +THOMAS R. KNOX & CO., +Successors to James Miller, +813 Broadway. + +Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1864, by +TICKNOR AND FIELDS, +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District +of Massachusetts. + +Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1884, by +THOMAS R. KNOX & CO., +in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. + + + + New York, January 1st, 1869. + Messrs. Fields, Osgood & Co.:-- + + I accept the terms offered, and hereby concede to you the exclusive + right of publication, in the United States, of all my juvenile Tales + of Adventure, known as Boys' Novels. + + MAYNE REID. + + TROW'S + PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY, + NEW YORK. + + + + +[Illustration: THE DEATH OF GOLAH.] + + + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + + +Captain Mayne Reid is pleased to have had the help of an American Author +in preparing for publication this story of "The Boy Slaves," and takes +the present opportunity of acknowledging that help, which has kindly +extended beyond matters of merely external form, to points of narrative +and composition, which are here embodied with the result of his own +labor. + +The Rancho, December, 1864. + + + + +MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. + + +No one who has written books for the young during the present century +ever had so large a circle of readers as Captain Mayne Reid, or ever was +so well fitted by circumstances to write the books by which he is +chiefly known. His life, which was an adventurous one, was ripened with +the experience of two Continents, and his temperament, which was an +ardent one, reflected the traits of two races. Irish by birth, he was +American in his sympathies with the people of the New World, whose +acquaintance he made at an early period, among whom he lived for years, +and whose battles he helped to win. He was probably more familiar with +the Southern and Western portion of the United States forty years ago +than any native-born American of that time. A curious interest attaches +to the life of Captain Reid, but it is not of the kind that casual +biographers dwell upon. If he had written it himself it would have +charmed thousands of readers, who can now merely imagine what it might +have been from the glimpses of it which they obtain in his writings. It +was not passed in the fierce light of publicity, but in that simple, +silent obscurity which is the lot of most men, and is their happiness, +if they only knew it. + +Briefly related, the life of Captain Reid was as follows: He was born in +1818, in the north of Ireland, the son of a Presbyterian clergyman, who +was a type of the class which Goldsmith has described so freshly in the +"Deserted Village," and was highly thought of for his labors among the +poor of his neighborhood. An earnest, reverent man, to whom his calling +was indeed a sacred one, he designed his son Mayne for the ministry, in +the hope, no doubt, that he would be his successor. But nature had +something to say about that, as well as his good father. He began to +study for the ministry, but it was not long before he was drawn in +another direction. Always a great reader, his favorite books were +descriptions of travel in foreign lands, particularly those which dealt +with the scenery, the people, and the resources of America. The spell +which these exercised over his imagination, joined to a love of +adventure which was inherent in his temperament, and inherited, perhaps +with his race, determined his career. At the age of twenty he closed his +theological tomes, and girding up his loins with a stout heart he sailed +from the shores of the Old World for the New. Following the spirit in +his feet he landed at New Orleans, which was probably a more promising +field for a young man of his talents than any Northern city, and was +speedily engaged in business. The nature of this business is not stated, +further than it was that of a trader; but whatever it was it obliged +this young Irishman to make long journeys into the interior of the +country, which was almost a _terra incognita_. Sparsely settled, where +settled at all, it was still clothed in primeval verdure--here in the +endless reach of savannas, there in the depth of pathless woods, and far +away to the North and the West in those monotonous ocean-like levels of +land for which the speech of England has no name--the Prairies. Its +population was nomadic, not to say barbaric, consisting of tribes of +Indians whose hunting grounds from time immemorial the region was; +hunters and trappers, who had turned their backs upon civilization for +the free, wild life of nature; men of doubtful or dangerous antecedents, +who had found it convenient to leave their country for their country's +good; and scattered about hardy pioneer communities from Eastern States, +advancing waves of the great sea of emigration which is still drawing +the course of empire westward. Travelling in a country like this, and +among people like these, Mayne Reid passed five years of his early +manhood. He was at home wherever he went, and never more so than when +among the Indians of the Red River territory, with whom he spent several +months, learning their language, studying their customs, and enjoying +the wild and beautiful scenery of their camping grounds. Indian for the +time, he lived in their lodges, rode with them, hunted with them, and +night after night sat by their blazing camp-fires listening to the +warlike stories of the braves and the quaint legends of the medicine +men. There was that in the blood of Mayne Reid which fitted him to lead +this life at this time, and whether he knew it or not it educated his +genius as no other life could have done. It familiarized him with a +large extent of country in the South and West; it introduced him to men +and manners which existed nowhere else; and it revealed to him the +secrets of Indian life and character. + +There was another side, however, to Mayne Reid than that we have touched +upon, and this, at the end of five years, drew him back to the average +life of his kind. We find him next in Philadelphia, where he began to +contribute stories and sketches of travel to the newspapers and +magazines. Philadelphia was then the most literate city in the United +States, the one in which a clever writer was at once encouraged and +rewarded. Frank and warm-hearted, he made many friends there among +journalists and authors. One of these friends was Edgar Allan Poe, whom +he often visited at his home in Spring Garden, and concerning whom years +after, when he was dead, he wrote with loving tenderness. + +The next episode in the career of Mayne Reid was not what one would +expect from a man of letters, though it was just what might have been +expected from a man of his temperament and antecedents. It grew out of +the time, which was warlike, and it drove him into the army with which +the United States speedily crushed the forces of the sister +Republic--Mexico. He obtained a commission, and served throughout the +war with great bravery and distinction. This stormy episode ended with a +severe wound, which he received in storming the heights of +Chapultepec--a terrible battle which practically ended the war. + +A second episode of a similar character, but with a more fortunate +conclusion, occurred about four years later. It grew out of another war, +which, happily for us, was not on our borders, but in the heart of +Europe, where the Hungarian race had risen in insurrection against the +hated power of Austria. Their desperate valor in the face of tremendous +odds excited the sympathy of the American people, and fired the heart of +Captain Mayne Reid, who buckled on his sword once more, and sailed from +New York with a body of volunteers to aid the Hungarians in their +struggles for independence. They were too late, for hardly had they +reached Paris before they learned that all was over: Görgey had +surrendered at Arad, and Hungary was crushed. They were at once +dismissed, and Captain Reid betook himself to London. + +The life of the Mayne Reid in whom we are most interested--Mayne Reid, +the author--began at this time, when he was in his thirty-first year, +and ended only on the day of his death, October 21, 1883. It covered +one-third of a century, and was, when compared with that which had +preceded it, uneventful, if not devoid of incident. There is not much +that needs be told--not much, indeed, that can be told--in the life of a +man of letters like Captain Mayne Reid. It is written in his books. +Mayne Reid was one of the best known authors of his time--differing in +this from many authors who are popular without being known--and in the +walk of fiction which he discovered for himself he is an acknowledged +master. His reputation did not depend upon the admiration of the +millions of young people who read his books, but upon the judgment of +mature critics, to whom his delineations of adventurous life were +literature of no common order. His reputation as a story-teller was +widely recognized on the Continent, where he was accepted as an +authority in regard to the customs of the pioneers and the guerilla +warfare of the Indian tribes, and was warmly praised for his freshness, +his novelty, and his hardy originality. The people of France and Germany +delighted in this soldier-writer. "There was not a word in his books +which a school-boy could not safely read aloud to his mother and +sisters." So says a late English critic, to which another adds, that if +he has somewhat gone out of fashion of late years, the more's the pity +for the school-boy of the period. What Defoe is in Robinson +Crusoe--realistic idyl of island solitude--that, in his romantic stories +of wilderness life, is his great scholar, Captain Mayne Reid. + +R. H. Stoddard. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +I The Land of the Slave + +II. Types of the Triple Kingdom + +III. The Serpent's Tongue + +IV. 'Ware the Tide! + +V. A False Guide + +VI. Wade or Swim? + +VII. A Compulsory Parting + +VIII. Safe Ashore + +IX. Uncomfortable Quarters + +XI. 'Ware the Sand! + +XII. A Mysterious Nightmare + +XIII. The Maherry + +XIV. A Liquid Breakfast + +XV. The Sailor among the Shell-fish + +XVI. Keeping under Cover + +XVII. The Trail on the Sand + +XVIII. The "Desert Ship" + +XIX. Homeward Bound + +XX. The Dance Interrupted + +XXI. A Serio-Comical Reception + +XXII. The Two Sheiks + +XXIII. Sailor Bill Beshrewed + +XXIV. Starting on the Track + +XXV. Bill to be Abandoned + +XXVI. A Cautious Retreat + +XXVII. A Queer Quadruped + +XXVIII. The Hue and Cry + +XXIX. A Subaqueous Asylum + +XXX. The Pursuers Nonplussed + +XXXI. A Double Predicament + +XXXII. Once more the mocking Laugh + +XXXIII. A Cunning Sheik + +XXXIV. A Queer Encounter + +XXXV. Holding on to the Hump + +XXXVI. Our Adventures in Undress + +XXXVII. The Captives in Conversation + +XXXVIII. The Douar at Dawn + +XXXIX. An Obstinate Dromedary + +XL. Watering the Camels + +XLI. A Squabble between the Sheiks + +XLII. The Trio Staked + +XLIII. Golah + +XLIV. A Day of Agony + +XLV. Colin in Luck + +XLVI. Sailor Bill's Experiment + +XLVII. An Unjust Reward + +XLVIII. The Waterless Well + +XLIX. The Well + +L. A Momentous Inquiry + +LI. A Living Grave + +LII. The Sheik's Plan of Revenge + +LIII. Captured Again + +LIV. An Unfaithful Wife + +LV. Two Faithful Wives + +LVI. Fatima's Fate + +LVII. Further Defection + +LVIII. A Call for Two More + +LIX. Once More by the Sea + +LX. Golah Calls Again + +LXI. Sailor Bill Standing Sentry + +LXII. Golah Fulfils his Destiny + +LXIII. On the Edge of the Saära + +LXIV. The Rival Wreckers + +LXV. Another White Slave + +LXVI. Sailor Bill's Brother + +LXVII. A Living Stream + +LXVIII. The Arabs at Home + +LXIX. Work or Die + +LXX. Victory! + +LXXI. Sold Again + +LXXII. Onward Once More + +LXXIII. Another Bargain + +LXXIV. More Torture + +LXXV. En Route + +LXXVI. Hope Deferred + +LXXVII. El Hajji + +LXXVIII. Bo Muzem's Journey + +LXXIX. Rais Mourad + +LXXX. Bo Muzem Back Again + +LXXXI. A Pursuit + +LXXXII. Moorish Justice + +LXXXIII. The Jew's Leap + +LXXXIV. Conclusion + + + + +THE BOY SLAVES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE LAND OF THE SLAVE. + + +Land of Ethiope! whose burning centre seems unapproachable as the frozen +Pole! + +Land of the unicorn and the lion,--of the crouching panther and the +stately elephant,--of the camel, the camelopard, and the camel-bird! +land of the antelopes,--of the wild gemsbok, and the gentle +gazelle,--land of the gigantic crocodile and huge river-horse,--land +teeming with animal life, and last in the list of my apostrophic +appellations,--last, and that which must grieve the heart to pronounce +it,--land of the slave! + +Ah! little do men think while thus hailing thee, how near may be the +dread doom to their own hearths and homes! Little dream they, while +expressing their sympathy,--alas! too often, as of late shown in +England, a hypocritical utterance,--little do they suspect, while glibly +commiserating the lot of thy sable-skinned children, that hundreds--aye, +thousands--of their own color and kindred are held within thy confines, +subject to a lot even lowlier than these,--a fate far more fearful. + +Alas! it is even so. While I write, the proud Caucasian,--despite his +boasted superiority of intellect,--despite the whiteness of his +skin,--may be found by hundreds in the unknown interior, wretchedly +toiling, the slave not only of thy oppressors, but the slave of thy +slaves! + +Let us lift that curtain, which shrouds thy great Saära, and look upon +some pictures that should teach the son of Shem, while despising his +brothers Ham and Japhet, that he is not yet master of the world. + + * * * * * + +Dread is that shore between Susa and Senegal, on the western edge of +Africa,--by mariners most dreaded of any other in the world. The very +thought of it causes the sailor to shiver with affright. And no wonder: +on that inhospitable seaboard thousands of his fellows have found a +watery grave; and thousands of others a doom far more deplorable than +death! + +There are two great deserts: one of land, the other of water,--the Saära +and the Atlantic,--their contiguity extending through ten degrees of the +earth's latitude,--an enormous distance. Nothing separates them, save a +line existing only in the imagination. The dreary and dangerous +wilderness of water kisses the wilderness of sand,--not less dreary or +dangerous to those whose misfortune it may be to become castaways on +this dreaded shore. + +Alas! it has been the misfortune of many--not hundreds, but thousands. +Hundreds of ships, rather than hundreds of men, have suffered wreck and +ruin between Susa and Senegal. Perhaps were we to include Roman, +Ph[oe]nician, and Carthaginian, we might say thousands of ships also. + +More noted, however, have been the disasters of modern times, during +what may be termed the epoch of modern navigation. Within the period of +the last three centuries, sailors of almost every maritime nation--at +least all whose errand has led them along the eastern edge of the +Atlantic--have had reason to regret approximation to those shores, known +in ship parlance as the Barbary coast; but which, with a slight +alteration in the orthography, might be appropriately styled +"Barbarian." + +A chapter might be written in explanation of this peculiarity of +expression--a chapter which would comprise many parts of two sciences, +both but little understood--ethnology and meteorology. + +Of the former we may have a good deal to tell before the ending of this +narrative. Of the latter it must suffice to say: that the frequent +wrecks occurring on the Barbary coast--or, more properly, on that of the +Saära south of it--are the result of an Atlantic current setting +eastwards against that shore. + +The cause of this current is simple enough, though it requires +explanation: since it seems to contradict not only the theory of the +"trade" winds, but of the centrifugal inclination attributed to the +waters of the ocean. + +I have room only for the theory in its simplest form. The heating of the +Saära under a tropical sun; the absence of those influences--moisture +and verdure--which repel the heat and retain its opposite; the ascension +of the heated air that hangs over this vast tract of desert; the colder +atmosphere rushing in from the Atlantic Ocean; the consequent eastward +tendency of the waters of the sea. + +These facts will account for that current which has proved a deadly +maelstrom to hundreds--aye, thousands--of ships, in all ages, whose +misfortune it has been to sail unsuspectingly along the western shores +of the Ethiopian continent. + +Even at the present day the castaways upon this desert shore are by no +means rare, notwithstanding the warnings that at close intervals have +been proclaimed for a period of three hundred years. + +While I am writing, some stranded brig, barque, or ship may be going to +pieces between Bojador and Blanco; her crew making shorewards in boats +to be swamped among the foaming breakers; or, riding three or four +together upon some severed spar, to be tossed upon a desert strand, that +each may wish, from the bottom of his soul, should prove _uninhabited_! + +I can myself record a scene like this that occurred not ten years ago, +about midway between the two headlands above named--Bojador and Blanco. +The locality may be more particularly designated by saying: that, at +half distance between these noted capes, a narrow strip of sand extends +for several miles out into the Atlantic, parched white under the rays of +a tropical sun--like the tongue of some fiery serpent, well represented +by the Saära, far stretching to seaward; ever seeking to cool itself in +the crystal waters of the sea. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +TYPES OF THE TRIPLE KINGDOM. + + +Near the tip of this tongue, almost within "licking" distance, on an +evening in the month of June 18--, a group of the kind last alluded +to--three or four castaways upon a spar--might have been seen by any eye +that chanced to be near. + +Fortunately for them, there was none sufficiently approximate to make +out the character of that dark speck, slowly approaching the white +sand-spit, like any other drift carried upon the landward current of the +sea. + +It was just possible for a person standing upon the summit of one of the +sand "dunes" that, like white billows, rolled off into the interior of +the continent--it was just possible for a person thus placed to have +distinguished the aforesaid speck without the aid of a glass; though +with one it would have required a prolonged and careful observation to +have discovered its character. + +The sand-spit was full three miles in length. The hills stood back from +the shore another. Four miles was sufficient to screen the castaways +from the observation of anyone who might be straying along the coast. + +For the individuals themselves it appeared very improbable that there +could be any one observing them. As far as eye could reach--east, north, +and south, there was nothing save white sand. To the west nothing but +the blue water. No eye could be upon them, save that of the Creator. Of +His creatures, tame or wild, savage or civilized, there seemed not one +within a circuit of miles: for within that circuit there was nothing +visible that could afford subsistence either to man or animal, bird or +beast. In the white substratum of sand, gently shelving far under the +sea, there was not a sufficiency of organic matter to have afforded food +for fish--even for the lower organisms of _mollusca_. Undoubtedly were +these castaways alone; as much so, as if their locality had been the +centre of the Atlantic, instead of its coast! + +We are privileged to approach them near enough to comprehend their +character, and learn the cause that has thus isolated them so far from +the regions of animated life. + +There are four of them, astride a spar; which also carries a sail, +partially reefed around it, and partially permitted to drag loosely +through the water. + +At a glance a sailor could have told that the spar on which they are +supported is a topsail-yard, which has been detached from its masts in +such a violent manner as to unloose some of the reefs that had held the +sail, thus partially releasing the canvas. But it needed not a sailor to +tell why this had been done. A ship has foundered somewhere near the +coast. There has been a gale two days before. The spar in question, with +those supported upon it, is but a fragment of the wreck. There might +have been other fragments,--others of the crew escaped, or escaping in +like manner,--but there are no others in sight. The castaways slowly +drifting towards the sand-spit are alone. They have no companions on the +ocean,--no spectators on its shore. + +As already stated, there are four of them. Three are strangely +alike,--at least, in the particulars of size, shape, and costume. In +age, too, there is no great difference. All three are boys: the oldest +not over eighteen, the youngest certainly not a year his junior. + +In the physiognomy of the three there is similitude enough to declare +them of one nation,--though dissimilarity sufficient to prove a distinct +provinciality both in countenance and character. Their dresses of dark +blue cloth, cut pea-jacket shape, and besprinkled with buttons of +burnished yellow,--their cloth caps, of like color, encircled by bands +of gold lace,--their collars, embroidered with the crown and anchor, +declare them, all three, to be officers in the service of that great +maritime government that has so long held undisputed possession of the +sea,--midshipmen of the British navy. Rather should we say, had been. +They have lost this proud position, along with the frigate to which they +had been attached; and they now only share authority upon a dismasted +spar, over which they are exerting some control, since, with their +bodies bent downwards, and their hands beating the water, they are +propelling it in the direction of the sand-spit. + +In the countenances of the three castaways thus introduced, I have +admitted a dissimilitude something more than casual,--something more, +even, than what might be termed provincial. Each presented a type that +could have been referred to that wider distinction known as a +nationality. + +The three "middies" astride of that topsail-yard were of course +castaways from the same ship, in the service of the same government, +though each was of a different nationality from the other two. They were +the respective representatives of Jack, Paddy, and Sandy,--or, to speak +more poetically, of the Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle,--and had the three +kingdoms from which they came been searched throughout their whole +extent, there could scarcely have been discovered purer representative +types of each, than the three reefers on that spar, drifting towards the +sand-spit between Bojador and Blanco. + +Their names were Harry Blount, Terence O'Connor, and Colin Macpherson. + +The fourth individual--who shared with them their frail +embarkation--differed from all three in almost every respect, but more +especially in years. The ages of all three united would not have +numbered his: and their wrinkles, if collected together, would scarce +have made so many as could have been counted in the crowsfeet indelibly +imprinted in the corners of his eyes. + +It would have required a very learned ethnologist to have told to which +of his three companions he was compatriot; though there could be no +doubt about his being either English, Irish, or Scotch. + +Strange to say, his tongue did not aid in the identification of his +nationality. It was not often heard; but even when it was, its utterance +would have defied the most accomplished linguistic ear; and neither from +that, nor other circumstance known to them, could any one of his three +companions lay claim to him as a countryman. When he spoke,--a rare +occurrence already hinted,--it was with a liberal misplacement of "h's" +that should have proclaimed him an Englishman of purest Cockney type. At +the same time his language was freely interspersed with Irish "ochs" and +"shures"; while the "wees" and "bonnys," oft recurring in his speech, +should have proved him a sworn Scotchman. From his countenance you might +have drawn your own inference, and believed him any of the three; but +not from his tongue. Neither in his accent, nor the words that fell from +him, could you have told which of the three kingdoms had the honor of +giving him birth. + +Whichever it was, it had supplied to the Service a true British tar: for +although you might mistake the man in other respects, his appearance +forbade all equivocation upon this point. + +His costume was that of a common sailor, and, as a matter of course, his +name was "Bill." But as he had only been one among many "Bills" rated on +the man-o'-war's books,--now gone to the bottom of the sea,--he carried +a distinctive appellation, no doubt earned by his greater age. Aboard +the frigate he had been known as "Old Bill"; and the soubriquet still +attached to him upon the spar. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE SERPENT'S TONGUE. + + +The presence of a ship's topsail-yard thus bestridden plainly proclaimed +that a ship had been wrecked, although no other evidence of the wreck +was within sight. Not a speck was visible upon the sea to the utmost +verge of the horizon: and if a ship had foundered within that field of +view, her boats and every vestige of the wreck must either have gone to +the bottom, or in some other direction than that taken by the +topsail-yard, which supported the three midshipmen and the sailor Bill. + +A ship _had_ gone to the bottom--a British man-of-war--a corvette on her +way to her cruising ground on the Guinea coast. Beguiled by the +dangerous current that sets towards the seaboard of the Saära, in a dark +stormy night she had struck upon a sand-bank, got bilged, and sunk +almost instantly among the breakers. Boats had been got out, and men had +been seen crowding hurriedly into them; others had taken to such rafts +or spars as could be detached from the sinking vessel: but whether any +of these, or the overladen boats, had succeeded in reaching the shore, +was a question which none of the four astride the topsail-yard were able +to answer. + +They only knew that the corvette had gone to the bottom,--they saw her +go down, shortly after drifting away from her side, but saw nothing more +until morning, when they perceived themselves alone upon the ocean. They +had been drifting throughout the remainder of that long, dark +night,--often entirely under water, when the sea swelled over them,--and +one and all of them many times on the point of being washed from their +frail embarkation. + +By daybreak the storm had ceased, and was succeeded by a clear, calm +day; but it was not until a late hour that the swell had subsided +sufficiently to enable them to take any measures for propelling the +strange craft that carried them. Then using their hands as oars or +paddles, they commenced making some way through the water. + +There was nothing in sight--neither land nor any other object--save the +sea, the sky, and the sun. It was the east which guided them as to +direction. But for it there could have been no object in making way +through the water; but with the sun now sinking in the west, they could +tell the east, and they knew that in that point alone land might be +expected. + +After the sun had gone down the stars became their compass, and +throughout all the second night of their shipwreck they had continued to +paddle the spar in an easterly direction. + +Day again dawned upon them, but without gratifying their eyes by the +sight of land, or any other object to inspire them with a hope. + +Famished with hunger, tortured with thirst, and wearied with their +continued exertions, they were about to surrender to despair; when, as +the sun once more mounted up to the sky, and his bright beams pierced +the crystal water upon which they were floating, they saw beneath them +the sheen of white sand. It was the bottom of the sea, and at no great +depth,--not more than a few fathoms below their feet. + +Such shallow water could not be far from the shore. Reassured and +encouraged by the thought, they once more renewed their exertions, and +continued to paddle the spar, taking only short intervals of rest +throughout the whole of the morning. + +Long before noon they were compelled to desist. They were close to the +tropic of Cancer, almost under its line. It was the season of midsummer, +and of course at meridian hour the sun was right over their heads. Even +their bodies cast no shadow, except upon the white sand directly +underneath them, at the bottom of the sea. + +The sun could no longer guide them; and as they had no other index, they +were compelled to remain stationary, or drift in whatever direction the +breeze or the currents might carry them. + +There was not much movement any way, and for several hours before and +after noon they lay almost becalmed upon the ocean. This period was +passed in silence and inaction. There was nothing for them to talk about +but their forlorn situation, and this topic had been exhausted. There +was nothing for them to do. Their only occupation was to watch the sun, +until, by its sinking lower in the sky, they might discover its +_westing_. + +Could they at that moment have elevated their eyes only three feet +higher, they would not have needed to wait for the declination of the +orb of day. They would have seen land, such land as it was; but, sunk as +their shoulders were almost to the level of the water, even the summits +of the sand dunes were not visible to their eyes. + +When the sun began to go down towards the horizon, they once more plied +their palms against the liquid wave, and sculled the spar eastward. The +sun's lower limb was just touching the western horizon, when his red +rays, glancing over their shoulders, showed them some white spots that +appeared to rise out of the water. + +Were they clouds? No! Their rounded tops, cutting the sky with a clear +line, forbade this belief. They should be hills, either of snow or of +sand. It was not the region for snow: they could only be sand-hills. + +The cry of "land" pealed simultaneously from the lips of all,--that +cheerful cry that has so oft given gladness to the despairing +castaway,--and redoubling their exertions, the spar was propelled +through the water more rapidly than ever. + +Reinvigorated by the prospect of once more setting foot upon land, they +forgot for the moment thirst, hunger, and weariness, and only occupied +themselves in sculling their craft towards the shore. + +Under the belief that they had still several miles to make before the +beach could be attained, they were one and all working with eyes turned +downward. At that moment old Bill, chancing to look up, gave utterance +to a shout of joy, which was instantly echoed by his youthful +companions: all had at the same time perceived the long sand-spit +projecting far out into the water, and which looked like the hand of +some friend held out to bid them welcome. + +They had scarce made this discovery before another of like pleasant +nature came under their attention. That was, that they were _touching +bottom_! Their legs, bestriding the spar, hung down on each side of it; +and to the joy of all they now felt their feet scraping along the sand. + +As if actuated by one impulse, all four dismounted from the irksome seat +they had been so long compelled to keep; and, bidding adieu to the spar, +they plunged on through the shoal water, without stop or stay, until +they stood high and dry upon the extreme point of the peninsula. + +By this time the sun had gone down; and the four dripping forms, dimly +outlined in the purple twilight, appeared like four strange creatures +who had just emerged from out the depths of the ocean. + +"Where next?" + +This was the mental interrogatory of all four: though by none of them +shaped into words. + +"Nowhere to-night," was the answer suggested by the inclination of each. + +Impelled by hunger, stimulated by thirst, one would have expected them +to proceed onward in search of food and water to alleviate this double +suffering. But there was an inclination stronger than either,--too +strong to be resisted,--sleep: since for fifty hours they had been +without any; since to have fallen asleep on the spar would have been to +subject themselves to the danger, almost the certainty, of dropping off, +and getting drowned; and, notwithstanding their need of sleep, increased +by fatigue, and the necessity of keeping constantly on the alert,--up to +that moment not one of them had obtained any. The thrill of pleasure +that passed through their frames as they felt their feet upon _terra +firma_ for a moment aroused them. But the excitement could not be +sustained. The drowsy god would no longer be deprived of his rights; and +one after another--though without much interval between--sank down upon +the soft sand, and yielded to his balmy embrace. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +'WARE THE TIDE!. + + +Through that freak, or law, of nature by which peninsulas are shaped, +the point of the sand-spit was elevated several feet above the level of +the sea; while its neck, nearer the land, scarce rose above the surface +of the water. + +It was this highest point--where the sand was thrown up in a "wreath," +like snow in a storm--that the castaways had chosen for their couch. But +little pains had been taken in selecting the spot. It was the most +conspicuous, as well as the driest; and, on stepping out of the water, +they had tottered towards it, and half mechanically chosen it for their +place of repose. + +[Illustration: 'WARE THE TIDE] + +Simple as was the couch, they were not allowed to occupy it for long. +They had been scarce two hours asleep, when one and all of them were +awakened by a sensation that chilled, and, at the same time, terrified +them. Their terror arose from a sense of suffocation: as if salt water +was being poured down their throats, which was causing it. In short, +they experienced the sensation of drowning; and fancied they were +struggling amid the waves, from which they had so lately escaped. + +All four sprang to their feet,--if not simultaneously, at least in quick +succession,--and all appeared equally the victims of astonishment, +closely approximating to terror. Instead of the couch of soft, dry sand, +on which they had stretched their tired frames, they now stood up to +their ankles in water,--which was soughing and surging around them. It +was this change in their situation that caused their astonishment; +though the terror quick following sprang from quite another cause. + +The former was short-lived: for it met with a ready explanation. In the +confusion of their ideas, added to their strong desire for sleep, they +had forgotten the tide. The sand, dust-dry under the heat of a burning +sun, had deceived them. They had lain down upon it, without a thought of +its ever being submerged under the sea; but now to their surprise they +perceived their mistake. Not only was their couch completely under +water: but, had they slept a few minutes longer, they would themselves +have been quite covered. Of course the waves had awakened them; and no +doubt would have done so half an hour earlier, but for the profound +slumber into which their long watching and weariness had thrown them. +The contact of the cold water was not likely to have much effect: since +they had been already exposed to it for more than forty hours. Indeed, +it was not that which had aroused them; but the briny fluid getting into +their mouths, and causing them that feeling of suffocation that very +much resembled drowning. + +More than one of the party had sprung to an erect attitude, under the +belief that such was in reality the case; and it is not quite correct to +say that their first feeling was one of mere astonishment. It was +strongly commingled with terror. + +On perceiving how matters stood, their fears subsided almost as rapidly +as they had arisen. It was only the inflow of the tide; and to escape +from it would be easy enough. They would have nothing more to do, than +keep along the narrow strip of sand, which they had observed before +landing. This would conduct them to the true shore. They knew this to be +at some distance; but, once there, they could choose a more elevated +couch, on which they could recline undisturbed till the morning. + +Such was their belief, conceived the instant after they had +got upon their legs. It was soon followed by another,--another +consternation,--which, if not so sudden as the first was, perhaps, ten +times more intense. + +On turning their faces towards what they believed to be the land, there +was no land in sight,--neither sand-hills, nor shore, nor even the +narrow tongue upon whose tip they had been trusting themselves! There +was nothing visible but water; and even this was scarce discernible at +the distance of six paces from where they stood. They could only tell +that water was around them, by hearing it hoarsely swishing on every +side, and seeing through the dim obscurity the strings of white froth +that floated on its broken surface. + +It was not altogether the darkness of the night that obscured their +view; though this was of itself profound. It was a thick mist, or fog, +that had arisen over the surface of the ocean, and which enveloped their +bodies; so that, though standing almost close together, each appeared to +the others like some huge spectral form at a distance! + +To remain where they were, was to be swallowed up by the sea. There +could be no uncertainty about that; and therefore no one thought of +staying a moment longer on the point of the sand-spit, now utterly +submerged. + +But in what direction were they to go? That was the question that +required to be solved before starting; and in the solution of which, +perhaps, depended the safety of their lives. + +We need scarce say perhaps. Rather might we say, for certain. By taking +a wrong direction they would be walking into the sea,--where they would +soon get beyond their depth, and be in danger of drowning. This was all +the more likely, that the wind had been increasing ever since they had +laid down to rest, and was now blowing with considerable violence. +Partly from this, and partly by the tidal influence, big waves had +commenced rolling around them; so that, even in the shoal water where +they stood, each successive swell was rising higher and higher against +their bodies. + +There was no time to be lost. They must find the true direction for the +shore, and follow it,--quickly too; or perish amid the breakers! + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A FALSE GUIDE. + + +Which way to the shore? + +That was the question that arose to the lips of all. + +You may fancy it could have been easily answered. The direction of the +wind and waves was landward. It was the sea-breeze, which at night, as +every navigator is aware, blows habitually towards the land,--at least, +in the region of the tropics, and more especially towards the hot Saära. + +The tide itself might have told them the direction to take. It was the +in-coming tide, and therefore swelling towards the beach. + +You may fancy that they had nothing to do but follow the waves, keeping +the breeze upon their back. + +So they fancied, at first starting for the shore; but they were not long +in discovering that this guide, apparently so trustworthy was not to be +relied upon; and it was only then they became apprised of the real +danger of their situation. Both wind and waves were certainly proceeding +landward, and in a direct line; but it was just this direct line the +castaways dared not--in fact could not--follow; for they had not gone a +hundred fathoms from the point of the submerged peninsula when they +found the water rapidly deepening before them; and a few fathoms further +on they stood up to their armpits! + +It was evident that, in the direction in which they were proceeding, it +continued to grow deeper; and they turned to try another. + +After floundering about for a while, they found shoal water +again,--reaching up only to their knees; but wherever they attempted to +follow the course of the waves, they perceived that the shoal trended +gradually downward. + +This at first caused them surprise, as well as alarm. The former +affected them only for an instant. The explanation was sought for, and +suggested to the satisfaction of all. The sand-spit did not project +perpendicularly from the line of the coast, but in a diagonal direction. +It was in fact, a sort of natural breakwater--forming one side of a +large cone, or embayment, lying between it and the true beach. This +feature had been observed, on their first setting foot upon it; though +at the time they were so much engrossed with the joyous thought of +having escaped from the sea, that it had made no impression upon their +memory. + +They now remembered the circumstance; though not to their satisfaction; +for they saw at once that the guide in which they had been trusting +could no longer avail them. + +The waves were rolling on over that bay--whose depth they had tried, +only to find it unfordable. + +This was a new dilemma. To escape from it there appeared but one way. +They must keep their course along the combing of the peninsula--if they +could. But their ability to do so had now become a question--each +instant growing more difficult to answer. + +They were no longer certain that they were on the spit; but, whether or +not, they could find no shallower water by trying on either side. Each +way they went it seemed to deepen; and even if they stood still but for +a few moments, as they were compelled to do while hesitating as to their +course--the water rose perceptibly upon their limbs. + +They were now well aware that they had two enemies to contend with--time +and direction. The loss of either one or the other might end in their +destruction. A wrong direction would lead them into deep water; a waste +of time would bring deep water around them. The old adage about time and +tide--which none of them could help having heard--might have been +ringing in their ears at that moment. It was appropriate to the +occasion. + +They thought of it; and the thought filled them with apprehension. From +the observations they had made before sunset, they knew that the shore +could not be near--not nearer than three miles--perhaps four. + +Even with free footing, the true direction, and a clear view of the +path, it might have been a question about time. They all knew enough of +the sea to be aware how rapidly the tide sets in--especially on some +foreign shores--and there was nothing to assure them that the seaboard +of the Saära was not beset by the most treacherous of tides. On the +contrary, it was just this--a tidal current--that had forced their +vessel among the breakers, causing them to become what they now +were,--castaways! + +They had reason to dread the tides of the Saära's shore; and dread them +they did,--their fears at each moment becoming stronger as they felt the +dark waters rising higher and higher around them. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +WADE OR SWIM? + + +For a time they floundered on,--the old sailor in the lead, the three +boys strung out in a line after him. Sometimes they departed from this +formation,--one or another trying towards the flank for shallower water. + +Already it clasped them by the thighs; and just in proportion as it rose +upon their bodies, did their spirits become depressed. They knew that +they were following the crest of the sand-spit. They knew it by the +deepening of the sea on each side of them; but they had by this time +discovered another index to their direction. Old Bill had kept his +"weather-eye" upon the waves; until he had discovered the angle at which +they broke over the "bar," and could follow the "combing" of the spit, +as he called it, without much danger of departure from the true path. + +It was not the _direction_ that troubled their thoughts any longer; but +the _time_ and the _tide_. + +Up to their waists in water, their progress could not be otherwise than +slow. The time would not have signified could they have been sure of the +tide,--that is, sure of its not rising higher. + +Alas! they could not be in doubt about this. On the contrary, they were +too well assured that it _was_ rising higher; and with a rapidity that +threatened soon to submerge them under its merciless swells. These came +slowly sweeping along, in the diagonal direction,--one succeeding the +other, and each new one striking higher up upon the bodies of the now +exhausted waders. + +On they floundered despite their exhaustion; on along the subaqueous +ridge, which at every step appeared to sink deeper into the water,--as +if the nearer to the land the peninsula became all the more depressed. +This, however, was but a fancy. They had already passed the neck of the +sand-spit where it was lowest. It was not that, but the fast flowing +tide that was deepening the water around them. + +Deeper and deeper,--deeper and deeper, till the salt sea clasped them +around the armpits, and the tidal waves began to break over their heads! + +There seemed but one way open to their salvation,--but one course by +which they could escape from the engulfment that threatened. This was to +forego any further attempt at wading, to fling themselves boldly upon +the waves, and _swim_ ashore! + +Now that they were submerged to their necks, you may wonder at their not +at once adopting this plan. It is true they were ignorant of the +distance they would have to swim before reaching the shore. Still they +knew it could not be more than a couple of miles; for they had already +traversed quite that distance on the diagonal spit. But two miles need +scarce have made them despair, with both wind and tide in their favor. + +Why, then, did they hesitate to trust themselves to the quick, bold +stroke of the swimmer, instead of the slow, timid, tortoise-like tread +of the wader? + +There are two answers to this question; for there were two reasons for +them not having recourse to the former alternative. The first was +selfish; or rather, should we call it _self-preservative_. There was a +doubt in the minds of all, as to their ability to reach the shore by +swimming. It was a broad bay that had been seen before sundown; and once +launched upon its bosom, it was a question whether any of them would +have strength to cross it. Once launched upon its bosom, there would be +no getting back to the shoal water through which they were wading; the +tidal current would prevent return. + +This consideration was backed by another,--a lingering belief or hope +that the tide might already have reached its highest, and would soon be +on the "turn." This hope, though faint, exerted an influence on the +waders,--as yet sufficient to restrain them from becoming swimmers. But +even after this could no longer have prevailed,--even when the waves +began to surge over, threatening at each fresh "sea" to scatter the +shivering castaways and swallow them one by one,--there was another +thought that kept them together. + +It was a thought neither of self nor self-preservation; but a generous +instinct, that even in that perilous crisis was stirring within their +hearts. + +Instinct! No. It was a thought,--an impulse if you will; but something +higher than an instinct. + +Shall I declare it? Undoubtedly, I shall. Noble emotions should not be +concealed; and the one which at that moment throbbed within the bosoms +of the castaways, was truly noble. + +There were but three of them who felt it. The fourth could not: _he +could not swim!_ + +Surely the reader needs no further explanation? + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A COMPULSORY PARTING. + + +One of the four castaways could not swim. Which one? You will expect to +hear that it was one of the three midshipmen; and will be conjecturing +whether it was Harry Blount, Terence O'Connor, or Colin Macpherson. + +My English boy-readers would scarce believe me, were I to say that it +was Harry who was wanting in this useful accomplishment. Equally +incredulous would be my Irish and Scotch _constituency_, were I to deny +the possession of it to the representatives of their respective +countries,--Terence and Colin. + +Far be it from me to offend the natural _amour propre_ of my young +readers; and in the present case I have no fact to record that would +imply any national superiority or disadvantage. The castaway who could +not swim was that peculiar hybrid, or _tribrid_, already described; who, +for any characteristic he carried about him, might have been born either +upon the banks of the Clyde, the Thames, or the Shannon! + +It was "Old Bill" who was deficient in natatory prowess: Old Bill the +sailor. + +It may be wondered that one who has spent nearly the whole of his life +on the sea should be wanting in an accomplishment, apparently and +really, so essential to such a calling. Cases of the kind, however, are +by no means uncommon; and in a ship's crew there will often be found a +large number of men,--sometimes the very best sailors,--who cannot swim +a stroke. + +Those who have neglected to cultivate this useful art, when boys, rarely +acquire it after they grow up to be men; or, if they do, it is only in +an indifferent manner. On the sea, though it may appear a paradox, there +are far fewer opportunities for practising the art of swimming than upon +its shores. Aboard a ship, on her course, the chances of "bathing" are +but few and far between; and, while in port, the sailor has usually +something else to do than spend his idle hours in disporting himself +upon the waves. The sailor, when ashore, seeks for some sport more +attractive. + +As Old Bill had been at sea ever since he was able to stand upon the +deck of a ship, he had neglected this useful art; and though in every +other respect an accomplished sailor--rated A.B., No. 1--he could not +swim six lengths of his own body. + +It was a noble instinct which prompted his three youthful companions to +remain by him in that critical moment, when, by flinging themselves upon +the waves, they might have gained the shore without difficulty. + +Although the bay might be nearly two miles in width there could not be +more than half that distance beyond their depth,--judging by the shoal +appearance which the coast had exhibited as they were approaching it +before sundown. + +All three felt certain of being able to save themselves; but what would +become of their companion, the sailor? + +"We cannot leave you, Bill!" cried Harry: "we will not!" + +"No, that we can't: we won't!" said Terence. + +"We can't, and won't," asseverated Colin, with like emphasis. + +These generous declarations were in answer to an equally generous +proposal: in which the sailor had urged them to make for the shore, and +leave him to his fate. + +"Ye must, my lads!" he cried out, repeating his proposition. "Don't mind +about me; look to yersels! Och! shure I'm only a weather-washed, +worn-out old salt, 'ardly worth savin'. Go now--off wi' ye at onest! The +water'll be over ye, if ye stand 'eer tin minutes longer." + +The three youths scrutinized each other's faces, as far as the darkness +would allow them. Each tried to read in the countenances of the other +two some sign that might determine him. The water was already washing +around their shoulders; it was with difficulty they could keep their +feet. + +"Let loose, lads!" cried Old Bill; "let loose, I say! and swim richt for +the shore. Don't think o' me; it bean't certain I shan't weather it yet. +I'm the whole av my head taller than the tallest av ye. The tide mayn't +full any higher; an' if it don't I'll get safe out after all. Let loose, +lads--let loose I tell ye!" + +This command of the old sailor for his young comrades to forsake him was +backed by a far more irresistible influence,--one against which even +their noble instincts could no longer contend. + +At that moment, a wave, of greater elevation than any that had preceded +it, came rolling along; and the three midshipmen, lifted upon its swell, +were borne nearly half a cable's length from the spot where they had +been standing. + +In vain did they endeavor to recover their feet. They had been carried +into deep water, where the tallest of them could not touch bottom. + +For some seconds they struggled on the top of the swell, their faces +turned towards the spot from which they had been swept. They were close +together. All three seemed desirous of making back to that dark, +solitary speck, protruding above the surface, and which they knew to be +the head of Old Bill. Still did they hesitate to forsake him. + +Once more his voice sounded in their ears. + +"Och, boys!" cried he, "don't thry to come back. It's no use whatever. +Lave me to my fate, an' save yersels. The tide's 'ard against ye. Turn, +an' follow it, as I tell ye. It'll carry ye safe to the shore; an' if +I'm washed afther ye, bury me on the bache. Farewell, brave +boys,--farewell!" + +To the individuals thus apostrophized, it was a sorrowful adieu; and, +could they have done anything to save the sailor, there was not one of +the three who would not have risked his life over and over again. But +all were impressed with the hopelessness of rendering any succor; and +under the still further discouragement caused by another huge wave, that +came swelling up under their chins, they turned simultaneously in the +water; and, taking the tidal current for their guide, swam with all +their strength towards the shore. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SAFE ASHORE. + + +The swim proved shorter than any of them had anticipated. They had +scarce made half a mile across the bay, when Terence, who was the worst +swimmer of the three, and who had been allowing his legs to droop, +struck his toes against something more substantial than salt water. + +"I' faith!" gasped he, with exhausted breath, "I think I've touched +bottom. Blessed be the Virgin, I have!" he continued, at the same time +standing erect, with head and shoulders above the surface of the water. + +"All right!" cried Harry, imitating the upright attitude of the young +Hibernian. "Bottom it must be, and bottom it is. Thank God for it!" + +Colin, with a similar grateful ejaculation, suspended his stroke, and +stood upon his feet. + +All three instinctively faced seaward--as they did so, exclaiming-- + +"Poor Old Bill!" + +"In troth, we might have brought him along with us!" suggested Terence, +as soon as he had recovered his wind; "might we not?" + +"If we had but known it was so short a swim," said Harry, "it is +possible." + +"How about our trying to swim back? Do you think we could do it?" + +"Impossible!" asserted Colin. + +"What, Colin, you are the best swimmer of us all! Do you say so?" asked +the others, eager to make an effort for saving the old salt, who had +been the favorite of every officer aboard the ship. + +"I say impossible," replied the cautious Colin; "I would risk as much as +any of you, but there is not a reasonable chance of saving him, and +what's the use of trying impossibilities? We'd better make sure that +we're safe ourselves. There may be more deep water between us and the +shore. Let us keep on till we've set our feet on something more like +terra firma." + +The advice of the young Scotchman was too prudent to be rejected; and +all three, once more turning their faces shoreward, continued to advance +in that direction. + +They only knew that they were facing shoreward by the inflow of the +tide, but certain that this would prove a tolerably safe guide, they +kept boldly on, without fear of straying from the track. + +For a while they waded; but, as their progress was both slower and more +toilsome, they once more betook themselves to swimming. Whenever they +felt fatigued by either mode of progression, they changed to the other; +and partly by wading and partly by swimming, they passed through another +mile of the distance that separated them from the shore. The water then +became so shallow, that swimming was no longer possible; and they waded +on, with eyes earnestly piercing the darkness, each moment expecting to +see something of the land. + +They were soon to be gratified by having this expectation realized. The +curving lines that began to glimmer dimly through the obscurity, were +the outlines of rounded objects that could not be ocean waves. They were +too white for these. They could only be the sand-hills, which they had +seen before the going down of the sun. As they were now but knee-deep in +the water, and the night was still misty and dark, these objects could +be at no great distance, and deep water need no longer be dreaded. + +The three castaways considered themselves as having reached the shore. + +Harry and Terence were about to continue on to the beach, when Colin +called to them to come to a stop. + +"Why?" inquired Harry. + +"What for?" asked Terence. + +"Before touching dry land," suggested the thoughtful Colin, "suppose we +decide what has been the fate of poor Old Bill." + +"How can we tell that?" interrogated the other two. + +"Stand still awhile; we shall soon see whether his head is yet above +water." + +Harry and Terence consented to the proposal of their comrade, but +without exactly comprehending its import. + +"What do you mean, Coley?" asked the impatient Hibernian. + +"To see if the tide's still rising," was the explanation given by the +Scotch youth. + +"And what if it be?" demanded Terence. + +"Only, that if it be, we will never more see the old sailor in the land +of the living. We may look for his lifeless corpse after it has been +washed ashore." + +"Ah! I comprehend you," said Terence. + +"You're right," added Harry. "If the tide be still rising, Old Bill is +under it by this time. I dare say his body will drift ashore before +morning." + +They stood still,--all three of them. They watched the water, as it +rippled up against their limbs, taking note of its ebbing and flowing. +They watched with eyes full of anxious solicitude. They continued this +curious vigil for full twenty minutes. They would have patiently +prolonged it still further had it been necessary. But it was not. No +further observation was required to convince them that the tidal current +was still carried towards the shore; and that the water was yet +deepening around them. + +The data thus obtained were sufficient to guide them to the solution of +the sad problem. During that interval, while they were swimming and +wading across the bay, the tide must have been continually on the +increase. It must have risen at least a yard. A foot would be sufficient +to have submerged the sailor: since he could not swim. There was but one +conclusion to which they could come. Their companion must have been +drowned. + +With heavy hearts they turned their faces toward the shore,--thinking +more of the sad fate of the sailor than their own future. + +Scarce had they proceeded a dozen steps, when a shout, heard from +behind, caused them to come to a sudden stop. + +"Avast there!" cried a voice that seemed to rise from out the depths of +the sea. + +"It's Bill!" exclaimed all three in the same breath. + +"'Old on my 'arties, if that's yerselves that I see!" continued the +voice. "Arrah, 'old on there. I'm so tired wadin', I want a short spell +to rest myself. Wait now, and I'll come to yez, as soon as I can take a +reef out of my tops'ls." + +The joy caused by this greeting, great as it was, was scarce equal to +the surprise it inspired. They who heard it were for some seconds +incredulous. The sound of the sailor's voice, well known as it was, with +something like the figure of a human being dimly seen through the +uncertain mist that shadowed the surface of the water was proof that he +still lived; while, but the moment before, there appeared substantial +proof that he must have gone to the bottom. Their incredulity even +continued, till more positive evidence to the contrary came before them, +in the shape of the old man-o'-war's-man himself; who, rapidly splashing +through the more shallow water, in a few seconds stood face to face with +the three brave boys whom he had so lately urged to abandon him. + +"Bill, is it you?" cried all three in a breath. + +"Auch! and who else would yez expect it to be? Did yez take me for 'ould +Neptune risin' hout of the say? Or did yez think I was a mare-maid? Gee +me a grip o' yer wee fists, ye bonny boys. Ole Bill warn't born to be +drowned!" + +"But how did ye come, Bill? The tide's been rising ever since we left +you." + +"Oh!" said Terence, "I see how it is, the bay isn't so deep after all: +you've waded all the way." + +"Avast there, master Terry! not half the way, though I've waded part of +it. There's wather between here and where you left me, deep enough to +dhrown Phil Macool. I didn't crass the bay by wading at all--at all." + +"How then?" + +"I was ferried on a nate little craft--as yez all knows of--the same +that carried us safe to the sand-spit." + +"The spar?" + +"Hexactly as ye say. Just as I was about to gee my last gasp, something +struck me on the back o' the head, making me duck under the wather. What +was that but the tops'l yard. Hech! I was na long in mountin' on to it. +I've left it out there afther I feeled my toes trailin' along the +bottom. Now, my bonny babies, that's how Old Bill's been able to rejoin +ye. Flippers all round once more; and then let's see what sort o' a +shore we've got to make port upon." + +An enthusiastic shake of the hands passed between the old sailor and his +youthful companions; after which the faces of all were turned towards +the shore, still only dimly distinguishable, and uninviting as seen, but +more welcome to the sight than the wilderness of water stretching as if +to infinity behind them. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +UNCOMFORTABLE QUARTERS. + + +The waders had still some distance to go before reaching dry land; but, +after splashing for about twenty minutes longer, they at length stood +upon the shore. As the tide was still flowing in they continued up the +beach; so as to place themselves beyond the reach of the water, in the +event of its rising still higher. + +They had to cross a wide stretch of wet sand before they could find a +spot sufficiently elevated to secure them against the further influx of +the tide. Having, at length, discovered such a spot, they stopped to +deliberate on what was best to be done. + +They would fain have had a fire to dry their dripping garments: for the +night had grown chilly under the influence of the fog. + +The old sailor had his flint, steel, and tinder--the latter still safe +in its water-tight tin box; but there was no fuel to be found near. The +spar, even could they have broken it up, was still floating, or +stranded, in the shoal water--more than a mile to seaward. + +In the absence of a fire they adopted the only other mode they could +think of to get a little of the water out of their clothes. They +stripped themselves to the skin, wrung out each article separately; and +then, giving each a good shake, put them on again--leaving it to the +natural warmth of their bodies to complete the process of drying. + +By the time they had finished this operation, the mist had become +sensibly thinner; and the moon, suddenly emerging from under a cloud, +enabled them to obtain a better view of the shore upon which they had +set foot. + +Landward, as far as they could see, there appeared to be nothing but +white sand--shining like silver under the light of the moon. Up and down +the coast the same landscape could be dimly distinguished. + +It was not a level surface that was thus covered with sand, but a +conglomeration of hillocks and ridges, blending into each other and +forming a labyrinth, that seemed to stretch interminably on all +sides--except towards the sea itself. + +It occurred to them to climb to the highest of the hillocks. From its +summit they would have a better view of the country beyond; and perhaps +discover a place suitable for an encampment--perhaps some timber might +then come into view--from which they would be able to obtain a few +sticks. + +On attempting to scale the "dune," they found that their wading was not +yet at an end. Though no longer in the water, they sank to their knees +at every step, in soft yielding sand. + +The ascent of the hillock, though scarce a hundred feet high, proved +exceedingly toilsome--much more so than wading knee-deep in water--but +they floundered on, and at length reached the summit. + +To the right, to the left, in front of them, far as the eye could reach, +nothing but hills and ridges of sand--that appeared under the moonlight +of a whiteness approaching to that of snow. In fact, it would not have +been difficult to fancy that the country was covered with a heavy coat +of snow--as often seen in Sweden, or the Northern parts of +Scotland--drifted into "wreaths," and spurred hillocks of every +imaginable form. + +It was pretty, but soon became painful from its monotony; and the eyes +of that shipwrecked quartette were even glad to turn once more to the +scarce less monotonous blue of the ocean. + +Inland, they could perceive other sand-hills--higher than that to which +they had climbed--and long crested "combings," with deep valleys +between; but not one object to gladden their sight--nothing that offered +promise of either food, drink, or shelter. + +Had it not been for their fatigue they might have gone farther. Since +the moon had consented to show herself, there was light enough to travel +by; and they might have proceeded on--either through the sand-dunes or +along the shore. But of the four there was not one--not even the tough +old tar himself--who was not regularly done up, both with weariness of +body and spirit. The short slumber upon the spit--from which they had +been so unexpectedly startled--had refreshed them but little; and, as +they stood upon the summit of the sand-hill, all four felt as if they +could drop down, and go to sleep on the instant. + +It was a couch sufficiently inviting, and they would at once have +availed themselves of it, but for a circumstance that suggested to them +the idea of seeking a still better place for repose. + +The land wind was blowing in from the ocean; and, according to the +forecast of Old Bill--a great practical meteorologist,--it promised ere +long to become a gale. It was already sufficiently violent--and chill to +boot--to make the situation on the summit of the dune anything but +comfortable. There was no reason why they should make their couch upon +that exposed prominence. Just on the landward side of the hillock +itself--below, at its base--they perceived a more sheltered situation; +and why not select that spot for their resting place? + +There was no reason why they should not. Old Bill proposed it; there was +no opposition offered by his young companions,--and, without further +parley, the four went floundering down the sloping side of the +sand-hill, into the sheltered convexity at its base. + +On arriving at the bottom, they found themselves in the narrowest of +ravines. The hillock from which they had descended was but the highest +summit of a long ridge, trending in the same direction as the coast. +Another ridge, of about equal height, ran parallel to this on the +landward side. The bases of the two approached so near, that their +sloping sides formed an angle with each other. On account of the abrupt +acclivity of both, this angle was almost acute, and the ravine between +the two resembled a cavity out of which some great wedge had been +cut,--like a section taken from the side of a gigantic melon. + +It was in this re-entrant angle that the castaways found themselves, +after descending the side of the dune, and where they had proposed +spending the remainder of the night. + +They were somewhat disappointed on reaching their sleeping-quarters, and +finding them so limited as to space. In the bottom of the ravine there +was not breadth enough for a bed,--even for the shortest of the +party,--supposing him desirous of sleeping in a horizontal position. + +There were not six feet of surface--nor even three--that could strictly +be called horizontal. Even longitudinally, the bottom of the "gully" had +a sloping inclination: for the ravine itself tended upwards, until it +became extinguished in the convergence of its inclosing ridges. + +On discovering the unexpected "strait" into which they had launched +themselves, our adventurers were for a time nonplussed. They felt +inclined to proceed farther in search of a "better bed," but their +weariness outweighed this inclination; and, after some hesitation, they +resolved to remain in the "ditch," into which they had so unwillingly +descended. They proceeded therefore to encouch themselves. + +Their first attempt was made by placing themselves in a half-standing +position--their backs supported upon the sloping side of one of the +ridges, with their feet resting against the other. So long as they kept +awake, this position was both easy and pleasant; but the moment any one +of them closed his eyes in sleep,--and this was an event almost +instantaneous,--his muscles, relaxed by slumber, would no longer have +the strength to sustain him; and the consequence would be an +uncomfortable collapse to the bottom of the "gully," where anything like +a position of repose was out of the question. + +This vexatious interruption of their slumbers happening repeatedly, at +length roused all four to take fresh counsel as to choosing a fresh +couch. + +Terence had been especially annoyed by these repeated disturbances; and +proclaimed his determination not to submit to them any longer. He would +go in search of more "comfortable quarters." + +He had arisen to his feet, and appeared in the act of starting off. + +"We had better not separate," suggested Harry Blount. "If we do, we may +find it difficult to come together again." + +"There's something in what you say, Hal," said the young Scotchman. "It +will not do for us to lose sight of one another. What does Bill say to +it?" + +"I say, stay here," put in the voice of the sailor. "It won't do to +stray the wan from the t'other. No, it won't. Let us hold fast, thin, +where we're already belayed." + +"But who the deuce can sleep here?" remonstrated the son of Erin. "A +hard-worked horse can sleep standing; and so can an elephant, they say; +but, for me, I'd prefer six feet of the horizontal--even if it were a +hard stone--to this slope of the softest sand." + +"Stay, Terry!" cried Colin. "I've captured an idea." + +"Ah! you Scotch are always capturing something--whether it be an idea, a +flea, or the itch. Let's hear what it is." + +"After that insult to ma kintree," good-humoredly rejoined Colin, "I +dinna know whuther I wull." + +"Come, Colin," interrupted Harry Blount, "if you've any good counsel to +give us, pray don't withhold it. We can't get sleep, standing at an +angle of forty-five degrees. Why should we not try to change our +position by seeking another place?" + +"Well, Harry, as you have made the request, I'll tell you what's just +come into my mind. I only feel astonished it didn't occur to any of us +sooner." + +"Mother av Moses!" cried Terence, jocularly adopting his native brogue; +"and why don't you out with it at wanse?--you Scatch are the thrue +_rid-tape_ of society." + +"Never mind, Colly!" interposed Blount; "there's no time to listen to +Terry's badinage. We're all too sleepy for jesting; tell us what you've +got in your mind." + +"All of ye do as you see me, and, I'll be your bail, ye'll sleep sound +till the dawn o' the day. Good night!" + +As Colin pronounced the salutation he sank down to the bottom of the +ravine, where, stretched longitudinally, he might repose without the +slightest danger of being awakened by slipping from his couch. + +On seeing him thus disposed, the others only wondered they had not +thought of the thing before. + +They were too sleepy to speculate long upon their own thoughtlessness; +and one after the other, imitating the example set them by the young +Scotchman, laid their bodies lengthwise along the bottom of the ravine, +and entered upon the enjoyment of a slumber from which all the +kettle-drums in creation would scarce have awaked them. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +'WARE THE SAND! + + +As the gully in which they had gone to rest was too narrow to permit of +them lying side by side, they were disposed in a sort of lengthened +chain, with their heads all turned in the same direction. The bottom of +the ravine, as already stated, had a slight inclination; and they had, +of course, placed themselves so that their heads should be higher than +their feet. + +The old sailor was at the lower end of this singular series, with the +feet of Harry Blount just above the crown of his head. Above the head of +Harry were the heels of Terence O'Connor; and, at the top of all, +reclined Colin,--in the place where he had first stretched himself. + +On account of the slope of the ground, the four were thus disposed in a +sort of _échelon_ formation, of which Old Bill was the base. They had +dropped into their respective positions, one after the other, as they +lay. + +The sailor had been the last to commit himself to this curious couch; he +was also the last to surrender to sleep. For some time after the others +had become unconscious of outward impressions, he lay listening to the +"sough" of the sea, and the sighing of the breeze, as it blew along the +smooth sides of the sand-hills. + +He did not remain awake for any great length of time. He was wearied, as +well as his young comrades; and soon also yielded his spirit to the +embrace of the god Somnus. + +Before doing so, however, he had made an observation,--one of a +character not likely to escape the notice of an old mariner such as he. +He had become conscious that a storm was brewing in the sky. The sudden +shadowing of the heavens;--the complete disappearance of the moon, +leaving even the white landscape in darkness;--her red color as she went +out of sight;--the increased noise caused by the roaring of the +breakers; and the louder "swishing" of the wind itself, which began to +blow in quick gusty puffs; all these sights and sounds admonished him +that a gale was coming on. + +He instinctively noted these signs; and on board ship would have heeded +them,--so far as to have alarmed the sleeping watch, and counselled +precaution. + +But stretched upon terra firma--not so very firm had he but known +it--between two huge hills, where he and his companions were tolerably +well sheltered from the wind, it never occurred to the old salt, that +they could be in any danger; and simply muttering to himself, "the storm +be blowed!" he laid his weather-beaten face upon the pillow of soft +sand, and delivered himself up to deep slumber. + +The silent prediction of the sailor turned out a true forecast. Sure +enough there came a storm; which, before the castaways had been half an +hour asleep, increased to a tempest. It was one of those sudden +uprisings of the elements common in all tropical countries, but +especially so in the desert tracts of Arabia and Africa,--where the +atmosphere, rarefied by heat, and becoming highly volatile, suddenly +loses its equilibrium, and rushes like a destroying angel over the +surface of the earth. + +The phenomenon that had broken over the arenaceous couch,--upon which +slept the four castaways,--was neither more nor less than a +"sand-storm;" or, to give it its Arab title, a _simoom_. + +The misty vapor that late hung suspended in the atmosphere had been +swept away by the first puff of the wind; and its place was now occupied +by a cloud equally dense, though perhaps not so constant,--a cloud of +white sand lifted from the surface of the earth, and whirled high up +towards heaven,--even far out over the waters of the ocean. + +Had it been daylight, huge volumes, of what might have appeared dust, +might have been seen rolling over the ridges of sand,--here swirling +into rounded pillar-like shapes, that could easily have been mistaken +for solid columns, standing for a time in one place, then stalking over +the summits of the hills, or suddenly breaking into confused and +cumbering masses; while the heavier particles, no longer kept in +suspension by the rotatory whirl, might be seen spilling back towards +the earth, like a sand-shower projected downward through some gigantic +"screen." + +In the midst of this turbulent tempest of wind and sand--with not a +single drop of rain,--the castaways continued to sleep. + +One might suppose--as did the old man-o'-war's-man before going to +sleep--that they were not in any danger; not even as much as if their +couch had been under the roof of a house, or strewn amid the leaves of +the forest. There were no trees to be blown down upon them, no bricks +nor large chimney-pots to come crashing through the ceiling, and crush +them as they lay upon their beds. + +What danger could there be among the "dunes?" + +Not much to a man awake, and with open eyes. In such a situation, there +might be discomfort, but no danger. + +Different however, was it with the slumbering castaways. Over them a +peril was suspended--a real peril--of which perhaps, on that night not +one of them was dreaming--and in which, perhaps, not one of them would +have put belief,--but for the experience of it they were destined to be +taught before the morning. + +Could an eye have looked upon them as they lay, it would have beheld a +picture sufficiently suggestive of danger. It would have seen four human +figures stretched along the bottom of a narrow ravine, longitudinally +aligned with one another--their heads all turned one way, and in point +of elevation slightly _en échelon_--it would have noted that these forms +were asleep, that they were already half buried in sand, which, +apparently descending from the clouds was still settling around them; +and that, unless one or other of them awoke, all four should certainly +become "smoored." + +What does this mean? Merely a slight inconvenience arising from having +the mouth, ears, and nostrils obstructed by sand, which a little +choking, and sneezing, and coughing would soon remove. + +Ask the Highland shepherd who has imprudently gone to sleep under the +"blowin' sna'"; question the Scandinavian, whose calling compels him to +encamp on the open "fjeld"; interrogate Swede or Norwegian, Finn or +Lapp, and you may discover the danger of being "smoored." + +That would be in the snow,--the light, vascular, porous, permeable +snow,--under which a human being may move, and through which he may +breathe,--though tons of it may be superpoised above his body,--the snow +that, while imprisoning its victim, also gives him warmth, and affords +him shelter,--perilous as that shelter may be. + +Ask the Arab what it is to be "smoored" by sand; question the wild +Bedouin of the Bled-el-jereed,--the Tuarick and Tiboo of the Eastern +Desert,--they will tell you it is danger often _death_! + +Little dreamt the four sleepers as they lay unconscious under that swirl +of sand,--little even would they have suspected, if awake,--that there +was danger in the situation. + +There was, for all that, a danger, great as it was imminent,--the +danger, not only of their being "smoored," but stifled, suffocated, +buried fathoms deep under the sands of the Saära, for fathoms deep will +often be the drift of a single night. + +The Arabs say that, once "submerged" beneath the arenaceous "flood," a +man loses the power to extricate himself. His energies are suspended, +his senses become numbed and torpid--in short, he feels as one who goes +to sleep in a snow-storm. + +It may be true; but, whether or no, it seemed as if the four English +castaways had been stricken with this inexplicable paralysis. Despite +the hoarse roaring of the breakers, despite the shrieking and whistling +of the wind, despite the dust constantly being deposited on their +bodies, and entering ears, mouth, and nostrils,--despite the stifling +sensation one would suppose they must have felt, and which should have +awakened them,--despite all, they continued to sleep. It seemed as if +that sleep was to be eternal! + +If they heard not the storm that raged savagely above them, if they felt +not the sand that pressed heavily upon them, what was there to warn, +what to arouse them from that ill-starred slumber? + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A MYSTERIOUS NIGHTMARE. + + +The four castaways had been asleep for a couple of hours,--that is, from +the time that, following the example of the young Scotchman, they had +stretched themselves along the bottom of the ravine. It was not quite an +hour, however, since the commencement of the sand-storm; and yet in this +short time the arenaceous dust had accumulated to the thickness of +several inches upon their bodies; and a person passing the spot, or even +stepping right over them, could not have told that four human beings +were buried beneath,--that is, upon the supposition that they would have +lain still, and not got startled from their slumbers by the foot thus +treading upon them. + +Perhaps it was a fortunate circumstance for them, that by such a +contingency they might be awakened, and that by such they _were_ +awakened. + +Otherwise their sleep might have been protracted into the still deeper +sleep--from which there is no awaking. + +All four had begun to feel--if any sensation while asleep can be so +called--a sense of suffocation, accompanied by a heaviness of the limbs +and torpidity in the joints,--as if some immense weight was pressing +upon their bodies, that rendered it impossible for them to stir either +toe or finger. It was a sensation similar to that so well known, and so +much dreaded, under the name of _nightmare_. It may have been the very +same; and was, perhaps, brought on as much by the extreme weariness they +all felt, as by the superincumbent weight of the sand. + +Their heads, lying higher than their bodies, were not so deeply buried +under the drift; which, blown lightly over their faces, still permitted +the atmosphere to pass through it. Otherwise their breathing would have +been stopped altogether; and death must have been the necessary +consequence. + +Whether it was a genuine nightmare or no, it was accompanied by all the +horrors of this phenomenon. As they afterwards declared, all four felt +its influence, each in his own way dreaming of some fearful fascination +from which he could make no effort to escape. Strange enough, their +dreams were different. Harry Blount thought he was falling over a +precipice; Colin that a gigantic ogre had got hold of and was going to +eat him up; while the young Hibernian fancied himself in the midst of a +conflagration, a dwelling house on fire, from which he could not get +out! + +Old Bill's delusion was more in keeping with their situation,--or at +least with that out of which they had lately escaped. He simply supposed +that he was submerged in the sea, and as he knew he could not swim, it +was but natural for him to fancy that he was drowning. + +Still, he could make no struggle; and, as he would have done this, +whether able to swim or not, his dream did not exactly resemble the real +thing. + +The sailor was the first to escape from the uncomfortable _incubus_; +though there was but an instant between the awakening of all. They were +startled out of their sleep, one after another, in the order in which +they lay, and inversely to that in which they had lain down. + +Their awakening was as mysterious as the nightmare itself, and scarce +relieved them from the horror which the latter had been occasioning. + +All felt in turn, and in quick succession, a heavy crushing pressure, +either on the limbs or body, which had the effect, not only to startle +them from their sleep, but caused them considerable pain. + +Twice was this pressure applied, almost exactly on the same spot, and +with scarce a second's interval between the applications. It could not +well have been repeated a third time with like exactness, even had such +been the design of whatever creature was causing it; for, after the +second squeeze, each had recovered sufficient consciousness to know he +was in danger of being crushed, and make a desperate effort to withdraw +himself. + +The exclamations, proceeding from four sets of lips, told that all were +still in the land of the living; but the confused questioning that +followed did nothing towards elucidating the cause of that sudden and +almost simultaneous uprising. + +There was too much sneezing and coughing to permit of anything like +clear or coherent speech. The _shumu_ was still blowing. There was sand +in the mouths and nostrils of all four, and dust in their eyes. Their +talk more resembled the jibbering of apes, who had unwisely intruded +into a snuff shop, than the conversation of four rational beings. + +It was some time before any one of them could shape his speech, so as to +be understood by the others; and, after all had at length succeeded in +making themselves intelligible, it was found that each had the same +story to tell. Each had felt two pressures on some part of his person; +and had seen, though very indistinctly, some huge creature passing over +him,--apparently a quadruped, though what sort of quadruped none of them +could tell. All they knew was, that it was a gigantic, uncouth creature, +with a narrow body and neck, and very long legs; and that it had feet +there could be no doubt: since it was these that had pressed so heavily +upon them. + +But for the swirl of the sand-storm, and the dust already in their eyes, +they might have been able to give a better description of the creature +that had so unceremoniously stepped over them. These impediments, +however, had hindered them from obtaining a fair view of it; and some +animal,--grotesquely shaped, with a long neck, body, and legs,--was the +image which remained in the excited minds of the awakened sleepers. + +Whatever it was, they were all sufficiently frightened to stand for some +time trembling. Just awaking from such dreams, it was but natural they +should surrender themselves to strange imaginings; and instead of +endeavoring to identify the odd-looking animal, if animal it was, they +were rather inclined to set it down as some creature of a supernatural +kind. + +The three midshipmen were but boys, not so long from the nursery as to +have altogether escaped from the weird influence which many a nursery +tale had wrapped around them; and as for old Bill, fifty years spent in +"ploughing the ocean" had only confirmed _him_ in the belief, that the +"black art" is not so mythical as philosophers would have us think. + +So frightened were all four, that, after the first ebullition of their +surprise had subsided, they no longer gave utterance to speech, but +stood listening, and trembling as they listened. Perhaps, had they known +the service which the intruder had done for them, they might have felt +gratitude towards it, instead of the suspicion and dread that for some +moments kept them, as if spell-bound, in their places. It did not occur +to any of the party, that that strange summons from sleep--more +effective than the half-whispered invitation of a _valet-de-chambre_, or +the ringing of a breakfast-bell--had in all probability rescued them +from a silent, but certain death. + +They stood, as I have said, listening. There were several distinct +sounds that saluted their ears. There was the "sough" of the sea, as it +came swelling up the gorge; the "whish" of the wind, as it impinged upon +the crests of the ridges; and the "swish" of the sand as it settled +around them. + +All these were the voices of inanimate objects,--phenomena of nature, +easily understood. But, rising above them, were heard sounds of a +different character, which, though they might be equally natural, were +not equally familiar to those who listened to them. + +There was a sort of dull battering,--as if some gigantic creature was +performing a Terpsichorean feat upon the sand-bank above them; but +sharper sounds were heard at intervals,--screams commingled with short +snortings, both proclaiming something of the nature of a struggle. + +Neither in the screams nor the snortings was there anything that the +listeners could identify as sounds they had ever heard before. They were +alike perplexing to the ears of English, Irish, and Scotch. Even old +Bill, who had heard, sometime or other, nearly every sound known to +creation, could not classify them. + +"Divil take thim!" whispered he to his companions, "I dinna know what to +make av it. It be hawful to 'ear 'em!" + +"Hark!" ejaculated Harry Blount. + +"Hish!" exclaimed Terence. + +"Wheesh!" muttered Colin. "It's coming nearer, whatever it may be. +Wheesh!" + +There could be no doubt about the truth of this conjecture; for as the +caution passed from the lips of the young Scotchman, the dull hammering, +the snorts, and the unearthly screams were evidently drawing +nearer,--though the creature that was causing them was unseen through +the thick sand-mist still surrounding the listeners. These, however, +heard enough to know that some heavy body was making a rapid descent +down the sloping gorge, and with an impetuosity that rendered it prudent +for them to get out of its way. + +More by an instinct, than from any correct appreciation of the danger, +all four fell back from the narrow trench in which they had been +standing,--each, as he best could, retreating up the declivity of the +sand-hill. + +Scarce were they able to obtain footing in their new position, when the +sounds they had heard not only became louder and nearer, but the +creature that had been causing them paused close to their feet,--so +close that most of them could have touched it with their toes. + +For all that, not one of the party could tell what it was; and after it +had passed,--on its way down the ravine,--and was once more lost to +their view amid the swirling sand, they were not a bit further advanced +in their knowledge of the strange creature that had come so near +crushing out their existence with its ponderous weight! + +All that they had been able to see was a conglomeration of dark +objects,--resembling the head, neck, body, and limbs of some uncouth +animal,--while the sounds that proceeded from it were like utterances +that might have come from some other world; for certainly they had but +slight resemblance to anything the castaways had ever heard in +this--either upon sea, or land! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE MAHERRY. + + +For some length of time they stood conjecturing,--the boys with clasped +hands,--Old Bill near, but apart. + +During this time, at intervals, they continued to hear the sounds that +had so astonished them--the stamping, the snorts, and the screaming, +though they no longer saw the creature that caused them. + +The sand gully opened towards the sea, in a diagonal direction. It could +not be many yards to the spot, where it debouched upon the level of the +beach; and the creature that had caused them such a surprise--and was +still continuing to occupy their thoughts--must have reached this level +surface: though not to suspend its exertions. Every now and then could +be heard the same repetition of dull noises,--as if some animal was +kicking itself to death,--varied by trumpet-like snorts and agonizing +screams, which could be likened to the cry of no animal upon earth. + +But that the castaways knew they were on the coast of Africa,--that +continent renowned for strange existences,--they might have been even +more disposed to a supernatural belief in what was near them; but as the +minutes passed, and their senses began to return to them, they became +more inclined to think that what they had seen, heard, and _felt_, might +be only some animal--a heavy quadruped--that had trampled over them in +their sleep. + +The chief difficulty in reconciling this belief with the actual +occurrence was the odd behavior of the animal. Why had it gone up the +gorge, apparently _parenti passu_, to come tumbling down again in such a +confused fashion? Why was it still kicking and stumbling about at the +bottom of the ravine,--for such did the sounds proclaim it to be doing? + +No answer could be given to either of these questions; and none was +given, until day dawned over the sand-hills. This was soon after; and +along with the morning light had come the cessation of the simoom. + +Then saw the castaways that creature that had so abruptly awakened them +from their slumbers,--and, by so doing, perhaps, saved their lives. They +saw it recumbent at the bottom of the gorge, where they had so uneasily +passed the night. + +It proved to be--what from the slight glimpse they had got of it, they +were inclined to believe--an animal, and a quadruped; and if it had +presented an uncouth appearance, as it stepped over them in the +darkness, not less so did it appear as they now beheld it, under the +light of day. + +It was an animal of very large size,--in height far exceeding a +horse,--but of such a grotesque shape as to be easily recognizable by +any one who had ever glanced into a picture-book of quadrupeds. The long +craning neck, with an almost earless head and gibbous profile; the great +straggling limbs, callous at the knees, and ending in broad, wide +splitting hooves; the slender hind-quarters, and tiny, tufted +tail,--both ludicrously disproportioned,--the tumid, misshapen trunk; +but, above all, the huge hunch rising above the shoulders, at once +proclaimed the creature to be a dromedary. + +"Och! it's only a kaymal!" cried Old Bill, as soon as the daylight +enabled him to get a fair view of the animal. "What on hearth is it +doin' 'ere?" + +"Sure enough," suggested Terence, "it was this beast that stepped over +us while we were asleep! It almost squeezed the breath out of me, for it +set its hoof right upon the pit of my stomach." + +"The same with me," said Colin. "It sunk me down nearly a foot into the +sand. Ah, we have reason to be thankful there was that drift-sand over +our bodies at the time. If not, the great brute might have crushed us to +death!" + +There was some truth in Colin's observation. But for the covering of +sand,--which acted as a cushion,--and also from that which formed their +couch yielding beneath them, the hoof of the great quadruped might have +caused them a serious injury. As it was, none of them had received any +hurt beyond the fright which the strange intruder had occasioned them. + +The singular incident was yet only half explained. They saw it was a +camel that had disturbed their slumbers; that the animal had been on its +way up the ravine,--perhaps seeking shelter from the sand-storm; but +what had caused it to return so suddenly back down the slope? Above all, +why had it made the downward journey in such a singular manner? Obscure +as had been their view of it, they could see that it did not go on +all-fours, but apparently tumbling and struggling,--its long limbs +kicking about in the air, as if it was performing the descent by a +series of somersaults. + +All this had been mysterious enough; but it was soon explained to the +satisfaction of the four castaways, who, as soon as they saw the camel +by the bottom of the gorge, had rushed down and surrounded it. + +The animal was in a recumbent position,--not as if it had lain down to +rest, but in a constrained attitude, with its long neck drawn in towards +its forelegs, and its head lying low and half-buried in the sand! + +As it was motionless when they first perceived it, they fancied it was +dead,--that something had wounded it above. This would have explained +the fantastic fashion in which it had returned down the slope,--as the +somersaults observed might have been only a series of death struggles. + +On getting around it, however, they perceived that it was not only still +alive, but in perfect health; and its late mysterious movements were +accounted for at a single glance. A strong hair halter, firmly noosed +around its head, had got caught in the bifurcation of one of its +fore-hoofs, where a knot upon the rope had hindered it from slipping +through the deep split. This had first caused it to trip up, and tumble +head over heels,--inaugurating that series of struggles which had ended +in transporting it back to the bottom of the ravine,--where it now lay +with the trailing end of the long halter knotted inextricably around its +legs. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A LIQUID BREAKFAST. + + +Melancholy as was the situation of the self-caught camel, it was a +joyful sight to those who beheld it. Hungry as they were, its flesh +would provide them with food; and thirsting as they were, they knew that +inside its stomach would be found a supply of water! + +Such were their first thoughts as they came around it. + +They soon perceived, however, that to satisfy the latter appetite it +would not be necessary for them to kill the camel. Upon the top of its +hump was a small, flat pad or saddle, firmly held in its place by a +strong leathern band passing under the animal's belly. This proved it to +be a "maherry," or riding camel,--one of those swift creatures used by +the Arabs in their long rapid journeys across the deserts; and which are +common among the tribes inhabiting the Saära. + +It was not this saddle that gratified the eyes of our adventurers, but a +bag, tightly strapped to it, and resting behind the hump of the maherry. +This bag was of goat-skin, and upon examination was found to be nearly +half-full of water. It was, in fact, the "Gerba," or water-skin, +belonging to whoever had been the owner of the animal,--an article of +camel equipment more essential than the saddle itself. + +The four castaways, suffering the torture of thirst, made no scruple +about appropriating the contents of the bag, and, in the shortest +possible time, it was stripped from the back of the maherry, its stopper +taken out, and the precious fluid extracted from it by all four, in +greedy succession, until its light weight and collapsed sides declared +it to be empty. + +Their thirst being thus opportunely assuaged, a council was next held, +as to what they should do to appease the other appetite. + +Should they kill the camel? + +It appeared to be their only chance; and the impetuous Terence had +already unsheathed his midshipman's dirk, with the design of burying it +in the body of the animal. + +Colin, however, more prudent in counsel, cried to him to hold his +hand,--at least until they should give the subject a more thorough +consideration. + +On this suggestion they proceeded to debate the point between them. They +were of different opinions, and equally divided. Two,--Terence and Harry +Blount,--were for immediately killing the maherry, and making their +breakfast upon its flesh; while the sailor joined Colin in voting that +it should be reprieved. + +"Let us first make use of the animal to help carry us somewhere," urged +the young Scotchman. "We can go without food a day longer. Then, if we +find nothing, we can butcher this beast." + +"But what's to be found in such a country as this?" inquired Harry +Blount. "Look around you! There's nothing green but the sea itself. +There isn't anything eatable within sight,--not so much as would make a +dinner for a dormouse!" + +"Perhaps," rejoined Colin, "when we've travelled a few miles, we may +come upon a different sort of country. We can keep along the coast. Why +shouldn't we find shell-fish,--enough to keep us alive? See,--yonder's a +dark place down upon the beach. I shouldn't wonder if there's some +there." + +The glances of all were instantly directed towards the beach,--excepting +those of Sailor Bill. His were fixed on a different object; and an +exclamation that escaped him--as well as a movement that accompanied +it--arrested the attention of his companions, causing them to turn their +eyes upon him. + +"Shell-fish be blow'd," cried Bill, "here's something better for +breakfast than cowld oysters. Look!" + +The sailor, as he spoke, pointed to an oval-shaped object, something +larger than a cocoa-nut, appearing between the hind legs of the maherry. + +"It's a shemale!" added he, "and's had a calf not long ago. Look at the +'eldher,' and them tits. They're swelled wi' milk. There'll be enough +for the whole of us, I warrant yez." + +As if to make sure of what he said, the sailor dropped down upon his +knees by the hind-quarters of the prostrate camel; and, taking one of +the teats in his mouth, commenced drawing forth the lacteal fluid which +the udder contained. + +The animal made no resistance. It might have wondered at the curious +"calf" that had thus attached himself to its teats; but only at the +oddness of his color and costume; for no doubt it had often before been +similarly served by its African owner. + +"Fust rate!" cried Bill, desisting for a moment to take breath. "Ayqual +to the richest crame; if we'd only a bite av bred to go along wi' it, or +some av your Scotch porritch, Master Colin. But I forgets. My brave +youngsters," continued he, rising up and standing to one side, "yez be +all hungrier than I am. Go it, wan after another: there'll be enough for +yez all." + +Thus invited, and impelled by their hungry cravings, the three, one +after another, knelt down as the sailor had done, and drank copiously +from that sweet "fountain of the desert." + +Taking it in turns, they continued "sucking," until each had swallowed +about a pint and a half of the nutritious fluid when, the udder of the +camel becoming dry, told that her supply of milk was, for the time, +exhausted. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE SAILOR AMONG THE SHELL-FISH. + + +It was no longer a question of slaying the camel. That would be killing +the goose that gave the golden eggs. Though they were still very hungry, +the rich milk had to some extent taken the keen edge off their +appetites; and all declared they could now go several hours without +eating. + +The next question was: where were they to go? + +The reader may wonder that this was a question at all. Having been told +that the camel carried a saddle, and was otherwise caparisoned, it will +naturally be conjectured that the animal had got loose from some owner, +and was simply straying. This was the very hypothesis that passed before +the mind of our adventurers. How could they have conjectured otherwise? + +Indeed it was scarce a guess. The circumstances told them to a certainty +that the camel must have strayed from its owner. The only question was: +where that owner might be found. + +By reading, or otherwise, they possessed enough knowledge of the coast, +on which they had been cast away, to know that the proprietor of the +"stray" would be some kind of an Arab; and that he would be found +living--not in a house or a town--but in a tent; in all likelihood +associated with a number of other Arabs, in an "encampment." + +It required not much reasoning to arrive at these conclusions; and our +adventurers had come to them almost on that instant, when they first set +eyes on the caparisoned camel. + +You may wonder that they did not instantly set forth in search of the +master of the maherry; or of the tent or encampment from which the +latter should have strayed. One might suppose, that this would have been +their first movement. + +On the contrary, it was likely to be their very last; and for sufficient +reasons,--which will be discovered in the conversation that ensued, +after they had swallowed their liquid breakfasts. + +Terence had proposed adopting this course,--that is, to go in search of +the man from whom the maherry must have wandered. The young Irishman had +never been a great reader,--at all events no account of the many +"lamentable shipwrecks on the Barbary coast" had ever fallen into his +hands,--and he knew nothing of the terrible reputation of its people. +Neither had Bill obtained any knowledge of it from books; but, for all +that,--thanks to many a forecastle yarn,--the old sailor was well +informed both about the character of the coast on which they had +suffered shipwreck, and its inhabitants. Bill had the best of reasons +for dreading the denizens of the Saäran desert. + +"Sure they're not cannibals?" urged Terence. "They won't eat us, any +how?" + +"In troth I'm not so shure av that, Masther Terry," replied Bill. "Even +supposin' they won't ate us, they'll do worse." + +"Worse!" + +"Aye, worse, I tell you. They'd torture us, till death would be a +blissin'." + +"How do you know they would?" + +"Ach, Masther Terry!" sighed the old sailor, assuming an air of +solemnity, such as his young comrades had never before witnessed upon +his usually cheerful countenance; "I could tell yez something that 'ud +convince ye of the truth av what I've been sayin', an' that'll gie ye a +hidear av what we've got to expect if we fall into the 'ands av these +feerocious Ayrabs." + +Bill had already hinted at the prospective peril of an encounter with +the people of the country. + +"Tell us, Bill. What is it?" + +"Well, young masthers, it beant much,--only that my own brother was +wrecked som'ere on this same coast. That was ten years agone. He never +returned to owld Hengland." + +"Perhaps he was drowned?" + +"Betther for 'im, poor boy, if he 'ad. No, he 'adn't that luck. The +crew,--it was a tradin' vessel, and there was tin o' them,--all got safe +ashore. They were taken prisoners as they landed by a lot o' Ayrabs. +Only one av the tin got home to tell the tale; and he wouldn't a 'ad the +chance but for a Jew merchant at Mogador, that found he had rich +relations as 'ud pay well to ransom him. I see him a wee while after he +got back to Hengland; and he tell me what he had to go through, and my +hown brother as well: for Jim,--that be my brother's name,--was with the +tribe as took 'im up the counthry. None o' yez iver heerd o' cruelties +like they 'ad to put up with. Death in any way would be aisy, compared +to what they 'ad to hendure. Poor Jim! I suppose he's dead long ago. +Tough as I be myself, I don't believe I could a stood it a week,--let +alone tin years. Talk o' knockin' about like a Turk's head. They were +knocked about, an' beat, an' bullied, an' kicked, an' starved,--worse +than the laziest lubber as ever skulked about the decks o' a ship. No, +Masther Terry, we mustn't think av thryin' to find the owner av the +beest; but do everythink we can to keep out o' the way av both him and +his." + +"What would you advise us to do, Bill?" + +"I don't know much 'bout where we be," replied the sailor; "but +wheresomever it is, our best plan are to hug by the coast, an' keep +within sight o' the water. If we go innard, we're sure to get lost one +way or t' other. By keepin' south'ard we may come to some thradin' port +av the Portagee." + +"We'd better start at once, then," suggested the impatient Terence. + +"No, Masther Terry," said the sailor; "not afore night. We musn't leave +'eer till it gets dark. We'll 'ave to thravel betwane two days." + +"What!" simultaneously exclaimed the three midshipmen. "Stay here till +night! Impossible!" + +"Aye, lads! an' we must hide, too. Shure as ye are livin' there'll be +somebody afther this sthray kaymal,--in a wee while, too, as ye'll see. +If we ventured out durin' the daylight, they'd be sure to see us from +the 'ills. It's sayed, the thievin' schoundrels always keep watch when +there's been a wreck upon the coast; an' I'll be bound this beest +belongs to some av them same wreckers." + +"But what shall we do for food?" asked one of the party; "we'll be +famished before nightfall! The camel, having nothing to eat or drink, +won't yield any more milk." + +This interrogative conjecture was probably too near the truth. No one +made answer to it. Colin's eyes were again turned towards the beach. +Once more he directed the thoughts of his comrades to the shell-fish. + +"Hold your hands, youngsthers," said the sailor. "Lie close 'eer behind +the 'ill, an' I'll see if there's any shell-fish that we can make a meal +av. Now that the sun's up, it won't do to walk down there. I must make a +crawl av it." + +So saying, the old salt, after skulking some distance farther down the +sand gully, threw himself flat upon his face, and advanced in this +attitude, like some gigantic lizard crawling across the sand. + +The tide was out; but the wet beach, lately covered by the sea, +commenced at a short distance from the base of the "dunes." + +After a ten minutes' struggle, Bill succeeded in reaching the +dark-looking spot where Colin had conjectured there might be shell-fish. + +The old sailor was soon seen busily engaged about something; and from +his movements it was evident, that his errand was not to prove +fruitless. His hands were extended in different directions; and then at +short intervals withdrawn, and plunged into the capacious pockets of his +pea-jacket. + +[Illustration: THE OLD SAILOR SUCCEEDS IN GATHERING SOME SHELL-FISH.] + +After these gestures had been continued for about half an hour, he was +seen to "slew" himself round, and come crawling back towards the +sand-hills. + +His return was effected more slowly than his departure; and it could be +seen that he was heavily weighted. + +On getting back into the gorge, he was at once relieved of his load, +which proved to consist of about three hundred "cockles,"--as he called +the shell-fish he had collected,--and which were found to be a species +of mussel. + +They were not only edible, but delicious,--at least they seemed so to +those who were called upon to swallow them. + +This seasonable supply did a great deal towards allaying the appetites +of all; and even Terence now declared himself contented to remain +concealed, until night should afford them an opportunity of escape from +the monotony of their situation. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +KEEPING UNDER COVER. + + +From the spot, where the camel still lay couched in his "entetherment," +the sea was not visible to one lying along the ground. It was only by +standing erect, and looking over a spur of the sand-ridge, that the +beach could be seen, and the ocean beyond it. + +There would be no danger, therefore, of their being discovered, by any +one coming along the strand--provided they kept in a crouching attitude +behind the ridge, which, sharply crested, like a snow-wreath, formed a +sort of parapet in front of them. They might have been easily seen from +the summit of any of the "dunes" to the rear; but there was not much +likelihood of any one approaching them in that direction. The country +inward appeared to be a labyrinth of sand-hills--with no opening that +would indicate a passage for either man or beast. The camel, in all +probability, had taken to the gorge--guided by its instincts--there to +seek shelter from the sand-storm. The fact of its carrying a saddle +showed that its owner must have been upon the march, at the time it +escaped from him. Had our adventurers been better acquainted with Saäran +customs, they would have concluded that this had been the case: for they +would have known that, on the approach of a "shuma"--the "forecasts" of +which are well known--the Bedouins at once, and in all haste, break up +their encampments; and put themselves, and their whole personal +property, in motion. Otherwise, they would be in danger of getting +smoored under the settling sand-drift. + +Following the counsels of the sailor--whose desert knowledge appeared as +extensive as if it, and not the sea, had been his habitual home--our +adventurers crouched down in such a way as not to be seen by any one +passing along the beach. + +Scarcely had they placed themselves in this humble attitude, when Old +Bill--who had been keeping watch all the while, with only the upper half +of his head elevated above the combing of the sand-wreath--announced, by +a low exclamation, that something was in sight. + +Two dark forms were seen coming along the shore, from the southward; but +at so great a distance that it was impossible to tell what sort of +creatures they might turn out. + +"Let me have a look," proposed Colin. "By good luck, I've got my glass. +It was in my pocket as we escaped from the ship; and I didn't think of +throwing it away." + +As the young Scotchman spoke, he took from the breast of his dreadnought +jacket, a small telescope,--which, when drawn out to its full extent, +exhibited a series of tubes, _en échelon_, about half a yard in length. +Directing it upon the dark objects,--at the same time taking the +precaution to keep his own head as low down as possible,--he at once +proclaimed their character. + +"They're two bonny bodies," said he, "dressed in all the colors of the +rainbow. I can see bright shawls, and red caps, and striped cloaks. One +is mounted on a horse; the other bestrides a camel,--just such a one as +this by our side. They're coming along slowly; and appear to be staring +about them." + +"Ah, that be hit," said Old Bill. "It be the howners of this 'eer brute. +They be on the sarch for her. Lucky the drift-sand hae covered her +tracks,--else they'd come right on to us. Lie low, Masther Colin. We +mayn't show our heeds over the combin' o' the sand. They'd be sure to +see the size o' a saxpence. We maun keep awthegither oot o' sicht." + +One of the old sailor's peculiarities--or, perhaps, it may have been an +eccentricity--was, that in addressing himself to his companions, he was +almost sure to assume the national _patois_ of the individual spoken to. +In anything like a continued conversation with Harry Blount, his "h's" +were handled in a most unfashionable manner; and while talking with +Terence, the Milesian came from his lips, in a brogue almost as pure as +Tipperary could produce. + +In a _tête-à-tête_ with Colin, the listener might have sworn that Bill +was more Scotch than the young Macpherson himself. + +Colin perceived the justice of the sailor's suggestion; and immediately +ducked his head below the level of the parapet of sand. + +This placed our adventurers in a position at once irksome and uncertain. +Curiosity, if nothing else, rendered them desirous to watch the +movements of the men who were approaching. Without noting these, they +would not be able to tell when they might again raise their heads above +the ridge; and might do so, just at the time when the horseman and the +rider of the maherry were either opposite or within sight of them. + +As the sailor had said, any dark object of the size of a sixpence would +be seen if presented above the smooth combing of snow-white sand; and it +was evident to all that for one of them to look over it might lead to +their being discovered. + +While discussing this point, they knew that some time had elapsed; and, +although the eyes they dreaded might still be distant, they could not +help thinking, that they were near enough to see them if only the hair +of their heads should be shown above the sand. + +They reflected naturally. They knew that these sons of the desert must +be gifted with keen instincts; or, at all events, with an experience +that would enable them to detect the slightest "fault" in the aspect of +a landscape, so well known to them,--in short, that they would notice +anything that might appear "abnormal" in it. + +From that time their situation was one of doubt and anxiety. They dared +not give even as much as a glance over the smooth, snow white sand. They +could only crouch behind it, in anxious expectation, knowing not when +that dubious condition of things could be safely brought to a close. + +Luckily they were relieved from it, and sooner than they had expected. +Colin it was who discovered a way to get out of the difficulty. + +"Ha!" exclaimed he, as an ingenious conception sprang up in his mind. +"I've got an idea that'll do. I'll watch these fellows, without giving +them a chance of seeing me. That will I." + +"How?" asked the others. + +Colin made no verbal reply; but instead, he was seen to insert his +telescope into the sand-parapet, in such a way that its tube passed +clear through to the other side, and of course commanded a view of the +beach, along which the two forms were advancing. + +As soon as he had done so, he placed his eye to the glass, and, in a +cautious whisper, announced that both the horseman and camel-rider were +within his "field of view." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE TRAIL ON THE SAND. + + +The tube of the telescope, firmly imbedded in the sand, kept its place +without the necessity of being held in hand. It only required to be +slightly shifted as the horseman and camel-rider changed place,--so as +to keep them within its field of view. + +By this means our adventurers were able to mark their approach and note +every movement they made, without much risk of being seen themselves. +Each of them took a peep through the glass to satisfy their curiosity, +and then the instrument was wholly intrusted to its owner, who was +thenceforth constantly to keep his eye to it, and observe the movements +of the strangers. This the young Scotchman did, at intervals +communicating with his companions in a low voice. + +"I can make out their faces," muttered he, after a time; "and ugly +enough are they. One is yellow, the other black. He must be a negro,--of +course he is,--he's got woolly hair too. It's he that rides the +camel,--just such another as this that stumbled over us. The yellow man +upon the horse has a pointed beard upon his chin. He has a sharp look, +like those Moors we've seen at Tetuan. He's an Arab, I suppose. He +appears to be the master of the black man. I can see him make gestures, +as if he was directing him to do something. There! they have +stopped,--they are looking this way!" + +"Marcy on us!" muttered old Bill, "if they have speered the glass!" + +"Troth! that's like enough," said Terence. "It'll be flashing in the sun +outside the sand. That sharp-eyed Arab is almost sure to see it." + +"Had you not better draw it in?" suggested Harry Blount. + +"True," answered Colin. "But I fear it would be too late now. If that's +what halted them, it's all over with us, so far as hiding goes." + +"Slip it in, any how. If they don't see it any more, they mayn't come +quite up to the ridge." + +Colin was about to follow the advice thus offered, when on taking what +he intended to be a last squint through the telescope, he perceived that +the travellers were moving on up the beach, as if they had seen nothing +that called upon them to deviate from their course. + +Fortunately for the four "stowaways," it was not the sparkle of the lens +that had caused them to make that stop. A ravine, or opening through the +sand-ridges, much larger than that in which our adventurers were +concealed, _emboucheed_ upon the beach, some distance below. It was the +appearance of this opening that had attracted the attention of the two +mounted men; and from their gestures Colin could tell they were talking +about it, as if undecided whether to go that way or keep on up the +strand. + +It ended by the yellow man putting spurs to his horse, and galloping off +up the ravine, followed by the black man on the camel. + +From the way in which both behaved,--keeping their eyes generally bent +upon the ground, but at intervals gazing about over the country,--it was +evident they were in search of something, and this would be the +she-camel that lay tethered in the bottom of the sand-gorge, close to +the spot occupied by our adventurers. + +"They've gone off on the wrong track," said Colin, taking his eye from +the glass as soon as the switch tail of the maherry disappeared behind +the slope of a sand-dune. "So much the better for us. My heart was at my +mouth just a minute ago. I was sure it was all over with us." + +"You think they haven't seen the shine of the lens?" interrogated Harry. + +"Of course not; or else they'd have come on to examine it. Instead, +they've left the beach altogether. They've gone inland, among the hills. +They're no longer in sight." + +"Good!" ejaculated Terence, raising his head over the ridge, as did also +the others. + +"Och! good yez may well say, Masther Terence. Jist look fwhot fools +we've been all four av us! We never thought av the thracks, nayther wan +nor other av us!" + +As Bill spoke, he pointed down towards the beach, in the direction in +which he had made his late crawling excursion. There, distinctly +traceable in the half-wet sand, were the marks he had made both going +and returning, as if a huge tortoise or crocodile had been dragging +itself over the ground. + +The truth of his words was apparent to all. It was chance and not their +cunning that had saved them from discovery. Had the owner of the camel +but continued another hundred yards along the beach, he could not have +failed to see the double "trail" made by the sailor, and of course would +have followed it to the spot where they were hidden. As it was, the two +mounted men had not come near enough to note the sign made by the old +salt in his laborious flounderings; and perhaps fancying they had +followed the strand far enough, they had struck off into the +interior,--through the opening of the sand-hills, in the belief that the +she-camel might have done the same. + +Whatever may have been their reason, they were now gone out of sight, +and the long stretch of desert shore was once more under the eyes of our +adventurers, unrelieved by the appearance of anything that might be +called a living creature. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE "DESERT SHIP." + + +Though there was now nothing within sight between them, they did not +think it prudent to move out of the gorge, nor even to raise their heads +above the level of the sand-wreath. They did so only at intervals, to +assure themselves that the "coast was clear"; and satisfied on this +score, they would lower their heads again, and remain in this attitude +of concealment. + +One with but slight knowledge of the circumstances--or with the country +in which they were--might consider them over-cautious in acting thus, +and might fancy that in their forlorn, shipwrecked condition they should +have been but too glad to meet men. + +On the contrary, a creature of their own shape was the last thing they +desired either to see or encounter; and for the reasons already given in +their conversation, they could meet no men there who would not be their +enemies,--worse than that, their tyrants, perhaps their torturers. Old +Bill was sure of this from what he had heard. So were Colin and Harry +from what they had read. Terence alone was incredulous as to the cruelty +of which the sailor had given such a graphic picture. + +Terence, however rash he was by nature, allowed himself to be overruled +by his more prudent companions; and therefore, up to the hour when the +twilight began to em-purple the sea, no movement towards stirring from +their place of concealment was made by any of the party. + +The patient camel shared their silent retreat; though they had taken +precautions against its straying from them, had it felt so inclined, by +tying its shanks securely together. Towards evening the animal was again +milked, in the same fashion as in the morning; and, reinvigorated by its +bountiful yield, our adventurers prepared to depart from a spot, of +which, notwithstanding the friendly concealment it had afforded them, +they were all heartily tired. + +Their preparations were easily made, and occupied scarce ten seconds of +time. It was only to untether the camel and take to the road, or, as +Harry jocosely termed it, "unmoor the desert ship and begin their +voyage." + +Just as the last gleam of daylight forsook the white crests of the +sand-hills, and went flickering afar over the blue waters of the ocean, +they stole forth from their hiding-place, and started upon a journey of +which they knew neither the length nor the ending. + +Even of the direction of that undetermined journey they had but a vague +conception. They believed that the coast trended northward and +southward, and that one of these points was the proper one to head for. +It was almost "heads or tails" which of them they should take; and had +they been better acquainted with their true situation, it might as well +have been determined by a toss-up, for any chance they had of ever +arriving at a civilized settlement. But they knew not that. They had a +belief--the old sailor stronger than the rest--that there were +Portuguese forts along the coast, chiefly to the southward, and that by +keeping along shore they might reach one of these. There were such +establishments it is true--still are; and though at that time there were +some nearer to the point where their ship had been wrecked, none were +near enough to be reached by the starving castaway, however +perseveringly he might travel towards them. + +Ignorant of the impracticability of their attempt, our adventurers +entered upon it with a spirit worthy of success,--worthy of the country +from which they had come. + +For some time the maherry was led in hand, old Bill being its conductor. +All four had been well rested during the day, and none of them cared to +ride. + +As the tide, however, was now beginning to creep up into the sundry +inlets, to avoid walking in water, they were compelled to keep well high +up on the beach; and this forced them to make their way through the soft +yielding sand, a course that required considerable exertion. + +Ore after another now began to feel fatigue, and talk about it as well; +and then the proposal was made, that the maherry--who stepped over the +unsure surface with as much apparent lightness as a cat would have +done--should be made to carry at least one of the party. They could ride +in turns, which would give each of them an opportunity of resting. + +No sooner was the proposition made than it was carried into execution. +Terence, who had been the one to advance it, being hoisted in the hump +of the camel. + +But though the young O'Connor had been accustomed to the saddle from +childhood, and had ridden "across country" on many an occasion, it was +not long before he became satisfied with the saddle of a maherry. The +rocking, and jolting, and "pitching," as our adventurers termed it, from +larboard to starboard, fore and aft, and alow and aloft, soon caused +Terence to sing out "enough"; and he descended into the soft sand with a +much greater desire for walking than the moment before he had had for +riding. + +Harry Blount took his place, but although the young Englishman had been +equally accustomed to a hunting-saddle, he found that his experience +went but a little way towards making him easy on the hump of a maherry; +and he was soon in the mood for dismounting. + +The son of Scotia next climbed upon the back of the camel. Whether it +was that natural pride of prowess which oft impels his countrymen to +perseverance and daring deeds,--whether it was that, or whether it arose +from a sterner power of endurance,--certain it is that Colin kept his +seat longer than either of his predecessors. + +But even Scotch sinews could not hold out against such a tension,--such +a bursting and wrenching and tossing,--and it ended by Colin declaring +that upon the whole he would prefer making the journey upon "Shank's +mare." + +Saying this he slid down from the shoulders of the ungainly animal, +resigning the creature once more to the conduct of Old Bill, who had +still kept hold of the halter. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +HOMEWARD BOUND. + + +The experience of his young companions might have deterred the sailor +from imitating their example; more especially as Bill, according to his +own statement, had never been "abroad" a saddle in his life. But they +did not; and for special reasons. Awkward as the old salt might feel in +a saddle, he felt not less awkward _afoot_. That is ashore,--on _terra +firma_. + +Place him on the deck of a ship, or in the rigging of one, and no man in +all England's navy could have been more secure as to his footing, or +more difficult to dispossess of it; but set sailor Bill upon shore, and +expect him to go ahead upon it, you would be disappointed: you might as +well expect a fish to make progress on land; and you would witness a +species of locomotion more resembling that of a manatee or a seal, than +of a human biped. As the old man-o'-war's-man had now being floundering +full five weeks through the soft shore-sand, he was thoroughly convinced +that a mode of progression must be preferable to that; and as soon as +the young Scotchman descended from his seat, he climbed into it. + +He had not much climbing to do,--for the well-trained maherry, when any +one wished to mount him, at once knelt down,--making the ascent to his +"summits" as easy as possible. + +Just as the sailor had got firmly into the saddle, the moon shone out +with a brilliance that almost rivalled the light of day. In the midst of +that desert landscape, against the ground of snow-white sand, the +figures of both camel and rider were piquantly conspicuous; and although +the one was figuratively a ship, and the other really a sailor, their +juxtaposition offered a contrast of the queerest kind. So ludicrous did +it seem, that the three "mids," disregarding all ideas of danger, broke +forth with one accord into a strain of loud and continuous laughter. + +They had all seen camels, or pictures of these animals; but never before +either a camel, or the picture of one, _with a sailor upon his back_. +The very idea of a dromedary carries along with it the cognate spectacle +of an Arab on its back,--a slim, sinewy individual of swarth complexion +and picturesque garb, a bright burnouse steaming around his body, with a +twisted turban on his head. But a tall camel surmounted by a sailor in +dreadnought jacket and sou'-wester, was a picture to make a Solon laugh, +let alone a tier of midshipmen; and it drew from the latter such a +cachinnation as caused the shores of the Saära to echo with sounds of +joy, perhaps never heard there before. Old Bill was not angry, he was +only gratified to see these young gentlemen in such good spirits; and +calling upon them to keep close after him, he gave the halter to his +maherry and started off over the sand. + +For some time his companions kept pace with him, doing their best; but +it soon became apparent, even to the sailor himself, that unless +something was done to restrain the impetuosity of the camel, he must +soon be separated from those following afoot. + +This something its rider felt himself incapable of accomplishing. It is +true he still held the halter in his hand, but this gave him but slight +control over the camel. It was not a mameluke bitt--not even a +snaffle--and for directing the movements of the animal the old sailor +felt himself as helpless as if standing by the wheel of a seventy-four +that had unshipped her rudder. Just like a ship in such a situation did +the maherry behave. Surging through the ocean of soft sand, now mounting +the spurs that trended down to the beach, now descending headlong into +deep gullies, like troughs between the ocean waves, and gliding +silently, gently forward as a shallop upon a smooth sea. Such was the +course that the sailor was pursuing. Very different, however, were his +reflections to those he would have indulged in on board a man-o'-war; +and if any man ever sneered at that simile which likens a camel to a +ship, it was Sailor Bill upon that occasion. + +"Avast there!" cried he, as soon as the maherry had fairly commenced +moving. "Shiver my old timbers! what do yez mean, you brute? Belay +there! belay! 'Ang it, I must pipe all 'ands, an' take in sail. Where +the deevil are ye steerin' to? Be jabers, yez may laugh, young +gentlemen, but this ain't a fair weather craft, I tell yez. Thunder an' +ouns! it be as much as I can do to keep her to her course. Hulloo! she's +off afore the wind!" + +As the rider of the maherry gave out this declaration, the animal was +seen suddenly to increase its speed, not only in a progressive ratio, +but at once to double quick, as if impelled by some powerful motive. + +At the same time it was heard to utter a strange cry, half scream, half +snort, which could not have been caused by any action on the part of its +rider. + +It was already over a hundred yards in advance of those following on +foot; but after giving out that startling cry, the distance became +quickly increased, and in a few seconds of time the three astonished +"mids" saw only the shadow of a maherry, with a sailor upon its back, +first dissolving into dim outline until it finally disappeared behind +the sand dunes that abutted upon the beach. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE DANCE INTERRUPTED. + + +Leaving the midshipmen to their mirth, which, however, was not of very +long duration, we must follow Sailor Bill and the runaway camel. + +In reality the maherry had made off with him, though for what reason the +sailor could not divine. He only knew that it was going at the rate of +nine or ten knots an hour, and going its own way; for instead of keeping +to the line of the coast,--the direction he would have wished it to +take,--it had suddenly turned tail upon the sea, and headed towards the +interior of the country. + +Its rider had already discovered that he had not the slightest control +over it. He had tugged upon the hair halter and shouted "Avast!" until +both his arms and tongue were tired. All to no purpose. The camel +scorned his commands, lent a deaf ear to his entreaties, and paid not +the slightest heed to his attempt to pull up, except to push on in the +opposite direction, with its snout elevated in the air and its long +ungainly neck stretched forward in the most determined and provoking +fashion. + +There was not much force in the muscular efforts made to check it. It +was just as much as its rider could do to balance himself on its hump, +which, of course, he had to do Arab-fashion, sitting _upon_ the saddle +as on a chair, with his feet resting upon the back of the animal's neck. +It was this position that rendered his seat so insecure, but no other +could have been adopted in the saddle of a maherry, and the sailor was +compelled to keep it as well as he could. + +At the time the animal first started off, it had not gone at so rapid a +pace but that he might have slipped down upon the soft sand without much +danger of being injured. This for an instant he had thought of doing; +but knowing that while "unhorsing" himself the camel might escape, he +had voluntarily remained on its back, in the hope of being able to pull +the animal up. + +On becoming persuaded that this would be impossible, and that the +maherry had actually made off with him, it was too late to dismount +without danger. The camel was now shambling along so swiftly that he +could not slip down without submitting himself to a fall. It would be no +longer a tumble upon soft sand, for the runaway had suddenly swerved +into a deep gorge, the bottom of which was thickly strewed with boulders +of rock, and through these the maherry was making way with the speed of +a fast-trotting horse. + +Had its rider attempted to abandon his high perch upon the hump, his +chances would have been good for getting dashed against one of the big +boulders, or trodden under the huge hoofs of the maherry itself. + +Fully alive to this danger, Old Bill no more thought of throwing himself +to the ground; but on the contrary, held on to the hump with all the +tenacity that lay in his well-tarred digits. + +He had continued to shout for some time after parting with his +companions; but as this availed nothing, he at length desisted, and was +now riding the rest of his race in silence. + +When was it to terminate? Whither was the camel conducting him? These +were the questions that now came before his mind. + +He thought of an answer, and it filled him with apprehension. The animal +was evidently in eager haste. It was snuffing the wind in its progress +forward; something ahead seemed to be attracting it. What could this +something be but its home, the tent from which it had strayed, the +dwelling of its owner? And who could that owner be but one of those +cruel denizens of the desert they had been taking such pains to avoid? + +The sailor was allowed but little time for conjectures; for almost on +the instant of his shaping this, the very first one, the maherry shot +suddenly round the hip of a hill, bringing him in full view of a +spectacle that realized it. + +A small valley, or stretch of level ground enclosed by surrounding +ridges, lay before him; its gray, sandy surface interspersed by a few +patches of darker color, which the moon, shining brightly from a blue +sky, disclosed to be tufts of tussock-grass and mimosa bushes. + +These, however, did not occupy the attention of the involuntary visitor +to that secluded spot; but something else that appeared in their +midst,--something that proclaimed the presence of human beings. + +Near the centre of the little valley half a dozen dark objects stood up +several feet above the level of the ground. Their size, shape, and color +proclaimed their character. They were tents,--the tents of a Bedouin +encampment. The old man-o'-war's-man had never seen such before; but +there was no mistaking them for anything else,--even going as he was at +a speed that prevented him from having a very clear view of them. + +In a few seconds, however, he was near enough to distinguish something +more than the tents. They stood in a sort of circle of about twenty +yards in diameter, and within this could be seen the forms of men, +women, and children. Around were animals of different sorts,--horses, +camels, sheep, goats, and dogs, grouped according to their kind, with +the exception of the dogs, which appeared to be straying everywhere. +This varied tableau was distinctly visible under the light of a full, +mellow moon. + +There were voices,--shouting and singing. There was music, made upon +some rude instrument. The human forms,--both of men and women,--were in +motion, circling and springing about. The sailor saw they were dancing. + +He heard, and saw, all this in a score of seconds, as the maherry +hurried him forward into their midst. The encampment was close to the +bottom of the hill round which the camel had carried him. He had at +length made up his mind to dismount _coute que coute_; but there was no +time. Before he could make a movement to fling himself from the +shoulders of the animal, he saw that he was discovered. A cry coming +from the tents admonished him of this fact. It was too late to attempt a +retreat, and, in a state of desponding stupor, he stuck to the saddle. +Not much longer. The camel, with a snorting scream, responding to the +call of its fellows, rushed on into the encampment,--right into the very +circle of the dancers; and there amidst the shouts of men, the screeches +of women, the yelling of children, the neighing of horses, the bleating +of sheep and goats, and the barking of a score or two of cur dogs,--the +animal stopped, with such abrupt suddenness that its rider, after +performing a somersault through the air, came down on all-fours, in +front of its projecting snout! + +In such fashion was Sailor Bill introduced to the Arab encampment. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A SERIO-COMICAL RECEPTION. + + +It need scarce be said that the advent of the stranger produced some +surprise among the Terpsichorean crowd, into the midst of which he had +been so unceremoniously projected. And yet this surprise was not such as +might have been expected. One might suppose that an English +man-o'-war's-man in pilot-cloth, pea-jacket, glazed hat, and wide duck +trousers, would have been a singular sight to the eyes of the +dark-skinned individuals who now encircled them--dressed as all of them +were in gay colored floating shawl-robes, slipped or sandalled feet, and +with fez caps or turbans on their heads. + +Not a bit of a singular sight: neither the color of his skin, nor his +sailor-costume, had caused surprise to those who surrounded him. Both +were matters with which they were well acquainted--alas! too well. + +The astonishment they had exhibited arose simply from the _sans façons_ +manner of his coming amongst them; and on the instant after it +disappeared, giving place to a feeling of a different kind. + +Succeeding to the shouts of surprise, arose a simultaneous peal of +laughter from men, women, and children; in which even the animals seemed +to join--more especially the maherry, who stood with its uncouth head +craned over its dismounted rider, and looking uncontrollably comic! + +In the midst of this universal exclamation the sailor rose to his feet. +He might have been disconcerted by the reception, had his senses been +clear enough to comprehend what was passing. But they were not. The +effects of that fearful somersault had confused him; and he had only +risen to an erect attitude, under a vague instinct or desire to escape +from that company. + +After staggering some paces over the ground, his thoughts returned to +him; and he more clearly comprehended his situation. Escape was out of +the question. He was prisoner to a party of wandering Bedouins,--the +worst to be found in all the wide expanse of the Saäran desert,--the +wreckers of the Atlantic coast. + +The sailor might have felt surprised at seeing a collection of familiar +objects into the midst of which he had wandered. By the doorway of a +tent,--one of the largest upon the ground,--there was a pile of +_paraphernalia_, every article of which was tropical, not of the Saära, +but the sea. There were "belongings" of the cabin and caboose,--the +'tween decks, and the forecastle,--all equally proclaiming themselves +the _débris_ of a castaway ship. + +The sailor could have no conjectures as to the vessel to which they had +belonged. He knew the articles by sight,--one and all of them. They were +the spoils of the corvette, that had been washed ashore, and fallen into +the hands of the wreckers. + +Among them Old Bill saw some things that had appertained to himself. + +On the opposite side of the encampment, by another large tent, was a +second pile of ship's equipments, like the first, guarded by a sentinel +who squatted beside it: the sailor looked around in expectation to see +some of the corvette's crew. Some might have escaped like himself and +his three companions by reaching the shore on cask, hoop, or spar. If +so, they had not fallen into the hands of the wreckers; or if they had, +they were not in the camp--unless, indeed, they might be inside some of +the tents. This was not likely. Most probably they had all been drowned, +or had succumbed to a worse fate than drowning--death at the hands of +the cruel coast robbers, who now surrounded the survivor. + +The circumstances under which the old sailor made these reflections were +such as to render the last hypothesis sufficiently probable. He was +being pushed about and dragged over the ground by two men, armed with +long curved scimitars, contesting some point with one another, +apparently as to which should be first to cut off his head! + +Both of these men appeared to be chiefs; "sheiks" as the sailor heard +them called by their followers, a party of whom--also with arms in their +hands--stood behind each "sheik"--all seemingly alike eager to perform +the act of decapitation. + +So near seemed the old sailor's head to being cut off, that for some +seconds he was not quite sure whether it still remained upon his +shoulders! He could not understand a word that passed between the +contending parties, though there was talk enough to have satisfied a +sitting of parliament, and probably with about the same quantity of +sense in it. + +Before he had proceeded far, the sailor began to comprehend,--not from +the speeches made, but the gestures that accompanied them,--that it was +not the design of either party to cut off his head. The drawn scimitars, +sweeping through the air, were not aimed at his neck, but rather in +mutual menace of one another. + +Old Bill could see that there was some quarrel between the two sheiks, +of which he was himself the cause; that the camp was not a unity +consisting of a single chief, his family, and following; but that there +were too separate leaders, each with his adherents, perhaps temporarily +associated together for purposes of plunder. + +That they had collected the wreck of the corvette, and divided the +spoils between them, was evident from the two heaps being kept carefully +apart, each piled up near the tent of a chief. + +The old man-o'-war's-man made his observations in the midst of great +difficulties: for while noting these particulars, he was pulled about +the place, first by one sheik, then by the other, each retaining his +disputed person in temporary possession. + +From the manner in which they acted, he could tell that it was his +person that was the subject of dispute, and that both wanted to be the +proprietor of it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE TWO SHEIKS. + + +There was a remarkable difference between the two men thus claiming +ownership in the body of Old Bill. One was a little wizen-faced +individual, whose yellow complexion and sharp, angular features +proclaimed him of the Arab stock, while his competitor showed a skin of +almost ebon blackness--a frame of herculean development--a broad face, +with flat nose and thick lubberly lips--a head of enormous +circumference, surmounted by a mop of woolly hair, standing erect +several inches above his occiput. + +Had the sailor been addicted to ethnological speculations, he might have +derived an interesting lesson from that contest, of which he was the +cause. It might have helped him to a knowledge of the geography of the +country in which he had been cast, for he was now upon that neutral +territory where the true Ethiopian--the son of Ham--occasionally +contests possession, both of the soil and the slave, with the wandering +children of Japhet. + +The two men who were thus quarrelling about the possession of the +English tar, though both of African origin, could scarce have been more +unlike had their native country been the antipodes of each other. + +Their object was not so different, though even in this there was a +certain dissimilation. Both designed making the shipwrecked sailor a +slave. But the sheik of Arab aspects wished to possess him, with a view +to his ultimate ransom. He knew that by carrying him northwards there +would be a chance to dispose of him at a good price, either to the Jew +merchants at Wedinoin, or the European consuls at Mogador. It would not +be the first Saärian castaway he had in this manner restored to his +friends and his country--not from any motives of humanity, but simply +for the profit it produced. + +On the other hand, the black competitor had a different, though somewhat +similar, purpose in view. His thoughts extended towards the south. There +lay the emporium of his commerce,--the great mud-built town of +Timbuctoo. Little as a white man was esteemed among the Arab merchants +when considered as a _mere_ slave, the sable sheik knew that in the +south of the Saära he would command a price, if only as a curiosity to +figure among the followers of the sultan of some grand interior city. +For this reason, therefore, was the black determined upon the possession +of Bill, and showed as much eagerness to become his owner as did his +tawny competitor. + +After several minutes spent in words and gestures of mutual menace, +which, from the wild shouts and flourishing of scimitars, seemed as if +it could only end in a general lopping off of heads, somewhat to the +astonishment of the sailor, tranquillity became restored without any one +receiving scratch or cut. + +The scimitars were returned to their scabbards; and although the affair +did not appear to be decided, the contest was now carried on in a more +pacific fashion by words. A long argument ensued, in which both sheiks +displayed their oratorial powers. Though the sailor could not understand +a word of what was said, he could tell that the little Arab was urging +his ownership, on the plea that the camel which had carried the captive +into the encampment was his property, and on this account was he +entitled to the "waif." + +The black seemed altogether to dissent from this doctrine; on his side +pointing to the two heaps of plunder; as much as to say that his share +of the spoils--already obtained--was the smaller one. + +At this crisis a third party stepped between the two disputants--a young +fellow, who appeared to have some authority with both. His behavior told +Bill that he was acting as mediator. Whatever was the proposal made by +him, it appeared to satisfy both parties, as both at once desisted from +their wordy warfare--at the same time that they seemed preparing to +settle the dispute in some other way. + +The mode was soon made apparent. A spot of smooth, even sand was +selected by the side of the encampment, to which the two sheiks, +followed by their respective parties, repaired. + +A square figure was traced out, inside of which several rows of little +round holes were scooped in the sand, and then the rival sheiks sat +down, one on each side of the figure. Each had already provided himself +with a number of pellets of camels' dung, which were now placed in the +holes, and the play of "helga" was now commenced. + +Whoever won the game was to become possessed of the single stake, which +was neither more nor less than Sailor Bill. + +The game proceeded by the shifting of the dung pellets in a particular +fashion, from hole to hole, somewhat similar to the moving of draughts +upon the squares of a checker-board. + +During the play not a word was spoken by either party, the two sheiks +squatting opposite each other, and making their moves with as much +gravity as a pair of chess-players engaged in some grand tournament of +this intellectual game. + +It was only when the affair ended, that the noise broke forth again, +which it did in loud, triumphant shouts from the conquering party, with +expressions of chagrin on the side of the conquered. + +By interpreting these shouts, Bill could tell that he had fallen to the +black; and this was soon after placed beyond doubt by the latter coming +up and taking possession of him. + +It appeared, however, that there had been certain subsiding conditions +to the play, and that the sailor had been in some way or another _staked +against his own clothes_; for before being fully appropriated by his +owner he was stripped to his shirt, and his habiliments, shoes and +sou'-wester included, were handed over to the sheik who had played +second-best in the game of "helga." + +In this forlorn condition was the old sailor conducted to the tent of +his sable master, and placed like an additional piece upon the pile of +plunder already apportioned! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +SAILOR BILL BESHREWED. + + +Sailor Bill said not a word. He had no voice in the disposal of the +stakes,--which were himself and his "toggery,"--and, knowing this, he +remained silent. + +He was not allowed to remain undisturbed. During the progress of the +game, he had become the cynosure of a large circle of eyes,--belonging +to the women and children of the united tribes. + +He might have looked for some compassion,--at least, from the female +portion of those who formed his _entourage_. Half famished with +hunger,--a fact which he did not fail to communicate by signs,--he might +have expected them to relieve his wants. The circumstance of his making +them known might argue, that he did expect some sort of kind treatment. + +It was not much, however. His hopes were but slight, and sprang rather +from a knowledge of his own necessities, and of what the women _ought_ +to have done, than what they were likely to do. Old Bill had heard too +much of the character of these hags of the Saära,--and their mode of +conducting themselves towards any unfortunate castaway who might be +drifted among them,--to expect any great hospitality at their hands. + +His hopes, therefore, were moderate; but, for all that, they were doomed +to disappointment. + +Perhaps in no other part of the world is the "milk of human kindness" so +completely wanting in the female breast, as among the women of the +wandering Arabs of Africa. Slaves to their imperious lords,--even when +enjoying the sacred title of wife,--they are themselves treated worse +than the animals which they have to manage and tend,--even worse at +times than their own bond-slaves, with whom they mingle almost on an +equality. As in all like cases, this harsh usage, instead of producing +sympathy for others who suffer, has the very opposite tendency; as if +they found some alleviation of their cruel lot in imitating the +brutality of their oppressors. + +Instead of receiving kindness, the old sailor became the recipient of +insults, not only from their tongues,--which he could not +understand,--but by acts and gestures which were perfectly +comprehensible to him. + +While his ears were dinned by virulent speeches,--which, could he have +comprehended them, would have told him how much he was despised for +being an infidel, and not a follower of the true prophet,--while his +eyes were well-nigh put out by dust thrown in his face,--accompanied by +spiteful expectorations,--his body was belabored by sticks, his skin +scratched and pricked with sharp thorns, his whiskers lugged almost to +the dislocation of his jaws, and the hair of his head uprooted in +fistfuls from his pericranium. + +All this, too, amid screams and fiendish laughter, that resembled an +orgie of furies. + +These women--she-devils they better deserved to be called--were simply +following out the teachings of their inhuman faith,--among religions, +even that of Rome not excepted, the most inhuman that has ever cursed +mankind. Had old Bill been a believer in their "Prophet," that false +seer of the blood-stained sword, their treatment of him would have been +directly the reverse. Instead of kicks and cuffs, hustlings and +scratchings, he would have been made welcome to a share in such +hospitality as they could have bestowed upon him. It was religion, not +nature, made them act as they did. Their hardness of heart came not from +_God_, but the _Prophet_. They were only carrying out the edicts of +their "priests of a bloody faith." + +In vain did the old man-o'-war's-man cry out "belay" and "avast." In +vain did he "shiver his timbers," and appeal against their scurvy +treatment, by looks, words, and gesture. + +These seemed only to augment the mirth and spitefulness of his +tormentors. + +In this scene of cruelty there was one woman conspicuous among the rest. +By her companions she was called _Fatima_. The old sailor, ignorant of +Arabic feminine names, thought "it a misnomer," for of all his +she-persecutors she was the leanest and scraggiest. Notwithstanding the +poetical notions which the readers of Oriental romance might associate +with her name, there was not much poetry about the personage who so +assiduously assaulted Sailor Bill,--pulling his whiskers, slapping his +cheeks, and every now and then spitting in his face! + +She was something more than middle-aged, short, squat, and meagre; with +the eye-teeth projecting on both sides, so as to hold up the upper lip, +and exhibit all the others in their ivory whiteness, with an expression +resembling that of the hyena. This is considered beauty,--a fashion in +full vogue among her countrywomen, who cultivate it with great +care,--though to the eyes of the old sailor it rendered the hag all the +more hideous. + +But the skinning of eye-teeth was not the only attempt at ornament made +by this belle of the Desert. Strings of black beads hung over her +wrinkled bosom; circlets of white bone were set in her hair; armlets and +bangles adorned her wrists and ankles, and altogether did her costume +and behavior betoken one distinguished among the crowd of his +persecutors,--in short, their sultana or queen. + +And such did she prove; for on the black sheik appropriating the old +sailor as a stake fairly won in the game, and rescuing his +newly-acquired property from the danger of being damaged, Fatima +followed him to his tent with such demonstrations as showed her to be, +if not the "favorite," certainly the head of the harem. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +STARTING ON THE TRACK. + + +As already said, the mirth of the three midshipmen was brought to a +quick termination. It ended on the instant of Sailor Bill's +disappearance behind the spur of the sand-hills. At the same instant all +three came to a stop, and stood regarding one another with looks of +uneasiness and apprehension. + +All agreed that the maherry had made away with the old man-o'-war's-man. +There could be no doubt about it. Bill's shouts, as he was hurried out +of their hearing, proved that he was doing his best to bring to, and +that the "ship of the desert" would not yield obedience to her helm. + +They wondered a little why he had not slipped off, and let the animal +go. They could not see why he should fear to drop down in the soft sand. +He might have had a tumble, but nothing to do him any serious +injury,--nothing to break a bone, or dislocate a joint. They supposed he +had stuck to the saddle, from not wishing to abandon the maherry, and in +hope of soon bringing it to a halt. + +This was just what he had done, for the first three or four hundred +yards. After that he would only have been too well satisfied to separate +from the camel, and let it go its way. But then he was among the rough, +jaggy rocks through which the path led, and then dismounting was no +longer to be thought of, without also thinking of danger, considering +that the camel was nearly ten feet in height, and going at a pitching +pace of ten miles to the hour. To have forsaken his saddle at that +moment would have been to risk the breaking of his neck. + +From where they stood looking after him, the mids could not make out the +character of the ground. Under the light of the moon, the surface seemed +all of a piece,--all a bed of smooth soft sand! For this reason were +they perplexed by his behavior. + +There was that in the incident to make them apprehensive. The maherry +would not have gone off at such a gait, without some powerful motive to +impel it. Up to that moment it had shown no particular _penchant_ for +rapid travelling, but had been going, under their guidance, with a +steady, sober docility. Something must have attracted it towards the +interior. What could that something be, if not the knowledge that its +home, or its companions, were to be found in this direction? + +This was the conjecture that came simultaneously into the minds of all +three,--as is known, the correct one. + +There could be no doubt that their companion had been carried towards an +encampment; for no other kind of settlement could be thought of in such +a place. It was even a wonder that this could exist in the midst of a +dreary, wild expanse of pure sand, like that surrounding them. Perhaps, +thought they, there may be "land" towards the interior of the +country,--a spot of firm soil, with vegetation upon it; in short, an +_oasis_. + +After their first surprise had partially subsided, they took counsel as +to their course. Should they stay where they were, and wait for Bill's +return? Or should they follow, in the hope of overtaking him? + +Perhaps he might _not_ return. If carried into a camp of barbarous +savages, it was not likely that he would. He would be seized and held +captive to a dead certainty. But surely he would not be such a +simpleton, as to allow the maherry to transport him into the midst of +his enemies. + +Again sprang up their surprise at his not having made an effort to +dismount. + +For some ten or fifteen minutes the midshipmen stood hesitating,--their +eyes all the while bent on the moonlit opening, through which the +maherry had disappeared. There were no signs of anything in the +pass,--at least anything like either a camel or a sailor. Only the +bright beams of the moon glittering upon crystals of purest sand. + +They thought they heard sounds,--the cries of quadrupeds mingling with +the voices of men. There were voices, too, of shriller intonation, that +might have proceeded from the throats of women. + +Colin was confident he heard such. He was not contradicted by his +companions, who simply said, they could not be sure that they heard +anything. + +But for the constant roar of the breakers,--rolling up almost to the +spot upon which they stood,--they would have declared themselves +differently; for at that moment there was a chorus being carried on at +no great distance, in a variety of most unmusical sounds,--comprising +the bark of the dog, the neigh of the horse, the snorting scream of the +dromedary, the bleat of the sheep, and the sharper cry of its near +kindred the goat,--along with the equally wild and scarce more +articulate utterances of savage men, women, and children. + +Colin was convinced that he heard all these sounds, and declared that +they could only proceed from some encampment. His companions, knowing +that the young Scotchman was sharp-eared, made no attempt to question +his belief; but, on the contrary, gave ready credence to it. + +Under any circumstances it seemed of no use to remain where they were. +If Bill did not return, they were bound in honor to go after him; and, +if possible, find out what had become of him. If, on the other hand, he +should be coming back, they must meet him somewhere in the +pass,--through which the camel had carried him off--since there was no +other by which he might conveniently get back to them. + +This point determined, the three mids, setting their faces for the +interior of the country, started off towards the break between the +sand-hills. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +BILL TO BE ABANDONED. + + +They proceeded with caution,--Colin even more than his companions. The +young Englishman was not so distrustful of the "natives," whoever they +might be, as the son of Scotia; and as for O'Connor, he still persisted +in the belief that there would be little, if any, danger in meeting with +men, and, in his arguments, still continued to urge seeking such an +encounter as the best course they could pursue. + +"Besides," said Terence, "Coly says he hears the voices of women and +children. Sure no human creature that's got a woman and child in his +company would be such a cruel brute as you make out this desert +Ethiopian to be? Sailors' stories, to gratify the melodramatic ears of +Moll and Poll and Sue! Bah! if there be an encampment, let's go straight +into it, and demand hospitality of them. Sure they must be Arabs; and +sure you've heard enough of Arab hospitality?" + +"More than's true, Terry," rejoined the young Englishman. "More than's +true, I fear." + +"You may well say that," said Colin, confirmingly. "From what I've heard +and read,--ay, and from something I've seen while up the +Mediterranean,--a more beggarly hospitality than that called Arab don't +exist on the face of the earth. It's all well enough, so long as you are +one of themselves, and, like them, a believer in their pretended +prophet. Beyond that, an Arab has got no more hospitality than a hyena. +You're both fond of talking about skin-flint Scotchmen." + +"True," interrupted Terence, who, even in that serious situation, could +not resist such a fine opportunity for displaying his Irish humor. "I +never think of a Scotchman without thinking of his skin. 'God bless the +gude Duke of Argyle!'" + +"Shame, Terence!" interrupted Harry Blount; "our situation is too +serious for jesting." + +"He--all of us--may find it so before long," continued Colin, preserving +his temper unruffled. "If that yelling crowd--that I can now hear +plainer than ever--should come upon us, we'll have something else to +think of than jokes about 'gude Duke o' Argyle.' Hush! Do you hear that? +Does it convince you that men and women are near? There are scores of +both kinds." + +Colin had come to a stop, the others imitating his example. They were +now more distant from the breakers,--whose roar was somewhat deadened by +the intervention of a sand-spur. In consequence, the other sounds were +heard more distinctly. They could no longer be mistaken,--even by the +incredulous O'Connor. + +There were voices of men, women, and children,--cries and calls of +quadrupeds,--each according to its own kind, all mingled together in +what might have been taken for some nocturnal saturnalia of the Desert. + +The crisis was that in which Sailor Bill had become a subject of dispute +between the two sheiks,--in which not only their respective followers of +the biped kind appeared to take part, but also every quadruped in the +camp,--dogs and dromedaries, horses, goats, and sheep,--as if each had +an interest in the ownership of the old man-o'-war's-man. + +The grotesque chorus was succeeded by an interval of silence, +uninterrupted and profound. This was while the two sheiks were playing +their game of "helga,"--the "chequers" of the Saära, with Sailor Bill as +their stake. + +During this tranquil interlude, the three midshipmen had advanced +through the rock-strewn ravine, had crept cautiously inside the ridges +that encircled the camp, and concealed by the sparse bushes of mimosa, +and favored by the light of a full moon, had approached near enough to +take note of what was passing among the tents. + +What they saw there, and then, was confirmatory of the theory of the +young Scotchman; and convinced not only Harry Blount, but Terence +O'Connor, that the stories of Arab hospitality were not only untrue, but +diametrically opposed to the truth. + +There was old Bill before their faces, stripped to the shirt,--to the +"buff,"--surrounded by a circle of short, squat women, dark-skinned, +with black hair, and eyes sparkling in the moonlight, who were torturing +him with tongue and touch,--who pinched and spat upon him,--who looked +altogether like a band of infernal Furies collected around some innocent +victim that had fallen among them, and giving full play to their +fiendish instincts! + +Although they were witnesses to the subsequent rescue of Bill by the +black sheik,--and the momentary release of the old sailor from his +tormentors,--it did not increase their confidence in the crew who +occupied the encampment. + +From the way in which the old salt appeared to be treated, they could +tell that he was regarded by the hosts into whose hands he had fallen, +not as a guest, but simply as a "piece of goods,"--just like any other +waif of the wreck that had been washed on that inhospitable shore. + +In whispers the three mids made known their thoughts to one another. +Harry Blount no longer doubted the truth of Colin's statements; and +O'Connor had become equally converted from his incredulity. The conduct +of the women towards the unfortunate castaway--which all three +witnessed--told like the tongue of a trumpet. It was cruel beyond +question. What, when exercised, must be that of their men? + +To think of leaving their old comrade in such keeping was not a pleasant +reflection. It was like their abandoning him upon the sand-spit,--to the +threatening engulfment of the tide. Even worse: for the angry breakers +seemed less spiteful than the hags who surrounded him in the Arab camp. + +Still, what could the boys do? Three midshipmen,--armed only with their +tiny dirks,--what chance would they have among so many? There were +scores of these sinewy sons of the Desert,--without counting the +shrewish women,--each armed with gun and scimitar, any one of whom ought +to have been more than a match for a "mid." It would have been sheer +folly to have attempted a rescue. Despair only could have sanctioned +such a course. + +In a whispered consultation it was determined otherwise. The old sailor +must be abandoned to his fate, just as he had been left upon the +sand-spit. His youthful companions could only breathe a prayer in his +behalf, and express a hope that, as upon the latter occasion, some +providential chance should turn up in his favor, and he might again be +permitted to rejoin them. + +After communicating this hope to one another, all three turned their +faces shoreward, determined to put as much space between themselves and +the Arab encampment as night and circumstances would permit. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +A CAUTIOUS RETREAT. + + +The ravine, up which the maherry had carried the old man-o'-war's-man, +ran perpendicularly to the trending of the seashore, and almost in a +direct line from the beach to the valley, in which was the Arab +encampment. It could not, however, be said to debouch into this valley. +Across its mouth the sand-drift had formed a barrier, like a huge +"snow-wreath," uniting the two parallel ridges that formed the sides of +the ravine itself. This "mouth-piece" was not so high as either of the +flanking ridges; though it was nearly a hundred feet above the level of +the beach on one side, and the valley on the other. Its crest, viewed +_en profile_, exhibited a saddle-shaped curve, the concavity turned +upward. + +Through the centre of this saddle of sand, and transversely, the camel +had carried Bill; and over the same track the three midshipmen had gone +in search of him. + +They had seen the Arab tents from the summit of the "pass"; and had it +been daylight, need have gone no nearer to note what was being there +done. Even by the moonlight, they had been able to make out the forms of +the horses, camels, men, and women; but not with sufficient distinctness +to satisfy them as to what was going on. + +For this reason had they descended into the valley,--creeping cautiously +down the slope of the sand-wreath, and with equal caution advancing from +boulder to bush, and bush to boulder. + +On taking the back track to regain the beach, they still observed +caution,--though perhaps not to such a degree as when approaching the +camp. Their desire to put space between themselves and the barbarous +denizens of the Desert,--of whose barbarity they had now obtained both +ocular and auricular proof,--had very naturally deprived them of that +prudent coolness which the occasion required. For all that, they did not +retreat with reckless rashness; and all three arrived at the bottom of +the sloping sand-ridge, without having any reason to think they had been +observed. + +But the most perilous point was yet to be passed. Against the face of +the acclivity, there was not much danger of their being seen. The moon +was shining on the other side. That which they had to ascend was in +shadow,--dark enough to obscure the outlines of their bodies to an eye +looking in that direction, from such a distance as the camp. It was not +while toiling up the slope that they dreaded detection, but at the +moment when they must cross the saddle-shaped summit of the pass. Then, +the moon being low down in the sky, directly in front of their faces, +while the camp, still lower, was right behind their backs, it was not +difficult to tell that their bodies would be exactly aligned between the +luminary of night and the sparkling eyes of the Arabs, and that their +figures would be exhibited in conspicuous outline. + +It had been much the same way on their entrance to the oasis; but then +they were not so well posted up in the peril of their position. They now +wondered at their not having been observed while advancing; but that +could be rationally accounted for, on the supposition that the Bedouins +had been, at the time, too busy over old Bill to take heed of anything +beyond the limits of their encampment. + +It was different now. There was quiet in the camp, though both male and +female figures could be seen stirring among the tents. The _saturnalia_ +that succeeded the castaway had come to a close. A comparative +peacefulness reigned throughout the valley; but in this very +tranquillity lay the danger which our adventurers dreaded. + +With nothing else to attract their attention, the occupants of the +encampments would be turning their eyes in every direction. If any of +them should look westward at a given moment,--that is, while the three +mids should be "in the saddle,"--the latter could not fail to be +discovered. + +What was to be done? There was no other way leading forth from the +valley. It was on all sides encircled by steep ridges of sand,--not so +steep as to hinder them from being scaled; but on every side, except +that on which they had entered, and by which they were about to make +their exit, the moon was shining in resplendent brilliance. A cat could +not have crawled up anywhere, without being seen from the tents,--even +had she been of the hue of the sand itself. + +A hurried consultation, held between the trio of adventurers, convinced +them that there was nothing to be gained by turning back,--nothing by +going to the right or the left. There was no other way--no help for +it--but to scale the ridge in front, and "cut" as quickly as possible +across the hollow of the "saddle." + +There _was_ one other way; or at least a deviation from the course which +had thus recommended itself. It was to wait for the going down of the +moon, before they should attempt the "crossing." This prudent project +originated in the brain of the young Scotchman; and it might have been +well if his companions had adopted the idea. But they would not. What +they had seen of Saäran civilization had inspired them with a keen +disgust for it; and they were only too eager to escape from its +proximity. The punishment inflicted upon poor Bill had made a painful +impression upon them; and they had no desire to become the victims of a +similar chastisement. + +Colin did not urge his counsels. He had been as much impressed by what +he had seen as his companions, and was quite as desirous as they to give +the Bedouins a "wide berth." Withdrawing his opposition, therefore, he +acceded to the original design; and, without further ado, all three +commenced crawling up the slope. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +A QUEER QUADRUPED. + + +Half way up, they halted, though not to take breath. Strong-limbed, +long-winded lads like them--who could have "swarmed" in two minutes to +the main truck of a man-o'-war--needed no such indulgence as that. +Instead of one hundred feet of sloping sand, any one of them could have +scaled Snowdon without stopping to look back. + +Their halt had been made from a different motive. It was sudden and +simultaneous,--all three having stopped at the same time, and without +any previous interchange of speech. The same cause had brought them to +that abrupt cessation in their climbing; and as they stood side by side, +aligned upon one another, the eyes of all three were turned on the same +object. + +It was an animal,--a quadruped. It could not be anything else if +belonging to a sublunary world; and to this it appeared to belong. A +strange creature notwithstanding; and one which none of the three +remembered to have met before. The remembrance of something like it +flitted across their brains, seen upon the shelves of a museum; but not +enough of resemblance to give a clue for its identification. + +The quadruped in question was not bigger than a "San Bernard," a +"Newfoundland," or a mastiff: but seen as it was, it loomed larger than +any of the three. Like these creatures, it was canine in shape--lupine +we should rather say--but of an exceedingly grotesque and ungainly +figure. A huge square head seemed set without neck upon its shoulders; +while its fore limbs--out of all proportion longer than the hind +ones--gave to the spinal column a sharp downward slant towards the tail. +The latter appendage, short and "bunchy," ended abruptly, as if either +cut or "driven in,"--adding to the uncouth appearance of the animal. A +stiff hedge of hard bristles upon the back continued its _chevaux de +frise_ along the short, thick neck, till it ended between two erect +tufted ears. Such was the shape of the beast that had suddenly presented +itself to the eyes of our adventurers. + +They had a good opportunity of observing its outlines. It was on the +ridge towards the crest of which they were advancing. The moon was +shining beyond. Every turn of its head or body--every motion made by its +limbs--was conspicuously revealed against the luminous background of the +sky. + +It was neither standing, nor at rest in any way. Head, limbs, and body +were all in motion,--constantly changing, not only their relative +attitudes to one another, but their absolute situation in regard to +surrounding objects. + +And yet the change was anything but arbitrary. The relative movements +made by the members of the animal's body, as well as the absolute +alterations of position, were all in obedience to strictly natural +laws,--all repetitions of the same manoeuvre, worked with a monotony +that seemed mechanical. + +The creature was pacing to and fro, like a well-trained sentry,--its +"round" being the curved crest of the sand-ridge, from which it did not +deviate to the licence of an inch. Backward and forward did it traverse +the saddle in a longitudinal direction,--now poised upon the +pommel,--now sinking downward into the seat, and then rising to the +level of the coup,--now turning in the opposite direction, and retracing +in long, uncouth strides, the path over which it appeared to have been +passing since the earliest hour of its existence! + +Independent of the surprise which the presence of this animal had +created, there was something in its aspect calculated to cause terror. +Perhaps, had the mids known what kind of creature it was, or been in any +way apprized of its real character, they would have paid less regard to +its presence. Certainly not so much as they did: for, instead of +advancing upon it, and making their way over the crest of the ridge, +they stopped in their track, and held a whispered consultation as to +what they should do. + +It is not to be denied that the barrier before them presented a +formidable appearance. A brute, it appeared as big as a bull--for +magnified by the moonlight, and perhaps a little by the fears of those +who looked upon it, the quadruped was quite quadrupled in size. +Disputing their passage too; for its movements made it manifest that +such was its design. Backwards and forwards, up and down that curving +crest, did it glide, with a nervous quickness, that hindered any hope of +being able to rush past it--either before or behind--its own crest all +the while erected, like that of the dragon subdued by St. George. + +With all his English "pluck"--even stimulated by this resemblance to the +national knight--Harry Blount felt shy to approach that creature that +challenged the passage of himself and his companions. + +Had there been no danger _en arrière_, perhaps our adventurers would +have turned back into the valley, and left the ugly quadruped master of +the pass. + +As it was, a different resolve was arrived at--necessity being the +dictator. + +The three midshipmen, drawing their dirks, advanced in line of battle up +the slope. The Devil himself could scarce withstand such an assault. +England, Scotland, Ireland, abreast--_tres juncti in uno_--united in +thought, aim, and action--was there aught upon earth--biped, quadruped, +or _mille-pied_--that must not yield to the charge? + +If there was, it was not that animal oscillating along the saddle of +sand, progressing from pommel to cantle, like the pendulum of a clock. + +Whether natural or supernatural, long before our adventurers got near +enough to decide, the creature, to use a phrase of very modern mention, +"skedaddled," leaving them free--so far as it was concerned--to continue +their retreat unmolested. + +It did not depart, however, until after delivering a salute, that left +our adventurers in greater doubt than ever of its true character. They +had been debating among themselves whether it was a thing of the earth, +of time, or something that belonged to eternity. They had seen it under +a fair light, and could not decide. But now that they had heard it,--had +listened to a strain of loud cachinnation,--scarce mocking the laughter +of the maniac,--there was no escaping from the conclusion that what they +had seen was either Satan himself, or one of his Ethiopian satellites! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE HUE AND CRY. + + +As the strange creature that had threatened to dispute their passage was +no longer in sight, and seemed, moreover, to have gone clear away, the +three mids ceased to think any more of it,--their minds being given to +making their way over the ridge without being seen by the occupants of +the encampment. + +Having returned their dirks to the sheath, they continued to advance +towards the crest of the transverse sand-spar, as cautiously as at +starting. + +It is possible they might have succeeded in crossing, without being +perceived, but for a circumstance of which they had taken too little +heed. Only too well pleased at seeing the strange quadruped make its +retreat, they had been less affected by its parting salutation,--weird +and wild as this had sounded in their ears. But they had not thought of +the effects which the same salute had produced upon the people of the +Arab camp, causing all of them, as it did, to turn their eyes in the +direction whence it was heard. To them there was no mystery in that +screaming cachinnation. Unearthly as it had echoed in the ears of the +three mids, it fell with a perfectly natural tone on those of the Arabs: +for it was but one of the well-known voices of their desert home, +recognized by them as the cry of the _laughing hyena_. + +The effect produced upon the encampment was twofold. The children +straying outside the tents,--like young chicks frightened by the +swooping of a hawk,--ran inward; while their mothers, after the manner +of so many old hens, rushed forth to take them under their protection. +The proximity of a hungry hyena,--more especially one of the _laughing_ +species,--was a circumstance to cause alarm. All the fierce creature +required was a chance to close his strong, vice-like jaws upon the limbs +of one of those juvenile Ishmaelites, and that would be the last his +mother should ever see of him. + +Knowing this, the screech of the hyena had produced a momentary +commotion among the women and children of the encampment. Neither had +the men listened to it unmoved. In hopes of procuring its skin for house +or tent furniture, and its flesh for food,--for these hungry wanderers +will eat anything,--several had seized hold of their long guns, and +rushed forth from among the tents. + +The sound had guided them as to the direction in which they should go; +and as they ran forward, they saw, not a hyena, but three human beings +just mounting upon the summit of the sand-ridge, under the full light of +the moon. So conspicuously did the latter appear upon the smooth crest +of the wreath, that there was no longer any chance of concealment. Their +dark blue dresses, the yellow buttons on their jackets, and the bands +around their caps, were all discernible. It was the costume of the sea, +not of the Saära. The Arab wreckers knew it at a glance; and, without +waiting to give a second, every man of the camp sallied off in +pursuit,--each, as he started, giving utterance to an ejaculation of +surprise or pleasure. + +Some hurried forward afoot, just as they had been going out to hunt the +hyena; others climbed upon their swift camels; while a few, who owned +horses, thinking they might do better with them, quickly caparisoned +them, and came galloping on after the rest; all three sorts of +pursuers,--foot-men, horsemen, and maherrymen,--seemingly as intent upon +a contest of screaming, as upon a trial of speed! + +It is needless to say that the three midshipmen were, by this time, +fully apprised of the "hue and cry" raised after them. It reached their +ears just as they arrived upon the summit of the sand-ridge; and any +doubt they might have had as to its meaning, was at once determined, +when they saw the Arabs brandishing their arms, and rushing out like so +many madmen from among the tents. + +They stayed to see no more. To keep their ground could only end in their +being captured and carried prisoners to the encampment; and after the +spectacle they had just witnessed, in which the old man-o'-war's-man had +played such a melancholy part, any fate appeared preferable to that. + +With some such fear all three were affected; and simultaneously yielding +to it, they turned their backs upon the pursuit, and rushed headlong +down the ravine, up which they had so imprudently ascended. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +A SUBAQUEOUS ASYLUM. + + +As the gorge was of no great length, and the downward incline in their +favor, they were not long in getting to its lower end, and out to the +level plain that formed the sea-beach. + +In their hurried traverse thither, it had not occurred to them to +inquire for what purpose they were running towards the sea? There could +be no chance of their escaping in that direction; nor did there appear +to be much in any other, afoot as they were, and pursued by mounted men. +The night was too clear to offer any opportunity of hiding themselves, +especially in a country where there was neither "brake, brush, nor +scaur" to conceal them. Go which way they would, or crouch wherever they +might, they would be almost certain of being discovered by their +lynx-eyed enemies. + +There was but one way in which they _might_ have stood a chance of +getting clear, at least for a time. This was to have turned aside among +the sand ridges, and by keeping along some of the lateral hollows, +double back upon their pursuers. There were several such side hollows; +for on going up the main ravine they had observed them, and also in +coming down; but in their hurry to put space between themselves and +their pursuers, they had overlooked this chance of concealment. + +At best it was but slim, though it was the only one that offered. It +only presented itself when it was too late for them to take advantage of +it,--only after they had got clear out of the gully and stood upon the +open level of the sea-beach, within less than two hundred yards of the +sea itself. There they halted, partly to recover breath and partly to +hold counsel as to their further course. + +There was not much time for either; and as the three stood in a triangle +with their faces turned towards each other, the moonlight shone upon +lips and cheeks blanched with dismay. + +It now occurred to them for the first time, and simultaneously, that +there was no hope of their escaping, either by flight or concealment. + +They were already some distance out upon the open plain, as conspicuous +upon its surface of white sand as would have been three black crows in +the middle of a field six inches under snow. + +They saw that they had made a mistake. They should have stayed among the +sand-ridges and sought shelter in some of the deep gullies that divided +them. They bethought them of going back; but a moment's deliberation was +sufficient to convince them that this was no longer practicable. There +would not be time, scarce even to re-enter the ravine, before their +pursuers would be upon them. + +It was an instinct that had caused them to rush towards the sea--their +habitual home, for which they had thoughtlessly sped--notwithstanding +their late rude ejection from it. Now that they stood upon its shore, as +if appealing to it for protection, it seemed still desirous of spurning +them from its bosom, and leaving them without mercy to their merciless +enemies! + +A line of breakers trended parallel to the water's edge--scarce a +cable's length from the shore, and not two hundred yards from the spot +where they had come to a pause. + +They were not very formidable breakers--only the tide rolling over a +sand-bar, or a tiny reef of rocks. It was at best but a big surf, +crested with occasional flakes of foam, and sweeping in successive +swells against the smooth beach. + +What was there in all this to fix the attention of the fugitives--for it +had? The seething flood seemed only to hiss at their despair! + +And yet almost on the instant after suspending their flight, they had +turned their faces towards it--as if some object of interest had +suddenly shown itself in the surf. Object there was none--nothing but +the flakes of white froth and the black vitreous waves over which it was +dancing. + +It was not an object, but a purpose that was engaging their attention--a +resolve that had suddenly sprung up within their minds--almost as +suddenly to be carried into execution. After all, their old home was not +to prove so inhospitable. It would provide them with a place of +concealment! + +The thought occurred to all three almost at the same instant of time; +though Terence was the first to give speech to it. + +"By Saint Patrick!" he exclaimed, "let's take to the wather! Them +breakers'll give us a good hiding-place. I've hid before now in that +same way, when taking a moonlight bath on the coast of owld Galway. I +did it to scare my schoolfellows--by making believe I was drowned. What +say ye to our trying it?" + +His companions made no reply. They had scarce even waited for the +wind-up of his harangue. Both had equally perceived the feasibility of +the scheme; and yielding to a like impulse, all three started into a +fresh run, with their faces turned towards the sea. + +In less than a score of seconds, they had crossed the strip of strand; +and in a similarly short space of time were plunging--thigh +deep--through the water; still striding impetuously onward, as if they +intended to wade across the Atlantic! + +A few more strides, however, brought them to a stand--just inside the +line of breakers--where the seething waters, settling down into a state +of comparative tranquillity, presented a surface variegated with large +clouts of floating froth. + +Amidst this mottling of white and black, even under the bright +moonlight, it would have been difficult for the keenest eye to have +detected the head of a human being--supposing the body to have been kept +carefully submerged; and under this confidence, the mids were not slow +in submerging themselves. + +Ducking down, till their chins touched the water, all three were soon as +completely out of sight--to any eye looking from the shore--as if +Neptune, pitying their forlorn condition, had stretched forth his +trident with a bunch of seaweed upon its prongs, to screen and protect +them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE PURSUERS NONPLUSSED. + + +Not a second too soon had they succeeded in making good their entry into +this subaqueous asylum. Scarce had their chins come in contact with the +water, when the voices of men--accompanied by the baying of dogs, the +snorting of maherries, and the neighing of horses--were heard within the +gorge, from which they had just issued; and in a few minutes after a +straggling crowd, composed of these various creatures, came rushing out +of the ravine. Of men, afoot and on horseback, twenty or more were seen +pouring forth; all, apparently, in hot haste, as if eager to be in at +the death of some object pursued,--that could not possibly escape +capture. + +Once outside the jaws of the gully, the irregular cavalcade advanced +scatteringly over the plain. Only for a short distance, however; for, as +if by a common understanding rather than in obedience to any command, +all came to a halt. + +A silence followed this halt,--apparently proceeding from astonishment. +It was general,--it might be said universal,--for even the animals +appeared to partake of it! At all events, some seconds transpired during +which the only sound heard was the sighing of the sea, and the only +motion to be observed was the sinking and swelling of the waves. + +The Saäran rovers on foot,--as well as those that were mounted,--their +horses, dogs, and camels, as they stood upon that smooth plain, seemed +to have been suddenly transformed into stone, and set like so many +sphinxes in the sand. + +In truth it _was_ surprise that had so transfixed them,--the men, at +least; and their well-trained animals were only acting in obedience to a +habit taught them by their masters, who, in the pursuit of their +predatory life, can cause these creatures to be both silent and still, +whenever the occasion requires it. + +For their surprise,--which this exhibition of it proved to be +extreme,--the Sons of the Desert had sufficient reason. They had seen +the three midshipmen on the crest of the sand-ridge; had even noted the +peculiar garb that bedecked their bodies,--all this beyond doubt. +Notwithstanding the haste with which they had entered on the pursuit, +they had not continued it either in a reckless or improvident manner. +Skilled in the ways of the wilderness,--cautious as cats,--they had +continued the chase; those in the lead from time to time assuring +themselves that the game was still before them. This they had done by +glancing occasionally to the ground, where shoe-tracks in the soft +sand--three sets of them--leading to and fro, were sufficient evidence +that the three mids must have gone back to the _embouchure_ of the +ravine, and thither emerged upon the open sea-beach. + +_Where were they now?_ + +Looking up the smooth strand as far as the eye could reach, and down it +to a like distance, there was no place where a crab could have screened +itself; and these Saäran wreckers, well acquainted with the coast, knew +that in neither direction was there any other ravine or gully into which +the fugitives could have retreated. + +No wonder, then, that the pursuers wondered, even to speechlessness. + +Their silence was of short duration, though it was succeeded only by +cries expressing their great surprise, among which might have been +distinguished their usual invocations to Allah and the Prophet. It was +evident that a superstitious feeling had arisen in their minds, not +without its usual accompaniment of fear; and although they no longer +kept their places, the movement now observable among them was that they +gathered closer together, and appeared to enter upon a grave +consultation. + +This was terminated by some of them once more proceeding to the +_embouchure_ of the ravine, and betaking themselves to a fresh scrutiny +of the tracks made by the shoes of the midshipmen; while the rest sat +silently upon their horses and maherries awaiting the result. + +The footmarks of the three mids were still easily traceable--even on the +ground already trampled by the Arabs, their horses, and maherries. The +"cloots" of a camel would not have been more conspicuous in the mud of +an English road, than were the shoe-prints of the three young seamen in +the sands of the Saära. The Arab trackers had no difficulty in making +them out; and in a few minutes had traced them from the mouth of the +gorge, almost in a direct line to the sea. There, however, there was a +breadth of wet sea-beach--where the springy sand instantly obliterated +any foot-mark that might be made upon it--and there the tracts ended. + +But why should they have extended farther? No one could have gone beyond +that point, without either walking straight into the water, or keeping +along the strip of sea beach, upwards or downwards. + +The fugitives could not have escaped in either way--unless they had +taken to the water, and committed suicide by drowning themselves! Up the +coast, or down it, they would have been seen to a certainty. + +Their pursuers, clustering around the place where the tracks terminated, +were no wiser than ever. Some of them were ready to believe that +drowning had been the fate of the castaways upon their coast, and so +stated it to their companions. But they spoke only conjectures, and in +tones that told them, like the rest, to be under the influence of some +superstitious fear. Despite their confidence in the protection of their +boasted Prophet, they felt a natural dread of that wilderness of waters, +less known to them than the wilderness of sand. + +Ere long they withdrew from its presence, and betook themselves back to +their encampment, under a half belief that the three individuals seen +and pursued had either drowned themselves in the great deep, or by some +mysterious means known to these strange men of the sea, had escaped +across its far-reaching waters! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +A DOUBLE PREDICAMENT. + + +Short time as their pursuers had stayed upon the strand, it seemed an +age to the submerged midshipmen. + +On first placing themselves in position, they had chosen a spot where, +with their knees resting upon the bottom, they could just hold their +chins above water. This would enable them to hold their ground without +any great difficulty, and for some time they so maintained it. + +Soon, however, they began to perceive that the water was rising around +them,--a circumstance easily explained by the influx of the tide. The +rise was slow and gradual: but, for all that, they saw that should they +require to remain in their place of concealment for any length of time, +drowning must be their inevitable destiny. + +A means of avoiding this soon presented itself. Inside the line of +breakers, the water shoaled gradually towards the shore. By advancing in +this direction they could still keep to the same depth. This course they +adopted--gliding cautiously forward upon their knees, whenever the tide +admonished them to repeat the manoeuvre. + +This state of affairs would have been satisfactory enough, but for a +circumstance that, every moment, was making itself more apparent. At +each move they were not only approaching nearer to their enemies, +scattered along the strand; but as they receded from the line of the +breakers, the water became comparatively tranquil, and its smooth +surface, less confused by the masses of floating foam, was more likely +to betray them to the spectators on the shore. + +To avoid this catastrophe--which would have been fatal--they moved +shoreward, only when it became absolutely necessary to do so, often +permitting the tidal waves to sweep completely over the crown of their +heads, and several times threaten suffocation. + +Under circumstances so trying, so apparently hopeless, most lads--aye, +most men--would have submitted to despair, and surrendered themselves to +a fate apparently unavoidable. But with that true British +pluck--combining the tenacity of the Scotch terrier, the English +bulldog, and the Irish staghound--the three youthful representatives of +the triple kingdom determined to hold on. + +And they held on, with the waves washing against their cheeks--and at +intervals quite over their heads--with the briny fluid rushing into +their ears and up their nostrils, until one after another began to +believe, that there would be no alternative between surrendering to the +cruel sea, or to the not less cruel sons of the Saära. + +As they were close together, they could hold council,--conversing all +the time in something louder than a whisper. There was no risk of their +being overheard. Though scarce a cable's length from the shore, the +hoarse soughing of the surf would have drowned the sound of their +voices, even if uttered in a much louder tone; but being skilled in the +acoustics of the ocean, they exchanged their thoughts with due caution; +and while encouraging one another to remain firm, they speculated freely +upon the chances of escaping from their perilous predicament. + +While thus occupied, a _predicament_ of an equally perilous, and still +more singular kind, was in store for them. They had been, hitherto +advancing towards the water's edge,--in regular progression with the +influx of the tide,--all the while upon their knees. This, as already +stated, had enabled them to sustain themselves steadily, without showing +anything more than three quarters of the head above the surface. + +All at once, however, the water appeared to deepen; and by going upon +their knees they could no longer surmount the waves,--even with their +eyes. By moving on towards the beach, they might again get into shallow +water; but just at this point the commotion caused by the breakers came +to a termination, and the flakes of froth, with the surrounding spray of +bubbles, here bursting, one after another, left the surface of the sea +to its restored tranquillity. Anything beyond--a cork, or the tiniest +waif of seaweed--could scarce fail to be seen from the strand,--though +the latter was itself constantly receding as the tide flowed inward. + +The submerged middies were now in a dilemma they had not dreamed of. By +holding their ground, they could not fail to "go under." By advancing +further, they would run the risk of being discovered to the enemy. + +Their first movement was to get up from their knees, and raise their +heads above water by standing in a crouched attitude on their feet. This +they had done before,--more than once,--returning to the posture of +supplication only when too tired to sustain themselves. + +This they attempted again, and determined to continue it to the last +moment,--in view of the danger of approaching nearer to the enemy. + +To their consternation they now found it would no longer avail them. +Scarce had they risen erect before discovering that even in this +position they were immersed to the chin, and after plunging a pace or +two forward, they were still sinking deeper. They could feel that their +feet were not resting on firm bottom, but constantly going down. + +"A quicksand!" was the apprehension that rushed simultaneously into the +minds of all three! + +Fortunately for them, the Arabs at that moment, yielding to their +fatalist fears, had faced away from the shore; else the plunging and +splashing made by them in their violent endeavors to escape from the +quicksand, could not have failed to dissipate these superstitions, and +cause their pursuers to complete the capture they had so childlessly +relinquished. + +As it chanced, the Saäran wreckers saw nothing of all this; and as the +splashing sounds, which otherwise might have reached them, were drowned +by the louder _sough_ of the sea, they returned toward their encampment +in a state of perplexity bordering upon bewilderment! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +ONCE MORE THE MOCKING LAUGH. + + +After a good deal of scrambling and struggling, our adventurers +succeeded in getting clear of the quicksand, and planting their feet +upon firmer bottom,--a little nearer to the water's edge. Though at this +point more exposed than they wished to be, they concealed themselves as +well as they could, holding their faces under the water up to the eyes. + +Though believing that their enemies were gone for good, they dared not +as yet wade out upon the beach. The retiring pursuers would naturally be +looking back; and as the moon was still shining clearly as ever, they +might be seen from a great distance. + +They feel that they would not be safe in leaving their place of +concealment until the horde had recrossed the ridge, and descended once +more into the oasis that contained their encampment. + +Making a rough calculation as to the time it would take for the return +journey,--and allowing a considerable margin against the eventuality of +any unforeseen delay,--the mids remained in their subaqueous retreat, +without any material change of position. + +When at length it appeared to them that the "coast was clear," they rose +to their feet, and commenced wading towards the strand. + +Though no longer believing themselves observed, they proceeded silently +and with caution,--the only noise made among them being the chattering +of their teeth, which were going like three complete sets of castanets. + +This they could not help. The night breeze playing upon the saturated +garments,--that clung coldly around their bodies,--chilled them to the +very bones; and not only their teeth, but their knees knocked together, +as they staggered towards the beach. + +Just before reaching it, an incident arose that filled them with fresh +forebodings. The strange beast that had threatened to intercept their +retreat over the ridge, once more appeared before their eyes. It was +either the same, or one of the same kind,--equally ugly, and to all +appearance, equally determined to dispute their passage. + +It was now patrolling the strand close by the water's edge,--going +backwards and forwards, precisely as it had done along the saddle-shaped +sand wreath,--all the while keeping its hideous face turned towards +them. With the moon behind their backs, they had a better view of it +than before; but this, though enabling them to perceive that it was some +strange quadruped, did not in any way improve their opinion of it. They +could see that it was covered with a coat of long shaggy hair, of a +brindled brown color; and that from a pair of large orbs, set obliquely +in its head, gleamed forth a fierce, sullen light. + +How it had come there they knew not; but there it was. Judging from the +experience of their former encounter with it they presumed it would +again retreat at their approach; and, once more drawing their dirks, +they advanced boldly towards it. + +They were not deceived. Long before they were near, the uncouth creature +turned tail; and, again giving utterance to its unearthly cry, scampered +off towards the ravine,--in whose shadowy depths it soon disappeared +from their view. + +Supposing they had nothing further to fear, our adventurers stepped out +upon the strand, and commenced consultation as to their future course. + +To keep on down the coast and get as far as possible from the Arab +encampment,--was the thought of all three; and as they were unanimous in +this, scarce a moment was wasted in coming to a determination. Once +resolved, they faced southward; and started off as briskly as their +shivering frames and saturated garments would allow them. + +There was not much to cheer them on their way,--only the thought that +they had so adroitly extricated themselves from a dread danger. But even +this proved only a fanciful consolation; for scarce had they made a +score of steps along the strand, when they were brought to a sudden +halt, by hearing a noise that appeared to proceed from the ravine behind +them. + +It was a slight noise, something like a snort, apparently made by some +animal; and, for the moment, they supposed it to come from the ugly +quadruped that, after saluting them, had retreated up the gorge. + +On turning their eyes in that direction, they at once saw that they were +mistaken. A quadruped had produced the noise; but one of a very +different kind from the hairy brute with which they had parted. Just +emerging from the shadow of the sand-hills, they perceived a huge +creature, whose uncouth shape proclaimed it to be a camel. + +The sight filled them with consternation. Not that it was a camel; but +because, at the same time, they discovered that there was a man upon its +back, who, brandishing a long weapon, was urging the animal towards +them. + +The three midshipmen made no effort to continue the journey thus +unexpectedly interrupted. They saw that any attempt to escape from such +a fast-going creature would be idle. Encumbered as they were with their +wet garments, they could not have distanced a lame duck; and, resigning +themselves to the chances of destiny, they stood awaiting the encounter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +A CUNNING SHEIK. + + +When the camel and its rider first loomed in sight,--indistinctly seen +under the shadow of the sand dunes,--our adventurers had conceived a +faint hope that it might be Sailor Bill. + +It was possible, they thought, that the old man-o-war's-man, left +unguarded in the camp, might have laid hands on the maherry that had +made away with him, and pressed it into service to assist his escape. + +The hope was entertained only for an instant. Bill had encountered no +such golden opportunity; but was still a prisoner in the tent of the +black sheik, surrounded by his shrewish tormentors. + +It was the maherry, however, that was seen coming back, for as it came +near the three middies recognized the creature whose intrusion upon +their slumbers of the preceding night had been the means, perhaps, of +saving their lives. + +Instead of a Jack Tar now surmounting its high hunch, they saw a little +wizen-faced individual with sharp angular features, and a skin of +yellowish hue puckered like parchment. He appeared to be at least sixty +years of age; while his costume, equipments, and above all, a certain +authoritative bearing, bespoke him to be one of the head men of the +horde. + +Such in truth was he,--one of the two sheiks,--the old Arab to whom the +straying camel belonged; and who was now mounted on his own maherry. + +His presence on the strand at this, to our adventurers, most inopportune +moment, requires explanation. + +He had been on the beach before, along with the others; and had gone +away with the rest. But instead of continuing on to the encampment, he +had fallen behind in the ravine; where, under the cover of some rocks, +and favored by the obscure light within the gorge, he had succeeded in +giving his comrades the slip. There he had remained,--permitting the +rest to recross the ridge, and return to the tents. + +He had not taken these steps without an object. Less superstitious than +his black brother sheik, he knew there must be some natural explanation +of the disappearance of the three castaways; and he had determined to +seek, and if possible, to discover it. + +It was not mere curiosity that prompted him to this determination. He +had been all out of sorts, with himself, since losing Sailor Bill in the +game of _helga_; and he was desirous of obtaining some compensation for +his ill-luck, by capturing the three castaways who had so mysteriously +disappeared. + +As to their having either drowned themselves, or walked away over the +waste of waters, the old sheik had seen too many Saäran summers and +winters to give credence either to one tale or the other. He knew they +would turn up again; and though he was not quite certain of the where, +he more than half suspected it. He had kept his suspicions to +himself,--not imparting them even to his own special followers. By the +laws of the Saära, a slave taken by any one of the tribe belongs not to +its chief, but to the individual who makes the capture. For this reason, +had the cunning sexagenarian kept his thoughts to himself, and fallen +_solus_ into the rear of the returning horde. + +It might be supposed that he would have made some of his following privy +to his plan,--for the sake of having help to effect such a wholesale +capture. But no. His experience as a "Barbary wrecker" had taught him +that there would be no danger,--no likelihood of resistance,--even +though the castaways numbered thirty instead of three. + +Armed with this confidence, and his long gun, he had returned down the +ravine; and laid in wait near its mouth,--at a point where he commanded +a view of the coast line, to the distance of more than a mile on each +side of him. + +His vigil was soon rewarded: by seeing the three individuals for whom it +had been kept step forth from the sea,--as if emerging from its +profoundest depths,--and stand conspicuously upon the beach. + +He had waited for nothing more; but, giving the word to his maherry, had +ridden out of the ravine, and was now advancing with all speed upon the +tracks of the retreating mids. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +A QUEER ENCOUNTER. + + +In about threescore seconds from the time he was first seen pursuing +them, the old sheik was up to the spot where our adventurers had awaited +him. + +His first salute appeared to be some words of menace or +command,--rendered more emphatic by a series of gestures made with his +long gun; which was successively pointed at the heads of the three. Of +course, none of them understood what was said; but his gesticulations +made it clear enough, that he required their company to the Arab +encampment. + +Their first impulse was to yield obedience to this command; and Terence +had given a sign of assent, which was acquiesced in by Colin. Not so +Master Blount, in whom the British bulldog had become aroused even to +the showing of his teeth. + +"See him hanged first!" cried Harry. "What! yield up to an old monkey +like that, and walk tamely to the camp at the tail of his camel? No such +thing! If I am to become a prisoner, it will be to one who can take me." + +Terence, rather ashamed at having shown such facile submission, now +rushed to the opposite extreme; and drawing his dirk, cried out,-- + +"By Saint Patrick! I'm with you, Harry! Let's die, rather than yield +ourselves prisoners to such a queer old curmudgeon!" + +Colin, before declaring himself, glanced sharply around,--carrying his +eye towards the _embouchure_ of the ravine, to assure himself that the +Arab was alone. + +As there was nobody else in sight,--and no sound heard that would +indicate the proximity of any one,--it was probable enough that the +rider of the maherry was the only enemy opposed to them. + +"The devil take him!" cried Colin, after making his cautious +reconnaissance. "If he take us, he must first fight for it. Come on, old +skin-flint! you'll find we're true British tars,--ready for a score of +such as you." + +The three youths had by this time unsheathed their shining daggers, and +thrown themselves into a sort of triangle, the maherry in their midst. + +The old sheik--unprepared for such a reception--was altogether taken +aback by it; and for some seconds sate upon his high perch seemingly +irresolute how to act. + +Suddenly his rage appeared to rise to such a pitch, that he could no +longer command his actions; and bringing the long gun to his shoulder, +he levelled it at Harry Blount,--who had been foremost in braving him. + +The stream of smoke, pouring forth from its muzzle, for a moment +enveloped the form of the youthful mariner; but from the midst of that +sulphury _nimbus_ came forth a clear manly voice, pronouncing the word +"Missed!" + +"Thank God!" cried Terence and Colin, in a breath; "now we have him in +our power! He can't load again! Let's on him all together! Heave ho!" + +And uttering this nautical phrase of encouragement, the three mids, with +naked dirks, rushed simultaneously towards the maherry. + +The Arab, old as he may have been, showed no signs either of stiffness +or decrepitude. On the contrary he exhibited all the agility of a +tiger-cat; along with a fierce determination to continue the combat he +had initiated,--notwithstanding the odds that were against him. On +discharging his gun, he had flung the useless weapon to the ground; and +instead of it now grasped a long curving scimitar, with which he +commenced cutting around him in every direction. + +Thus armed, he had the advantage of his assailants; for while he might +reach any one of them by a quick cut, they with their short dirks could +not come within thrusting-distance of him, without imminent danger of +having their arms, or perchance their heads, lopped sheer off their +shoulders. + +Defensively, too, had the rider of the maherry an advantage over his +antagonists. While within distance of them, at the point of his curving +blade, seated upon his high perch, he was beyond the reach of their +weapons. Get close to him as they might, and spring as high as they were +able, they could not bring the tips of their daggers in contact with his +skin. + +In truth, there seemed no chance for them to inflict the slightest wound +upon him; while at each fresh "wheel" of the maherry, and each new sweep +of the scimitar, one or other of them was in danger of decapitation! + +On first entering upon the fight, our adventurers had not taken into +account the impregnable position of their antagonist. Soon, however, did +they discover the advantages in his favor, with their own proportionate +drawbacks. To neutralize these was the question that now occupied them. +If something was not done soon, one or other--perhaps all three--would +have to succumb to that keen cutting of the scimitar. + +"Let's kill the camel!" cried Harry Blount, "that'll bring him within +reach; and then--" + +The idea of the English youth was by no means a bad one; and perhaps +would have been carried out. But before he could finish his speech, +another scheme had been conceived by Terence,--who had already taken +steps towards its execution. + +It was this that had interrupted Harry Blount in the utterance of his +counsel. + +At school the young Milesian had been distinguished in the exercise of +vaulting. "Leap-frog" had been his especial delight; and no mountebank +could bound to a greater height than he. At this crisis he remembered +his old accomplishment, and called it to his aid. + +Seeking an opportunity,--when the head of the maherry was turned towards +his comrades, and its tail to himself,--he made an energetic rush; +sprang half a score of feet from the ground; and flinging apart his +feet, while in the air, came down "stride legs" upon the croup of the +camel. + +[Illustration: THE SHEIK CAPTURED] + +It was fortunate for the old Arab that the effort thus made by the +amateur _saltimbanque_ had shaken the dirk from his grasp,--else, in +another instant, the camel would have ceased to "carry double." + +As it was, its two riders continued upon its back; but in such close +juxtaposition, that it would have required sharp eyes and a good light +to tell that more than one individual was mounted upon it. + +Fast enfolded in the arms of the vigorous young Hibernian, could scarce +be distinguished the carcass of the old Arab sheik,--shrunken to half +size by the powerful compression; while the scimitar, so late whistling +with perilous impetuosity through the air, was now seen lying upon the +sand,--its gleam no longer striking terror into the hearts of those +whose heads it had been threatening to lop off! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +HOLDING ON TO THE HUMP. + + +The struggle between Terence and the sheik still continued, upon the +back of the maherry. The object of the young Irishman was to unhorse, or +rather _un-camel_, his antagonist, and get him to the ground. + +This design the old Arab resisted toughly, and with all his strength, +knowing that dismounted he would be no match for the trio of stout lads +whom he had calculated on capturing at his ease. Once _à pied_ he would +be at their mercy, since he was now altogether unarmed. His gun had been +unloaded; and the shining scimitar, of which he had made such a +dangerous display, was no longer in his grasp. As already stated it had +fallen to the ground, and at that precious moment was being picked up by +Colin; who in all probability would have used it upon its owner, had not +the latter contrived to escape beyond its reach. + +The mode of the sheik's escape was singular enough. Still tenaciously +holding on to the hump, from which the young Irishman was using every +effort to detach him, he saw that his only chance of safety lay in +retreating from the spot, and, by this means, separating the antagonist +who clutched him from the two others that threatened upon the ground +below. + +A signal shout to the maherry was sufficient to effect his purpose. On +hearing it, the well-trained quadruped wheeled, as upon a pivot, and in +a shambling, but quick pace, started back towards the ravine, whence it +had late issued. + +To their consternation Colin and Harry beheld this unexpected movement; +and before either of them could lay hold of the halter,--now trailing +along the sand,--the maherry was going at a rate of speed which they +vainly endeavored to surpass. They could only follow in its wake,--as +they did so, shouting to Terence to let go his hold of the sheik, and +take his chance of a tumble to the ground. + +Their admonitions appeared not to be heeded. They were not needed,--at +least after a short interval had elapsed. + +At first the young Irishman had been so intent on his endeavors to +dismount his adversary, that he did not notice the signal given to the +maherry, nor the retrograde movement it had inaugurated. Not until the +camel was re-entering the ravine, and the steep sides of the sand dunes +cast their dark shadows before him, did he observe that he was being +carried away from his companions. + +Up to this time he had been vainly striving to detach the sheik from his +hold upon the hump. On perceiving the danger, however, he desisted from +this design, and at once entered upon a struggle of a very different +kind,--to detach himself. + +In all probability this would have proved equally difficult, for, +struggle as he might, the tough old Arab, no longer troubling himself +about the control of his camel, had twisted his sinewy fingers under the +midshipman's dirk-belt, and held the latter in juxtaposition to his own +body, supported by the hump of the maherry, as if his very life depended +on not letting go. + +A lucky circumstance--and this only--hindered the young Irishman from +being carried to the Arab encampment; a circumstance very similar to +that which on the preceding night had led to the capture of that same +camel. + +Its halter was again trailing. + +Its owner, occupied with the "double" which it had so unexpectedly been +called upon to carry, was conducting it only by his voice, and had +neither thought nor hands for the halter. + +Once again the trailing end got into the split hoof--once again the +maherry was tripped up; and came down neck foremost upon the sand. + +Its load was spilled--Bedouin and Hibernian coming together to the +ground--both, if not dangerously hurt, at least so shaken, as, for some +seconds, to be deprived of their senses. + +Neither had quite recovered from the shock, when Harry Blount and Colin, +coming up in close pursuit, stooped over the prostrate pair; and neither +Arab nor Irishman was very clear in his comprehension, when a crowd of +strange creatures closed around them, and took possession of the whole +party; as they did so yelling like a cohort of fiends. + +In the obfuscation of his "sivin" senses, the young Irishman may have +scarcely understood what was passing around him. It was too clear to his +companions,--clear as a catastrophe could be to those who are its +victims. + +The shot fired by the sheik, if failing in the effects intended, had +produced a result almost equally fatal to the three fugitives,--it had +given warning to the Arabs in their encampment; who, again sallying +forth, had arrived just in time to witness the "decadence" of the camel, +and now surrounded the group that encircled it. + +The courageous representative of England and the cool young Scotchman +were both taken by surprise, too much so to give them a chance of +thinking either of resistance or flight; while the mind of the Irish +middy, from a different cause, was equally in a hopeless "muddle." + +It resulted in all three being captured and conducted up the ravine +towards the camp of the wreckers. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +OUR ADVENTURERS IN UNDRESS. + + +Our adventurers made their approach to the _douar_,--for such is the +title of an Arab encampment,--with as much unwillingness as Sailor Bill +had done but an hour before. Equally _sans cérémonie_, or even with less +ceremony, did they enter among the tents, and certainly in a less +becoming costume,--since all three were stark naked with the exception +of their shirts. + +This was the only article of clothing their captors had left upon their +backs; and so far as comfort was concerned, they would have been as well +without it: for there was not a thread of the striped cotton that was +not saturated with sea-water. + +It was a wonder that even these scanty garments were not taken from +them; considering the eagerness with which they had been divested of +everything else. + +On the instant after being laid hold of, they had been stripped with as +much rapidity, as if their bodies were about to be submitted to some +ignominious chastisement. But they knew it was not that--only a desire +on the part of their captors to obtain possession of their +clothes--every article of which became the subject of a separate +contention, and more than one leading to a dispute that was near +terminating in a contest between two scimitars. + +In this way their jackets and dreadnought trowsers--their caps and +shoes--their dirks, belts, and pocket paraphernalia--were distributed +among nearly as many claimants as there were pieces. + +You may suppose that modesty interfered to reserve to them their shirts? +Such a supposition would be altogether erroneous. There is no such word +in the Bedouin vocabulary--no such feeling in the Bedouin breast. + +In the _douar_ to which they were conducted were lads as old as they, +and lasses too, without the semblance of clothing upon their nude +bodies; not even a shirt,--not even the orientally famed fig-leaf! + +The reason of their being allowed to retain their homely garments had +nothing to do with any sentiment of delicacy. For the favor,--if such it +could be called,--they were simply indebted to the avarice of the old +sheik, who, having recovered from the stunning effects of his tumble, +claimed all three as his captives, _and their shirts along with them_! + +His claim as to their persons was not disputed; they were his by Saäran +custom. So, too, would their clothing, had his capture been complete; +but as there was a question about this, a distribution of the garments +had been demanded and acceded to. + +The sheik, however, would not agree to giving up the shirts; loudly +declaring that they belonged to the skin; and after some discussion on +this moot point, his claim was allowed; and our adventurers were spared +the shame of entering the Arab encampment _in puris naturalibus_. + +In their shirts did they once more stand face to face with Sailor Bill, +not a bit better clad than they: for though the old man-o'-war's-man was +still "anchored" by the marquee of the black sheik, his "toggery" had +long before been distributed throughout the _douar_; and scarce a tent +but contained some portion of his "belongings." + +His youthful comrades saw, but were not permitted to approach him. They +were the undisputed property of the rival chieftain,--to whose tent they +were taken; but not until they had "run a muck" among the women and +children, very similar to that which Bill had to submit to himself. It +terminated in a similar manner: that is, by their _owner_ taking them +under his protection,--not from any motives of humanity, but simply to +save his property from receiving damage at the hands of the incarnate +female furies, who seemed to take delight in maltreating them! + +The old sheik, after allowing his _fair_ followers, with their juvenile +_neophites_, for some length of time to indulge in their customary mode +of saluting strange captives, withdrew the latter beyond the reach of +persecution, to a place assigned them under the shadow of his tent. +There, with a sinewy Arab standing over them,--though as often squatted +beside them,--they were permitted to pass the remainder of the night, if +not in sleep at least in a state of tranquillity. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +THE CAPTIVES IN CONVERSATION. + + +This tranquillity only related to any disturbance experienced from their +captors. There was none. + +These had been on the eve of striking their tents, and moving off to +some other oasis,--previous to the last incident that had arisen. + +As already stated, the two sheiks, by a mutual understanding, had been +about to shake hands, and separate,--the son of Japhet going north, to +the markets of Morocco, while the descendant of Ham was to face homeward +to his more tropical and appropriate clime,--under the skies of +Timbuctoo. + +The "windfall" that had so unexpectedly dropped into the _douar_; first +in the shape of Sailor Bill,--and afterwards, in more generous guise, by +the capture of the three "young gentlemen" of the gunroom,--had caused +some change in the plans of their captors. + +By mutual understanding between the two sheiks, something was to be done +in the morning; and their design of separating was deferred to another +day. + +The order to strike tents had been countermanded: and both tribes +retired to rest,--as soon as the captives had been disposed of for the +night. + +The douar was silent,--so far as the children of Ham and Japhet were +concerned. Even _their_ children had ceased to clamor and squall. + +At intervals might be heard the neigh of a Barbary horse, the barking of +a dog, the bleating of a goat, or a sound yet more appropriate to the +scene, the snorting of a maherry. + +In addition to these, human voices were heard. But they proceeded from +the throats of the sons of Shem. For the most part they were uttered in +a low tone, as the three midshipmen conversed seriously and earnestly +together; but occasionally they became elevated to a higher pitch, when +Sailor Bill, guarded on the opposite side of the encampment--took part +in the conversation, and louder speech was necessary to the interchange +of thought between him and his fellow-captives. + +The Arab watchers offered no interruption. They understood not a word of +what was being said, and so long as the conversation of their captives +did not disturb the douar, they paid no heed to it. + +"What have they done to you, Bill?" was the first question asked by the +new comers, after they had been left free to make inquiries. + +"Faix!" responded the sailor, for it was Terry who had put the +interrogatory: "iverything they cowld think av--iverything to make an +old salt as uncomfortable as can be. They've not left a sound bone in my +body; nor a spot on my skin that's not ayther pricked or scratched wid +thar cruel thorns. My carcass must be like an old seventy-four after +comin' out av action--as full av holes as a meal sieve." + +"But what did they do to you, Bill?" said Colin, almost literally +repeating the interrogatory of Terence. + +The sailor detailed his experiences since entering the encampment. + +"It's very clear," remarked the young Scotchman, "that we need look for +nothing but ill-treatment at the hands of these worse than savages. I +suppose they intend making slaves of us." + +"That at least," quietly assented Harry. + +"Sartin," said the sailor. "They've let me know as much a'ready. There +be two captains to their crew; one's the smoke-dried old sinner as +brought yer in; the other a big nayger, as black as the ace o' spades. +You saw the swab? He's inside the tent here. He's my master. The two +came nigh quarrelling about which should have me, and settled it by some +sort o' a game they played wi' balls of kaymal's dung. The black won me; +an' that's why I'm kep by his tent. Mother av Moses! Only to think of a +British tar being the slave o' a sooty nayger! I never thought it wud a +come to this." + +"Where do you think they'll take us, Bill?" + +"The Lord only knows, an' whether we're all bound for the same port." + +"What! you think we may be separated?" + +"Be ma sang, Maister Colin, I ha'e ma fears we wull!" + +"What makes you think so?" + +"Why, ye see, as I've telt ye, I'm booked to ship wi' the +black,--'sheik' I've heerd them ca' him. Well: from what I ha'e seed and +heerd, there's nae doot they're gaein' to separate an' tak different +roads. I did na ken muckle o' what they sayed, but I could mak oot two +words I hae often heerd while cruisin' in the Gulf o' Guinea. They are +the names o' two great toons, a lang way up the kintry,--Timbuctoo and +Sockatoo. They are negro toons; an' for that reezun I ha'e a suspeshun +my master's bound to one or other o' the two ports." + +"But why do you think that we are to be taken elsewhere?" demanded Harry +Blount. + +"Why, because, Master 'Arry, you belong to the hold sheik, as is plainly +a Harab, an' oose port of hentry lies in a different direction,--that be +to the northart." + +"It is all likely enough," said Colin; "Bill's prognostication is but +too probable." + +"Why, ye see, Maister Colin, they are only land sharks who ha'e got hold +o' us. They're too poor to keep us; an' wull be sure to sell us +somewhere, an' to somebody that ha'e got the tocher to gie for us. +That's what they'll do wi' us poor bodies." + +"I hope," said Terence, "they'll not part us. No doubt slavery will be +hard enough to bear under any circumstances; but harder if we have to +endure it alone. Together, we might do something to alleviate one +another's lot. I hope we shall not be separated!" + +To this hope all the others made a sincere response; and the +conversation came to an end. They who had been carrying it on, worn out +by fatigue, and watchfulness long protracted,--despite the +unpleasantness of their situation,--soon after, and simultaneously, +yielded their spirits to the soothing oblivion of sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +THE DOUAR AT DAWN. + + +They could have slept for hours,--twenty-four of them,--had they been +permitted such indulgence. + +But they were not. As the first streaks of daylight became visible over +the eastern horizon, the whole douar was up and doing. + +The women and children of both hordes were seen flitting like shadows +among the tents. Some squatted under camels, or kneeling by the sides of +the goats, drew from these animals that lacteal fluid that may be said +to form the staple of their food. Others might be observed emptying the +precious liquid into skin bottles and sacks, and securing it against +spilling in its transport through the deserts. + +The matrons of the tribes--hags they looked--were preparing the true +_dejeûner_, consisting of _Sangleh_,--a sort of gruel, made with millet +meal, boiled over a dull fire of camel's dung. + +The _Sangleh_ was to be eaten, by such of them as could afford it, mixed +with goats' or camels' milk,--unstrained and hairy,--half curdled into a +crab-like acidity, the moment it entered its stinking receptacle. + +Here and there men were seen milking their mares or maherries,--not a +few indulging in the universal beverage by a direct application of their +lips to the teats of the animal; while others, appointed to the task, +were preparing the paraphernalia of the douar, for transportation to +some distant oasis. + +Watching these various movements, were the three mids,--still stripped +to their shirts,--and the old man-o'-war's-man, clad with like +scantiness; since the only garment that clung to his sinewy frame was a +pair of cotton drawers neither very clean nor very sound at the seams. + +All four shivered in the chill air of the morning; for hot as is the +Saära under its noonday sun, in the night hours its thermometer +frequently falls almost to the point of freezing! + +Their state of discomfort did not hinder them from observing what was +passing around them. They could have slept on; but the discordant noises +of the douar, and a belief that they would not be permitted any longer +to enjoy their interrupted slumbers, hindered them from reclosing their +eyes. Still recumbent, and occasionally exchanging remarks in a low tone +of voice, they noted the customs of their captors. + +The young Scotchman had read many books relating to the _prairies_ of +America, and their savage denizens. He was forcibly reminded of these by +what he now saw in this oasis of the sandy Saära; the women treated like +dogs, or worse,--doing all the work that might be termed labor,--tending +the cattle, cooking the meals, pitching or striking the tents, loading +the animals,--and themselves bearing such portions of the load as +exceeded the transport strength of the tribal quadrupeds,--aided only by +such wretched helots as misfortune had flung in the way of their common +masters. The men, mostly idle,--ludicrously nonchalant,--reclining on +their saddle-pads, or skins, inhaling the narcotic weed, apparently +proud in the possession of that lordship of wretchedness that surrounded +them. + +Colin was constrained to compare the savage life of two continents, +separated by an ocean. He came to the conclusion, that under similar +circumstances, mankind will ever be the same. In the Comanche of the +_Llano Estacado_, or the Pawnee of the Platte, he would have found an +exact counterpart of the Ishmaelitish wanderer over the sandy plains of +the Saära. + +He was allowed but scant time to philosophize upon these ethnological +phenomena. As the douar became stirred into general activity, he, along +with his two companions, was rudely started from his attitude of +observation, and ordered to take a share in the toils of the captors. + +At an earlier hour, and still more rudely, had Sailor Bill received the +commands of his master; who, as the first rays of the Aurora began to +dapple the horizon, had ordered the old man-o-war's-man to his feet, at +the same time administering to him a cruel kick, that came very near +shivering some of his stern timbers. + +Had the black sheik been acquainted with the English language,--as +spoken in Ratcliff Highway,--he would have better understood Sailor +Bill's reply to his rude matutinal salutation; which, along with several +not very complimentary wishes, ended by devoting the "nayger's" eyes to +eternal perdition. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +AN OBSTINATE DROMEDARY. + + +The morning meal was eaten as soon as prepared. Its scantiness +surprised our adventurers. Even the more distinguished individuals +of the horde partook of only a very small quantity of milk, or +sangleh. The two sheiks alone got anything like what might have been +deemed an ordinary breakfast; while the more common class, as the +half-breeds--_hassanes_--and the negro slaves had to content themselves +with less than a pint of sour milk to each, half of which was water--the +mixture denominated _cheni_. + +Could this meal be meant for breakfast? Harry Blount and Terence thought +not. But Colin corrected them, by alleging that it was. He had read of +the wonderful abstemiousness of these children of the desert: how they +can live on a single meal a day, and this scarce sufficient to sustain +life in a child of six years old; that is, an English child. Often will +they go for several successive days without eating and when they do eat +regularly, a drink of milk is all they require to satisfy hunger. + +Colin was right. It was their ordinary breakfast. He might have added, +their dinner too, for they would not likely obtain another morsel of +food before sundown. + +But where was the breakfast of Colin and his fellow-captives? This was +the question that interested them far more than the dietary of the +Bedouins. They were all hungering like hyenas, and yet no one seemed to +think of them--no one offered them either bite or sup. Filthy as was the +mess made by the Arab women, and filthily as they prepared it,--boiling +it in pots, and serving it up in wooden dishes, that did not appear to +have had a washing for weeks,--the sight of it increased the hungry +cravings of the captives; and they would fain have been permitted to +share the scanty _dejeûner_. + +They made signs of their desire; piteous appeals for food, by looks and +gestures; but all in vain: not a morsel was bestowed on them. Their +brutal captors only laughed at them, as though they intended that all +four should go without eating. + +It soon became clear that they were not to starve in idleness. As soon +as they had been started to their feet each of them was set to a task; +one to collect camels' dung for the cooking fires; another to fetch +water from the brackish muddy pool which had caused the oasis to become +a place of encampment; while the third was called upon to assist in the +loading of the tent equipage, along with the salvage of the wreck,--an +operation entered upon as soon as the sangleh had been swallowed. + +Sailor Bill, in a different part of the douar, was kept equally upon the +alert: and if he, or any of the other three, showed signs of disliking +their respective tasks, one of the two sheiks made little ado about +striking them with a leathern strap, a knotty stick, or any weapon that +chanced to come readiest to hand. They soon discovered that they were +under the government of taskmasters not to be trifled with, and that +resistance or remonstrance would be alike futile. In short, they saw +_that they were slaves_! + +While packing the tents, and otherwise preparing for the march, they +were witnesses to many customs, curious as new to them. The odd +equipages of the animals,--both those of burden and those intended to be +ridden,--the oval panniers, placed upon the backs of the camels, to +carry the women and younger children; the square pads upon the humps of +the maherries; the tawny little piccaninnies strapped upon the backs of +their mothers; the kneeling of the camels to receive their loads,--as if +consenting to what could not be otherwise than disagreeable to +them,--were all sights that might have greatly interested our +adventurers, had they been viewing them under different circumstances. + +Out of the last mentioned of these sights, an incident arose, +illustrating the craft of their captors in the management of their +domestic animals. + +A refractory camel, that, according to usual habit, had voluntarily +humiliated itself to receive its load, after this had been packed upon +it, refused to rise to its feet. The beast either deemed the burden +inequable and unjust,--for the Arabian camel, like the Peruvian llama, +has a very acute perception of fair play in this respect,--or a fit of +caprice had entered its mulish head. For one reason or another it +exhibited a stern determination _not_ to oblige its owner by rising to +its feet; but continued its genuflexion in spite of every effort to get +it on all-fours. + +Coaxing and cajolery were tried to no purpose. Kicking by sandalled +feet, scourging with whips, and beating with cudgels produced no better +effect; and to all appearance the obstinate brute had made up its mind +to remain in the oasis and let the tribe depart without it. + +At this crisis an ingenious method of making the camel change its mind +suggested itself to its master; or perhaps he had practised it on some +former occasion. Maddened by the obstinacy of the animal, he seized hold +of an old burnouse, and rushing up, threw it over its head. Then drawing +the rag tightly around its snout, he fastened it in such a manner as +completely to stop up the nostrils. + +The camel finding its breathing thus suddenly interrupted, became +terrified; and without further loss of time, scrambled to its feet--to +the great amusement of the women and children who were spectators of the +scene. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +WATERING THE CAMELS. + + +In an incredibly short space of time the tents were down, and the douar +with all its belongings was no longer to be seen; or only in the shape +of sundry packages balanced upon the backs of the animals. + +The last operation before striking out upon the desert track, was the +watering of these; the supply for the journey having been already dipped +up out of the pool, and poured into goat-skin sacks. + +The watering of the camels appeared to be regarded as the most important +matter of all. In this performance every precaution was taken, and every +attention bestowed, to ensure to the animals a full supply of the +precious fluid,--perhaps from a presentiment on the part of their owners +that they themselves might some day stand in need of, and make use of, +the _same_ water! + +Whether this was the motive or not, every camel belonging to the horde +was compelled to drink till its capacious stomach was quite full; and +the quantity consumed by each would be incredible to any other than the +owner of an African dromedary, Only a very large cask could have +contained it. + +At the watering of the animals, our adventurers had an opportunity of +observing another incident of the Saära,--quite as curious and original +as that already described. + +It chanced that the pool that furnished the precious fluid, and which +contained the only fresh water to be found within fifty miles, was just +then on the eve of being dried up. A long season of drought--that is to +say, _three or four years_--had reigned over this particular portion of +the desert, and the lagoon, formerly somewhat extensive, had shrunk into +the dimensions of a trifling tank, containing little more than two or +three hundred gallons. This, during the stay of the two tribes united as +wreckers, had been daily diminishing; and had the occupants of the douar +not struck tents at the time they did, in another day or so they would +have been in danger of suffering from thirst. This was in reality the +cause of their projected migration. But for the fear of getting short in +the necessary commodity of fresh water, they would have hugged the +seashore a little longer, in hopes of picking up a few more "waifs" from +the wreck of the English ship. + +At the hour of their departure from the encampment, the pool was on the +eve of exhaustion. Only a few score gallons of not very pure water +remained in it--about enough to fill the capacious stomachs of the +camels; whose owners had gauged them too often to be ignorant of the +quantity. + +It would not do to play with this closely calculated supply. Every pint +was precious; and to prove that it was so esteemed, the animals were +constrained to swallow it in a fashion, which certainly nature could +never have intended. + +Instead of taking it in by the mouth the camels of these Saäran rovers +were compelled to quench their thirst through the nostrils! + +You will wonder in what manner this could be effected? inquiring whether +the quadrupeds voluntarily performed this nasal imbibing? + +Our adventurers, witnesses of the fact, wondered also--while struck with +its quaint peculiarity. + +There is a proverb that "one man may take a horse to the water, but +twenty cannot compel him to drink." Though this proverb may hold good of +an English horse, it has no significance when applied to an African +dromedary. Proof. Our adventurers saw the owner of each camel bring his +animal to the edge of the pool; but instead of permitting the thirsty +creature to step in and drink for itself, its head was held aloft, a +wooden funnel was filled, the narrow end inserted into the nostril, and +by the respiratory canal the water introduced to the throat and stomach! + +You may ask, why this selection of the nostrils instead of the mouth? +Our adventurers so interrogated one another. It was only after becoming +better acquainted with the customs of the Saära that they acquired a +satisfactory explanation of one they had frequent occasion to observe. + +Though ordinarily of the most docile disposition, and in most of its +movements the most tranquil of creatures, the dromedary, when drinking +from a vessel, has the habit of repeatedly shaking its head, and +spilling large quantities of the water placed before it. Where water is +scarce,--and, as in the Saära, considered the most momentous matter of +life,--a waste of it after such a fashion could not be tolerated. To +prevent it, therefore, the camel-owner has contrived that this animal, +so essential to his own safe existence, should drink through the +orifices intended by nature for its respiration. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +A SQUABBLE BETWEEN THE SHEIKS. + + +The process of watering the camels was carried on with the utmost +diligence and care. It was too important to be trifled with, or +negligently performed. While filling the capacious stomachs of the +quadrupeds, their owners were but laying in a stock for themselves. + +As Sailor Bill jocularly remarked, "it was like filling the water-casks +of a man-of-war previous to weighing anchor for a voyage." In truth, +very similar was the purpose for which these ships of the desert were +being supplied; for, when filling the capacious stomachs of the +quadrupeds, their owners were not without the reflection that the supply +might yet pass into their own. Such a contingency was not improbable, +neither would it be new. + +For this reason the operation was conducted with diligence and care,--no +camel being led away from the pool until it was supposed to have had a +"surfeit," and this point was settled by seeing the water poured in at +its nostrils running out at its mouth. + +As each in turn got filled, it was taken back to the tribe to which it +belonged; for the united hordes had by this time become separated into +two distinct parties, preparatory to starting off on their respective +routes. + +Our adventurers could now perceive a marked difference between the two +bands of Saära wanderers into whose hands they had unfortunately fallen. +As already stated, the black sheik was an African of the true negro +type, with thick lips, flattened nostrils, woolly hair, and heels +projecting several inches to the rear of his ankle-joints. Most of his +following were similarly "furnished," though not all of them. There were +a few of mixed color, with straight hair, and features almost Caucasian, +who submitted to his rule, or rather to his ownership, since these last +all appeared to be his slaves. + +Those who trooped after the old Arab were mostly of his own race, mixed +with a remnant of mongrel Portuguese,--descendants of the peninsular +colonists who had fled from the coast settlements after the conquest of +Morocco by the victorious "Sheriffs." + +Of such mixed races are the tribes who thinly people the Saära,--Arabs, +Berbers, Ethiopians of every hue; all equally Bedoweens,--wanderers of +the pathless deserts. It did not escape the observation of our +adventurers that the slaves of the Arab sheik and his followers were +mostly pure negroes from the south, while those of the black +chieftain,--as proclaimed by the color of their skin,--showed a Shemitic +or Japhetic origin. The philosophic Colin could perceive in this a +silent evidence of the retribution of races. + +The supply of water being at length laid in, not only in the skins +appropriated to the purpose, but also within the stomachs of the camels, +the two tribes seemed prepared to exchange with each other the parting +salute,--to speak the "Peace be with you!" And yet there was something +that caused them to linger in each other's proximity. Their new-made +captives could tell this, though ignorant of what it might be. + +It was something that had yet to be settled between the two sheiks, who +did not appear at this moment of leave-taking to entertain for each +other any very cordial sentiment of friendship. + +Could their thoughts have found expression in English words, they would +have taken shape somewhat as follows:-- + +"That lubberly nigger," (we are pursuing the train of reflections that +passed through the mind of the Arab sheik,) "old Nick burn him!--thinks +I've got more than my share of this lucky windfall. He wants these boys +bad,--I know that. The Sultan of Timbuctoo has given him a commission to +procure _white slaves_,--that's clear; and _boy slaves_ if he +can,--that's equally certain. This lot would suit him to a T. I can tell +that he don't care much for the old salt he has tricked me out of by his +superior skill at that silly game of helga. No; His Majesty of the +mud-walled city don't want such as him. It's boys he's after,--as can +wait smartly at his royal table, and give _éclat_ to his ceremonial +entertainments. Well, he can have these _three at a price_." + +"Ay, but a big price," continued the cunning old trafficker in human +flesh, after a short reflection, "a wopping big price. The togs we've +stripped from them were no common clothing. Good broadcloth in their +jackets, and bullion bands on their caps. They must be the sons of great +sheiks. At Wedmoon the old Jew will redeem them. So, too, the merchants +at Suse; or maybe I had best take them on to Mogador, where the consul +of their country will come down handsomely for such as they. Yes, that's +the trick!" + +At this parting scene the thoughts of Fatima's husband were equally +occupied with trading speculations, in which he was assisted by the +amiable Fatima herself. + +Translated also into English, they would have read as follows:-- + +"The Sultan would give threescore of his best blacks for those three +tripe-colored brats." + +"I know it, Fatty dear; he's told me so himself." + +"Then why not get them, and bring 'em along?" + +"Ah, that's easy to say. How can I? You know they belong to the old Arab +by right,--at least, he claims them, though not very fairly, for if we +hadn't come up in good time they would have taken him instead of his +taking them; no matter for that, they're his now by the laws of the +Saära." + +"Bother the laws of the Saära!" exclaimed Fatima, with a disdainful toss +of her head, and a scornful turning up of her two protruding teeth; "all +stuff and nonsense! There's no law in the Saära; and if there was, you +know we're never coming into it again. The price you'd get for those +three hobbledehoys would keep us comfortable for the balance of our +lives; and we need never track the Devil's Desert again. Take 'em by +force from old Yellow-face, if you can't get 'em otherwise; but you may +'chouse' him out of them at a game of _helga_,--you know you can beat +him at that. If he won't play again, try your hand at bargaining against +your blacks; offer him two to one." + +Thus counselled by the partner of his bosom, the black sheik, instead of +bidding the _saleik aloum_ to his Arab _confrère_, raised his voice +aloud, and demanded from the latter a parley upon business of +importance. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +THE TRIO STAKED. + + +The parley that followed was of course unintelligible to our +adventurers, the _Boy Slaves_. + +But although they did not understand the words that were exchanged +between the two sheiks, they were not without having a conjecture as to +their import. The gestures made by the two men, and their looks cast +frequently towards themselves, led them to believe that the conversation +related to their transference from one to the other. + +There was not much to choose between the two masters. Both appeared to +be unfeeling savages, and so far had treated their captives with much +cruelty. They could only hope, in case of a transfer taking place, that +it would not be partial, but would extend to the trio, and that they +would be kept together. They had been already aware that old Bill was to +be parted from them, and this had caused them a painful feeling; but to +be themselves separated, perhaps never to meet again, was a thought +still more distressing. + +The three youths had long been shipmates,--ever since entering the naval +service of their country. They had become fast friends; and believed +that whatever might be the fate before them, they could better bear it +in each other's company. Companionship would at least enable them to +cheer one another; mutual sympathy would, to some extent, alleviate the +hardest lot; while alone, and under such cruel taskmasters, the prospect +was gloomy in the extreme. + +With feelings of keen anxiety, therefore, did they listen to the +palaver, and watch the countenances of their captors. + +After a full half-hour spent in loud talking and gesticulating, some +arrangement appeared to have been arrived at between the two sheiks. +Those most interested in it could only guess what it was by what +followed. + +Silence having been partially restored, the old Arab was seen to step up +to the spot where the slaves of the black sheik were assembled; and, +after carefully scrutinizing them, pick out three of the stoutest, +plumpest, and healthiest young negroes in the gang. These were separated +from the others, and placed on the plain some distance apart. + +"We're to be exchanged," muttered Terence, "we're to belong to the ugly +black nagur. Well, perhaps it's better. We'll be with old Bill." + +"Stay a wee," said Colin; "there's something more to come yet, I think." + +The black sheik at this moment coming up, interrupted the conversation +of the captives. + +What was he going to do? Take them with him, they supposed. The old Arab +had himself led out the three young "darkies"; and the black sheik was +about to act in like manner with the trio of white captives. + +So reasoned they; and, as it was a matter of indifference to them with +which they went, they would offer no opposition. + +To their chagrin, however, instead of all three, only one of them was +led off; the other two being commanded by gestures to keep their ground. + +It was O'Connor to whom this partiality was shown; the black sheik +having selected him after a short while spent in scrutinizing and +comparing the three. The Irish youth was of stouter build than either of +his shipmates; and this, perhaps, guided the black sheik in making his +choice. By all appearances, the conditions of the exchange were to be +different from what our adventurers had anticipated. It was not to be +man for man, or boy for boy; but three for one,--three blacks to a +white. + +This was, in reality, the terms that had been agreed upon. The +avaricious old Arab, not caring very much to part with his share of the +spoil, would not take less than three to one; and to this the black +sheik, after long and loud bargaining, had consented. + +Terence was led up, and placed alongside the three young darkies, who, +instead of taking things as seriously as he, were exhibiting their +ivories in broad grins of laughter, as if the disposal of their persons +was an affair to be treated only as a joke! + +Our adventurers were now apprehensive that they were to be separated. +Their only hope was that the bargaining would not end there; but would +extend to a further exchange of six blacks for the two remaining whites. + +Their conjectures were interrupted by their seeing that the "swop" was +not yet considered complete. + +What followed, in fact, showed them that it was not a regular trade at +all; but a little bit of gambling between the two sheiks, in which +Terence and the three young blacks were to be the respective stakes. + +Old Bill was able to explain the proceedings, from his experience of the +preceding night; and as he saw the two sheiks repair to the place where +his own proprietorship had been decided, he cried out:-- + +"Yere goin' to be gambled for, Masther Terry! Och! ye'll be along wid +me,--for the black can bate the owld Arab at that game, all hollow." + +The holes in which the _helga_ had been played on the preceding night +were now resorted to. The proper number of dung pellets were procured, +and the game proceeded. + +It ended as the old man-o'-war's-man had prognosticated, by the black +sheik becoming the winner and owner of Terence O'Connor. + +The Arab appeared sadly chagrined, and by the way in which he strutted +and stormed over the ground, it was evident he would not rest satisfied +with his loss. When did gamester ever leave gaming-table so long as a +stake was left him to continue the play? + +Two of the midshipmen still belonged to the old sheik. With these he +might obtain a _revanche_. He made the trial. He was unfortunate, as +before. Either the luck was against him, or he was no match at "desert +draughts" for his sable antagonist. + +It ended in the black sheik becoming the owner of the three midshipmen, +who, restored to the companionship of Sailor Bill, in less than twenty +minutes after the conclusion of the game, were trudging it across the +desert in the direction of Timbuctoo! + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +GOLAH. + + +In their journey over the sea of sand, our four adventurers formed part +of a company of sixteen men and women, along with six or seven children. + +All were the property of one man,--the huge and dusky sheik who had won +Sailor Bill and the three middies at "desert draughts." + +It soon became known to his white captives that his name was Golah, a +name which Terence suggested might probably be an African abbreviation +of the ancient name of Goliah. + +Golah was certainly a great man,--not in bone and flesh alone, but in +intellect as well. + +We do not claim for him the gigantic mind that by arranging a few +figures and symbols, by the light of a lamp in a garret, could discover +a new planet in the solar system, and give its dimensions, weight, and +distance from the dome of St. Paul's. Neither do we claim that the power +of his intellect, if put forth in a storm of eloquence, could move the +masses of his fellow-creatures, as a hurricane stirs up the waters of +the sea; yet for all this Golah had a great intellect. He was born to +rule, and not a particle of all the propensities and sentiments +constituting his mind was ever intended to yield to the will of another. + +The cunning old sheik, who had the first claim to the three mids, had +been anxious to retain them; but they were also wanted by Golah, and the +Arab was compelled to give them up, after having been fairly beaten at +the game; parting with his sable competitor in a mood that was anything +but agreeable. + +The black sheik had three wives, all of whom possessed the gift of +eloquence in a high degree. + +For all this a simple glance from him was enough to stop any one of them +in the middle of a monosyllable. + +Even Fatima, the favorite, owed much of her influence to the ability she +displayed in studying her lord's wishes to the neglect of her own. + +Golah had seven camels, four of which were required for carrying himself +and his wives, with their children, trappings, tent utensils, and tents. + +The three other camels were laden with the spoils which had been +collected from the wreck. + +Twelve of the sixteen adults in the company were compelled to walk, +being forced to keep up with the camels the best way they could. + +One of these was Golah's son, a youth about eighteen years of age. He +was armed with a long Moorish musket, a heavy Spanish sword, and the +dirk that had been taken from Colin. + +He was the principal guard over the slaves, in which duty he was +assisted by another youth, whom our adventurers afterwards learnt was a +brother of one of Golah's wives. + +This second youth was armed with a musket and scimitar, and both he and +Golah's son seemed to think that their lives depended on keeping a +constant watch over the ten slaves; for there were six others besides +Sailor Bill and his young companions. They had all been captured, +purchased, or won at play, during Golah's present expedition, and were +now on the way to some southern market. + +Two of the six were pronounced by Sailor Bill to be Kroomen,--a race of +Africans with whose appearance he was somewhat familiar, having often +seen them acting as sailors in ships coming from the African coast. + +The other slaves were much lighter in complexion, and by the old +man-o'-war's-man were called "Portugee blacks." All had the appearance +of having spent some time in bondage on the great Saära. + +On the first day of their journey the white captives had learnt the +relations existing between the majority of the company and the chief +Golah; and each of them felt shame as well as indignation at the +humiliating position in which he was placed. + +Those feelings were partly excited and greatly strengthened by hunger +and thirst, as well as by the painful toil they had to undergo in +dragging themselves over the sandy plain beneath a scorching sun. + +"I have had enough of this," said Harry Blount to his companions. "We +might be able to stand it several days longer, but I've no curiosity to +learn whether we can or not." + +"Go on! you are thinking and speaking for me, Harry," said Terence. + +"There are four of us," continued Harry,--"four of that nation whose +people boast they _never will be slaves_; besides, there are six others, +who are our fellow-bondsmen. They're not much to look at, but still they +might count for something in a row. Shall we four British tars, belong +to a party of ten,--all enslaved by three men,--black men at that?" + +"That's just what I've been thinking about for the last hour or two," +said Terence. "If we don't kill old Golah, and ride off with his camels, +we deserve to pass every day of our lives as we're doing this one--in +slavery." + +"Just say the word,--when and how," cried Harry "I'm waiting. There are +seven camels. Let us each take one; but before we go we must eat and +drink the other three. I'm starving." + +"Pitch on a plan, and I'll pitch into it," rejoined Terence. "I'm ready +for anything,--from pitch and toss up to manslaughter." + +"Stay, Master Terence," interrupted the old sailor. "Av coorse ye are +afther wantin' to do somethin', an' thin to think aftherwards why ye did +it. Arry, my lad, yer half out o yer mind. Master Colin be the only yin +o' ye that keeps his seven senses about him. Suppose all av ye, that the +big chief was dead, an' that his son was not alive, and that the other +nager was a ristin' quietly wid his black heels turned from the place +where the daisies hought to grow,--what should we do thin? We 'ave +neyther chart nor compass. We could'ner mak oot our reckonin'. Don't ye +see a voyage here is just like one at sea, only it be just the revarse. +When men are starvin' at sea, they want to find land, but when they are +starvin' in the desert they want to find water. The big nager, our +captain, can navigate this sea in safety,--we can't. We must let him +take us to some port and then do the best we can to escape from him." + +"You are quite right," said Colin, "in thinking that we might be unable +to find our way from one watering-place to another; but it is well for +us to calculate all the chances. After reaching some _port_, as you call +it, may we not find ourselves in a position more difficult to escape +from,--where we will have to contend with a hundred or more of these +negro brutes in place of only three?" + +"That's vary likely," answered the sailor; "but they're only men, and we +'av a chance of beatin' 'em. We may fight with men, and conquer 'em, an' +we may fight with water an' conquer that; but when we fight against no +water that will conquer us. Natur is sure to win." + +"Bill's right there," said Terence, "and I feel that Nature is getting +the best of me already." + +While they were holding this conversation, they noticed that one of the +Kroomen kept near them, and seemed listening to all that was said. His +sparkling eyes betrayed the greatest interest. + +"Do you understand us?" asked old Bill, turning sharply towards the +African, and speaking in an angry tone. + +"Yus, sa,--a lilly bit," answered the Krooman, without seeming to notice +the unpleasant manner in which the question had been put. + +"And what are you listening for?" + +"To hear what you tell um. I like go in Ingleesh ship. You talk good for +me. I go long with you." + +With some difficulty the sailor and his companions could comprehend the +Krooman's gibberish. They managed to learn from him that he had once +been in an English ship, and had made a voyage along the African coast, +trading for palm-oil. While on board he had picked up a smattering of +English. He was afterwards shipwrecked in a Portuguese brig. Cast away +on the shores of the Saära, just as our adventurers had been, and had +passed four years in the desert,--a slave to its denizens. + +He gratified our adventurers by telling them that they were in no danger +of having to endure a prolonged period of captivity, as they would soon +be sold into liberty, instead of slavery. Golah could not afford to keep +slaves; and was only a kidnapper and dealer in the article. He would +sell them to the highest bidder, and that would be some English consul +on the coast. + +The Krooman said there was no such hope for him and his companions, for +their country did not redeem its subjects from slavery. + +When he saw that Golah had obtained some English prisoners, he had been +cheered with the hope that he might be redeemed along with them, as an +English subject, to which right he had some claim from having served on +an English ship! + +During the day the black slaves--well knowing the duty they were +expected to perform, had been gathering pieces of dried camels' dung +along the way; this was to supply fuel for the fire of the douar at +night. + +Soon after sunset Golah ordered a halt, when the camels were unloaded +and the tents set up. + +About one quarter the quantity of _sangleh_ that each required, was then +served out to the slaves for their dinner, and as they had eaten nothing +since morning, this article of food appeared to have greatly improved, +both in appearance and flavor. To the palate of our adventurers it +seemed delicious. + +Golah, after examining his human property, and evidently satisfied with +the condition of all, retired to his tent; from which soon after issued +sounds that resembled a distant thunder-storm. + +The black sheik was snoring! + +The two young men--his son and brother-in-law--relieved each other +during the night in keeping watch over the slaves. + +Their vigil was altogether unnecessary. Weak, and exhausted with hunger +and fatigue, the thoughts of the captives were not of the future, but of +present repose; which was eagerly sought, and readily found, by all four +of them. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +A DAY OF AGONY. + + +An hour before sunrise the next morning, the slaves were given some +_cheni_ to drink, and then started on their journey. + +The sun, as it soared up into a cloudless sky, shot forth its rays much +warmer than upon the day before, while not a breath of air fanned the +sterile plain. The atmosphere was as hot and motionless as the sands +under their feet. They were no longer hungry. Thirst--raging, burning +thirst--extinguished or deadened every other sensation. + +Streams of perspiration poured from their bodies, as they struggled +through the yielding sand; yet, with all this moisture streaming from +every pore, their throats, tongues, and lips became so parched that any +attempt on their part to hold converse only resulted in producing a +series of sounds that resembled a death-rattle. + +Golah, with his family, rode in the advance, and seemed not to give +himself any concern whether he was followed by others or not. His two +relatives brought up the rear of the _kafila_, and any of the slaves +exhibiting a disposition to lag behind was admonished to move on with +blows administered by a thick stick. + +"Tell them I must have water or die," muttered Harry to the Krooman in a +hoarse whisper. "I am worth money, and if old Golah lets me die for want +of a drop of water, he's a fool." + +The Krooman refused to make the communication--which he declared would +only result in bringing ill treatment upon himself. + +Colin appealed to Golah's son, and by signs gave him to understand that +they must have water. The young black, in answer, simply condescended to +sneer at him. He was not suffering himself, and could have no sympathy +for another. + +The hides of the blacks, besmeared with oil, seemed to repel the +scorching beams of the sun; and years of continual practice had no doubt +inured them to the endurance of hunger and thirst to a surprising +degree. To their white fellow-captives they appeared more like huge +reptiles than human beings. + +The sand along the route on this, the second day, was less compact than +before, and the task of leg-lifting, produced a weariness such as might +have arisen from the hardest work. Added to the agony of their thirst, +the white sufferers dwelt frequently on thoughts of death--that great +antidote to human miseries; yet so constrained were their actions by +force of circumstances, that only by following their leader and owner, +Golah, could they hope to find relief. + +Had he allowed them to turn back to the coast, whence they had started, +or even to repose for a few hours on the way, they could not have done +so. They were compelled to move on, by a power that could not be +resisted. + +That power was Hope,--the hope of obtaining some _sangleh_ and a little +dirty water. + +To turn back, or to linger behind, would bring them nothing but more +suffering,--perhaps death itself. + +A man intent on dying may throw himself into the water to get drowned, +and then find himself involuntarily struggling to escape from the death +he has courted. + +The same irresistible antipathy to death compelled his white captives to +follow the black sheik. + +They were unwilling to die,--not for the sole reason that they had homes +and friends they wished to see again,--not solely for that innate love +of life, implanted by Nature in the breasts of all; but there was a +pleasure which they desired to experience once more,--aye, yearned to +indulge in it: the pleasure of quenching their terrible thirst. To +gratify this pleasure they must follow Golah. + +One of Golah's wives had three children; and, as each wife was obliged +to look after her own offspring, this woman could not pursue her journey +without a little more trouble than her less favored companions. + +The eldest of her children was too young to walk a long distance; and, +most of the time, was carried under her care upon the maherry. Having +her three restless imps, to keep balanced upon the back of the camel, +requiring her constant vigilance to prevent them from falling off, she +found her hands full enough. It was a sort of travelling that did not at +all suit her; and she had been casting about for some way of being +relieved from at least a portion of her trouble. + +The plan she devised was to compel some one of the slaves to carry her +eldest child, a boy about four years of age. + +Colin was the victim selected for this duty. All the attempts made by +the young Scotchman to avoid the responsibilities thus imposed upon him +proved vain. The woman was resolute, and Colin had to yield; although he +resisted until she threatened to call Golah to her assistance. + +This argument was conclusive; and the young darkey was placed upon +Colin's shoulders, with its legs around his neck, and one of its hands +grasping him tightly by the hair. + +When this arrangement was completed, night had drawn near; and the two +young men who acted as guards hastened forward to select a place for the +douar. + +There was no danger of any of the slaves making an attempt to escape; +for all were too anxious to receive the small quantity of food that was +to be allowed them at the night halt. + +Encumbered with the "piccaninny," and wearied with the long, ceaseless +struggle through the sand, Colin lingered behind his companions. The +mother of the child, apparently attentive to the welfare of her +first-born, checked the progress of her maherry, and rode back to him. + +After the camels had been unloaded, and the tents pitched, Golah +superintended the serving out of their suppers, which consisted only of +_sangleh_. The quantity was even less than had been given the evening +before; but it was devoured by the white captives with a pleasure none +of them had hitherto experienced. + +Sailor Bill declared that the brief time in which he was employed in +consuming the few mouthfuls allowed him, was a moment of enjoyment that +repaid him for all the sufferings of the day. + +"Ah, Master Arry!" said he, "it's only now we are larnin' to live, +although I did think, one time to-day, we was just larnin' to die. I +never mean to eat again until I'm hungry Master Terry," he added, +turning to the young Irishman, "isn't this foine livin' intirely? and +are yez not afther bein' happy?" + +"'T is the most delicious food man ever ate," answered Terence, "and the +only fault I can find is that there is not enough of it." + +"Then you may have what is left of mine," said Colin, "for I can't say +that I fancy it." + +Harry, Terence, and the sailor gazed at the young Scotchman with +expressions of mingled alarm and surprise. Small as had been the amount +of _sangleh_ with which Colin had been served, he had not eaten more +than one half of it. + +"Why, puir Maister Colly, what is wrang wi' ye?" exclaimed Bill, in a +tone expressing fear and pity. "If ye dinna eat, mon, ye'll dee." + +"I'm quite well," answered Colin, "but I have had plenty, and any of you +can take what is left." + +Though the hunger of Colin's three companions was not half satisfied, +they all refused to finish the remainder of his supper, hoping that he +might soon find his appetite, and eat it himself. + +The pleasure they had enjoyed in eating the small allowance given them +rendered it difficult for them to account for the conduct of their +companion. His abstemiousness caused them uneasiness, even alarm. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +COLIN IN LUCK. + + +The next morning, when the caravan started, Colin again had the care of +the young black. He did not always have to carry him, as part of the +time the boy trotted along by his side. + +During the fore-part of the day, the young Scotchman with his charge +easily kept up with his companions, and some of the time might be seen a +little in advance of them. His kind attentions to the boy were observed +by Golah, who showed some sign of human feeling, by exhibiting a +contortion of his features intended for a smile. + +Towards noon, Colin appeared to become fatigued with the toil of the +journey, and then fell back to the rear, as he had done the evening +before. Again the anxious mother, ever mindful of the welfare of her +offspring, was seen to check her camel, and wait until Colin and the boy +overtook her. + +Sailor Bill had been much surprised at Colin's conduct the evening +before, especially at the patient manner in which the youth had +submitted to the task of looking after the child. There was a mystery in +the young Scotchman's behavior he could not comprehend,--a mystery that +soon became more profound. It had also attracted the attention of Harry +and Terence, notwithstanding the many unpleasant circumstances of the +journey calculated to abstract their thoughts from him and his charge. + +Shortly after noon, the woman was seen driving Colin up to the _kafila_, +urging him forward with loud screams, and blows administered with the +knotted end of the rope by which she guided her maherry. + +After a time Golah, apparently annoyed by her shrill, scolding voice, +ordered her to desist, and permit the slave to continue his journey in +peace. + +Although unable to understand the meaning of her words, Colin must have +known that the woman was not using terms of endearment. + +The screaming, angry tone, and the blows of the rope might have told him +this; and yet he submitted to her reproaches and chastisements with a +meekness and a philosophic resignation which surprised his companions. + +When his thoughts were not too much absorbed by painful reveries over +the desire for food and water, Harry endeavored to converse with the +Krooman already mentioned. He now applied to the man for an +interpretation of the words so loudly vociferated by the angry negress, +and launched upon the head of the patient young Scotchman. + +The Krooman said that she had called the lad a lazy pig, a Christian +dog, and an unbelieving fool; and that she threatened to kill him unless +he kept up with the _kafila_. + +On the third day of their journeying, it chanced not to be quite so hot +as on the one preceding it; and consequently the sufferings of the +slaves, especially from thirst, were somewhat less severe. + +"I shall never endure such agony again," said Harry, speaking of his +experience of the previous day. "Perhaps I may die for the want of +water, and on this desert; but I can never suffer so much real pain a +second time." + +"'Ow is that, Master Arry?" asked Bill. + +"Because I cannot forget, after my experience of last night, that the +greater the desire for water, the more pleasure there is in gratifying +it; and the anticipation of such happiness will go far to alleviate +anything I may hereafter feel." + +"Well, there be summat in that, for sartin," answered the sailor, "for I +can't 'elp thinkin' about 'ow nice our supper was last night, and only +'ope it will taste as well to-night again." + +"We have learnt something new," said Terence, "new, at least, to me; and +I shall know how to live when I get where there is plenty. Heretofore I +have been like a child--eating and drinking half my time, not because I +required it, but because I knew no better. There is Colly, now, he don't +seem to appreciate the beauty of this Arabian style of living; or he may +understand it better than we. Perhaps he is waiting until he acquires a +better appetite, so that he may have all the more pleasure in gratifying +it. Where is he now?" + +They all looked about. They saw that Colin had once more fallen behind; +and that the mother of the child was again waiting for him. + +Harry and Terence walked on, expecting that they would soon see their +companion rudely driven up by the angry negress. + +Sailor Bill stopped, as though he was interested in being a witness to +the scene thus anticipated. + +In a few minutes after, the young Scotchman, with the child, was hurried +forward by the enraged hag--who once more seemed in a great rage at his +inability or unwillingness to keep up with the others. + +"I ken it 'a noo," said Bill, after he had stood for some time +witnessing the ill-treatment heaped upon Colin. + +"Our freen Colly's in luck. I've no langer any wonder at his taking a' +this tribble wi' the blackey bairn." + +"What is it, Bill? what have you learnt now?" asked Terence and Harry in +a breath. + +"I've larnt why Colly could not eat his dinner yesterday." + +"Well, why was it?" + +"I've larnt that the nager's anger with Colly is all a pretince, an' +that she's an old she schemer." + +"Nonsense, Bill; that is all a fancy of yours," said Colin, who, with +the child on his shoulders, was now walking alongside his companions. + +"It is no fancy of mine, mon," answered Bill, "but a fancy o' the woman +for a bra' fair luddie. What is it that she gives you to eat, Maister +Colly?" + +Seeing that it was idle to conceal his good fortune any longer, Colin +now confessed it,--informing them that the woman, whenever she could do +so without being seen, had given him a handful of dried figs, with a +drink of camel's milk from a leathern bottle which she carried under her +cloak. + +Notwithstanding the opinion they had just expressed, on the enjoyment +attending prolonged thirst and hunger, Colin's companions congratulated +him on his good fortune,--one and all declaring their willingness to +take charge of the little darkey, on the condition of being similarly +rewarded. + +They had no suspicion at that moment that their opinions might soon +undergo a change; and that Colin's supposed good fortune would ere long +become a source of much uneasiness to all of them. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +SAILOR BILL'S EXPERIMENT. + + +The afternoon of this day was very warm, yet Golah rode on at such a +quick pace, that it required the utmost exertion of the slaves to keep +up with him. + +This manner of travelling, under the circumstances in which he was +required to pursue it, proved too severe for Sailor Bill to endure with +any degree of patience. + +He became unable, as he thought, to walk any farther; or, if not wholly +unable, he was certainly unwilling, and he therefore sat down. + +A heavy shower of blows produced no effect in moving him from the spot +where he had seated himself, and the two young men who acted as guards, +not knowing what else to do, and having exhausted all their arguments, +accompanied by a series of kicks, at length appealed to Golah. + +The sheik instantly turned his maherry, and rode back. + +Before he had reached the place, however, the three mids had used all +their influence in an endeavor to get their old companion to move on. In +this they had been joined by the Krooman, who entreated Bill, if he +placed any value on his life, to get up before Golah should arrive, for +he declared the monster would show him no mercy. + +"For God's sake," exclaimed Harry Blount, "if it is possible for you to +get up and go a little way farther, do so." + +"Try to move on, man," said Terence, "and we will help you. Come, Bill, +for the sake of your friends try to get up. Golah is close by." + +While thus speaking, Terence, assisted by Colin, took hold of Bill and +tried to drag him to his feet; but the old sailor obstinately persisted +in remaining upon the ground. + +"Perhaps I could walk on a bit farther," said he, "but I won't. I've 'ad +enough on it. I'm goin' to ride, and let Golah walk awhile. He's better +able to do it than I am. Now don't you boys be so foolish as to get +yersels into trouble on my account. All ye've got to do is to look on, +an' ye'll larn somethin'. If I've no youth an' beauty, like Colly, to +bring me good luck, I've age and experience, and I'll get it by +schamin'." + +On reaching the place where the sailor was sitting, Golah was informed +of what had caused the delay, and that the usual remedy had failed of +effect. + +He did not seem displeased at the communication. On the contrary, his +huge features bore an expression that for him might have been considered +pleasant. + +He quietly ordered the slave to get up, and pursue his journey. + +The weary sailor had blistered feet; and, with his strength almost +exhausted by hunger and thirst, had reached the point of desperation. +Moreover, for the benefit of himself and his young companions, he wished +to try an experiment. + +He told the Krooman to inform the sheik that he would go on, if allowed +to ride one of the camels. + +"You want me to kill you?" exclaimed Golah, when this communication was +made to him; "you want to cheat me out of the price I have paid for you; +but you shall not. You must go on. I, Golah, have said it." + +The sailor, in reply, swore there was no possible chance for them to +take him any farther, without allowing him to ride. + +This answer to the sheik's civil request was communicated by the +Krooman; and, for a moment, Golah seemed puzzled as to how he should +act. + +He would not kill the slave after saying that he must go on; nor would +he have him carried, since the man would then gain his point. + +He stood for a minute meditating on what was to be done. Then a hideous +smile stole over his features. He had mastered the difficulty. + +Taking its halter from the camel, he fastened one end of it to the +saddle, and the other around the wrists of the sailor. Poor old Bill +made resistance to being thus bound, but he was like an infant in the +powerful grasp of the black sheik. + +The son and brother-in-law of Golah stood by with their muskets on full +cock, and the first move any of Bill's companions could have made to +assist him, would have been a signal for them to fire. + +When the fastenings were completed, the sheik ordered his son to lead +the camel forward, and the sailor, suddenly jerked from his attitude of +repose, was rudely dragged onward over the sand. + +"You are going now!" exclaimed Golah, nearly frantic with delight; "and +we are not carrying you, are we? Neither are you riding? _Bismillah!_ I +am your master!" + +The torture of travelling in this manner was too great to be long +endured, and Bill had to take to his feet and walk forward as before. He +was conquered; but as a punishment for the trouble he had caused, the +sheik kept him towing at the tail of the camel for the remainder of that +day's journey. + +Any one of the white slaves would once have thought that he possessed +too much spirit to allow himself or a friend to be subjected to such +treatment as Bill had that day endured. + +None of them was deficient in true courage; yet the proud spirit, of +which each had once thought himself possessed, was now subdued by a +power to which, if it be properly applied, all animate things must +yield. + +That power was the feeling of hunger; and there is no creature so wild +and fierce but will tamely submit to the dominion of the man who +commands it. It is a power that must be used with discretion, or the +victims to it, urged by desperation, may destroy their keeper. Golah had +the wisdom to wield it with effect; for by it, with the assistance of +two striplings, he easily controlled those who, under other +circumstances, would have claimed the right to be free. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +AN UNJUST REWARD. + + +The next morning on resuming the journey Golah condescended to tell his +captives that they should reach a well or spring that afternoon, and +stay by it for two or three days. + +This news was conveyed to Harry by the Krooman; and all were elated at +the prospect of rest, with a plentiful supply of water. + +Harry had a long conversation with the Krooman as they were pursuing +their route. The latter expressed his surprise that the white captives +were so contented to go on in the course in which the sheik was +conducting them. + +This was a subject about which Harry and his companions had given +themselves no concern; partly because that they had no idea that Golah +was intending to make a very long journey, and partly that they supposed +his intentions, whatever they were, could not be changed by anything +they might propose. + +The Krooman thought different. He told Harry that the route they were +following, if continued, would lead them far into the interior of the +country--probably to Timbuctoo; and that Golah should be entreated to +take them to some port on the coast, where they might be ransomed by an +English consul. + +Harry perceived the truth of these suggestions; and, after having a +conversation with his companions, it was determined between them that +they should have a talk with Golah that very night. + +The Krooman promised to act as interpreter, and to do all in his power +to favor their suit. He might persuade the sheik to change his +destination, by telling him that he would find a far better market in +taking them to some place where vessels arrive and depart, than by +carrying them into the interior of the country. + +The man then added, speaking in a mysterious manner, that there was one +more subject on which he wished to give them warning. When pressed to +mention it, he appeared reluctant to do so. + +He was at last prevailed upon to be more communicative; when he +proclaimed his opinion, that their companion, Colin, would never leave +the desert. + +"Why is that?" asked Harry. + +"Bom-by he be kill. De sheik kill um." + +Although partly surmising his reasons for having formed this opinion, +Harry urged him to further explain himself. + +"Ef Golah see de moder ob de piccaninny gib dat lad one lilly fig,--one +drop ob drink, he kill um, sartin-sure. I see, one, two,--seb'ral more +see. Golah no fool. Bom-by he see too, and kill um bof,--de lad an' de +piccaninny moder." + +Harry promised to warn his companion of the danger, and save him before +the suspicions of Golah should be aroused. + +"No good, no good," said the Krooman. + +In explanation of this assertion, Harry was told that, should the young +Scotchman refuse any favor from the woman, her wounded vanity would +change her liking to the most bitter hatred, and she would then contrive +to bring down upon him the anger of Golah,--an anger that would +certainly be fatal to its victim. + +"Then what must I do to save him?" asked Harry. + +"Noting," answered the Krooman. "You noting can do. Ony bid him be good +man, and talk much,--pray to God. Golah wife lub him, and he sure muss +die." + +Harry informed the sailor and Terence of what the Krooman had told him, +and the three took counsel together. + +"I believes as how the darkey be right," said Bill. "Of course, if the +swab Goliarh larns as 'ow one av 'is wives ha' taken a fancy to Master +Colly, 't will be all up wi' the poor lad. He will be killed,--and +mayhap eaten too, for that matter." + +"Like enough," assented Terence. "And should he scorn her very +particular attentions, her resentment might be equally as dangerous as +Golah's. I fear poor Colin has drifted into trouble." + +"What ye be afther sayin' about the woman," said Bill, "'minds me o' a +little story I wunce heeard whin I was a boy. I read it in a book called +the Bible. It was about a young man, somethin' like Master Colly, +barrin' his name was Joseph. A potter's wife tuck a fancy to him; but +Joseph, bein' a dacent an' honest youngster, treted her wid contimpt, +an' came to great grief by doin' that same. You must 'ave read that +story, Master 'Arry," continued Bill, turning from Terence to the young +Englishman, and changing his style of pronunciation. "Did it not 'appen +summers in this part o' the world? Hif I remember rightly, it did. I +know 't was summers in furrin parts." + +"Yes," answered Harry, "that little affair did happen in this part of +the world,--since it was in Africa,--and our comrade has a fair prospect +of being more unfortunate than Joseph. In truth, I don't see how we +shall be able to assist him." + +"There he is, about a hundred cable lengths astern," said Bill, looking +back. "And there's the old 'oman, too, lookin' sharp afther him, while +Colly is atin' the figs and drinkin' the camel's milk; and while I'm +dying for a dhrop of that same, old Goliarh is no doubt proud wid the +great care she's takin' of his child. Bud won't there be a row when he +larns summat more? Won't there, Master 'Arry?" + +"There will, indeed," answered Harry. "Colin will soon be up with us, +and we must talk to him." + +Harry was right, for Colin soon after overtook them,--having been driven +up as usual by the negress, who seemed in great anger at the trouble he +was causing her. + +"Colin," said Harry, when their companion and the child had joined them, +"you must keep that woman away from you. Her partiality for you has +already been noticed by others. The Krooman has just been telling us +that you will not live much longer; that Golah is neither blind nor +foolish; and that, on the slightest suspicion he has of the woman +showing you any favor,--even to giving you a fig,--he will kill you." + +"But what can I do?" asked Colin. "If the woman should come to you and +offer you a handful of figs and a drink of milk, could you refuse them?" + +"No, I certainly could not. I only wish such an alternative would +present itself; but you must manage in some way or other to keep away +from her. You must not linger behind, but remain all the time by us." + +"If you knew," asked Colin, "that you could quench your thirst by +lagging a few paces behind, would you not do so?" + +"That would be a strong temptation, and I should probably yield; but I +tell you that you are in danger." + +Neither of Colin's companions could blame him. Suffering, as he was, +from the ceaseless agony of hunger and thirst, any indiscretion, or even +crime, seemed justifiable, for the sake of obtaining relief. + +The day became hotter and hotter, until in the afternoon the sufferings +of the slaves grew almost unendurable. Sailor Bill appeared to be more +severely affected than any of his companions. He had been knocking about +the world for many long years, injuring his constitution by dissipation +and exposure in many climes; and the siege that thirst and hunger were +now making to destroy his strength became each hour more perceptible in +its effect. + +By the middle of the afternoon it was with the utmost difficulty he +could move along; and his tongue was so parched that in an attempt to +speak he wholly failed. His hands were stretched forth towards Colin; +who, since the warning he had received, had kept up along with the rest. + +Colin understood the signal; and placed the boy on the old man's +shoulders. Bill wished to learn if the mother would reward him for +taking care of her child, as she had his predecessor in the office. To +carry out the experiment he allowed himself to be left in the rear of +the caravan. + +Golah's son and the other guard had noticed the old sailor's suffering +condition, and objected to his being incumbered with the child. They +pointed to Harry and Terence; but Bill was resolute in holding on to his +charge; and cursing him for an unbelieving fool, they allowed him to +have his own way. + +Not long after, the mother of the child was seen to stop her camel, and +the three mids passed by her unnoticed. The old sailor hastened up as +fast as his weary limbs would allow to receive the hoped-for reward; but +the poor fellow was doomed to a cruel disappointment. + +When the woman perceived who had been entrusted with the carrying of her +child, she pronounced two or three phrases in a sharp, angry tone. +Understanding them, the child dismounted from the sailor's back and ran +with all speed towards her. + +Bill's reward was a storm of invectives, accompanied by a shower of +blows with the knotted end of the halter. He strove to avoid the +punishment by increasing his speed; but the camel seemed to understand +the relative distance that should be maintained between its rider and +the sailor, so that the former might deliver and the latter receive the +blows with the most painful effect. This position it kept until Bill had +got up to his companions; his naked shoulders bearing crimson evidence +of the woman's ability in the handling of a rope's end. + +As she rode past Colin, who had again taken charge of the child, she +gave the young Scotchman a look that seemed to say, "You have betrayed +me!" and without waiting for a look in return, she passed on to join her +husband at the head of the caravan. + +The black slaves appeared highly amused at the sailor's misfortunes. The +incident had aroused their expiring energies, and the journey was +pursued by them with more animation than ever. + +Bill's disappointment was not without some beneficial effect upon +himself. He was so much revived by the beating, that he soon after +recovered his tongue; and as he shuffled on alongside his companions, +they could hear him muttering curses, some in good English, some in bad, +some in a rich Irish brogue, and some in the broadest Scotch. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +THE WATERLESS WELL. + + +Golah expected to reach the watering-place early in the evening; and all +the caravan was excited by the anticipation of soon obtaining a +plentiful supply of water. + +It was well they were inspired by this hope. But for that, long before +the sun had set, Sailor Bill and three or four others would have dropped +down in despair, physically unable to have moved any further. But the +prospect of plenty of water, to be found only a few miles ahead, +brought, at the same time, resolution, strength, and life. Faint and +feeble, they struggled on, nearly mad with the agony of nature's fierce +demands; and soon after sunset they succeeded in reaching the well. + +It was dry! + +Not a drop of the much desired element was shining in the cavity where +they had expected to find it. + +Sailor Bill and some of the other slaves sank upon the earth, muttering +prayers for immediate death. + +Golah was in a great rage with everything, and his wives, children, +slaves, and camels, that were most familiar with his moods, rushed here +and there to get out of his way. + +Suddenly he seemed to decide on a course to be taken in this terrible +emergency, and his anger to some extent subsided. + +Unbuckling the last goat-skin of water from one of the camels, he poured +out a small cup for each individual of the _kafila_. Each was then +served with a little _sangleh_ and a couple of dried figs. + +All were now ordered to move on towards the west, Golah leading the way. +The new route was at right angles to the course they had been following +during the earlier part of the day. + +Some of the slaves who declared that they were unable to go further, +found out, after receiving a few ticklings of the stick, that they had +been mistaken. The application of Golah's cudgel awakened dormant +energies of which they had not deemed themselves possessed. + +After proceeding about two miles from the scene of their disappointment, +Golah suddenly stopped,--as he did so, giving to his followers some +orders in a low tone. + +The camels were immediately brought into a circle, forced to kneel down, +while their lading was removed from them. + +While this was going on, the white captives heard voices, and the +trampling of horses' hoofs. + +The black sheik, with his highly educated ear, had detected the approach +of strangers. This had caused him to order the halt. + +When the noises had approached a little nearer Golah called out in +Arabic: "Is it peace?" + +"It is," was the answer; and as the strangers drew nearer, the +salutations of "Peace be with you!"--"Peace be with all here, and with +your friends!" were exchanged. + +The caravan they had met consisted of between fifteen and twenty men, +some horses and camels; and the sheik who commanded it inquired of Golah +from whence he came. + +"From the west," answered Golah, giving them to understand that he was +travelling the same way as themselves. + +"Then why did you not keep on to the well?" was the next inquiry. + +"It is too far away," answered Golah. "We are very weary." + +"It is not far," said the chief, "not more than half a league. You had +better go on." + +"No. I think it is more than two leagues, and we shall wait till +morning." + +"_We_ shall not. I know the well is not far away, and we shall reach it +to-night." + +"Very well," said Golah, "go, and may God be with you. But stay, +masters, have you a camel to sell?" + +"Yes, a good one. It is a little fatigued now, but will be strong in the +morning." + +Golah was aware that any camel they would sell him that night would be +one that could only move with much difficulty,--one that they despaired +of getting any further on the way. The black sheik knew his own business +best; and was willing they should think they had cheated him in the +bargain. + +After wrangling for a few minutes, he succeeded in buying their +camel,--the price being a pair of blankets, a shirt, and the dirk that +had been taken from Terence. The camel had no cargo; and had for some +time been forced onward at considerable trouble to its owner. + +The strangers soon took their departure, going off in the direction of +the dry well. As soon as they were out of sight Golah gave orders to +reload the animals, and resume the interrupted march. To excite the +slaves to a continuance of the journey, he promised that the camel he +had purchased should be slaughtered on the next morning for their +breakfast; and that they should have a long rest in the shade of the +tents during the following day. + +This promise, undoubtedly, had the anticipated effect in revivifying +their failing energies, and they managed to move on until near daybreak, +when the camel lately purchased laid itself down, and philosophically +resisted every attempt at compelling it to continue the journey. + +It was worn out with toil and hunger, and could not recover its feet. + +The other animals were stopped and unladen, the tents were pitched, and +preparations made for resting throughout the day. + +After some dry weeds had been collected for fuel, Golah proceeded to +fulfil his promise of giving them plenty of food. + +A noose was made at the end of a rope, and placed around the camel's +lower jaw. Its head was then screwed about, as far as it would reach, +and the rope was made fast to the root of its tail,--the long neck of +the camel allowing its head to be brought within a few inches of the +place where the rope was tied. + +Fatima, the favorite, stood by holding a copper kettle; while Golah +opened a vein on the side of the animal's neck near the breastbone. The +blood gushed forth in a stream; and before the camel had breathed its +last, the vessel held to catch it had become filled more than half full. + +The kettle was then placed over the fire, and the blood boiled and +stirred with a stick until it had become as thick as porridge. It was +then taken off, and when it had cooled down, it resembled, both in color +and consistency, the liver of a fresh killed bullock. + +This food was divided amongst the slaves, and was greedily devoured by +all. + +The heart and liver of the camel, Golah ordered to be cooked for his own +family; and what little flesh was on the bones, was cut into strips, and +hung up in the sun to dry. + +In one portion of the camel's stomach was about a gallon and a half of +water, thick and dirty with the vegetation it had last consumed; but all +was carefully poured into a goat's skin, and preserved for future use. + +The intestines were also saved, and hung out in the sun to get cured by +drying, to be afterwards eaten by the slaves. + +During the day Harry and Terence asked for an interview with Golah; and, +accompanied by the Krooman, were allowed to sit down by the door of his +tent while they conversed with him. + +Harry instructed the Krooman to inform their master, that if they were +taken to some seaport, a higher ransom would be paid for them than any +price for which they could be sold elsewhere. + +Golah's reply to this information was, that he doubted its truth; that +he did not like seaport towns; that his business lay away from the sea; +and that he was anxious to reach Timbuctoo as soon as possible. He +further stated, that if all his slaves were Christian dogs, who had +reached the country in ships, it might be worth his while to take them +to some port where they would be redeemed; but as the most of them were +of countries that did not pay ransoms for their subjects, there would be +no use in his carrying them to the coast,--where they might escape from +him, and he would then have had all his trouble for nothing. + +He was next asked if he would not try to sell the white captives along +with the two Kroomen, to some slave dealer, who would take them to the +coast for a market. + +Golah would not promise this. He said, that to do so, he should have to +sell them on the desert, where he could not obtain half their value. + +The only information they were able to obtain from him was, that they +were quite certain of seeing that far-famed city, Timbuctoo,--that was +if they should prove strong enough to endure the hardships of the +journey. + +After thanking Golah for his condescension in listening to their appeal, +the Krooman withdrew, followed by the others, who now for the first time +began to realize the horror of their position. A plentiful supply of +food, along with the day's rest, had caused all the white slaves to turn +their thoughts from the present to the future. + +Harry Blount and Terence, after their interview with Golah, found Colin +and Sailor Bill anxiously awaiting their return. + +"Well, what's the news?" asked Bill, as they drew near. + +"Very bad," answered Terence. "There is no hope for us: we are going to +Timbuctoo." + +"No, I'm no going there," said Bill, "if it was in another world I might +see the place soon enough, but in this, niver,--niver!" + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +THE WELL. + + +At an early hour next morning the caravan started on its journey, still +moving westward. This direction Golah was compelled to pursue to obtain +a supply of water, although it was taking him no nearer his destination. + +Two days' journey was before them ere they could reach another well. +While performing it, Golah, vexed at the delay thus occasioned, was in +very ill-humor with things in general. + +Some of his displeasure was vented upon the camel he was riding, and the +animal was usually driven far ahead of the others. + +The sheik's wrath also fell upon his wives for lingering behind, and +then upon the slaves for not following closer upon the heels of his +camel. His son, and brother-in-law, would at intervals be solemnly +cursed in the name of the Prophet for not driving the slaves faster. + +Before the well had been reached, the four white slaves were in a very +wretched condition. Their feet were blistered and roasted by the hot +sand, and as the clothing allowed them was insufficient protection +against the blazing sun, their necks and legs were inflamed and +bleeding. + +The intestines and most of the flesh of the slaughtered camel had been +long ago consumed, as well as the filthy water taken from its stomach. + +Colin had again established himself in the favor of the sheik's wife, +and was allowed to have the care of the child; but the little food and +drink he received for his attention to it were dearly earned. + +The weight of the young negro was a serious incumbrance in a weary +journey through what seemed to be a burning plain; moreover the +"darkey," in keeping its seat on the young Scotchman's shoulders, had +pulled a quantity of hair out of his head, besides rendering his scalp +exceedingly irritable to further treatment of a like kind. + +Hungry, thirsty, weak, lame, and weary, the wretched captives struggled +on until the well was reached. + +On arriving within sight of a small hill on which were growing two or +three sickly bushes, Golah pointed towards it, at the same time turning +his face to those who were following him. All understood the signal, and +seemed suddenly inspired with hope and happiness. The travellers pressed +forward with awakened energy, and after passing over the hill came in +sight of the well at its foot. + +The eagerness exhibited by the slaves to quench their thirst might have +been amusing to any others than those who beheld them; but their master +seemed intent on giving them a further lesson in the virtue of patience. + +He first ordered the camels to be unladen, and the tents to be pitched. +While some were doing this, he directed others to seek for fuel. + +Meanwhile, he amused himself by collecting all the dishes and +drinking-vessels, and placing them contiguous to the well. + +He then attached a rope to a leathern bucket, and, drawing water from +the reservoir, he carefully filled the utensils, with the least possible +waste of the precious fluid his followers were so anxious to obtain. + +When his arrangements were completed, he called his wives and children +around him. Then, serving out to each of them about a pint of the water, +and giving them a few seconds for swallowing it, he ordered them off. + +Each obeyed without a murmur, all apparently satisfied. + +The slaves were next called up, and then there was a rush in real +earnest. The vessels were eagerly seized, and their contents greedily +swallowed. They were presented for more, refilled, and again emptied. + +The quantity of water swallowed by Sailor Bill and his three young +companions, and the rapacity with which it was gulped down, caused Golah +to declare that there was but one God, that Mahomet was his Prophet, and +that four of the slaves about him were Christian swine. + +After all had satisfied the demands of nature, Golah showed them the +quantity of water he deemed sufficient for a thirsty individual by +drinking about a pint himself--not more than a fifth of the amount +consumed by each of his white slaves. + +Long years of short allowance had accustomed the negro sheik to make +shift with a limited allowance of the precious commodity, and yet +continue strong and active. + +About two hours after they had reached the well, and just as they had +finished watering the camels, another caravan arrived. Its leader was +hailed by Golah with the words, "Is it peace?"--the usual salutation +when strangers meet on the desert. + +The answer was, "It is peace"; and the new comers dismounted, and +pitched their camp. + +Next morning Golah had a long talk with their sheik, after which he +returned to his own tents in much apparent uneasiness. + +The caravan newly arrived consisted of eleven men, with eight camels and +three Saäran horses. The men were all Arabs--none of them being slaves. +They were well armed, and carried no merchandise. They had lately come +from the northwest, for what purpose Golah knew not: since the account +the stranger sheik had given of himself was not satisfactory. + +Though very short of provisions, Golah resolved not to leave the well +that day; and the Krooman learnt that this resolution was caused by his +fear of the strangers. + +"If he is afraid of them," said Harry, "I should suppose that would make +him all the more anxious to get out of their company." + +The Krooman, in explanation, stated that if the Arabs were +robbers--pirates of the desert--they would not molest Golah so long as +he remained at the well. + +In this the Krooman was correct. Highway robbers do not waylay their +victims at an inn, but on the road. Pirates do not plunder ships in a +harbor, but out on the open ocean. Custom, founded on some good purpose, +has established a similar rule on the great sandy ocean of the Saära. + +"I wish they were robbers, and would take us from Golah!" said Colin. +"We should then perhaps be carried to the north, where we might be +ransomed some time or other. As it is, if we are to be taken to +Timbuctoo, we shall never escape out of Africa." + +"We shall not be taken there," cried Terence. "We shall turn robbers +ourselves first. I will for one; and when I do, Golah shall be robbed of +one of his slaves at least." + +"An' that wan will be Misther Terence O'Connor, ov coorse?" said Bill. + +"Yes." + +"Thin ye will 'ave done no more than Master Colly, who has already +robbed 'im ov twa--the haffections ov 'is wife an' bairn." + +"That will do, Bill," said Colin, who did not like hearing any allusion +made to the woman. "We have something else that should engage our +attention. Since we have learnt that they intend taking us to Timbuctoo, +it is time we began to act. We must not go there." + +"That is understood," said Harry; "but what can we do? Something should +be done immediately. Every day we journey southward carries us farther +from home, or the chance of ever getting there. Perhaps these Arabs may +buy us, and take us north. Suppose we get the Krooman to speak to them?" + +All consented to this course. The Krooman was called, and when informed +of their wishes he said that he must not be seen speaking to the Arabs, +or Golah would be displeased. He also stated--what the white captives +had already observed--that Golah and his son were keeping a sharp watch +over them, as well as over the strangers; and that an opportunity of +talking to the Arab sheik might not be easily obtained. + +While he was still speaking, the latter was observed proceeding towards +the well to draw some water. + +The Krooman instantly arose, and sauntered after. + +He was observed by the quick eye of Golah, who called to him to come +away; which he did, but not before quenching his thirst, that did not +appear to be very great. + +On the Krooman's return from the well, he informed Harry that he had +spoken to the Arab sheik. He had said, "Buy us. You will get plenty of +money for us in Swearah;" and that the reply of the sheik was, "The +white slaves are dogs, and not worth buying." + +"Then we have no hope from that source!" exclaimed Terence. + +The Krooman shook his head; not despondently, but as if he did not agree +in the opinion Terence had expressed. + +"What! do you think there is any hope?" asked Harry. + +The man gave a nod of assent. + +"How? In what way?" + +The Krooman vouchsafed no explanation, but sauntered silently away. + +When the sun was within two or three hours of setting over the Saära, +the Arabs struck their tents, and started off in the direction of the +dry well--from whence Golah and his caravan had just come. After they +had disappeared behind the hill, Golah's son was sent to its top to +watch them, while his women and slaves were ordered to strike the tents +as quickly as possible. + +Then waiting till the shades of night had descended over the desert, and +the strangers were beyond the reach of vision, Golah gave orders to +resume the march once more in a southeasterly direction--which would +carry them away from the seacoast--and, as the white slaves believed, +from all chances of their ever recovering their freedom. + +The Krooman, on the contrary, appeared to be pleased at their taking +this direction, notwithstanding the objections he had expressed to going +inland. + + + + +CHAPTER L. + +A MOMENTOUS INQUIRY. + + +During the night's journey Golah still seemed to have some fear of the +Arabs; and so great was his desire to place as much ground as possible +between himself and them, that he did not halt, until the sun was more +than two hours above the horizon. + +For some time before a halt had been planned, Fatima, his favorite wife, +had been riding by his side, and making, what seemed, from the excited +movements of both, an important communication. + +After the tents had been pitched, and food was about being served out, +Golah commanded the mother of the boy carried by Colin to produce the +bag of figs that had been intrusted to her keeping. + +Trembling with apprehension, the woman rose to obey. The Krooman glanced +at the white captives with an expression of horror; and although they +had not understood Golah's command, they saw that something was going +wrong. + +The woman produced the bag; which was not quite half full. There were in +it about two quarts of dried figs. + +The figs that had been served out three days before at the dry well had +been taken from another bag kept in the custody of Fatima. + +The one now produced by the second wife should have been full: and Golah +demanded to know why it was not. + +The woman tremblingly asseverated that she and her children had eaten +them. + +At this confession Fatima uttered a scornful laugh, and spoke a few +words that increased the terror of the delinquent mother,--at the same +time causing the boy to commence howling with affright. + +"I tell you so," said the Krooman, who was standing near the white +slaves; "Fatima say to Golah, 'Christian dog eat the figs'; Golah kill +him now; he kill da woman too." + +In the opinion of those who travel the great desert, about the greatest +crime that can be committed is to steal food or drink, and consume +either unknown to their companions of the journey. + +Articles of food intrusted to the care of any one must be guarded and +preserved,--even at the expense of life. + +Under no circumstances may a morsel be consumed, until it is produced in +the presence of all, and a division, either equitable or otherwise, has +been made. + +Even had the story told by the woman been true, her crime would have +been considered sufficiently great to have endangered her life; but her +sin was greater than that. + +She had bestowed favor upon a slave,--a Christian dog,--and had aroused +the jealousy of her Mahometan lord and master. + +Fatima seemed happy; for nothing less than a miracle could, in her +opinion, save the life of her fellow-wife, who chanced to be a hated +rival. + +After drawing his scimitar from its sheath, and cocking his musket, +Golah ordered all the slaves to squat themselves on the ground, and in a +row. + +This order was quickly comprehended and obeyed,--the whites seating +themselves together at one end of the line. + +Golah's son and the other guard--each with his musket loaded and +cocked--were stationed in front of the row: and were ordered by the +sheik to shoot any one who attempted to get up from the ground. + +The monster then stepped up to Colin, and, seizing the young Scotchman +by the auburn locks, dragged him a few paces apart from his companions. +There, for a time, he was left alone. + +Golah then proceeded to serve out some cheni to every individual on the +ground; but none was given to the woman who had aroused his anger, nor +to Colin. + +In the sheik's opinion, to have offered them food would have been an act +as foolish as to have poured it upon the sands. + +Food was intended to sustain life, and it was not designed by him that +they should live much longer. And yet it was evident from his manner +that he had not quite determined as to how they were to die. + +The two guards, with the muskets in their grasp, kept a sharp eye on the +slaves, while Golah became engaged in a close consultation with Fatima. + +"What shall we do?" asked Terence; "the old villain means mischief, and +how can we prevent it? We must not let him kill poor Colly?" + +"We must do something immediately," said Harry. "We have neglected it +too long, and shall now have to act under the disadvantage of their +being prepared for an attack. Bill, what should we do?" + +"I was just thinking," said Bill, "that if we all made a rush at 'em, at +the words _One--two--three!_ not more 'n two or three of us might be +killed afore we grappled with 'em. Now, this might do, if these black +fellows would only jine us." + +The Krooman here expressed himself as one willing to take his chance in +any action they should propose, and believed that his countrymen would +do the same. He feared, however, that the other blacks could not be +trusted, and that any proposal he might make to them would be in a +language the two guards would understand. + +"Well, then," said Harry, "there will be six of us against three. Shall +I give the word?" + +"All right!" said Terence, drawing his feet under his body, by way of +preparation for rising suddenly. + +The scheme was a desperate one, but all seemed willing to undertake it. + +Since leaving the well, they had felt convinced that life and liberty +depended on their making a struggle; though circumstances seemed to have +forced that struggle upon them when there was the least hope of success. + +"Now all make ready," muttered Harry, speaking in a calm voice, so as +not to excite the attention of the guards. "_One!_" + +"Stop!" exclaimed Colin, who had been listening attentively to all that +was said. "I'm not with you. We should all be killed. Two or three would +be shot, and the sheik himself could finish all the rest with his +scimitar. It is better for him to kill me, if he really means to do so, +than to have all four destroyed in the vain hope of trying to save one." + +"It is not for you alone that we are going to act," interposed Harry. +"It is as much for ourselves." + +"Then act when there is a chance of succeeding," pursued Colin. "You +cannot save me, and will only lose your own lives." + +"De big black sheik am going to kill someb'dy, dat berry sure," said the +Krooman, as he sat with his eyes fixed upon Golah. + +The latter was still in consultation with Fatima, his face wearing an +expression that was horrible for all except herself to behold. Murder by +excruciating torture seemed written on every feature of his countenance. + +The woman, upon whose manner of death they were deliberating, was in the +act of caressing her children, apparently conscious that she had but a +few minutes more to remain in their company. Her features wore an +expression of calm and hopeless resignation, as if she had yielded +herself up to the decree of an inevitable fate. + +The third wife had retired a short distance from the others. With her +child in her arms, she sat upon the ground, contemplating the scene +before her with a look of mingled surprise, curiosity, and regret. + +From the appearance of the whole caravan, a stranger could have divined +that some event of thrilling interest was about to transpire. + +"Colin," cried Terence, encouragingly, "we won't sit here quietly, and +see you meet death. We had better do something while yet we have a +chance. Let Harry give the word." + +"I tell you it's madness," expostulated Colin. "Wait till we see what he +intends doing. Perhaps he'll keep me a while for future vengeance, and +ye may have a chance of a rescue when there are not two men standing +over us ready to blow our brains out." + +Colin's companions saw there was truth in this remark, and for a while +they waited in silence, with their eyes fixed upon the tent of the +sheik. + +They had not long to wait, for, soon after, Golah came forth, having +finished his consultation with Fatima. + +On his face appeared a hideous smile,--a smile that made most of those +who beheld it shudder with a sensation of horror. + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + +A LIVING GRAVE. + + +Golah's first act after coming forth was to take some thongs from his +saddle. Having done this, he beckoned to the two who guarded the slaves, +giving them some admonition in an unknown tongue. The effect was to +excite their greater vigilance. The muzzles of their muskets were turned +towards the white captives, and they seemed anxiously waiting the order +to fire. + +Golah then looked towards Terence, and made a sign for the young +Irishman to get up and come towards him. + +Terence hesitated. + +"Go on, Terry," muttered Colin "He don't mean _you_ any harm." + +At this instant Fatima stepped out from the tent, armed with her +husband's scimitar, and apparently anxious for an opportunity of using +it. + +Acting under the advice of the others, Terence sprang to his feet: and +advanced to the spot where the sheik was standing. The Krooman who spoke +English was then called up; and Golah, taking him and the midshipman +each by a hand, led them into his tent,--whither they were followed by +Fatima. + +The sheik now addressed a few words to the Krooman, who then told +Terence that his life depended on perfect obedience to Golah's orders. +His hands were to be tied; and he must not call out so as to be heard by +the others. + +"He say," said the Krooman, "if you no make fight, and no make noise, he +no kill you." + +The man further counselled Terence to submit quietly,--saying that the +least resistance would lead to all the white slaves being killed. + +Though possessing more than average strength and power for a youth of +his age, Terence knew that, in a strife with the gigantic black sheik, +he would not have the slightest chance of being victor. + +Should he shout to his companions, and have them all act in concert,--as +they had already proposed? + +No. Such an act would most likely lead to two of them being shot; to the +third having his brains knocked out with the butt-end of a musket; and +to the fourth,--himself,--being strangled in the powerful grasp of +Golah, if not beheaded with the scimitar in the hands of Fatima. On +reflection, the young Scotchman yielded, and permitted his hands to be +tied behind his back; so, too, did the Krooman. + +Golah now stepped out of the tent: and immediately after returned, +leading Harry Blount along with him. + +On reaching the opening, and seeing Terence and the Krooman lying bound +upon the floor, the young Englishman started back, and struggled to free +himself from the grasp of the hand that had hold of him. His efforts +only resulted in his being instantly flung to the earth, and fast held +by his powerful adversary, who at the same time was also employed in +protecting his victim from the fury of Fatima. + +Terence, Harry, and the Krooman were now conducted back over the ground, +and placed in their former position in the row,--from which they had +been temporarily taken. + +Sailor Bill and Colin were next treated in a similar fashion,--both +being fast bound like their companions. + +"What does the ould divil mane?" asked Bill when Golah was tying his +hands together. "Will he murder us all?" + +"No," answered the Krooman, "He no kill but one of your party." + +His eyes turned upon Colin as he spoke. + +"Colin! Colin!" exclaimed Harry; "see what you have done by opposing our +plan! We are all helpless now." + +"And so much the better for yourselves," answered Colin. "You will now +suffer no further harm." + +"If he means no harm, why has he bound us?" asked Bill. "It's a queer +way of showing friendship." + +"Yes, but a safe one," answered Colin. "You cannot now bring yourselves +into danger by a foolish resistance to his will." + +Terence and Harry understood Colin's meaning; and now, for the first +time, comprehended the reason why they had been bound. + +It was to prevent them from interfering with Golah's plans for the +disposal of his two victims. + +Now that the white slaves were secured, no danger was apprehended from +the others; and the two who had been guarding them, retired to the shade +of a tent to refresh themselves with a drink of cheni. + +While the brief conversation above related was being held, Golah had +become busily engaged in overhauling the lading of one of his camels. + +The object of his search was soon discovered: for, the moment after, he +came towards them carrying a long Moorish spade. + +Two of the black slaves were then called from the line; the spade was +placed in the hands of one, and a wooden dish was given to the other. +They were then ordered to make a large hole in the sand,--to accomplish +which they at once set to work. + +"They are digging a grave for me, or that of the poor woman,--perhaps +for both of us?" suggested Colin, as he calmly gazed on the spectacle. + +His companions had no doubt but that it was as he had said; and sat +contemplating the scene in melancholy silence. + +While the slaves were engaged in scooping up the hole, Golah called the +two guards, and gave them some orders about continuing the journey. + +The blacks set about the work were but a few minutes in making an +excavation in the loose sand of some four feet in depth. They were then +directed to dig another. + +"It's all over with me," said Colin; "he intends to kill two, and of +course I must be one of them." + +"He _should_ kill us all," exclaimed Terence. "We deserve it for leaving +the well last night. We should have made an effort for our lives, while +we had the chance." + +"You are right," replied Harry; "we _are_ fools, cowardly fools! We +deserve neither pity in this world nor happiness in the next. Colly, my +friend, if you meet with any harm, I swear to avenge it, whenever my +hands are free." + +"And I'll be with you," added Terence. + +"Never mind me, old comrades," answered Colin, who seemed less excited +than the others. "Do the best you can for yourselves, and you may some +time escape from this monster." + +The attention of Harry was now attracted to Sailor Bill, who had turned +his back toward one of the black slaves sitting near him, and was by +signs entreating the man to untie his hand. + +The man refused, evidently fearing the anger of Golah should he be +detected. + +The second Krooman, who was unbound, now offered to loose the hands of +his countryman; but the latter seemed satisfied with his want of +freedom, and refused the proffered aid. He also feared death at the +hands of Golah. + +If left to divine the ultimate intentions of the black sheik by the +knowledge of human nature they had acquired before falling into his +hands, the white captives would not have been seriously alarmed for the +welfare of any one of their number. But Golah was a specimen of natural +history new to them; and their apprehensions were excited to the highest +pitch by the conduct of those whom they knew to be better acquainted +with his character. + +The behavior of the woman who had aroused his anger showed that she was +endeavoring to resign herself to some fearful mode of death. The wild +lamentations of her children denoted that they were conscious of some +impending misfortune. + +Fatima seemed about to realize the fulfilment of some long-cherished +hope,--the hope of revenge on a detested rival. + +The care Golah had taken to hinder any interference with his plans,--the +words of the Krooman, the looks and gestures of the guards and of Golah +himself, the digging of two graves in the sand,--all gave warning that +some fearful tragedy was about to be enacted. Our adventurers were +conscious of this, and conscious, also, that they could do nothing to +prevent it. + +Nearly frantic with the helplessness of their position, they could only +wait--"trembling for the birth of Fate." + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + +THE SHEIK'S PLAN OF REVENGE. + + +The second sand-pit was dug a short distance from the first; and when it +had been sunk to the depth of about four and a half feet, Golah +commanded the blacks to leave off their labor,--one of them being sent +back to the line to be seated along with his fellow-slaves. + +By this time the tents had been struck, the camels loaded; and all but +Golah and Fatima appeared willing and anxious to depart from the spot. +These were not: for their business at that camping-place had not yet +been completed. + +When the two guards had again resumed their former stations in front of +the line,--as before with their muskets at full cock,--Golah advanced +towards the woman, who, disengaging herself from her children, stood up +at his approach. + +Then succeeded a moment of intense interest. + +Was he going to kill her? + +If so, in what manner? + +All looked on with painful anticipation of some dire event. + +It soon transpired. The woman was seized by Golah himself; dragged +towards the pits that had been dug; and thrust into one of them. The +slave who wielded the spade was then commanded to fill up the excavation +around her. + +Terence was the first to speak. + +"God help her!" he exclaimed; "the monster is going to bury her alive! +Can't we save her?" + +"We are not men if we do not try!" exclaimed Harry, as he suddenly +sprang to his feet. + +His example was immediately followed by his white companions. + +The two muskets were instantly directed towards them; but at a shout +from Golah their muzzles were as quickly dropped. + +The sheik's son then, at his father's command, ran to the pit to secure +the woman, while Golah himself rushed forward to meet the helpless men +who were advancing towards him. + +In an instant the four were thrown prostrate to the earth. + +With their hands tied, the powerful sheik upset them as easily as though +they had been bags of sand. + +Raising Harry by the hair of his head with one hand and Terence with the +other, he dragged them back to their places in the line where they had +been already seated. + +Sailor Bill saved himself from like treatment by rolling over and over +until he had regained his former place. Colin was allowed to lie on the +ground where the sheik had knocked him over. + +Golah now returned to the pit where the woman stood half buried. + +She made no resistance--she uttered no complaint--but seemed calmly to +resign herself to a fate that could not be averted. Golah apparently did +not intend to behold her die, for, when the earth was filled in around +her body, her head still remained above ground. She was to be starved to +death! As the sheik was turning away to attend to other matters, the +woman spoke. Her words were few, and produced no effect upon him. They +did, however, upon the Krooman, whose eyes were seen to fill with tears +that rapidly chased each other down his mahogany-colored cheeks. + +Colin, who seemed to notice everything except the fate threatening +himself, observed the Krooman's excitement, and inquired its cause. + +"She ask him to be kind to her little boy," said the man, in a voice +trembling with emotion. + +Are tears unmanly?--No. + +The shining drops that rolled from that man's eyes, and sparkled adown +his dusky cheeks, on hearing the unfortunate woman's prayer for her +children, proved that he was not a brute, but a man,--a man with a soul +that millions might envy. + +After leaving the place where the woman was buried, Golah walked up to +Colin; and, dragging him to his feet, led him away to the other pit. + +His intentions were now evident to all. The two individuals, who had +aroused his anger and jealousy, were to be left near each other, buried +alive, to perish in this fearful fashion. + +"Colin! Colin! what can we do to save you?" exclaimed Harry, in a tone +expressing despair and anguish. + +"Nothing," answered Colin; "don't attempt it, or you will only bring +trouble on yourselves. Leave me to my fate." + +At this moment the speaker was thrown into the pit, and held in an +upright attitude by Golah, while the black slave proceeded to fill in +the earth around him. + +Following the philosophical example set by the woman, Colin made no +useless resistance; and was soon submerged under the sand piled up to +his shoulders. His companions sat gazing with speechless horror, all +suffering the combined anguish of shame, regret, and despair. + +The sheik was now ready to depart; and ordered the slave who had been +assisting him in his diabolical work to mount the camel formerly ridden +by the woman who was thus entombed. The black obeyed, pleased to think +that his late task was to be so agreeably rewarded; but a sudden change +came over his features when Golah and Fatima passed up the three +children, and placed them under his care. + +Golah had but one more act to perform before leaving the spot. It was an +act worthy of himself, although suggested by Fatima. + +After filling a bowl about half full of water, he placed it midway +between Colin and the woman, but so distant from each that neither could +possibly reach it! + +This Satanic idea was executed with the design of tantalizing the +sufferers in their dying hours with the sight of that element the want +of which would soon cause them the most acute anguish. By the side of +the bowl he also placed a handful of figs. + +"There," he tauntingly exclaimed; "I leave you two together, and with +more food and drink than you will ever consume. Am I not kind? What more +can you ask? _Bismillah!_ God is great, and Mahomet is his prophet; and +I am Golah, the kind, the just!" + +Saying this, he gave orders to resume the march. + +"Don't move!" exclaimed Terence; "we will give him some trouble yet." + +"Of course we'll not go, and leave Colin there," said Harry. "The sheik +is too avaricious to kill all his slaves. Don't move a step, Bill, and +we may have Colly liberated yet." + +"I shall do as you say, ov coorse," said Bill; "but I expect we shall +'ave to go. Golah has got a way of making a man travel, whether he be +willing or not." + +All started forward from the place but the three white slaves and the +two whom Golah intended to remain. + +"Cheer up, lad," said Bill to Colin; "we'll never go, and leave you +there." + +"Go on, go on!" exclaimed Colin. "You can do me no good, and will only +injure yourselves." + +Golah had mounted his camel and ridden forward, leaving to his two +guards the task of driving on the slaves; and, as if apprehensive of +trouble from them, he had directed Terence, Harry, Bill, and the Krooman +to be brought on with their hands tied behind them. + +The three refused to move; and when all efforts to get them on had been +tried in vain, the guards made a loud appeal to their sheik. + +Golah came riding back in a great rage. + +Dismounting from his camel he drew the ramrod from his musket; then, +rushing up to Terence, who was the nearest to him, administered to him a +shower of blows that changed the color of his shirt from an untidy white +to the darker hue of blood. + +The two guards, following the example of their lord and master, +commenced beating Harry and Bill, who, unable to make any resistance, +had to endure the torture in silence. + +"Go on, my friends!" exclaimed Colin; "for God's sake, go, and leave me! +You cannot do anything to avert my fate!" + +Colin's entreaties, as well as the torture from the blows they received, +were alike without effect. His shipmates could not bring themselves to +desert their old comrade, and leave him to the terrible death that +threatened him. + +Rushing up to Bill and Harry, Golah caught hold of each, and hurled them +to the ground by the side of Terence. Keeping all three together, he now +ordered a camel to be led up; and the order was instantly obeyed by one +of the guards. The halter was then taken from the head of the animal. + +"We 'ave got to go now," said Bill. "He's going to try the same dodge as +beat me the other day. I shall save him the trouble." + +Bill tried to rise, but was prevented. He had refused to walk when +earnestly urged to do so; and now, when he was willing to go on, he had +to wait the pleasure of his owner as to the manner in which his journey +should be continued. + +While Golah was fastening the rope to Harry's hands, the sharp shrill +voice of Fatima called his attention to some of the people who had gone +on before. + +The two women, who led the camels loaded with articles taken from the +wreck, had advanced about three hundred yards from the place; and were +now, along with the black slaves, surrounded by a party of men mounted +on maherries and horses. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. + +CAPTURED AGAIN. + + +Golah's fear of the Arabs met by the well had not been without a cause. +His forced night march, to avoid meeting them again, had not secured the +object for which it had been made. + +Approaching from the direction of the rising sun, the Arabs had not been +discovered in the distance; and Golah, occupied in overcoming the +obstinate resistance of the white slaves, had allowed them to come quite +near before they had been observed by him. + +Leaving his captives, the sheik seized his musket; and, followed by his +son and brother-in-law, rushed forward to protect his wives and +property. + +He was too late. Before he could reach them they were in the possession +of others; and as he drew near the spot where they had been captured, he +saw a dozen muskets presented towards himself, and heard some one loudly +commanding him, in the name of the Prophet, to approach in peace! + +Golah had the discretion to yield to a destiny that could not be +averted,--the misfortune of being made a prisoner and plundered at the +same time. + +Calmly saying, "It is the will of God," he sat down, and invited his +captors to a conference on the terms of capitulation. + +As soon as the caravan had fallen into the possession of the robbers, +the Krooman's hands were unbound by his companion, and he hastened to +the relief of the white slaves. + +"Golah no our massa now," said he, while untying Harry's wrists; "our +massa is Arab dat take us norf. We get free. Dat why dis Arab no buy +us,--he know us he hab for noting." + +The cords were quickly untied, and the attention of the others was now +turned to disinterring Colin and the woman from their living graves. + +To do this, Harry wanted to use the water-bowl the sheik had left for +the purpose of tantalizing his victims with the sight of its contents. + +"Here, drink this water," said he, holding the vessel to Colin's lips. +"I want to make use of the dish." + +"No, no; dig me out without that," answered Colin. "Leave the water as +it is; I have a particular use for it when I get free. I wish the old +sheik to see me drink it." + +Bill, Harry, and the Krooman set to work: and Colin and the woman were +soon uncovered and dragged out. Terence was then awakened to +consciousness by a few drops of the water poured over his face. + +Owing to the cramped position in which he had been placed and so long +held, Colin was for a few minutes unable to walk. They waited, to give +him time to recover the use of his limbs. The slave who had the care of +the woman's children was now seen coming back with them, and the woman +ran to meet him. + +The delight of the wretched mother at again embracing her offspring was +so great, that the gentle-souled Krooman was once more affected to +tears. + +In the conference with the Arab robbers, Golah was unable to obtain the +terms he fancied a sheik should be entitled to. + +They offered him two camels and the choice of one wife out of the three, +on condition he should go back to his own country, and return to the +desert no more. + +These terms Golah indignantly refused, and declared that he would rather +die in defence of his rights. + +Golah was a pure negro, and one of a class of traders much disliked by +the Arabs. He was a lawless intruder on their grounds,--a trespasser +upon their special domain, the Great Desert. He had just acquired a +large amount of wealth in goods and slaves, that had been cast on their +coast; and these they were determined he should not carry back with him +to his own country. + +Though he was as much a robber as themselves, they had no sympathies +with him, and would not be satisfied with merely a share of his plunder. +They professed to understand all his doings in the past; and accused him +of not being a _fair trader_! + +They told him that he never came upon the desert with merchandise to +exchange, but only with camels, to be driven away, laden with property +justly belonging to them, the real owners of the land. + +They denied his being a true believer in the Prophet; and concluded +their talk by declaring that he should be thankful for the liberal terms +they had offered him. + +Golah's opposition to their proposal became so demonstrative, that the +Arabs were obliged to disarm and bind him; though this was not +accomplished without a fierce struggle, in which several of his +adversaries were overthrown. + +A blow on the head with the stock of a musket at length reduced him to +subjection, after which his hands were fast tied behind his back. + +During the struggle, Golah's son was prevented from interfering in +behalf of his father, by the black slaves who had been so long the +victims of his cruel care; while the brother-in-law, as well as Fatima +and the third wife, remained passive spectators of the scene. + +On Golah being secured, the white slaves, with old Bill at their head, +came up and voluntarily surrendered themselves to their new masters. + +Colin had in his hands the bowl of water, and the dried figs that had +been placed beside it. + +Advancing towards Golah, he held the figs up before his eyes, and then, +with a nod and an expression that seemed to say, "Thank you for this," +he raised the bowl to his lips with the intention of drinking. + +The expression on the sheik's features became Satanic, but suddenly +changed into a glance of pleasure, as one of the Arabs snatched the +vessel out of Colin's hands, and instantly drank off its contents. + +Colin received the lesson meekly, and said not a word. + +The Arabs speedily commenced making arrangements for leaving the place. +The first move was to establish a communication between Golah and the +saddle of one of his camels. + +This was accomplished by using a rope as a medium; and the black giant +was compelled to walk after the animal with his hands tied behind +him,--in the same fashion as he had lately set for Sailor Bill. + +His wives and slaves seemed to comprehend the change in their fortunes, +and readily adapted their conduct to the circumstances. + +The greatest transformation of all was observable in the behavior of the +favorite Fatima. + +Since his capture she had kept altogether aloof from her late lord, and +showed not the slightest sympathy for his misfortunes. + +By her actions she seemed to say: "The mighty Golah has fallen, and is +no longer worthy of my distinguished regard." + +Very different was the behavior of the woman whom the cruel sheik would +have left to die a lingering death. Her husband's misfortune seemed to +have awakened within her a love for the father of her children: and her +features, as she gazed upon the captive,--who, although defeated, was +unsubdued in spirit,--wore a mingled expression of pity and grief. + +Hungry, thirsty, weary and bleeding--enslaved on the Great Desert, still +uncertain of what was to be their fate, and doubtful of surviving much +longer the hardships they might be forced to endure--our adventurers +were far from being happy; but, with all their misery, they felt joyful +when comparing their present prospects with those before them but an +hour ago. + +With the exception of Golah, the Arabs had no trouble with their +captives. The white and black slaves knew they were travelling towards +the well; and the prospect of again having plenty of water was +sufficient inducement to make them put forth all their strength in +following the camels. + +Early in the evening a short halt was made; when each of the company was +served with about half a pint of water from the skins. The Arabs, +expecting to reach the well soon after, could afford to be thus liberal; +but the favor so granted, though thankfully received by the slaves was +scornfully refused by their late master--the giant bodied and +strong-minded Golah. + +To accept of food and drink from his enemies in his present humiliating +position--bound and dragged along like a slave--was a degradation to +which he scorned to submit. + +On Golah contemptuously refusing the proffered cup of water, the Arab +who offered it simply ejaculated, "Thank God!" and then drank it +himself. + +The well was reached about an hour after midnight; and after quenching +their thirst, the slaves were allowed to go to rest and sleep,--a +privilege they stood sorely in need of having been over thirty hours +afoot, upon their cheerless and arduous journey. + + + + +CHAPTER LIV. + +AN UNFAITHFUL WIFE. + + +On waking up the next morning, our adventurers were gratified with a bit +of intelligence communicated by the Krooman: that they were to have a +day of rest. A camel was also to be killed for food. + +The Arabs were going to divide amongst themselves the slaves taken from +Golah; and the opportunity was not to be lost of recruiting their +strength for a long journey. + +As Sailor Bill reflected upon their sufferings since leaving that same +place two days before, he expressed regret that they had not been +captured before leaving the well, and thus spared the horrors they had +endured. + +Stimulated by the remembrance of so much suffering needlessly incurred, +he asked the Krooman to explain the conduct of their new masters. + +The Krooman's first attempt at satisfying his curiosity was to state, +that the Arabs had acted after a manner peculiar to themselves,--in +other words, that it was "a way they had." + +The old sailor was not satisfied with this answer; and pressed for a +further explanation. + +He was then told that the robbers on the desert were always in danger of +meeting several caravans at a watering-place; and that any act of +violence committed there would bring upon the perpetrators everlasting +disgrace, as well as the enmity of all desert travellers. The Krooman +explained himself by saying, that should a caravan of a hundred men +arrive at the well, they would not now interfere in behalf of Golah, but +would only recognize him as a slave. On the contrary, had they found him +engaged in actual strife with the robbers they would have assisted him. + +This was satisfactory to all but Bill. Even Colin, who had been buried +alive, and Terence, who had been so unmercifully beaten, were pleased at +their change of masters on any terms; but the old sailor, sailor-like, +would not have been himself without some cause of complaint. + +Before their newly acquired wealth could be divided, the Arabs had to +come to some resolution as to the disposal of the black sheik; who still +remained so unmanageable that he had to be kept bound, with a guard +placed over him. + +The Arabs could not agree amongst themselves as to what should be done +with him. Some of them urged that, despite the color of his skin, he +might be a true believer in the Prophet; and that, notwithstanding his +manner of trading and acquiring wealth--a system nearly as dishonest as +their own--he was entitled to his liberty, with a certain portion of his +property. + +Others claimed that they had a perfect right to add him and his large +family to the number of their slaves. + +He was not an Arab, but an Ethiopian, like most of his following; and, +as a slave, would bring a high price in any of the markets where men +were bought and sold. + +Those who argued thus were in the minority; and Golah was at length +offered his wives and their children, with a couple of camels and his +scimitar. + +This offer the black sheik indignantly refused,--much to the +astonishment of those who had been so eloquent in his behalf. + +His decision produced another debate; in which the opinions of several +of his captors underwent such a change, that it was finally determined +to consider him as one of the slaves. + +Every article that had been obtained from the wreck was now exposed to +view, and a fixed price set upon it. + +The slaves were carefully examined and valued,--as well as the camels, +muskets, and everything that had belonged to Golah or his dependants. + +When these preliminary arrangements had been completed, the Arabs +proceeded to an equitable partition of the property. + +This proved a very difficult matter to manage, and occupied their time +for the rest of the day. Three or four would covet the same article; and +long and noisy discussions would take place before the dispute could be +settled to their mutual satisfaction. + +The Krooman, who understood the desert language, was attentive to all +that transpired; and from time to time informed the white slaves of what +was being done. + +At an early period in the discussions, he discovered that each of the +four was to fall to different masters. + +"You and me," said he to Harry, "we no got two massas--only one." + +His words were soon after proved to be true. They were carried apart +from each other, evidently with the designs of being appropriated by +different owners; and the fear that they might also be separated again +came over them. + +When the slaves, camels, tents, and articles that had been gathered from +the wreck were distributed amongst the eleven Arabs, each one took the +charge of his own; but there still remained Golah, his wives and their +children, to be disposed of. + +No one seemed desirous of becoming the owner of the black sheik and his +wives. Even those who had said that he would make a valuable slave, +appeared unwilling to take him, although induced to do so by the taunts +of their companions. + +The fact was, that they were afraid of him. He would be too difficult to +manage; and none of them wished to be the master of one who obstinately +refused both food and drink, and who so defiantly invoked upon the heads +of his captors the curse of Mahomet, and swore by the beard of the +Prophet that the moment his hands were free, he would kill the man who +should dare to own or claim him as a slave. + +Golah, with all his faults, was neither cunning nor deceitful, and, +having a spirit too great to affect submission, he did not intend to +yield. + +He was arrogant, cruel, avaricious, and vindictive; but the wrongs he +did were always accomplished in a plain, open-handed way, and never by +stratagem or treachery. + +By accepting the terms the Arabs had offered him, his strength, courage, +and unconquerable will might afterwards have enabled him to obtain +revenge upon his captors, and regain a portion of his property; but it +was not in his nature to sham submission, even for the sake of gaining a +future advantage. + +As not one of the Arabs was willing to accept of him, at the value at +which he had been appraised, or to allow another to have him for less, +it was finally decided that he should be retained as the common property +of all, until he could be sold to some other tribe, when a distribution +might be made of the proceeds of the sale. His wives and children were +to be disposed of in like manner. + +This arrangement was satisfactory to all but Golah himself, who +expressed himself greatly displeased with it. Nevertheless, he seemed a +little disposed to yield to circumstances; for, soon after the decision +of his captors was made known to him, he called to Fatima, and commanded +her to bring him a bowl of water. + +The favorite refused, under the plea that she had been forbidden to give +him anything. + +This was true; for, as he had declined to accept of anything at the +hands of those claiming to be his masters, they had determined to starve +him into submission. + +Fatima's refusal to obey him caused Golah his greatest chagrin. Ever +accustomed to prompt and slavish obedience from others, the idea of his +own wife--his favorite too--denying his modest request, almost drove him +frantic. + +"I am your husband," he cried, "and whom should you obey but me? Fatima! +I command you to bring me some water!" + +"And I command you not to do it," said the Arab sheik, who, standing +near by, had heard the order. + +Fatima was an artful, selfish woman, who had gained some influence over +her husband by flattering his vanity, and professing a love she had +never felt. + +She had acted with slavish obedience to him when he was all-powerful; +but now that he was himself a slave, her submission had been transferred +with perfect facility to the chief of the band who had captured him. + +It was now that Golah began to realize the fact that he was a conquered +man. + +His heart was nearly bursting with rage, shame, and disappointment; for +nothing could so plainly awaken him to the comprehension of his real +position, as the fact that Fatima, his favorite, she who had ever +professed for him so much love and obedience, now refused to attend to +his simplest request. + +After making one more violent and ineffectual effort at breaking his +bonds, he sank down upon the earth and remained silent--bitterly +contemplating the degraded condition into which he had fallen. + +The Krooman, who was a very sharp observer of passing events, and had an +extensive knowledge of peculiar specimens of human nature, closely +watched the behavior of the black sheik. + +"He no like us," he remarked to the whites. "He nebba be slave. Bom-by +you see him go dead." + + + + +CHAPTER LV. + +TWO FAITHFUL WIVES. + + +While Golah's mind appeared to be stunned almost to unconsciousness by +the refusal of Fatima to obey his orders, his other two wives were +moving about, as if engaged in some domestic duty. + +Presently the woman he had buried in the sand was seen going towards him +with a calabash of water, followed by the other who carried a dish of +_sangleh_. + +One of the Arabs perceiving their intention, ran up, and, in an angry +tone, commanded them to retire to their tents. The two women persisted +in their design, and in order to prevent them, without using violence, +the Arab offered to serve the food and drink himself. + +This they permitted him to do; but when the water was offered to Golah +it was again refused. + +The black sheik would not receive either food or drink from the hand of +a master. + +The _sangleh_ was then consumed by the Arab with a real or sham +profession of gratitude; the water was poured into a bucket, and given +to one of the camels; and the two calabashes were returned to the women. + +Neither a keen longing for food, nor a burning thirst for water, could +divert Golah's thoughts from the contemplation of something that was +causing his soul extreme anguish. + +His physical tortures seemed, for the time, extinguished by some deep +mental agony. + +Again the wives--the unloved ones--advanced towards him, bearing water +and food; and again the Arab stepped forward to intercept them. The two +women persisted in their design, and, while opposing the efforts of the +Arab to turn them back, they called on the two youths, the relatives of +the black sheik, as also on Fatima, to assist them. + +Of the three persons thus appealed to, only Golah's son obeyed their +summons; but his attempt to aid the women was immediately frustrated by +the Arab, who claimed him as a slave, and who now commanded him to stand +aside. His command having no effect, the Arab proceeded to use force. At +the risk of his life the youth resisted. He dared to use violence +against a master--a crime that on the desert demands the punishment of +death. + +Aroused from his painful reverie by the commotion going on around him, +Golah, seeing the folly of the act, shouted to his son to be calm, and +yield obedience; but the youth, not heeding the command of his father, +continued his resistance. He was just on the point of being cut down, +when the Krooman ran forward, and pronouncing in Arabic two words +signifying "father and son," saved the youth's life. The Arab robber had +sufficient respect for the relationship to stay his hand from committing +murder; but to prevent any further trouble with the young fellow, he was +seized by several others, fast bound, and flung to the ground by the +side of his father. + +The two women, still persisting in their design to relieve the wants of +their unfortunate husband, were then knocked down, kicked, beaten, and +finally dragged inside the tents. + +This scene was witnessed by Fatima; who, instead of showing sympathy, +appeared highly amused by it,--so much so as even to give way to +laughter! Her unnatural behavior once more roused the indignation of her +husband. + +The wrong of being robbed--the humiliation of being bound--the knowledge +that he himself, along with his children, would be sold into +slavery--the torture of hunger and thirst--were sources of misery no +longer heeded by him; all were forgotten in the contemplation of a far +greater anguish. + +Fatima, the favorite, the woman to whom his word should have been +law,--the woman who had always pretended to think him something more +than mortal,--now not only shunning but despising him in the midst of +his misfortunes! + +This knowledge did more towards subduing the giant than all his other +sufferings combined. + +"Old Golah looks very down in the mouth," remarked Terence to his +companions. "If it was not for the beating he gave me yesterday, I could +almost pity him. I made an oath, at the time he was thwacking me with +the ramrod, that if my hands were ever again at liberty, I'd see if it +was possible to kill him; but now that they are free, and his are bound, +I've not the heart to touch him, bad as he is." + +"That is right, Terry," said Bill; "it's only wimin an' bits o' boys as +throws wather on a drowned rat,--not as I mane to say the owld rascal is +past mischief yet. I believe he'll do some more afore the Devil takes +'im intirely; but I mane that Him as sits up aloft is able to do His own +work without your helping Him." + +"You speak truth, Bill," said Harry; "I don't think there is any +necessity for seeking revenge of Golah for his cruel treatment of us; he +is now as ill off as the rest of us." + +"What is that you say?" inquired Colin. "Golah like one of us? Nothing +of the kind. He has more pluck, endurance, obstinacy, and true manly +spirit about him than there is in the four of us combined." + +"Was his attempt to starve you dictated by a manly spirit?" asked Harry. + +"Perhaps not, but it was the fault of the circumstances under which he +has been educated. I don't think of that now; my admiration of the man +is too strong. Look at his refusing that drink of water when it had been +several times offered him!" + +"There is something wonderful about him, certainly," assented Harry; +"but I don't see anything in him to admire." + +"No more do I," said Bill. "He might be as comfortable now as we are; +and I say a man's a fool as won't be 'appy when he can." + +"What you call his folly," rejoined Colin, "is but a noble pride that +makes him superior to any of us. He has a spirit that will not submit to +slavery, and we have not." + +"That be truth," remarked the Krooman; "Golah nebbar be slave." + +Colin was right. By accepting food and drink from his captors, the black +sheik might have satisfied the demands of mere animal nature, but only +at the sacrifice of all that was noble in his nature. His self-respect, +along with the proud, unyielding spirit by which everything good and +great is accomplished, would have been gone from him for ever. + +Sailor Bill and his companions, the boy slaves, had been taught from +childhood to yield to circumstances, and still retain some moral +feeling; but Golah had not. + +The only thing he could yield to adverse fate was _his life_. + +At this moment the Krooman, by a gesture, called their attention towards +the captive sheik, at the same time giving utterance to a sharp +ejaculation. + +"Look!" exclaimed he, "Golah no stay longer on de Saära. You him see +soon die now--look at him!" + +At the same instant Golah had risen to his feet, inviting his Arab +master to a conference. + +"There is but one God," said he, "Mahomet is his prophet; and I am his +servant. I will never be a slave. Give me one wife, a camel, and my +scimitar, and I will go. I have been robbed; but God is great, and it is +his will, and my destiny." + +Golah had at length yielded, though not because that he suffered for +food and water; not that he feared slavery or death; not that his proud +spirit had become weak or given way; but rather that it had grown +stronger under the prompting of _Revenge_. + +The Arab sheik conferred with his followers; and there arose a brief +controversy among them. + +The trouble they had with their gigantic captive, the difficulty they +anticipated in disposing of him, and their belief that he was a good +Mussulman, were arguments in favor of granting his request, and setting +him at liberty. + +It was therefore decided to let him go--on the condition of his taking +his departure at once. + +Golah consented; and they proceeded to untie his hands. While this was +being done, the Krooman ran up to Colin's master, and cautioned him to +protect his slave, until the sheik had departed. + +This warning was unnecessary, for Golah had other and more serious +thoughts to engage his mind than that of any animosity he might once +have felt against the young Scotchman. + +"I am free," said Golah, when his hands were untied. "We are equals, and +Mussulmen. I claim your hospitality. Give me some food and drink." + +He then stepped forward to the well, and quenched his thirst, after +which some boiled camel meat was placed before him. + +While he was appeasing an appetite that had been two days in gaining +strength, Fatima, who had observed a strange expression in his eyes, +appeared to be in great consternation. She had believed him doomed to a +life of slavery, if not to death; and this belief had influenced her in +her late actions. + +Gliding up to the Arab sheik, she entreated to be separated from her +husband; but the only answer she received was, that Golah should have +either of the three wives he chose to take; that he (the sheik) and his +companions were men of honor, who would not break the promise they had +given. + +A goat-skin of water, some barley meal, for making _sangleh_, and a few +other necessary articles, were placed on a camel, which was delivered +over to Golah. + +The black sheik then addressed a few words in some African language to +his son; and, calling Fatima to follow him, he started off across the +desert. + + + + +CHAPTER LVI. + +FATIMA'S FATE. + + +A complete change had come over the fortunes of Fatima. Vain, cruel, and +tyrannical but the moment before, she was now humbled to the dust of the +desert. In place of commanding her fellow wives, she now approached them +with entreaties, begging them to take charge of her child, which she +seemed determined to leave behind her. Both willingly assented to her +wishes. + +Our adventurers were puzzled by this circumstance, for there appeared to +be no reason that Fatima should leave her offspring behind her. Even the +Krooman could not explain it; and as the shades of night descended over +the desert, the mother separated from her child, perhaps never more to +embrace it in this world of wickedness and woe. + +About two hours before daybreak, on the morning after the departure of +Golah, there was an alarm in the douar, which created amongst the Arabs +a wonderful excitement. + +The man who had been keeping guard over the camp was not to be seen; and +one of the fleetest camels, as well as a swift desert horse, was also +gone. + +The slaves were instantly mustered, when it was found that one of them +was likewise missing. It was Golah's son. + +His absence accounted for the loss of the camel, and perhaps the horse, +but what had become of the Arab guard? + +He certainly would not have absconded with the slave, for he had left +valuable property behind him. + +There was no time for exchanging surmises over this mystery. Pursuit +must be instantly made for the recovery of slave, camel, and horse. + +The Arab sheik detailed four of his followers to this duty, and they +hastened to make ready for their departure. They would start as soon as +the light of day should enable them to see the course the missing +animals had taken. + +All believed that the fugitives would have to be sought for in a +southerly direction; and therefore the caravan would have to be further +delayed in its journey. + +While making preparations for the pursuit, another unpleasant discovery +was made. Two ship's muskets, that had been taken from Golah's party +were also missing. + +They had been extracted from a tent in which two of the Arabs had +slept,--two of the four who were now preparing to search for the missing +property. + +The sheik became alarmed. The camp seemed full of traitors; and yet, as +the guns were the private property of the two men who slept in the tent, +they could not, for losing them, reasonably be accused of anything more +than stupidity. + +Contrary to the anticipations of all, the tracks of the lost animals +were found to lead off in a north-westerly direction; and at about two +hundred yards from the camp a dark object was seen lying upon the +ground. On examination it proved to be the Arab who had been appointed +night-guard over the douar. + +He was stone dead; and by his side lay one of the missing muskets, with +the stock broken, and covered with his own brains. + +The tragedy was not difficult to be explained. The man had seen one or +two of the hoppled animals straying from the camp. Not thinking that +they were being led gently away, he had, without giving any alarm, gone +out to bring them back. Golah's son, who was leading them off, by +keeping concealed behind one of the animals, had found an opportunity of +giving the guard his death-blow, without any noise to disturb the +slumbering denizens of the douar. + +No doubt he had gone to rejoin his father, and the adroit manner in +which he had made his departure, taking with him a musket, a camel, and +a horse, not only excited the wonder, but the admiration of those from +whom he had stolen them. + +In the division of the slaves, young Harry Blount and the Krooman had +become the property of the Arab sheik. The Krooman having some knowledge +of the Arabic language, soon established himself in the good opinion of +his new master. While the Arabs were discussing the most available mode +to obtain revenge for the murder of their companion, as well as to +regain possession of the property they had lost, the Krooman, skilled in +Golah's character, volunteered to assist them by a little advice. + +Pointing to the south, he suggested to them that, by going in that +direction, they would certainly see or hear something of Golah and his +son. + +The sheik could the more readily believe this, since the country of the +black chief lay to the southward, and Golah, on leaving the douar, had +gone in that direction. + +"But why did his dog of a son not go south?" inquired the Arabs, +pointing to the tracks of the stolen horse, which still appeared to lead +towards the northwest. + +"If you go north," replied the Krooman, "you will be sure to see Golah; +or if you stay here, you will learn something of him?" + +"What! will he be in both directions at the same time, and here +likewise?" + +"No, not that; but he will follow you." + +The Arabs were willing to believe that there was a chance of recovering +their property on the road they had been intending to follow, especially +as the stolen horse and camel had been taken in that direction. + +They determined, therefore, to continue their journey. + +Too late they perceived their folly in treating Golah as they had done. +He was now beyond their reach, and, in all likelihood, had been rejoined +by his son. He was an enemy against whom they would have to keep a +constant watch; and the thought of this caused the old Arab sheik to +swear by the Prophet's beard that he would never again show mercy to a +man whom he had plundered. + +For about an hour after resuming their march, the footprints of the +camel could be traced in the direction they wished to go; but gradually +they became less perceptible, until at length they were lost altogether. +A smart breeze had been blowing, which had filled the tracks with sand, +which was light and easily disturbed. + +Trusting to chance, and still with some hope of recovering the stolen +property, they continued on in the same direction, and, not long after +losing the tracks, they found some fresh evidence that they were going +the right way. + +The old sheik, who was riding in advance of the others, on looking to +the right, perceived an object on the sand that demanded a closer +inspection. He turned and rode towards it, closely followed by the +people of his party. + +On drawing near to the object it proved to be the body of a human being, +lying back upwards, and yet with the face turned full towards the +heavens. The features were at once recognized as those of Fatima, the +favorite! + +The head of the unfortunate woman had been severed from her body, and +then placed contiguous to it, with the face in an inverted position. + +The ghastly spectacle was instructive. It proved that Golah, although +going off southward, must have turned back again, and was now not far +off, hovering about the track he believed his enemies would be likely to +take. His son, moreover, was, in all likelihood, along with him. + +When departing along with her husband, Fatima had probably anticipated +the terrible fate that awaited her; and, for that reason, had left her +child in the care of the other wives. + +Neither of these seemed in the least surprised on discovering the body. +Both had surmised that such would be Fatima's fate; and it was for that +reason they had so willingly taken charge of her child. + +The caravan made a short halt, which was taken advantage of by the two +women to cover the body with sand. + +The journey was then resumed. + + + + +CHAPTER LVII. + +FURTHER DEFECTION. + + +Notwithstanding that Golah's brother-in-law, who had formerly been a +freeman, was now a slave, he seemed well satisfied with the change in +his circumstances. + +He made himself very useful to his new masters in looking after the +camel, and doing all the other necessary work which his knowledge of +Saäran life enabled him effectually to execute. + +When the Arab caravan came to a halt on the evening of his first day's +journey along with it, he assisted in unloading the camels, putting the +hopples on them, pitching the tents, and doing anything else which was +required to be done. + +While the other slaves were eating the small portion of food allowed +them, one of the camels formerly belonging to Golah--a young and fleet +maherry that had been ridden by Fatima, strayed a short distance from +the douar. Seeing it the black sheik's brother-in-law, who had been +making himself so useful, ran after the animal as if to fetch it back. +He was seen passing beyond the camel, as though he intended turning it +toward the camp; but in another instant it was discovered that he had no +such design. The youth was seen to spring to the back of the maherry, +lay hold of its hump, and ride rapidly away. Accustomed to hearing the +sound of his voice, the faithful and intelligent animal obeyed his words +of command. Its neck was suddenly craned out towards the north; and its +feet were flung forward in long strides that bore its rider rapidly away +from the rest. The incident caused a tremendous commotion in the +caravan. It was so wholly unexpected, that none of the Arabs were +prepared to intercept the fugitive. The guard for the night had not been +appointed. They were all seated on the ground, engaged in devouring +their evening repast, and before a musket could be discharged at the +runaway, he had got so far into the glimmering twilight that the only +effect of two or three shots fired after him was to quicken the pace of +the maherry on which he was fleeing. + +Two fleet horses were instantly saddled and mounted, one by the owner of +the camel that had been stolen, and the other by the owner of the slave +who had stolen it. + +Each, arming himself with musket and scimitar, felt sure of recapturing +the runaway. Their only doubt arose from the knowledge of the swiftness +of the maherry, and that its rider was favored by the approaching +darkness. + +The whole encampment was by this time under arms and after the departure +of the pursuers, the sheik gathered all the slaves together, and swore +by the beard of the Prophet that they should all be killed, and that he +would set the example by killing the two belonging to himself, which +were Harry Blount and the Krooman. Several of his followers proceeded to +relieve their excitement by each beating the slave or slaves that were +his own property, and amongst these irate slave-owners was the master of +Sailor Bill. The old man-o-war's-man was cudgelled till his objections +to involuntary servitude were loudly expressed, and in the strongest +terms that English, Scotch, and Irish could furnish for the purpose. + +When the rage of the old sheik had to some extent subsided, he procured +a leathern thong, and declared that his two slaves should be fast bound, +and never released as long as they remained in his possession. + +"Talk to him," exclaimed Harry to the Krooman; "tell him, in his own +language, that God is great, and that he is a fool! We don't wish to +escape,--certainly not at present." + +Thus counselled, the Krooman explained to the sheik that the white +slaves, as well as himself, who had sailed in English ships, had no +intention of running away, but wished to be taken north, where they +might be ransomed; and that they were not such fools as to part from him +in a place where they would certainly starve. The Krooman also informed +the sheik that they were all very glad at being taken out of the hands +of Golah, who would have carried them to Timbuctoo, whence they never +could have returned, but must have ended their days in slavery. + +While the Krooman was talking to the sheik, several of the others came +up and listened. The black further informed them that the white slaves +had friends living in Agadeer and Swearah (Santa Cruz and +Mogador),--friends who would pay a large price to ransom them. Why, +then, should they try to escape while journeying towards the place where +those friends were living? + +The Krooman went on to say that the young man who had just made off was +Golah's brother-in-law; that, unlike themselves, in going north he would +not be seeking freedom but perpetual slavery, and for that reason he had +gone to rejoin Golah and his son. + +This explanation seemed so reasonable to the Arabs, that their fears for +the safety of their slaves soon subsided, and the latter were permitted +to repose in peace. + +As a precautionary measure, however, two men were kept moving in a +circle around the douar throughout the whole of the night; but no +disturbance arose, and morning returned without bringing back the two +men who had gone in pursuit of the cunning runaway. + +The distance to the next watering-place was too great to admit of any +delay being made; and the journey was resumed, in the hope that the two +missing men would be met on the way. + +This hope was realized. + +All along the route the old sheik, who rode in advance, kept scanning +the horizon, not only ahead, but to the right and left of their course. +About ten miles from their night's halting-place he was seen to swerve +suddenly from his course, and advance towards something that had +attracted his attention. His followers hastened after him,--all except +the two women and their children, who lingered a long way behind. + +Lying on the ground, their bodies contiguous to each other, were the two +Arabs who had gone in pursuit of the runaway. + +They were both dead. + +One of them had been shot with a musket ball that had penetrated his +skull, entering directly between his temples. The other had been cut +down with a scimitar, his body being almost severed in twain. + +The youth who had fled the night before, had evidently come up with +Golah and his son; and the two men who had pursued him had lost their +lives, their animals, muskets, and scimitars. + +Golah now had two accomplices, and the three were well mounted and well +armed. + +The anger of the Arabs was frightful to behold. They turned towards the +two women whom they knew to be Golah's wives. The latter had thrown +themselves on their knees and were screaming and supplicating for mercy. + +Some of the Arabs would have killed them on the instant; but were +prevented by the old sheik, who, although himself wild with rage, had +still sufficient reason left to tell him that the unfortunate women were +not answerable for the acts of their husband. Our adventurers found +reason to regret the misfortune that had befallen their new masters; for +they could not but regard with alarm the returning power of Golah. + +"We shall fall into his hands again," exclaimed Terence. "He will kill +all these Arabs one after another, and obtain all he has lost, ourselves +included. We shall yet be driven to Timbuctoo." + +"Then we should deserve it," cried Harry, "for it will partly be our own +fault, if ever we fall into Golah's power again." + +"I don't think so," said Bill, "Golah is a wondersome man, and as got +somethin' more nor human natur' to 'elp 'im. I think as 'ow if we should +see 'im 'alf a mile off, signalizin' for us to follow 'im, we should +'ave to go. I've tried my hand at disobeyin' his orders, and don't do it +again,--not if I knows it." + +The expressions of anger hitherto portrayed on the countenances of the +Arabs, had given place to those of anxiety. They knew that an enemy was +hovering around them,--an enemy whom they had wronged,--whose power they +had undervalued, and whom they had foolishly restored to liberty. + +The bodies of their companions were hastily interred in the sand, and +their journey northward was once more resumed. + + + + +CHAPTER LVIII. + +A CALL FOR TWO MORE. + + +The sufferings of the slaves for water and food again commenced, while +the pace at which they were compelled to travel, to keep up with the +camels, soon exhausted the little strength they had acquired from the +rest by the well. + +During the long afternoon following the burial of the two Arabs, each of +the boy slaves at different times declared his utter inability to +proceed any farther. + +They were mistaken; and had yet to learn something of the power which +love of life exerts over the body. + +They knew that to linger behind would be death. They did not desire to +die, and therefore struggled on. + +Like men upon a treadmill, they were compelled to keep on moving, +although neither able nor willing. + +The hour of sunset found them wading through sand that had lately been +stirred by a storm. It was nearly as light and loose as snow; and the +toil of moving through it was so wearisome, that the mounted Arabs, +having some pity on those who had walked, halted early for the night. +Two men were appointed to guard the camp in the same manner as upon the +night before; and with the feelings of hunger and thirst partly +appeased, weary with the toils of day, our adventurers were soon in a +sound slumber. Around them, and half-buried in the soft sand, lay +stretched the other denizens of the douar, all slumbering likewise. + +Their rest remained undisturbed until that darkest hour of the night, +just before the dawning of day. They were then startled from sleep by +the report of a musket,--a report that was immediately followed by +another in the opposite direction. The douar was instantly in wild +confusion. + +The Arabs seized their weapons, and rushed forth from among the tents. + +One of the party that ran in the direction in which the first shot was +heard, seeing a man coming towards them, in the excitement of the moment +fired his musket, and shot the individual who was advancing, who proved +to be one of those entrusted with the guard of the camp. + +No enemies could be discovered. They had fled, leaving the two +camp-guards in the agonies of death. + +Some of the Arabs would have rushed wildly hither and thither, in search +of the unseen foe, but were prevented by the sheik, who, fearing that +all would be lost, should the douar be deserted by the armed men, +shouted the signal for all his followers to gather around him. + +The two wounded men were brought into a tent, where, in a few +minutes, one of them--the man who had been shot by one of his +companions--breathed his last. He had also received a wound from the +first shot that had been heard, his right arm having been shattered by a +musket-ball. + +The spine of the other guard had been broken by a bullet, so that +recovery was clearly impossible. + +He had evidently heard the first shot fired at his companion from the +opposite side of the camp: and was turning his back upon the foe that +had attacked himself. + +The light of day soon shone upon the scene, and they were able to +perceive how their enemies had approached so near the camp without being +observed. + +About a hundred paces from where the guards had been standing at the +time the first two shots were fired, was a furrow or ravine running +through the soft sand. + +This ravine branched into two lesser ones, including within their angle +the Arab camp, as also the sentinels stationed to guard it. + +Up the branches the midnight murderers had silently stolen, each taking +a side; and in this way had got within easy distance of the unsuspecting +sentries. + +In the bottom of one of the furrows, where the sand was more firmly +compacted, was found the impression of human footsteps. + +The tracks had been made by some person hurriedly leaving the spot. + +"Dis be de track ob Golah," said the Krooman to Harry, after he had +examined it. "He made um when runnin' 'way after he fire da musket." + +"Very likely," said Harry; "but how do you know it is Golah's track?" + +"'Cause Golah hab largess feet in all de world, and no feet but his make +dat mark." + +"I tell you again," said Terence, who overheard the Krooman's remark, +"we shall have to go with Golah to Timbuctoo. We belong to him. These +Arabs are only keeping us for a few days, but they will all be killed +yet, and we shall have to follow the black sheik in the opposite +direction." + +Harry made no reply to this prophetic speech. Certainly, there was a +prospect of its proving true. + +Four Arabs out of the eleven of which their party was originally +composed, were already dead, while still another was dying! + +Sailor Bill pronounced Golah, with his son and brother-in-law, quite a +match for the six who were left. The black sheik, he thought, was equal +to any four of their present masters in strength, cunning, and +determination. + +"But the Arabs have us to help them," remarked Colin. "We should count +for something." + +"So we do,--as merchandise," replied Harry; "we have hitherto been +helpless as children in protecting ourselves. What can we do? The +boasted superiority of our race or country cannot be true here in the +desert. We are out of our element." + +"Yes, that's sartain!" exclaimed Bill; "but we're not far from it. +Shiver my timbers if I don't smell salt water. Be Jabers! if we go on +towards the west we shall see the say afore night." + +During this dialogue the Arabs were holding a consultation as to what +they should do. + +To divide the camp, and send some after their enemies, was pronounced +impolitic: the party sent in pursuit, and that left to guard the +caravan,--either would be too weak if attacked by their truculent enemy. + +In union alone was strength, and they resolved to remain together, +believing that they should have a visit from Golah again, while better +prepared to receive him. + +The footprints leading out from the two ravines were traced for about a +mile in the direction they wished to follow. + +The tracks of camels and horses were there found; and they could tell by +the signs that their enemies had mounted and ridden off towards the +west. + +They possibly might have avoided meeting Golah again by going eastward; +but, from their knowledge of the desert, no water was to be found in +that direction in less than five days' journey. + +Moreover, they did not yet wish to avoid him. They thirsted for revenge, +and were impatient to move on; for a journey of two days was still +before them before they could hope to arrive at the nearest water. + +When every preparation had been made to resume their route, there was +one obstacle in the way of their taking an immediate departure. + +Their wounded companion was not yet defunct. They saw it would be +impossible for him to live much longer; for the lower part of his +body,--all below the shattered portion of the spine,--appeared already +without life. A few hours at most would terminate his sufferings; but +for the expiration of those few hours,--or minutes, as fate should +decide,--his companions seemed unwilling to wait! + +They dug a hole in the sand near where the wounded man was lying. This +was but the work of a few minutes. As soon as the grave was completed, +the eyes of all were once more turned upon the wretched sufferer. + +He was still alive, and by piteous moans expressing the agony he was +enduring. + +"Bismillah!" exclaimed the old sheik, "why do you not die, my friend? We +are waiting for the fulfilment of your destiny." + +"I am dead," ejaculated the sufferer, speaking in a faint voice, and +apparently with great difficulty. + +Having said this, he relapsed into silence, and remained motionless as a +corpse. + +The sheik then placed one hand upon his temples. "Yes!" he exclaimed, +"the words of our friend are those of truth and wisdom. He is dead." + +The wounded man was then rolled into the cavity which had been scooped +out, and they hastily proceeded to cover him with sand. + +As they did so, his hands were repeatedly uplifted, while a low moaning +came from his lips; but his movements were apparently unseen, and his +cries of agony unnoticed! + +His companions remained both deaf and blind to any evidence that might +refute his own assertion that he was dead. + +The sand was at length heaped up, so as completely to cover his body, +when, by an order from the old sheik, his followers turned away from the +spot and the Kafila moved on. + + + + +CHAPTER LIX. + +ONCE MORE BY THE SEA. + + +Sailor Bill's conjecture that they were not far from the sea proved +correct. + +On the evening of that same day they saw the sun sink down into a +shining horizon, which they knew was not that of the burning sand-plain +over which they had been so long moving. + +That faint and distant view of his favorite element was a joyful moment +for the old sailor. + +"We are in sight of home!" he exclaimed. "Shiver my timbers if I ever +lose sight of it again! I shan't be buried in the sand. If I must go +under alive, it shall be under water, like a Christyun. If I could swim, +I'd start right off for Hold Hingland as soon as we get to yonder +shore." + +The boy slaves were alike inspired with hope and joy at the distant +view. + +The sea was still too far off to be reached that night, and the douar +was pitched about five miles from the shore. + +During this night, three of the Arabs were kept constantly on guard; but +the camp was not disturbed, and next morning they resumed their journey, +some with the hope, and others with the fear, that Golah would trouble +them no more. + +The Arabs wished to meet him during the hours of daylight, and secure +the property they had lost; and from their knowledge of the part of the +desert they were now traversing, they were in hopes of doing this. They +knew there was but one place within two days' journey where fresh water +could be obtained; and should they succeed in reaching this place before +Golah, they could lie in wait for his arrival. They were certain he must +visit this watering-place to save his animals from perishing with +thirst. + +At noonday a halt was made not far from the beach. It was only for a +short while; for they were anxious to reach the well as soon as +possible. The few minutes spent at the halting-place were well employed +by the boy slaves in gathering shell-fish and bathing their bodies in +the surf. + +Refreshed by this luxurious food, as well as by the washing, of which +they were greatly in need, they were able to proceed at a better pace; +so that about an hour before sunset the caravan arrived at the well. + +Just before reaching it, the old sheik and one of his companions had +dismounted and walked forward to examine such tracks as might be found +about the place. They were chagrined to find that Golah had been before. +He had been to the well, and obtained a supply of water. His footmarks +were easily identified. They were fresh, having been made but an hour or +two before the arrival of the caravan; and in place of their having to +wait for Golah, he was undoubtedly waiting for them. They felt sure that +the black sheik was not far off, watching for a favorable opportunity of +again paying them a nocturnal visit. They could now understand why he +had not attempted to molest them on the preceding night. He had been +hastening forward, in order to reach the well in advance of them. + +The apprehensions of the Arabs became keener and keener after this +discovery. They were also much puzzled as to what they should do; and a +diversity of opinion arose as to the best plan for guarding the camp +against their implacable foe. Some were in favor of staying by the well +for several days, until the supply of water which their enemy had taken +with him should be exhausted. Golah would then have to revisit the well, +or perish of thirst upon the desert. The idea was an ingenious one, but +unfortunately their stock of provisions would not admit of any delay, +and it was resolved that the journey should be resumed at once. + +Just as they were preparing to move away from the well, a caravan of +traders arrived from the south, and the old sheik made anxious inquiries +as to whether the new-comers had seen any one on their route. The +traders, to whom the caravan belonged, had that morning met three men +who answered to the description of Golah and his companions. They were +journeying south, and had purchased a small supply of food from the +caravan. + +Could it be that Golah had given up the hope of recovering his lost +property? relinquished his deadly purpose of revenge? The Arabs +professed much unwillingness to believe it. Some of them loudly proposed +starting southward in pursuit. But this proposition was overruled, and +it was evident that the old sheik, as well as most of his followers, +were in reality pleased to think that Golah would trouble them no more. + +The sheik decreed that the property of those who had perished should be +divided amongst those who survived. This giving universal satisfaction, +the Arab Kafila took its departure, leaving the caravan of the traders +by the well, where they were intending to remain for some time longer. + +Shortly after leaving the well, the old sheik ordered a halt by the +seashore, where he stopped long enough for his slaves to gather some +shell-fish, enough to satisfy the hunger of all his followers. + +A majority of the Arabs were under the belief that the black sheik had +started at last for his own country--satisfied with the revenge he had +already taken. They seemed to think that keeping watch over the camp +would no longer be necessary. + +With this opinion their Krooman captive did not agree; and, fearing to +fall again into the possession of Golah, he labored to convince his new +master that they were as likely that night to receive a visit from the +black sheik as they had ever been before. + +He argued that, if Golah had entertained a hope of defeating his +foes--eleven in number--when alone, and armed only with a scimitar, he +certainly would not be likely to relinquish that hope after having +succeeded in killing nearly half of them, and being strengthened by a +couple of able assistants. + +The Krooman believed that Golah's going south,--as reported by the party +met at the well,--was proof that he really intended proceeding north; +and he urged the Arab sheik to set a good guard over the douar through +the night. + +"Tell him," said Harry, "if they are not inclined to keep guard for +themselves, that we will stand it, if they will only allow us to have +weapons of some kind or other." + +The Krooman made this communication to the Arab sheik, who smiled only +in reply. + +The idea of allowing slaves to guard an Arab douar, especially to +furnish them with fire-arms, was very amusing to the old chieftain of +the Saära. + +Harry understood the meaning of his smile. It meant refusal; but the +young Englishman had also become impressed with the danger suggested by +Terence, that Golah would yet kill the Arabs, and take the boy slaves +back to Timbuctoo. + +"Tell the sheik that he is an old fool," said he to the interpreter; +"tell him that we have a greater objection to falling into the hands of +Golah than he has of losing either us or his own life. Tell him that we +wish to go north, where we can be redeemed; and that for this reason +alone we should be far more careful than any of his own people in +guarding the camp against surprise." + +When this communication was made to the old sheik it seemed to strike +him as having some reason in it; and, convinced by the Krooman's +arguments that there was still danger to be apprehended from Golah's +vengeance, he directed that the douar should be strictly guarded, and +that the white slaves might take part in the duty. + +"You shall be taken north, and sold to your countrymen," promised he, +"if you give us no trouble in the transit. There are but few of my +people left now, and it is hard for us to travel all day and keep watch +all night. If you are really afraid of falling into the hands of this +Prophet-accursed negro, and will help us in guarding against his +murderous attacks, you are welcome to do so; but if any one of you +attempt to play traitor, the whole four of you shall lose your heads. I +swear it by the beard of the Prophet!" + +The Krooman assured him that none of the white slaves had any desire to +deceive him, adding that self-interest, if nothing else, would cause +them to be true to those who would take them to a place where they would +have a chance of being ransomed out of slavery. + +Darkness having by this time descended over the desert, the sheik set +about appointing the guard for the night. He was too suspicious of his +white slaves to allow all the four of them to act as guards at the same +time, while he and his companions were asleep. He was willing, however, +that one of them should be allowed to keep watch in company with one of +his own followers. + +In choosing the individual for this duty, he inquired from the Krooman +which of the four had been most ill-used by the black sheik. Sailor Bill +was pointed out as the man, and the interpreter gave some details of the +cruel treatment to which the old man-o'-war's-man had been subjected at +the hands of Golah. + +"Bismillah! that is well," said the sheik. "Let him keep the watch. +After what you say, revenge should hinder him from closing his eyes in +sleep for a whole moon. There's no fear that he will betray us." + + + + +CHAPTER LX. + +GOLAH CALLS AGAIN. + + +In setting the watch for the night one of the sentinels was stationed on +the shore about a hundred yards north of the douar. His instructions +were to walk a round of about two hundred paces, extending inward from +the beach. + +Another was placed about the same distance south of the camp, and was to +pace backwards and forwards after a similar fashion. + +Sailor Bill was stationed on the land side of the camp, where he was to +move to and fro between the beats of the two Arab guards, each of whom, +on discovering him at the termination of his round, was to utter the +word "_Akka_," so that the sailor should distinguish them from an enemy. + +The Arabs themselves were supposed to be sufficiently intelligent to +tell a friend from a foe without requiring any countersign. + +Before Bill was sent upon his beat, the old sheik went into a tent, and +soon after reappeared with a large pistol, bearing a strong likeness to +a blunderbuss. This weapon he placed in the sailor's hand, with the +injunction--translated to him by the interpreter--not to discharge it +until he should be certain of killing either Golah or one of his +companions. + +The old sailor, although sorely fatigued with the toil of the day's +journey, had so great a horror of again becoming the property of the +black sheik, that he cheerfully promised to "walk the deck all night, +and keep a good lookout for breakers," and his young companions sought +repose in full confidence that the promise would be faithfully kept. + +Any one of the boy slaves would willingly have taken his place, and +allowed their old comrade to rest for the night; but Bill had been +selected by the old sheik, and from his decree there was no appeal. + +The two Arabs doing duty as sentinels knew, from past experience, that +if the Kafila was still followed by Golah, they would be the individuals +most exposed to danger; and this knowledge was sufficient to stimulate +them to the most faithful discharge of their trust. + +Neither of them wished to become victims to the fate which had befallen +their predecessors in office. + +For two or three hours both paced slowly to and fro; and Bill, each time +he approached the end of his beat, could hear distinctly pronounced the +word "_Akka_" which proved that his co-sentinels were fully on the +alert. + +It so chanced that one of them had no faith in the general belief that +the enemy had relinquished his purposes sanguinary of vengeance. + +He drew his deductions from Golah's conduct in the past, and during the +long silent hours of the night his fancy was constantly dwelling on the +manner in which the dreaded enemy had approached the douar on former +occasions. + +This sentry was the one stationed to the south of the douar; and with +eyes constantly striving to pierce the darkness that shrouded the sand +plain, the water, on which a better light was reflected, received no +attention from him. He believed the douar well protected on the side of +the sea, for he had no idea that danger could come from that direction. + +He was mistaken. + +Had their enemies been, like himself and his companions, true children +of the Saära, his plan of watching for their approach might have +answered well enough; but the latter chanced to be the offspring of a +different country and race. + +About three hours after the watch had been established, the sentinel +placed on the southern side of the douar was being closely observed by +the black sheik, yet knew it not. + +Golah had chosen a singular plan to secure himself against being +observed, similar to that selected by the three mids for the like +purpose soon after their being cast away upon the coast. + +He had stolen into the water, and with only his woolly occiput above the +surface, had approached within a few yards of the spot where the Arab +sentry turned upon his round. + +In the darkness of the night, at the distance of twelve or fifteen +paces, he might have been discovered, had a close survey been made of +the shining surface. But there was no such survey, and Golah watched the +sentinel, himself unseen. + +The attention of the Arab was wholly occupied in looking for the +approach of a foe from the land side; and while he was in continual fear +of hearing the report of a musket, or feeling the stroke of its bullet. + +This disagreeable surprise he never expected could come from the sea, +but was so fully anticipated from the land, that he paid but little or +no attention to the restless waves that were breaking with low moans +against the beach. + +As he turned his back upon the water for the hundredth time, with the +intention of walking to the other end of his beat, Golah crept gently +out of the water and hastened after him. + +The deep sighing of the waves against the shingly shore hindered the +sound of footsteps from being heard. + +Golah was only armed with a scimitar; but it was a weapon that, in his +hands, was sure to fall with deadly effect. It was a weapon of great +size and weight, having been made expressly for himself; and with this +upraised, he silently but swiftly glided after the unconscious Arab. + +Adding the whole strength of his powerful arm to the weight of the +weapon, the black sheik brought its sharp edge slantingly down upon the +neck of the unsuspecting sentinel. + +With a low moan, that sounded in perfect harmony with the sighing of the +waves, the Arab fell to the earth, leaving his musket in the huge hand +his assassin had stretched forth to grasp it. Putting the gun to full +cock, Golah walked on in the direction in which the sentry had been +going. He intended next to encounter the man who was guarding the +eastern side of the douar. Walking boldly on, he took no trouble to +avoid the sound of his footsteps being heard, believing that he would be +taken for the sentry he had just slain. After going about a hundred +paces without seeing any one, he paused, and with his large fiercely +gleaming eyes strove to penetrate the surrounding gloom. Still no one +was to be seen, and he laid himself along the earth to listen for +footfalls. + +Nothing could be heard; but after glancing for some moments along the +ground, he saw a dark object outlined above the surface. Unable, from +the distance, to form a correct idea of what it was, he cautiously +advanced towards it, keeping on all fours, till he could see that the +object was a human being, prostrate on the ground, and apparently +listening, like himself. Why should the man be listening? Not to note +the approach of his companion, for that should be expected without +suspicion, as his attitude would indicate. He might be asleep, reasoned +Golah. If so, Fortune seemed to favor him, and with this reflection he +steadily moved on towards the prostrate form. + +Though the latter moved not, still Golah was not quite sure that the +sentry was asleep. Again he paused, and for a moment fixed his eyes on +the body with a piercing gaze. If the man was not sleeping, why should +he allow an enemy to approach so near? Why lie so quietly, without +showing any sign or giving an alarm? If Golah could despatch this +sentinel as he had done the other, without making any noise, he would, +along with his two relatives (who were waiting the result of his +adventure), afterwards steal into the douar, and all he had lost might +be again recovered. + +The chance was worth the risk, so thought Golah, and silently moved on. + +As he drew nearer, he saw that the man was lying on his side, with his +face turned towards him, and partly concealed by one arm. + +The black sheik could see no gun in his hands, and consequently there +would be but little danger in an encounter with him, if such should +chance to arise. + +Golah grasped the heavy scimitar in his right hand, evidently intending +to despatch his victim as he had done the other, with a single blow. + +The head could be severed from the body at one stroke, and no alarm +would be given to the slumbering camp. + +The heavy blade of shining steel was raised aloft; and the gripe of the +powerful hand clutching its hilt became more firm and determined. + +Sailor Bill! has your promise to keep a sharp lookout been broken so +soon? + +Beware! Golah is near with strength in his arm, and murder in his mind! + + + + +CHAPTER LXI. + +SAILOR BILL STANDING SENTRY. + + +After two hours had been passed in moving slowly to and fro, hearing the +word "_Akka_" and seeing nothing but gray sand, Sailor Bill began to +feel weary, and now regretted that the old sheik had honored him with +his confidence. + +For the first hour of his watch he had kept a good lookout to the +eastward, and had given the whole of his attention to his sentinel's +duty. + +Gradually his intense alertness forsook him, and he began to think of +the past and future. + +Themes connected with these subjects seldom troubled Bill,--his thoughts +generally dwelling upon the present; but, in the darkness and solitude +in which he was now placed, there was but little of the present to +arrest his attention. For the want of something else to amuse his mind, +it was turned to the small cannon he was carrying in his hand. + +"This 'ere thing," thought he, "aint o' much use as a pistol, though it +might be used as a war-club at close quarters. I hope I shan't 'ave to +fire it hoff. The barrel is thin, and the bullet hinside it must be +a'most as large as an 'en's heg. It ud be like enough to bust. Preaps 't +aint loaded, and may 'ave been given to me for amusement. I may as well +make sure about that." + +After groping about for some time, the sailor succeeded in finding a +small piece of stick, with which he measured the length of the barrel on +the outside; then, by inserting the stick into the muzzle, he found that +the depth of the barrel was not quite equal to its length. + +There must be something inside therefore, but he was positive there was +no ball. He next examined the pan, and found the priming all right. + +"I see 'ow 'tis," muttered he, "the old sheik only wants me to make a +row with it, in case I sees anything as is suspicious. He was afeard to +put a ball in it lest I should be killin' one of themselves. That's his +confidence. He on'y wants me to bark without being able to bite. But +this don't suit me at all, at all. Faix, I'll find a bit of a stone and +ram it into the barrel." + +Saying this he groped about the ground in search of a pebble of the +proper size; but for some time could find none to his liking. He could +lay his hand on nothing but the finest sand. + +While engaged in this search he fancied he heard some one approaching +from the side opposite to that in which he was expecting to hear the +word "_Akka_." + +He looked in that direction, but could see nothing save the gray surface +of the sea-beach. + +Since being on the desert Bill had several times observed the Arabs lay +themselves along the earth to listen for the sound of footsteps. This +plan he now tried himself. + +With his eyes close to the ground, the old sailor fancied he was able to +see to a greater distance than when standing upright. There seemed to be +more light on the surface of the earth than at four or five feet above +it; and objects in the distance were placed more directly between his +eyes and the horizon. + +While thus lying extended along the sand, he heard footsteps approaching +from the shore; but, believing they were those of the sentinel, he paid +no attention to them. He only listened for a repetition of those sounds +he fancied to have come from the opposite direction. + +But nothing was now heard to the eastward; and he came to the conclusion +that he had been deceived by an excited fancy. + +Of one thing, however, he soon became certain. It was, that the +footsteps which he supposed to be those of the Arab who kept, what Bill +called, the "larboard watch," were drawing nearer than usual, and that +the word "_Akka_" was not pronounced as before. + +The old sailor slewed himself around, and directed his gaze towards the +shore. + +The sound of footsteps was no longer heard, but the figure of a man was +perceived at no great distance from the spot. + +He was not advancing nearer, but standing erect, and apparently gazing +sharply about him. + +Could this man be the Arab sentinel? + +The latter was known to be short and of slight frame, while the man now +seen appeared tall and of stout build. Instead of remaining in his +upright attitude, and uttering, as the sentry should have done, the word +"_Akka_," the stranger was seen to stoop down, and place his ear close +to the earth as if to listen. + +During a moment or two while the man's eyes appeared to be turned away +from him, the sailor took the precaution to fill the barrel of his +pistol with sand. + +Should he give the alarm by firing off the pistol, and then run towards +the camp? + +No! he might have been deceived by an excited imagination. The +individual before him might possibly be the Arab guard trying to +discover his presence before giving the sign. + +While the sailor was thus undecided, the huge form drew nearer, +approaching on all fours. It came within eight or ten paces of the spot, +and then slowly assumed an upright position. Bill now saw it was not the +sentinel but the black sheik! + +The old man-o'-war's-man was never more frightened in his life. He +thought of discharging the pistol, and running back to the douar; but +then came the thought that he would certainly be shot down the instant +he should rise to his feet; and fear held him motionless. + +Golah drew nearer and nearer, and the sailor seeing the scimitar +uplifted suddenly formed the resolution to act. + +Projecting the muzzle of his huge pistol towards the black, he pulled +the trigger, and at the same instant sprang to his feet. + +There was a loud deafening report, followed by a yell of wild agony. + +Bill stayed not to note the effect of his fire: but ran as fast as his +legs would carry him towards the camp,--already alarmed by the report of +the pistol. + +The Arabs were running to and fro in terrible fear and confusion, +shouting as they ran. + +Amidst these shouts was heard,--in the direction from which the sailor +had fled,--a loud voice frantically calling, "Muley! Muley!" + +"'Tis the voice of Golah!" exclaimed the Krooman in Arabic. "He is +calling for his son,--Muley is his son's name!" + +"They are going to attack the douar," shouted the Arab sheik, and his +words were followed by a scene of the wildest terror. + +The Arabs rushed here and there, mingling their cries with those of the +slaves; while women shrieked, children screamed, dogs barked, horses +neighed, and even the quiet camels gave voice to their alarm. + +In the confusion the two wives of Golah, taking their children along +with them, hurried away from the camp, and escaped undiscovered in the +darkness. + +They had heard the voice of the father of their children, and understood +that accent of anguish in which he had called out the name of his son. + +They were women,--women who, although dreading their tyrant husband in +his day of power, now pitied him in his hour of misfortune. + +The Arabs, anxiously expecting the appearance of their enemy, in great +haste made ready to meet him; but they were left unmolested. + +In a few minutes all was quiet: not a sound was heard in the vicinity of +the douar; and the late alarm might have appeared only a panic of +groundless fear. + +The light of day was gradually gathering in the east when the Arab +sheik, recovering from his excitement, ventured to make an examination +of the douar and its denizens. + +Two important facts presented themselves as evidence, that the fright +they had experienced was not without a cause. The sentry who had been +stationed to guard the camp on its southern side was not present, and +Golah's two wives and their children were also absent! + +There could be no mystery about the disappearance of the women. They had +gone to rejoin the man whose voice had been heard calling "Muley." + +But where was the Arab sentry? Had another of the party fallen a victim +to the vengeance of Golah? + + + + +CHAPTER LXII. + +GOLAH FULFILS HIS DESTINY. + + +Taking the Krooman by one arm, the Arab sheik led him up to the old +man-o'-war's-man, who, sailor-like having finished his watch, had gone +to sleep. + +After being awakened by the sheik, the Krooman was told to ask the white +man why he fired his pistol. + +"Why, to kill Golah,--the big nager!" answered Bill; "an' I'm mighty +desaved if I 'ave not done it." + +This answer was communicated to the sheik, who had the art of expressing +unbelief with a peculiar smile, which he now practised. + +Bill was asked if he had seen the black sheik. + +"Seen him! sartinly I did," answered the sailor. "He was not more nor +four paces from me at the time I peppered 'im. I tell you he is gone and +done for." + +The sheik shook his head, and again smiled incredulously. + +Further inquiries were interrupted by the discovery of the body of the +Arab sentinel whom Golah had killed, and all clustered around it. + +The man's head was nearly severed from his body; and the blow--which +must have caused instant death--had evidently been given by the black +sheik. Near the corpse, tracks were observed in the sand such as no +other human being but Golah could have made. + +It was now broad daylight; and the Arabs, glancing along the shore to +southward, made another discovery. + +Two camels with a horse were seen upon the beach about half a mile off; +and, leaving one of their number to guard the douar, the old sheik with +his followers started off in the hope of recovering some of the property +they had lost. + +They were followed by most of the slaves; who, by the misfortunes of +their master, were under less restraint. + +On arriving near the place where the camels were, the young man we have +described as Golah's brother-in-law, was found to be in charge of them. +He was lying on the ground; but on the approach of the Arabs, he sprang +to his feet, at the same time holding up both his hands. + +He carried no weapon; and the gesture signified, "It is peace." + +The two women, surrounded by their children, were near by, sitting +silent and sorrowful on the sea-beach. They took no heed of the approach +of the Arabs; and did not even look up as the latter drew near. + +The muskets and other weapons were lying about. One of the camels was +down upon the sand. It was dead; and the young negro was in the act of +eating a large piece of raw flesh he had severed from its hump. + +The Arab sheik inquired after Golah. He to whom the inquiry was directed +pointed to the sea, where two dark bodies were seen tumbling about in +the surf as it broke against the shingle of the beach. + +The three midshipmen, at the command of the sheik, waded in, and dragged +the bodies out of the water. + +They were recognized as those of Golah and his son, Muley. + +Golah's face appeared to have been frightfully lacerated; and his once +large fierce eyes were altogether gone. + +The brother-in-law was called on to explain the mysterious death of the +black sheik and his son. + +His explanation was as follows:-- + +"I heard Golah calling for Muley after hearing the report of a gun. From +that I knew that he was wounded. Muley ran to assist him, while I stayed +behind with the horse and camels. I am starving! Very soon Muley came +running back, followed by his father, who seemed possessed of an evil +spirit. He ran this way and that way, swinging his scimitar about, and +trying to kill us both as well as the camels. He could not see, and we +managed to keep out of his way. I am starving!" + +The young negro here paused, and, once more picking up the piece of +camel's flesh, proceeded to devour it with an alacrity that proved the +truth of his assertion. + +"Pig!" exclaimed the sheik, "tell your story first, and eat afterwards." + +"Praise be to Allah!" said the youth, as he resumed his narrative, +"Golah ran against one of the camels and killed it." + +His listeners looked towards the dead camel. They saw that the body bore +the marks of Golah's great scimitar. + +"After killing the camel," continued the young man, "the sheik became +quiet. The evil spirit had passed out of him; and he sat down upon the +sand. Then his wives came up to him; and he talked to them kindly, and +put his hands on each of the children, and called them by name. They +screamed when they looked at him, and Golah told them not to be +frightened; that he would wash his face and frighten them no more. The +little boy led him to the water and he rushed into the sea as far as he +could wade. He went there to die. Muley ran after to bring him out, and +they were both drowned. I could not help them, for I was starving!" + +The emaciated appearance of the narrator gave strong evidence of the +truth of the concluding words of his story. For nearly a week he had +been travelling night and day, and the want of sleep and food could not +have been much longer endured. + +At the command of the Arab chief, the slaves now buried the bodies of +Golah and his son. + +Gratified at his good fortune, in being relieved from all further +trouble with his implacable foeman, the sheik determined to have a day +of rest, which to his slaves was very welcome, as was also the flesh of +the dead camel, now given them to eat. + +About the death of Golah there was still a mystery the Arabs could not +comprehend; and the services of the Krooman as interpreter were again +called into requisition. + +When the sheik learnt what the sailor had done,--how the pistol had been +made an effective weapon by filling the barrel with sand,--he expressed +much satisfaction at the manner in which the old man-o'-war's-man had +performed his duty. + +Full of gratitude for the service thus rendered him, he promised that +not only the sailor himself, but the boy slaves, his companions, should +be taken to Mogador, and restored to their friends. + + + + +CHAPTER LXIII. + +ON THE EDGE OF THE SAÄRA. + + +After a journey of two long dreary days--days that were to the boy +slaves periods of agonizing torture, from fatigue, hunger, thirst, and +exposure to a burning sun--the kafila arrived at another watering-place. + +As they drew near the place, our adventurers perceived that it was the +same where they had first fallen into the hands of Golah. + +"May God help us!" exclaimed Harry Blount, as they approached the place. +"We have been here before. We shall find no water, I fear. We did not +leave more than two bucketfuls in the hole; and as there has been no +rain since, that must be dried up, long ago." + +An expression of hopeless despair came over the countenances of his +companions. They had seen, but a few days before, nearly all the water +drawn out of the pool, and given to the camels. + +Their fears were soon removed, and followed by the real gratification of +a desire they had long been indulging--the desire to quench their +thirst. There was plenty of water in the pool--a heavy deluge of rain +having fallen over the little valley since they had left it. + +The small supply of food possessed by the travellers would not admit of +their making any delay at this watering-place; and the next morning the +journey was resumed. + +The Arabs appeared to bear no animosity towards the young man who had +assisted Golah in killing their companions; and now that the black sheik +was dead, they had no fear that the former would try to escape. The +negro was one of those human beings who cannot own themselves, and who +never feel at home unless with some one to control them. He quietly took +his place along with the other slaves,--apparently resigned to his +fate,--a fate that doomed him to perpetual slavery, though a condition +but little lower than that he had occupied with his brother-in-law. + +Eight days were now passed in journeying in a direction that led a +little to the east of north. + +To the white slaves they were days of indescribable agony, from those +two terrible evils that assail all travellers through the Saära,--hunger +and thirst. Within the distance passed during these eight days they +found but one watering-place, where the supply was not only small in +quantity but bad in quality. + +It was a well, nearly dried up, containing a little water, offensive to +sight and smell, and only rendered endurable to taste by the +irresistible power of thirst. + +The surface of the pool was covered nearly an inch thick with dead +insects, which had to be removed to reach the discolored element +beneath. They were not only compelled to use, but were even thankful to +obtain, this impure beverage. + +The route followed during these eight days was not along the seashore; +and they were therefore deprived of the opportunity of satisfying their +hunger with shell-fish. The Arabs were in haste to reach some place +where they could procure food for their animals, and at the pace at +which they rode forward, it required the utmost exertion on the part of +their slaves to keep up with them. + +The old man-o'-war's-man, unused to land travelling, could never have +held out, had not the Arabs allowed him, part of the time, to ride on a +camel. The feat he had performed, in ridding them of that enemy who had +troubled them so much--and who, had he not been thwarted in his attack +upon the camp, would probably have killed them all--had inspired his +masters with some slight gratitude. The sailor, therefore, was permitted +to ride, when they saw that otherwise they would have to leave him +behind to die upon the desert. + +During the last two days of the eight, our adventurers noticed something +in the appearance of the country, over which they were moving, that +inspired them with hope. The face of the landscape became more uneven; +while here and there stunted bushes and weeds were seen, as if +struggling between life and death. + +The kafila had arrived on the northern border of the great Saära; and a +few days more would bring them to green fields, shady groves, and +streams of sparkling water. + +Something resembling the latter was soon after discovered. At the close +of the eighth day they reached the bed of what appeared to be a river +recently dried up. Although there was no current they found some pools +of stagnant water: and beside one of these the douar was established. + +On a hill to the north were growing some green shrubs to which the +camels were driven; and upon these they immediately commenced browsing. +Not only the leaves, but the twigs and branches were rapidly twisted off +by the long prehensile lips of the animals, and as greedily devoured. + +It was twilight as the camp had been fairly pitched; and just then two +men were seen coming towards them leading a camel. They were making for +the pools of water, for the purpose of filling some goat skins which +were carried on their camel. They appeared both surprised and annoyed to +find the pools in possession of strangers. + +Seeing they could not escape observation, the men came boldly forward, +and commenced filling their goat-skins. While thus engaged they told the +Arab sheik that they belonged to a caravan near at hand that was +journeying southward; and that they should continue their journey early +the next morning. + +After the departure of the two men the Arabs held a consultation. + +"They have told us a lie," remarked the old sheik, "they are not on a +journey, or they would have halted here by the water. By the beard of +our Prophet they have spoken falsely!" + +With this opinion his followers agreed; and it was suggested that the +two men they had seen were of some party encamped by the seashore, and +undoubtedly amusing themselves with a wreck, or gathering wealth in some +other unusual way. + +Here was an opportunity not to be lost; and the Arabs determined to have +a share in whatever good fortune Providence might have thrown in the way +of those already upon the ground. If it should prove to be a wreck there +might be serious difficulty with those already in possession; it was +resolved, therefore, to wait for the morning, when they could form a +better opinion of their chances of success, should a conflict be +necessary to secure it. + + + + +CHAPTER LXIV. + +THE RIVAL WRECKERS. + + +Early next morning the kafila was _en route_ for the seashore, which was +discovered not far distant. On coming near a douar of seven tents was +seen standing upon the beach: and several men stepped forward to receive +them. + +The usual salutations were exchanged, and the new comers began to look +about them. Several pieces of timber lying along the shore gave evidence +that their conjecture, as to a wreck having taken place, had been a +correct one. + +"There is but one God, and He is kind to us all," said the old sheik; +"He casts the ships of unbelievers on our shores, and we have come to +claim a share of His favors." + +"You are welcome to all you can justly claim," answered a tall man, who +appeared to be the leader of the party of wreckers. "Mahomet is the +prophet of Him who sends favors to all, both good and bad. If he has +sent anything for you, look along the sea-beach and find it." + +On this invitation the camels of the kafila were unloaded, and the tents +pitched. The new-comers then set about searching for the _débris_ of the +wrecked vessel. + +They discovered only some spars, and other pieces of ship-timbers, which +were of no value to either party. + +A consultation now took place between the old sheik and his followers. +They were unanimous in the belief that a sunken ship was near them, and +that they had only to watch the rival wreckers, and learn where she was +submerged. + +Desisting from their search, they resolved to keep a lookout. + +When this determination became known to the other party, its chief, +after conferring with his companions, came forward, and, announcing +himself as the representative of his people, proposed a conference. + +"I am Sidi Hamet," said he, "and the others you see here are my friends +and relatives. We are all members of the same family, and faithful +followers of the Prophet. God is great, and has been kind to us. He has +sent us a prize. We are about to gather the gifts of His mercy. Go your +way, and leave us in peace." + +"I am Rais Abdallah Yezzed," answered the old sheik, "and neither my +companions nor myself are so bad but that we, too, may be numbered among +those who are entitled to God's favor, when it pleases Him to cast on +our shores the ships of the infidel." + +In rejoinder Sidi Hamet entered upon a long harangue; in which he +informed the old sheik that in the event of a vessel having gone to +pieces, and the coast having been strown with merchandise, each party +would have been entitled to all it could gather; but unfortunately for +both, those pleasant circumstances did not now exist; although it was +true, that the hulk of a vessel, containing a cargo that could not wash +ashore was lying under water near by. They had discovered it, and +therefore laid claim to all that it contained. + +Sidi Hamet's party was a strong one, consisting of seventeen men; and +therefore could afford to be communicative without the least danger of +being disturbed in their plans and prospects. + +They acknowledged that they had been working ten days in clearing the +cargo out of the sunken vessel, and that their work was not yet half +done--the goods being very difficult to get at. + +The old sheik inquired of what the cargo consisted; but could obtain no +satisfactory answer. + +Here was a mystery. Seventeen men had been fourteen days unloading the +hulk of a wrecked ship, and yet no articles of merchandise were to be +seen near the spot! + +A few casks, some pieces of old sail, with a number of cooking utensils +that had belonged to a ship's galley, lay upon the beach; but these +could not be regarded as forming any portion of the cargo of a ship. + +The old sheik and his followers were in a quandary. + +They had often heard of boxes full of money having been obtained from +wrecked ships. + +Sailors cast away upon their coast had been known to bury such +commodities, and afterwards under torture to reveal the spot where the +interment had been made. + +Had this vessel, on which the wreckers were engaged, been freighted with +money, and had the boxes been buried as soon as brought ashore? + +It was possible, thought the new comers. They must wait and learn; and +if there was any means by which they could claim a share in the good +fortune of those who had first discovered the wreck, those means must be +adopted. + +The original discoverers were too impatient to stay proceedings till +their departure; and feeling secure in the superiority of numbers, they +recommenced their task of discharging the submerged hulk. + +They advanced to the water's edge, taking along with them a long rope +that had been found attached to the spars. At one end of this rope they +had made a running noose, which was made fast to a man, who swam out +with it to the distance of about a hundred yards. + +The swimmer then dived out of sight. He had gone below to visit the +wreck, and attach the rope to a portion of the cargo. + +A minute after his head was seen above the surface, and a shout was sent +forth. Some of his companions on the beach now commenced hauling in the +rope, the other end of which had been left in their hands. + +When the noose was pulled ashore, it was found to embrace a large block +of sandstone, weighing about twenty-five or thirty pounds! + +The Krooman had already informed Harry Blount and his companions of +something he had learnt from the conversation of the wreckers; and the +three mids had been watching with considerable interest the movements of +the diver and his assistants. + +When the block of sandstone was dragged up on the beach, they stared at +each other with expressions of profound astonishment. + +No wonder: the wreckers were employed in clearing the ballast out of a +sunken ship! + +What could be their object? Our adventurers could not guess. Nor, +indeed, could the wreckers themselves have given a good reason for +undergoing such an amount of ludicrous labor. + +Why they had not told the old sheik what sort of cargo they were saving +from the wreck, was because they had no certain knowledge of its value, +or what in reality it was they were taking so much time and trouble to +get safely ashore. + +As they believed that the white slaves must have a perfect knowledge of +the subject upon which they were themselves so ignorant, they closely +scanned the countenances of the latter, as the block of ballast was +drawn out upon the dry sand. + +They were rewarded for their scrutiny. + +The surprise exhibited by Sailor Bill and the three mids confirmed the +wreckers in their belief that they were saving something of grand value; +for, in fact, had the block of sandstone been a monstrous nugget of +gold, the boy slaves could not have been more astonished at beholding +it. + +Their behavior increased the ardor of the salvors in the pursuit in +which they were engaged, along with the envy of the rival party, who, by +the laws of the Saäran coast, were not allowed to participate in their +toil. + +The Krooman now endeavored to undeceive his master as to the value of +the "salvage,"--telling him that what their rivals were taking out of +the sunken ship was nothing but worthless stone. + +But his statement was met with a smile of incredulity. Those engaged in +getting the ballast ashore regarded the Krooman's statements with equal +contempt. He was either a liar or a fool, and therefore unworthy of the +least attention. With this reflection they went on with their work. + +After some time spent in reconsidering the subject, the old sheik called +the Krooman aside; and when out of hearing of the wreckers, asked him to +give an explanation of the real nature of what he himself persisted in +calling the "cargo" of the wreck,--as well as a true statement of its +value. + +The slave did as he was desired; but the old sheik only shook his head, +once more declaring his incredulity. + +He had never heard of a ship that did not carry a cargo of something +valuable. He thought that no men would be so stupid and foolish as to go +from one country to another in ships loaded only with worthless stones. + +As nothing else in the shape of cargo was found aboard the wreck, the +stones must be of some value. So argued the Arab. + +While the Krooman was trying to explain the real purpose for which the +stones had been placed in the hold of the vessel, one of the wreckers +came up and informed him that a white man was in one of their tents, +that he was ill, and wished to see and converse with the infidel slaves, +of whose arrival he had just heard. + +The Krooman communicated this piece of intelligence to our adventurers; +and the tent that contained the sick white man having been pointed out +to them, they at once started towards it, expecting to see some +unfortunate countryman, who, like themselves, had been cast away on the +inhospitable shores of the Saära. + + + + +CHAPTER LXV. + +ANOTHER WHITE SLAVE. + + +On entering within the tent to which they had been directed, they found, +lying upon the ground, a man about forty years of age. Although he +appeared a mere skeleton, consisting of little more than skin and bones, +he did not present the general aspect of a man suffering from ill +health; nor yet would he have passed for a _white_ man anywhere out of +Africa. + +"You are the first English people I've seen for over thirty years," said +he, as they entered the tent: "for I can tell by your looks that every +one of you are English. You are my countrymen. I was white once myself; +and you will be as black as I am when you have been sun-scorched here +for forty-three years, as I have been." + +"What!" exclaimed Terence; "have you been a slave in the Saära so long +as that? If so, God help us! What hope is there of our ever getting +free?" + +The young Irishman spoke in a tone of despair. + +"Very little chance of your ever seeing home again, my lad," answered +the invalid; "but _I_ have a chance now, if you and your comrades don't +spoil it. For God's sake don't tell these Arabs that they are the fools +they are for making salvage of the ballast. If you do, they'll be sure +to make an end of me. It's all my doing. I've made them believe the +stones are valuable, so that they may take them to some place where I +can escape. It is the only chance I have had for years,--don't destroy +it, as you value the life of a fellow-countryman." + +From further conversation with the man, our adventurers learned that he +had been shipwrecked on the coast many years before, and had ever since +been trying to get transported to some place where he might be ransomed. +He declared that he had been backward and forward across the desert +forty or fifty times; and that he had belonged to not less than fifty +masters! + +"I have only been with these fellows a few weeks," said he, "and +fortunately when we came this way we were able to tell where the sunken +ship was by seeing her foremast then sticking out of the water. The +vessel was in ballast; and the crew probably put out to sea in their +boats, without being discovered. It was the first ship my masters had +ever heard of without a cargo; and they would not believe but what the +stones were such, and must be worth something--else why should they be +carried about the world in a ship. I told them it was a kind of stone +from which gold was obtained; but that it must be taken to some place +where there was plenty of coal or wood, before the gold could be melted +out of it, and then intrusted to white men who understood the art of +extracting the precious metal from the rocks. + +"They believe all this; for they can see shining particles in the +sandstone which they think is really gold, or something that can be +converted into it. For four days they forced me to toil, at diving and +assisting them; but that didn't suit my purpose; and I've at length +succeeded in making them believe that I am not able to work any longer." + +"But do you really think," asked Harry Blount, "that they will carry the +ballast any distance without learning its real value?" + +"Yes; I did think that they might take it to Mogador, and that they +would let me go along with them." + +"But some one will meet them, and tell them that their lading is +worthless?" suggested Colin. + +"No, I think that fear of losing their valuable freight will keep them +from letting any one know what they've got. They are hiding it in the +sand now, as fast as they get it ashore, for fear some party stronger +than themselves should come along and take it away from them. I intend +to tell them after they have started on their journey, not to let any +one see or know what they have, until they are safe within the walls of +Mogador, where they will be under the protection of the governor. They +have promised to take me along with them, and if I once get within sight +of a seaport, not all the Arabs in Africa will hinder me from recovering +my liberty." + +While the pretended invalid was talking to them, Sailor Bill had been +watching him, apparently with eager interest. + +"Beg pardon for 'aving a small taste o' difference wid you in the mather +ov your age," said the sailor, as soon as the man had ceased speaking; +"but I'll never belave you've been about 'ere for forty years. It can't +be so long as that." + +The two men, after staring at each other for a moment, uttered the words +"Jim!" "Bill!" and then, springing forward, each grasped the hand of the +other. Two brothers had met! + +The three mids remembered that Bill had told them of a brother, who, +when last heard from, was a slave somewhere in the Saära, and they +needed no explanation of the scene now presented to them. + +The two brothers were left alone; and after the others had gone out of +the tent they returned to the Krooman--who had just succeeded in +convincing the sheik, that the stones being fished out of the sunken +ship were, at that time and place, of no value whatever. + +All attempts on the part of the old sheik to convince the wreckers, as +he had been convinced himself, proved fruitless. + +The arguments he used to them were repeated to the sailor, Bill's +brother; and by him were easily upset with a few words. + +"Of course they will try to make you believe the cargo is no good," +retorted Jim. "They wish you to leave it, so that they can have it all +to themselves. Does not common sense tell you that they are liars?" + +This was conclusive; and the wreckers continued their toil, extracting +stone after stone out of the hold of the submerged ship. + +Sailor Bill, at his brother's request, then summoned his companions to +the tent. + +"Which of you have been trying to do me an injury?" inquired Jim. "I +told you not to say that the stones were worthless." + +It was explained to him how the Krooman had been enlightening his +master. + +"Call the Krooman," said Jim, "and I'll enlighten him. If these Arabs +find out that they have been deceived, I shall be killed, and your +master--the old sheik--will certainly lose all his property. Tell him to +come here also. I must talk to him. Something must be done immediately, +or I shall be killed." + +The Krooman and the old sheik were conducted into the tent; and Jim +talked to them in the Arabic language. + +"Leave my masters alone to their folly," said he to the sheik; "and they +will be so busy that you can depart in peace. If not, and you convince +them that they have been deceived, they will rob you of all you have +got. You have already said enough to excite their suspicions, and they +will in time learn that I have been humbugging them. My life is no +longer safe in their company. You buy me, then; and let us all take our +departure immediately." + +"Are the stones in the wreck really worth nothing?" asked the sheik. + +"No more than the sand on the shore; and when they find out that such is +the case, some one will be robbed. They have come to the seacoast to +seek wealth, and they will have it one way or the other. They are a +tribe of bad men. Buy me, and leave them to continue the task they have +so ignorantly undertaken." + +"You are not well," replied the sheik; "and if I buy you, you cannot +walk." + +"Let me ride on a camel until I get out of sight of these my masters," +answered Jim; "you will then see whether I can walk or not. They will +sell me cheap; for they think I am done up. But I am not; I was only +weary of diving after worthless stones." + +The old sheik promised to follow Jim's advice; and ordered his +companions to prepare immediately for the continuance of their journey. + +Sidi Hamet was called, and asked by Rais Abdallah if he would sell some +of the stones they had saved from the infidel ship. + +"Bismillah! No!" exclaimed the wrecker. "You say they are of no value, +and I do not wish to cheat any true believer of the prophet." + +"Will you _give_ me some of them, then?" + +"No! Allah forbid that Sidi Hamet should ever make a worthless present +to a friend!" + +"I am a merchant," rejoined the old sheik; "and wish to do business. +Have you any slaves, or other property you can sell me?" + +"Yes! You see that Christian dog," replied the wrecker, pointing to +Sailor Bill's brother; "I will sell him." + +"You have promised to take me to Swearah," interrupted Jim. "Do not sell +me, master; I think I shall get well some time, and will then work for +you as hard as I can." + +Sidi Hamet cast upon his infidel slave a look of contempt at this +allusion to his illness; but Jim's remark, and the angry glance, were +both unheeded by the Arab sheik. + +The slave's pretended wishes not to be sold were disregarded; and for +the consideration of an old shirt and a small camel-hair tent, he became +the property of Rais Abdallah Yezzed. + +The old sheik and his followers then betook themselves to their camels; +and the kafila was hurried up the dry bed of the river,--leaving the +wreckers to continue their toilsome and unprofitable task. + + + + +CHAPTER LXVI. + +SAILOR BILL'S BROTHER. + + +After leaving the coast, the travellers kept at a quick pace, and Sailor +Bill and his brother had but little opportunity of holding converse +together. When the douar had been pitched for the night, the old salt +and the "young gentlemen," his companions, gathered around the man whose +experience in the miseries of Saäran slavery so far exceeded their own. + +"Now, Jim," began the old man-o'-war's-man, "you must spin us the yarn +of all your cruising since you've been here. We've seen somethin' o' the +elephant since we've been cast ashore, and that's not long. I don't +wonder at you sayin' you 'ave been aboard this craft forty-three years." + +"Yes, that is the correct time according to my reckoning," interrupted +Jim; "but, Bill, you don't look much older than when I saw you last. How +long ago was it?" + +"About eleven years." + +"Eleven years! I tell you that I've been here over forty." + +"'Ow can that be?" asked Bill. "Daze it, man, you'll not be forty years +old till the fourteenth o' the next month. You 'ave lost yer senses, an' +in troth, it an't no wonder!" + +"That is true, for there is nothing in the Saära to help a man keep his +reckoning. There are no seasons; and every day is as like another as two +seconds in the same minute. But surely I must have been here for more +than eleven years." + +"No," answered Bill, "ye 'ave no been here only a wee bit langer than +tin; but afther all ye must 'ave suffered in that time, it is quare that +ye should a know'd me at all, at all." + +"I did not know you until you spoke," rejoined Jim "Then I couldn't +doubt that it was you who stood before me, when I heard our father's +broad Scotch, our mother's Irish brogue, and the talk of the cockneys +amongst whom your earliest days were passed, all mingled together." + +"You see, Master Colly," said Bill, turning to the young Scotchman. "My +brother Jim has had the advantage of being twelve years younger than I; +and when he was old enough to go to school, I was doing something to +help kape 'im there, and for all that I believe he is plased to see me." + +"Pleased to see you!" exclaimed Jim. "Of course I am." + +"I'm sure av it," said Bill. + +"Well, then, brother, go ahead, an' spin us your yarn." + +"I have no one yarn to spin," replied Jim, "for a narrative of my +adventures in the desert would consist of a thousand yarns, each giving +a description of some severe suffering or disappointment. I can only +tell you that it seems to me that I have passed many years in travelling +through the sands of the Saära, years in cultivating barley on its +borders, years in digging wells, and years in attending flocks of goats, +sheep, and other animals. I have had many masters,--all bad, and some +worse,--and I have had many cruel disappointments about regaining my +liberty. I was once within a single day's journey of Mogador, and was +then sold again and carried back into the very heart of the desert. I +have attempted two or three times to escape; but was recaptured each +time, and nearly killed for the unpardonable dishonesty of trying to rob +my master of my own person. I have often been tempted to commit suicide; +but a sort of womanly curiosity and stubbornness has prevented me. I +wished to see how long Fortune would persecute me, and I was determined +not to thwart her plans by putting myself beyond their reach. I did not +like to give in, for any one who tries to escape from trouble by killing +himself, shows that he has come off sadly worsted in the war of life." + +"You are quite right," said Harry Blount; "but I hope that your hardest +battles in that war are now over. Our masters have promised to carry us +to some place where we may be ransomed by our countrymen, and you of +course will be taken along with us." + +"Do not flatter yourselves with that hope," said Jim. "_I_ was amused +with it for several years. Every master I have had gave me the same +promise, and here I am yet. I did think when my late owners were saving +the stones from the wreck, that I could get them to enter the walls of +some seaport town, and that possibly they might take me along with them. +But that hope has proved as delusive as all others I have entertained +since shipwrecked on the shore of this accursed country. I believe there +are a few who are fortunate enough to regain their liberty; but the +majority of sailors cast away on the Saäran coast never have the good +fortune to get away from it. They die under the hardships and +ill-treatment to which they are exposed upon the desert--without leaving +a trace of their existence any more than the dogs or camels belonging to +their common masters. + +"You have asked me to give an account of my life since I have been +shipwrecked. I cannot do that; but I shall give you an easy rule by +which you may know all about it. We will suppose you have all been three +months in the Saära, and Bill here says that I have been here ten years; +therefore I have experienced about forty times as long a period of +slavery as one of yourselves. Now, multiply the sum total of your +sufferings by forty, and you will have some idea of what I have +undergone. + +"You have probably witnessed some scenes of heartless cruelty--scenes +that shocked and wounded the most sensitive feelings of your nature. I +have witnessed forty times as many. While suffering the agonies of +thirst and hunger, you may have prayed for death as a relief to your +anguish. Where such have been your circumstances once, they have been +mine for forty times. + +"You may have had some bright hopes of escaping, and once more +revisiting your native land; and then have experienced the bitterness of +disappointment. In this way I have suffered forty times as much as any +one of you." + +Sailor Bill and the young gentlemen,--who had been for several days +under the pleasant hallucination that they were on the high road to +freedom,--were again awakened to a true sense of their situation by the +words of a man far more experienced than they in the deceitful ways of +the desert. + +Before separating for the night, the three mids learnt from Bill and his +brother that the latter had been first officer of the ship that had +brought him to the coast. They could perceive by his conversation that +he was an intelligent man,--one whose natural abilities and artificial +acquirements were far superior to those of their shipmate,--the old +man-of-war's-man. + +"If such an accomplished individual," reasoned they, "has been for ten +years a slave in the Saära, unable to escape or reach any place where +his liberty might be restored, what hope is there for us?" + + + + +CHAPTER LXVII. + + +A LIVING STREAM. + + +Every hour of the journey presented some additional evidence that the +kafila was leaving the great desert behind, and drawing near a land that +might be considered fertile. + +On the day after parting from the wreckers a walled town was reached, +and near it, on the sides of some of the hills, were seen growing a few +patches of barley. + +At this place the caravan rested for the remainder of the day. The +camels and horses were furnished with a good supply of food, and water +drawn from deep wells. It was the best our adventurers had drunk since +being cast away on the African coast. + +Next morning the journey was continued. + +After they had been on the road about two hours, the old sheik and a +companion, riding in advance of the others, stopped before what seemed, +in the distance, a broad stream of water. + +All hastened forward, and the Boy Slaves beheld a sight that filled them +with much surprise and considerable alarm. It was a stream,--a stream of +living creatures moving over the plain. + +It was a migration of insects,--the famed locusts of Africa. + +They were young ones,--not yet able to fly; and for some reason, unknown +perhaps even to themselves, they were taking this grand journey. + +Their march seemed conducted in regular order, and under strict +discipline. + +They formed a living moving belt of considerable breadth, the sides of +which appeared as straight as any line mathematical science could have +drawn. + +Not one could be seen straggling from the main body, which was moving +along a track too narrow for their numbers,--scarce half of them having +room on the sand, while the other half were crawling along on the backs +of their _compagnons du voyage_. + +Even the Arabs appeared interested in this African mystery, and paused +for a few minutes to watch the progress of the glittering stream +presented by these singular insects. + +The old sheik dismounted from his camel; and with his scimitar broke the +straight line formed by the border of the moving mass--sweeping them off +to one side. + +The space was instantly filled up again by those advancing from behind, +and the straight edge restored, the insects crawling onward without the +slightest deviation. + +The sight was not new to Sailor Bill's brother. He informed his +companions that should a fire be kindled on their line of march, the +insects, instead of attempting to pass around it, would move right into +its midst until it should become extinguished with their dead bodies. + +After amusing himself for a few moments in observing these insects, the +sheik mounted his camel, and, followed by the kafila, commenced moving +through the living stream. + +A hoof could not be put down without crushing a score of the creatures; +but immediately on the hoof being lifted, the space was filled with as +many as had been destroyed! + +Some of the slaves, with their naked feet, did not like wading through +this living crawling stream. It was necessary to use force to compel +them to pass over it. + +After looking right and left, and seeing no end to the column of +insects, our adventurers made a rush, and ran clear across it. + +At every step their feet fell with a crunching sound, and were raised +again, streaming with the blood of the mangled locusts. + +The belt of the migratory insects was about sixty yards in breadth; yet, +short as was the distance, the Boy Slaves declared that it was more +disagreeable to pass over than any ten miles of the desert they had +previously traversed. + +One of the blacks, determined to make the crossing as brief as possible, +started in a rapid run. When about half way through, his foot slipped, +and he fell full length amidst the crowd of creepers. + +Before he could regain his feet, hundreds of the disgusting insects had +mounted upon him, clinging to his clothes, and almost smothering him by +their numbers. + +Overcome by disgust, horror, and fear, he was unable to rise; and two of +his black companions were ordered to drag him out of the disagreeable +company into which he had stumbled. + +After being rescued and delivered from the clutch of the locusts, it was +many minutes before he recovered his composure of mind, along with +sufficient nerve to resume his journey. + +Sailor Bill had not made the crossing along with the others; and for +some time resisted all the attempts of the Arabs to force him over the +insect stream. + +Two of them at length laid hold of him; and, after dragging him some +paces into the crawling crowd, left him to himself. + +Being thus brought in actual contact with the insects, the old sailor +saw that the quickest way of getting out of the scrape was to cross over +to the other side. + +This he proceeded to do in the least time, and with the greatest +possible noise. His paces were long, and made with wonderful rapidity; +and each time his foot came to the ground, he uttered a horrible yell, +as though it had been planted upon a sheet of red-hot iron. + +Bill's brother had now so far recovered from his feigned illness, that +he was able to walk along with the Boy Slaves. + +Naturally conversing about the locusts, he informed his companions, that +the year before he had been upon a part of the Saäran coast where a +cloud of these insects had been driven out to sea by a storm, and +drowned. They were afterwards washed ashore in heaps; the effluvia from +which became so offensive that the fields of barley near the shore could +not be harvested, and many hundred acres of the crop were wholly lost to +the owners. + + + + +CHAPTER LXVIII. + +THE ARABS AT HOME. + + +Soon after encountering the locusts, the kafila came upon a well-beaten +road, running through a fertile country, where hundreds of acres of +barley could be seen growing on both sides. + +That evening, for some reason unknown to the slaves, their masters did +not halt at the usual hour. They saw many walled villages, where dwelt +the proprietors of the barley fields; but hurried past them without +stopping either for water or food--although their slaves were sadly in +need of both. + +In vain the latter complained of thirst, and begged for water. The only +reply to their entreaties was a harsh command to move on faster, +frequently followed by a blow. + +Towards midnight, when the hopes and strength of all were nearly +exhausted, the kafila arrived at a walled village, where a gate was +opened to admit his slaves. The old sheik then informed them that they +should have plenty of food and drink, and would be allowed to rest for +two or three days in the village. + +A quantity of water was then thickened with barley meal; and of this +diet they were permitted to have as much as they could consume. + +It was after night when they entered the gate of the village, and +nothing could be seen. Next morning they found themselves in the centre +of a square enclosure surrounded by about twenty houses, standing within +a high wall. Flocks of sheep and goats, with a number of horses, camels, +and donkeys, were also within the inclosure. + +Jim informed his companions that most of the Saäran Arabs have fixed +habitations, where they dwell the greater part of the year,--generally +walled towns, such as the one they had now entered. + +The wall is intended for a protection against robbers, at the same time +that it serves as a pen to keep their flocks from straying or +trespassing on the cultivated fields during the night time. + +It was soon discovered that the Arabs had arrived at their home; for as +soon as day broke, they were seen in company with their wives and +families. This accounted for their not making halt at any of the other +villages. Being so near their own, they had made an effort to reach it +without extending their journey into another day. + +"I fear we are in the hands of the wrong masters for obtaining our +freedom," said Jim to his companions. "If they were traders, they might +take us farther north and sell us; but it's clear they are not! They are +graziers, farmers, and robbers, when the chance arises,--that's what +they be! While waiting for their barley to ripen, they have been on a +raiding expedition to the desert, in the hope of capturing a few slaves, +to assist them in reaping their harvest." + +Jim's conjecture was soon after found to be correct. On the old sheik +being asked when he intended taking his slaves on to Swearah, he +answered:-- + +"Our barley is now ripe, and we must not leave it to spoil. You must +help us in the harvest, and that will enable us to go to Swearah all the +sooner." + +"Do you really intend to take your slaves to Swearah?" asked the +Krooman. + +"Certainly!" replied the sheik. "Have we not promised? But we cannot +leave our fields now. Bismillah! our grain must be gathered." + +"It is just as I supposed," said Jim. "They will promise anything. They +do not intend taking us to Mogador at all. The same promise has been +made to me by the same sort of people a score of times." + +"What shall we do?" asked Terence. + +"We must do nothing," answered Jim. "We must not assist them in any way, +for the more useful we are to them the more reluctant they will be to +part with us. I should have obtained my liberty years ago, had I not +tried to gain the good-will of my Arab masters, by trying to make myself +useful to them. That was a mistake, and I can see it now. We must not +give them the slightest assistance in their barley-cutting." + +"But they will compel us to help them?" suggested Colin. + +"They cannot do that if we remain resolute; and I tell you all that you +had better be killed at once than submit. If we assist in their harvest, +they will find something else for us to do, and your best days, as mine +have been, will be passed in slavery! Each of you must make himself a +burden and expense to whoever owns him, and then we may be passed over +to some trader who has been to Mogador, and knows that he can make money +by taking us there to be redeemed. That is our only chance. These Arabs +don't know that we are sure to be purchased for a good price in any +large seaport town, and they will not run any risk in taking us there. +Furthermore, these men are outlaws, desert robbers, and I don't believe +that they dare enter the Moorish dominions. We must get transferred to +other hands, and the only way to do that is to refuse work." + +Our adventurers agreed to be guided by Jim's counsels, although +confident that they would experience much difficulty in following them. + +Early on the morning of the second day after the Arabs reached their +home, all the slaves, both white and black, were roused from their +slumbers; and after a spare breakfast of barley-gruel, were commanded to +follow their masters to the grain fields, outside the walls of the town. + +"Do you want us to work?" asked Jim, addressing himself directly to the +old sheik. + +"Bismillah! Yes!" exclaimed the Arab. "We have kept you too long in +idleness. What have you done, or who are you, that we should maintain +you? You must work for your living, as we do ourselves!" + +"We cannot do anything on land," said Jim. "We are sailors, and have +only learnt to work on board a ship." + +"By Allah, you will soon learn! Come, follow us to the barley fields!" + +"No; we have all agreed to die rather than work for you! You promised to +take us to Swearah; and we will go there or die. We will not be slaves +any longer!" + +Most of the Arabs, with their wives and children, had now assembled +around the white men, who were ordered instantly to move on. + +"It will not do for us to say we will not or can't move on," said Jim, +speaking to his companions in English. "We must go to the field. They +can make us do that; but they can't make us work. Go quietly to the +field; but don't make yourselves useful when you get there." + +This advice was followed; and the Boy Slaves soon found themselves by +the side of a large patch of barley, ready for the reaping-hook. A +sickle of French manufacture was then placed in the hands of each, and +they were instructed how to use them. + +"Never mind," said Jim. "Go to work with a will, mates! We'll show them +a specimen of how reaping is done aboard ship!" + +Jim proceeded to set an example by cutting the grain in a careless +manner--letting the heads fall in every direction, and then trampling +them under foot as he moved on. + +The same plan was pursued by his brother Bill, the Krooman, and Harry +Blount. + +In the first attempt to use the sickle, Terence was so awkward as to +fall forward and break the implement into two pieces. + +Colin behaved no better: since he managed to cut one of his fingers, and +then apparently fainted away at the sight of the blood. + +The forenoon was passed by the Arabs in trying to train their slaves to +the work, but in this they were sadly unsuccessful. + +Curses, threats, and blows were expended upon them to no purpose, for +the Christian dogs seemed only capable of doing much harm and no good. +During the afternoon they were allowed to lie idle upon the ground, and +watch their masters cutting the barley; although this indulgence was +purchased at the expense of lacerated skins and aching bones. Nor was +this triumph without the cost of further suffering: for they were not +allowed a mouthful of food or a drop of water, although an abundance of +both had been distributed to the other laborers in the field. + +All five, however, remained obstinate; withstanding hunger and thirst, +threats, cursings, and stripes,--each one disdaining to be the first to +yield to the wishes of their Arab masters. + + + + +CHAPTER LXIX. + +WORK OR DIE. + + +That night, after being driven within the walls of the town, the white +slaves, along with their guard and the Krooman, were fastened in a large +stone building partly in ruins, that had been recently used as a +goat-pen. + +They were not allowed a mouthful of food nor a drop of water, and +sentinels walked around all night to prevent them from breaking out of +their prison. + +No longer targets for the beams of a blazing sun, they were partly +relieved from their sufferings; but a few handfuls of barley they had +managed to secrete and bring in from the field, proved only sufficient +to sharpen an appetite which they could devise no means of appeasing. + +A raging thirst prevented them from having much sleep; and, on being +turned out next morning, and ordered back to the barley fields, weak +with hunger and want of sleep, they were strongly tempted to yield +obedience to their masters. + +The black slaves had worked well the day before; and, having satisfied +their masters, had received plenty of food and drink. + +Their white companions in misery saw them eating their breakfast before +being ordered to the field. + +"Jim," said Sailor Bill, "I've 'alf a mind to give in. I must 'ave +somethin' to heat an' drink. I'm starvin' all over." + +"Don't think of it, William," said his brother. "Unless you wish to +remain for years in slavery, as I have done, you must not yield. Our +only hope of obtaining liberty is to give the Arabs but one chance of +making anything by us,--the chance of selling us to our countrymen. They +won't let us die,--don't think it! We are worth too much for that. They +will try to make us work if they can; but we are fools if we let them +succeed." + +Again being driven to the field, another attempt was made by the Arabs +to get some service out of them. + +"We can do nothing now," said Jim to the old sheik; "we are dying with +hunger and thirst. Our life has always been on the sea, and we can do +nothing on land." + +"There is plenty of food for those who earn it," rejoined the sheik; +"and we cannot give those food who do not deserve it." + +"Then give us some water." + +"Allah forbid! We are not your servants to carry water for you." + +All attempts to make the white slaves perform their task having failed, +they were ordered to sit down in the hot sun; where they were tantalized +with the sight of the food and water of which they were not permitted to +taste. + +During the forenoon of the day, all the eloquence Jim could command was +required to prevent his brother from yielding. The old man-o'-war's-man +was tortured by extreme thirst, and was once or twice on the eve of +selling himself in exchange for a cooling draught. + +Long years of suffering on the desert had inured Jim to its hardships; +and not so strongly tempted as the others, it was easier for him to +remain firm. + +Since falling into the company of his countrymen, his hope of freedom +had revived, and he was determined to make a grand effort to regain it. + +He knew that five white captives were worth the trouble of taking to +some seaport frequented by English ships; and he believed, if they +refrained from making themselves useful, there was a prospect of their +being thus disposed of. + +Through his influence, therefore, the refractory slaves remained staunch +in their resolution to abstain from work. + +Their masters now saw that they were better off in the field than in the +prison. They could not be prevented from obtaining a few heads of the +barley, which they greedily ate, nor from obtaining a little moisture by +chewing the roots of the weeds growing around them. + +As soon as this was noticed, two of the Arabs were sent to conduct them +back to the place where they had been confined on the night before. + +It was with the utmost exertion that Sailor Bill and Colin were able to +reach the town; while the others, with the exception of Jim, were in a +very weak and exhausted state. Hunger and thirst were fast subduing +them--in body, if not in spirit. + +On reaching the door of the goat-pen, they refused to go in, all +clamoring loudly for food and water. + +Their entreaties were met with the declaration: that it was the will of +God that those who would not work should suffer starvation. + +"Idleness," argued their masters, "is always punished by ill-health"; +and they wound up by expressing their thanks that such was the case. + +It was not until the two Arabs had obtained the assistance of several of +the women and boys of the village that they succeeded in getting the +white slaves within the goat-pen. + +"Jim, I tell you I can't stand this any longer," said Sailor Bill. "Call +an' say to 'em as I gives in, and will work to-morrow, if they will let +me have water." + +"And so will I," said Terence. "There is nothing in the future to +compensate for this suffering, and I can endure it no longer." + +"Nor will I," exclaimed Harry; "I must have something to eat and drink +immediately. We shall all be punished in the next world for self-murder +in this unless we yield." + +"Courage! patience!" exclaimed Jim. "It is better to suffer for a few +hours more than to remain all our lives in slavery." + +"What do I care for the future?" muttered Terence; "the present is +everything. He is a fool who kills himself to-day to keep from being +hungry ten years after. I will try to work to-morrow, if I live so +long." + +"Yes, call an' tell 'em, Jem, as 'ow we gives in, an' they'll send us +some refreshment," entreated the old sailor. "It ain't in human nature +to die of starvation if one can 'elp it." + +But neither Jim nor the Krooman would communicate to the Arabs the +wishes of their companions; and the words and signals the old sailor +made to attract the attention of those outside were unheeded. + +Early in the evening, both Colin and the Krooman also expressed +themselves willing to sacrifice the future for the present. + +"We have nothing to do with the future," said Colin; in answer to Jim's +entreaties that they should remain firm. "The future is the care of God, +and we are only concerned with the present. We ought to promise anything +if we can obtain food by it." + +"I tink so too now," said the Krooman; "for it am worse than sure dat if +we starve now we no be slaves bom by." + +"They will not quite starve us to death," said Jim. "I have told you +before that we are worth too much for that. If we will not work they +will sell us, and we may reach Mogador. If we do work, we may stay here +for years. I entreat you to hold out one day longer." + +"I cannot," answered one. + +"Nor I," exclaimed another. + +"Let us first get something to eat, and then take our liberty by force," +said Terence, "I fancy that if I had a drink of water, I could whip all +the Arabs on earth." + +"And so could I," said Colin. + +"And I, too," added Harry Blount. + +Sailor Bill had sunk upon the floor, hardly conscious of what the others +were saying; but, partly aroused by the word water, repeated it, +muttering, in a hoarse whisper, "Water! Water!" + +The Krooman and the three youths joined in the cry; and then all, as +loudly as their parched throats would permit, shouted the word, "Water! +Water!" + +The call for water was apparently unheeded by the Arab men, but it was +evidently music to many of the children of the village, for it attracted +them to the door of the goat-pen, around which they clustered, listening +with strong expressions of delight. + +Through a long night of indescribable agony, the cry of "Water! Water!" +was often repeated in the pen, and at each time in tones fainter and +more supplicating than before. + +The cry at length became changed from a demand to a piteous prayer. + + + + +CHAPTER LXX. + +VICTORY! + + +Next morning, when the Arabs opened the door of the prison, Sailor Bill +and Colin were found unable to rise; and the old salt seemed quite +unconscious of all efforts made to awaken his attention. + +Not till then did Jim's resolution begin to give way. He would now +submit to save them from further suffering; but although knowing it was +the wish of all that he should tender their submission on the terms the +Arabs required, for a while be delayed doing so, in order to discover +the course their masters designed adopting towards them. + +"Are you Christian dogs willing to earn your food now?" inquired the old +sheik, as he entered the goat-pen. + +Faint and weak with hunger, nearly mad with thirst, alarmed for the +condition of his brother, and pitying the agony of the others, Jim was +about to answer the sheik's question in the affirmative; but there was +something in the tone in which the question had been put, that +determined him to refrain for a little longer. + +The earthly happiness of six men might depend upon the next word he +should utter, and that word he should not speak without some +deliberation. + +With an intellect sharpened by torture, Jim turned his gaze from the old +sheik upon several other Arabs that had come near. + +He could see that they had arrived at some decision amongst themselves, +as to what they should do, and that they did not seem much interested in +the ultimatum demanded by the sheik's inquiry. + +This lack of excitement or interest did not look like further starvation +and death; and in place of telling the Arabs that they were willing to +submit, Jim informed the old sheik that all were determined to die +rather than remain slaves. + +"There is not one of us that wishes to live," he added, "except for the +purpose of seeing our native land again. Our bodies are now weak, but +our spirits are still strong. We will die!" + +On receiving this answer, the Arabs departed, leaving the Christians in +the pen. + +The Krooman, who had been listening during the interview, then faintly +called after them to return; but he was stopped by Jim, who still +entertained the hope that his firmness would yet be rewarded. + +Half an hour passed, and Jim began to doubt again. He might not have +correctly interpreted the expressions he had noted upon the faces of the +Arabs. + +"What did you tell them?" muttered Terence. "Did you tell them that we +were willing to work, if they would give us water?" + +"Yes--certainly!" answered Jim, now beginning to regret that he had not +tendered their submission before it might be too late. + +"Then why do they not come and relieve us?" asked Terence, in a +whisper--hoarse from despair. + +Jim vouchsafed no answer; and the Krooman seemed in too much mental and +bodily anguish to heed what had been said. + +Shortly after, Jim could hear the flocks being driven out of the town; +and looking through a small opening in the wall of the pen, he could see +some of the Arabs going out towards the barley fields. + +Could it be that he had been mistaken--that the Arabs were going to +apply the screw of starvation for another day? Alarmed by this +conjecture, he strove to hail them, and bring them back; but the effort +only resulted in a hoarse whisper. + +"May God forgive me!" thought he. "My brother, as well as all the +others, will die before night! I have murdered them, and perhaps +myself!" + +Driven frantic with the thought, frenzy furnished him with the will and +strength to speak out. + +His voice could now be heard, for the walls of the stone building rang +with the shouts of a madman! + +He assailed the door with such force that the structure gave way, and +Jim rushed out, prepared to make any promises or terms with their +masters, to save the lives he had endangered by his obstinacy. + +His submission was not required: for on looking out, two men and three +or four boys were seen coming towards the pen, bearing bowls of water, +and dishes filled with barley-gruel. + +Jim had conquered in the strife between master and man. The old sheik +had given orders for the white slaves to be fed. + +Jim's frenzy immediately subsided into an excitement of a different +nature. + +Seizing a calabash of water, he ran to his brother Bill; and raising him +into a sitting posture, he applied the vessel to the man-o'-war's-man's +lips. + +Bill had not strength even to drink, and the water had to be poured down +his throat. + +Not until all of his companions had drunk, and swallowed a few mouthfuls +of the barley-gruel, did Jim himself partake of anything. + +The effect of food and water in restoring the energies of a starving man +is almost miraculous; and he now congratulated his companions on the +success of his scheme. + +"It is all right!" he exclaimed. "We have conquered them! We shall not +have to reap their harvest! We shall be fed, fattened, and sold; and +perhaps be taken to Mogador. We should thank God for bringing us all +safely through the trial. Had we yielded, there would have been no hope +of ever regaining our liberty!" + + + + +CHAPTER LXXI. + +SOLD AGAIN. + + +Two days elapsed, during which time our adventurers were served with +barley-gruel twice a day. They were allowed a sufficient quantity of +water, with only the trouble of bringing it from the well, and enduring +a good deal of insult and abuse from the women and children whom they +chanced to meet on their way. + +The second Krooman, who, in a moment of weakness inspired by the torture +of thirst, had assisted the other slaves at their task, now tried in +vain to get off from working. He came each evening to the pen to +converse with his countryman; and at these meetings bitterly expressed +his regret that he had submitted. + +There was no hope for him now, for he had given proof that he could be +made useful to his owners. + +On the evening of the second day after they had been relieved from +starvation, the white slaves were visited in their place of confinement +by three Arabs they had not before seen. + +These were well-armed, well-dressed, fine-looking fellows, having +altogether a more respectable appearance than any inhabitants of the +desert they had yet encountered. + +Jim immediately entered into conversation with them; and learned that +they were merchants, travelling with a caravan; and that they had +claimed the hospitality of the town for that night. + +They were willing to purchase slaves; and had visited the pen to examine +those their hosts were offering for sale. + +"You are just the men we are most anxious to see," said Jim, in the +Arabic language, which, during his long residence in the country, he had +become acquainted with, and could speak fluently. "We want some merchant +to buy us, and take us to Mogador, where we may find friends to ransom +us." + +"I once bought two slaves," rejoined one of the merchants, "and at great +expense took them to Mogador. They told me that their consul would be +sure to redeem them; but I found that they had no consul there. They +were not redeemed; and I had to bring them away again,--having all the +trouble and expense of a long journey." + +"Were they Englishmen?" asked Jim. + +"No: Spaniards." + +"I thought so. Englishmen would certainly have been ransomed." + +"That is not so certain," replied the merchant; "the English may not +always have a consul in Mogador to buy up his countrymen." + +"We do not care whether there is one or not!" answered Jim. "One of the +young fellows you see here has an uncle--a rich merchant in Mogador, who +will ransom not only him, but all of his friends. The three young men +you see are officers of an English ship-of-war. They have rich fathers +in England,--all of them grand sheiks,--and they were learning to be +captains of war-ships, when they were lost on this coast. The uncle of +one of them in Mogador will redeem the whole party of us." + +"Which is he who has the rich uncle?" inquired one of the Arabs. + +Jim pointed to Harry Blount, saying, "That is the youngster. His uncle +owns many great vessels, that come every year to Swearah, laden with +rich cargoes." + +"What is the name of this uncle?" + +To give an appearance of truth to his story, Jim knew that it was +necessary for some of the others to say something that would confirm it; +and turning towards Harry, he muttered, "Master Blount, you are expected +to say something--only two or three words--any thing you like!" + +"For God's sake, get them to buy us!" said Harry, in complying with the +singular request made to him. + +Believing that the name he must give to the Arabs should something +resemble in sound the words Harry had spoken, Jim told them that the +name of the Mogador merchant was "For God's sake buy us." + +After repeating these words two or three times, the Arabs were able to +pronounce them--after a fashion. + +"Ask the young man," commanded one of them, "if he is sure the merchant +'For God's sake bias' will ransom you all?" + +"When I am done speaking to you," said Jim, whispering to Harry, "say +Yes! nod your head, and then utter some words!" + +"Yes!" exclaimed Harry, giving his head an abrupt inclination. "I think +I know what you are trying to do, Jim. All right!" + +"Yes!" said Jim, turning to the Arab; "the young fellow says that he is +quite certain his uncle will buy us all. Our friends at home will repay +him." + +"But how about the black man?" asked one of the merchants. "He is not an +Englishman?" + +"No; but he speaks English. He has sailed in English ships, and will +certainly be redeemed with the rest." + +The Arabs now retired from the pen, after promising to call and see our +adventurers early in the morning. + +After their departure, Jim related the whole of the conversation to his +companions, which had the effect of inspiring them with renewed hope. + +"Tell them anything," said Harry, "and promise anything; for I think +there is no doubt of our being ransomed, if taken to Mogador, although +I'm sure I have no uncle there, and don't know whether there's any +English consul at that port." + +"To get to Mogador is our only chance," said Jim; "and I wish I were +guilty of no worse crime than using deception, to induce some one to +take us there. I have a hope that these men will buy us on speculation; +and if lies will induce them to do so, they shall have plenty of them +from me. And you," continued he, turning to the Krooman, "you must not +let them know that you speak their language, or they will not give a +dollar for you. When they come here in the morning, you must converse +with the rest of us in English,--so that they may have reason to think +that you will also be redeemed." + +Next morning, the merchants again came to the pen, and the slaves, at +their request, arose and walked out to the open space in front, where +they could be better examined. + +After becoming satisfied that all were capable of travelling, one of the +Arabs, addressing Jim, said:-- + +"We are going to purchase you, if you satisfy us that you are not trying +to deceive us, and agree to the terms we offer. Tell the nephew of the +English merchant that we must be paid one hundred and fifty Spanish +dollars for each of you." + +Jim made the communication to Harry; who at once consented that this sum +should be paid. + +"What is the name of his uncle?" asked one of the Arabs. "Let the young +man tell us." + +"They wish to know the name of your uncle," said Jim, turning to Harry. +"The name I told you yesterday. You must try and remember it; for I must +not be heard repeating it to you." + +"For God's sake buy us!" exclaimed Harry. + +The Arabs looked at each other with an expression that seemed to say, +"It's all right!" + +"Now," said one of the party, "I must tell you what will be the penalty, +if we be deceived. If we take you to Mogador, and find that there is no +one there to redeem you, if the young man, who says he has an uncle, be +not telling the truth, then we shall cut his throat, and bring the rest +of you back to the desert, to be sold into perpetual slavery. Tell him +that." + +"They are going to buy us," said Jim to Harry Blount; "but if we are not +redeemed in Mogador, you are to have your throat cut for deceiving +them." + +"All right!" said Harry, smiling at the threat, "that will be better +than living any longer a slave in the Saära." + +"Now look at the Krooman"; suggested Sailor Bill, "and say something +about him." + +Harry taking the hint, turned towards the African. + +"I hope," said he, "that they will purchase the poor fellow; and that we +may get him redeemed. After the many services he has rendered us, I +should not like to leave him behind." + +"He consents that you may kill the Krooman, if we are not ransomed"; +said Jim, speaking to the Arab merchants, "but he does not like to +promise more than one hundred dollars for a negro. His uncle might +refuse to pay more." + +For some minutes the Arabs conversed with each other in a low tone; and +then one of them replied, "It is well. We will take one hundred dollars +for the negro. And now get ready for the road. We shall start with you +to-morrow morning by daybreak." + +The merchants then went off to complete their bargain with the old +sheik, and make other arrangements for their departure. + +For a few minutes the white slaves kept uttering exclamations of delight +at the prospect of being once more restored to liberty. Jim then gave +them a translation of what he had said about the Krooman. + +"I know the Arab character so well," said he, "that I did not wish to +agree to all their terms without a little haggling, which prevents them +from entertaining the suspicion that we are trying to deceive them. +Besides, as the Krooman is not an English subject, there may be great +difficulty in getting him redeemed; and we should therefore bargain for +him as cheaply as possible." + +Not long after the Arab merchants had taken their departure from the +pen, a supply of food and drink was served out to them: which, from its +copiousness, proved that it was provided at the expense of their new +owners. + +This beginning augured well for their future treatment; and that night +was spent by the Boy Slaves in a state of contentment and repose, +greater than they had experienced since first setting foot on the +inhospitable shores of the Saära. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXII. + +ONWARD ONCE MORE. + + +Early next morning our adventurers were awakened and ordered to prepare +for the road. + +The Arab merchants had purchased from their late hosts three donkeys, +upon which the white slaves were allowed to ride in turns. Harry Blount, +however, was distinguished from the rest. As the nephew of the rich +merchant, "For God's sake buy us!" he was deemed worthy of higher favor, +and was permitted to have a camel. + +In vain he protested against being thus _elevated_ above his companions. +The Arabs did not heed his remonstrances, and at a few words from Jim he +discontinued them. + +"They think that we are to be released from slavery by the money of your +relative," said Jim, "and you must do nothing to undeceive them. Not to +humor them might awaken their suspicions. Besides, as you are the +responsible person of the party,--the one whose throat is to be cut if +the money be not found,--you are entitled to a little distinction, as a +compensation for extra anxiety." + +The Krooman, who had joined the slaves in cutting the grain, was in the +field at work when the merchants moved off, and was not present to bid +farewell to his more fortunate countryman. + +After travelling about twelve miles through a fertile country, much of +which was in cultivation, the Arab merchants arrived at a large +reservoir of water, where they encamped for the night. + +The water was in a stone tank, placed so as to catch all the rain that +fell in a long narrow valley, gradually descending from some hills to +the northward. + +Jim had visited the place before, and told his companions that the tank +had been constructed by a man whose memory was much respected, and who +had died nearly a hundred years ago. + +During the night the Krooman, who had been left behind, entered the +encampment, confident in the belief that he had escaped from his +taskmasters. + +At sunset he had contrived to conceal himself among the barley sheaves +until his masters were out of sight, when he had started off on the +track taken by the Arab merchants. + +He was not allowed long indulgence in his dream of liberty. On the +following morning, as the kafila was about to continue its journey, +three men were seen approaching on swift camels; and shortly after Rais +Abdallah Yessed, and two of his followers rode up. + +They were in pursuit of the runaway Krooman, and in great rage at the +trouble which he had caused them. So anxious were the Boy Slaves that +the poor fellow should continue along with them, that, for their sake, +the Arab merchants made a strenuous effort to purchase him; but Rais +Abdallah obstinately refused to sell him at anything like a reasonable +price. The Krooman had given proof that he could be very useful in the +harvest-field; and a sum much greater than had been paid for any of the +others, was demanded for him. He was worth more to his present owners +than what the Arab merchants could afford to give; and was therefore +dragged back to the servitude from which he had hoped to escape. + +"You can see now, that I was right," said Jim. "Had we consented to cut +their harvest, we should never have had an opportunity of regaining our +liberty. Our labor for a single year would have been worth as much to +them as the price they received for us, and we should have been held in +perpetual bondage." + +Jim's companions could perceive the truth of this observation, but not +without being conscious that their good fortune was, on their part, +wholly undeserved, and that had it not been for him, they would have +yielded to the wishes of their late masters. + +After another march, the merchants made halt near some wells, around +which a large Arab encampment was found already established,--the flocks +and herds wandering over the adjacent plain. Here our adventurers had an +opportunity of observing some of the manners and customs of this nomadic +people. + +Here, for the first time, they witnessed the Arab method of making +butter. + +A goat's skin, nearly filled with the milk of camels, asses, sheep, and +goats, all mixed together, was suspended to the ridge pole of a tent, +and then swung to and fro by a child, until the butter was produced. The +milk was then poured off, and the butter clawed out of the skin by the +black dirty fingers of the women. + +The Arabs allege that they were the first people who discovered the art +of making butter,--though the discovery does not entitle them to any +great credit, since they could scarce have avoided making it. The +necessity of carrying milk in these skin bags, on a journey, must have +conducted them to the discovery. The agitation of the fluid, while being +transported on the backs of the camels, producing the result, naturally +suggested the idea of bringing it about by similar means when they were +not travelling. + +At this place the slaves were treated to some barley-cakes, and were +allowed a little of the butter; and this, notwithstanding the filthy +mode in which it had been prepared, appeared to them the most delicious +they had ever tasted. + +During the evening, the three merchants, along with several other Arabs, +seated themselves in a circle; when a pipe was lit and passed round from +one to another. Each would take a long draw, and then hand the pipe to +his left-hand neighbor. + +While thus occupied, they kept up an animated conversation, in which the +word "Swearah" was often pronounced. Swearah of course meant "Mogador." + +"They are talking about us," said Jim, "and we must learn for what +purpose. I am afraid there is something wrong. Krooman!" he continued, +addressing himself to the black, "they don't know that you understand +their language. Lie down near them, and pretend to be asleep; but take +note of every word they say. If I go up to them they will drive me +away." + +The Krooman did as desired; and carelessly sauntering near the circle, +appeared to be searching for a soft place on which to lay himself for +the night. + +This he discovered some seven or eight paces from the spot where the +Arabs were seated. + +"I have been disappointed about obtaining my freedom so many times," +muttered Jim, "that I can scarce believe I shall ever succeed. Those +fellows are talking about Mogador; and I don't like their looks. Hark! +what is that about 'more than you can get in Swearah!' I believe these +new Arabs are making an offer to buy us. If so, may their prophets curse +them!" + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIII. + +ANOTHER BARGAIN. + + +The conversation amongst the Arabs was kept up until a late hour; and +during the time it continued, our adventurers were impatiently awaiting +the return of the Krooman. + +He came at length, after the Arabs had retired to their tents; and all +gathered around him, eager to learn what he had heard. + +"I find out too much," said he, in answer to their inquiries; "too much, +and no much good." + +"What was it?" + +"Two of you be sold to-morrow." + +"What two?" + +"No one know. One man examine us all in the morning, but take only two." + +After suffering a long lesson teaching the virtue of patience, they +learnt from the Krooman that one of those who had been conversing with +their masters was a grazier, owning large droves of cattle; and that he +had lately been to Swearah. + +He had told the merchants that they would not be able to get a large +price for their slaves in that place; and that the chances were much +against their making more than the actual expenses incurred in so long a +journey. He assured the Arab merchants that no Christian consul or +foreign merchant in Mogador would pay a dollar more for redeeming six +slaves than what they could be made to pay for two or three; that they +were not always willing or prepared to pay anything; and that whenever +they did redeem a slave, they did not consider his value, but only the +time and expense that had been incurred in bringing him to the place. + +Under the influence of these representations, the Arab merchants had +agreed to sell two of their white slaves to the grazier,--thinking they +would get as much for the remaining four as they would by taking all six +to the end of the journey. + +The owner of the herds was to make his choice in the morning. + +"I thought there was a breaker ahead," exclaimed Jim, after the Krooman +had concluded his report. "We must not be separated except by liberty or +death. Our masters must take us all to Mogador. There is trouble before +us yet; but we must be firm, and overcome it. Firmness has saved us +once, and may do so again." + +After all had promised to be guided in the coming emergency by Jim, they +laid themselves along the ground, and sought rest in sleep. + +Next morning, while they were eating their breakfast, they were visited +by the grazier who was expected to make choice of two of their number. + +"Which is the one who speaks Arabic?" he inquired from one of the +merchants. + +Jim was pointed out, and was at once selected as one of the two to be +purchased. + +"Tell 'im to buy me, too, Jim," said Bill, "We'll sail in company, you +and I, though I don't much like partin' with the young gentlemen here." + +"You shall not part either with them or me, if I can help it," answered +Jim; "but we must expect some torture. Let all bear it like devils; and +don't give in. That's our only chance!" + +Glancing his eyes over the other slaves, the grazier selected Terence as +the second for whom he was willing to pay a price. + +His terms having been accepted by the merchants, they were about +concluding the bargain, when they were accosted by Jim. + +He assured them that he and his companions were determined to die, +before they should be separated,--that none of them would do any work if +retained in slavery,--and that all were determined to be taken to +Swearah. + +The merchants and the buyer only smiled at this interruption; and went +on with the negotiation. + +In vain did Jim appeal to their cupidity,--reminding them that the +merchant, "for God's sake bias," would pay a far higher price for +himself and his companions. + +His arguments and entreaties failed to change their determination,--the +bargain was concluded; and Jim and Terence were made over to their new +master. + +The merchants then mounted their camels, and ordered the other four to +follow them. + +Harry Blount, Colin, and Sailor Bill answered this command by sulkily +sitting down upon the sand. + +Another command from the merchants was given in sharp tones that +betrayed their rising wrath. + +"Obey them!" exclaimed Jim. "Go on; and Master Terence and I will follow +you. We'll stand the brunt of the battle. They shall not hold me here +alive!" + +Colin and Bill each mounted a donkey, and Harry his camel--the Arab +merchants seeming quite satisfied at the result of their slight +exhibition of anger. + +Jim and Terence attempted to follow them; but their new master was +prepared for this; and, at a word of command, several of his followers +seized hold of and fast bound both of them. + +Jim's threat that they should not hold him alive, had thus proved but an +idle boast. + +Harry, Colin, and Bill, now turned back, dismounted, and showed their +determination to remain with their companions, by sitting down alongside +of them. + +"These Christian dogs do not wish for liberty!" exclaimed one of the +merchants. "Allah forbid that we should force them to accept it. Who +will buy them?" + +These words completely upset all Jim's plans. He saw that he was +depriving the others of the only opportunity they might ever have of +obtaining their liberty. + +"Go on, go on!" he exclaimed. "Make no further resistance. It is +possible they may take you to Mogador. Do not throw away the chance." + +"We are not goin' to lave you, Jim," said Bill, "not even for +liberty,--leastways, I'm not. Don't you be afeerd of that!" + +"Of course we will not, unless we are forced to do so," added Harry. +"Have you not said that we must keep together?" + +"Have you not all promised to be guided by me?" replied Jim. "I tell you +now to make no more resistance. Go on with them if you wish ever to be +free!" + +"Jim knows what he is about," interposed Colin; "let us obey him." + +With some reluctance, Harry and Bill were induced to mount again; but +just as they were moving away, they were recalled by Jim, who told them +not to leave; and that all must persevere in the determination not to be +separated. + +"The man has certainly gone mad," reflected Harry Blount, as he turned +back once more. "We must no longer be controlled by him; but Terence +must not be left behind. We cannot forsake _him_." + +Again the three dismounted, and returning to the spot where Jim and +Terence lay fast bound along the sand, sat determinedly down beside +them. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIV. + +MORE TORTURE. + + +The sudden change of purpose and the counter-orders given by Jim were +caused by something he had just heard while listening to the +conversation of the Arabs. + +Seeing that the merchants, rather than have any unnecessary trouble with +them, were disposed to sell them all, Jim had been unwilling to deprive +his brother and the others of an opportunity of obtaining their freedom. +For this reason had he entreated them to leave Terence and himself to +their fate. + +But just as he had prevailed on Harry and his companion to go quietly, +he learnt from the Arabs that the man who had purchased Terence and +himself refused to have any more of them; and also that the other Arabs +present were either unable or unwilling to buy them. + +The merchants, therefore, would have to take them farther before they +could dispose of them. + +In Jim's mind then revived the hope that, by opposing the wishes of his +late masters, he and Terence might be bought back again and taken on to +Mogador. + +It was this hope that had induced him to recall his companions after +urging them to depart. + +A few words explained his apparently strange conduct to Harry and Colin, +and they promised to resist every attempt made to take them any farther +unless all should go in company. + +The merchants in vain commanded and entreated that the Christian dogs +should move on. They used threats, and then resorted to blows. + +Harry, to whom they had hitherto shown much respect, was beaten until +his scanty garments were saturated with blood. + +Unwilling to see others suffering so much torture unsupported by any +selfish desire, Jim again counselled Harry and the others to yield +obedience to their masters. + +In this counsel he was warmly seconded by Terence. + +But Harry declared his determination not to desert his old shipmate +Colin, and Bill remained equally firm under the torture; while the +Krooman, knowing that his only chance of liberty depended on remaining +true to the white slaves, and keeping in their company, could not be +made to yield. + +Perceiving that all his entreaties--addressed to his brother, Harry, and +Colin--could not put an end to the painful scene he was compelled to +witness, Jim strove to effect some purpose by making an appeal to his +late masters. + +"Buy us back, and take us all to Swearah as you promised," said he. "If +you do so, we will go cheerfully as we were doing before. I tell you, +you will be well paid for your trouble." + +One of the merchants, placing some confidence in the truth of this +representation, now offered to buy Jim and Terence on his own account; +but their new master refused to part with his newly-acquired property. + +A crowd of men, women, and children had now gathered around the spot; +and from all sides were heard shouts of "Kill the obstinate Christian +'dogs.' How dare they resist the will of true believers!" + +This advice was given by those who had no pecuniary interest in the +chattels in question; but the merchants, who had invested a large sum in +the purchase of the white slaves, had no idea of making such a sacrifice +for the gratification of a mere passion. + +There was but one way for them to overcome the difficulty that had so +unexpectedly presented itself. This was to separate the slaves by force, +taking the four along with them; and leaving the other two to the +purchaser who would not revoke his bargain. + +To accomplish this, the assistance of the bystanders was required and +readily obtained. + +Harry was first seized and placed on the back of his camel, to which he +was firmly bound. + +Colin, Bill, and the Krooman were each set astride of a donkey, and then +made fast by having their feet tied under the animal's belly. + +For a small sum the merchants then engaged two of the Arabs to accompany +them and guard the white slaves to the frontier of the Moorish empire, a +distance of two days' journey. + +While the party was about to move away from the spot, one of the +merchants, addressing himself to Jim, made the following observations. + +"Tell the young man, the nephew of the merchant, 'For God's sake bias,' +that since we have started for Swearah in the belief that his story is +true, we shall now take him there whether he is willing or not, and if +he has in anyway deceived us, he shall surely die." + +"He has not deceived you," said Jim, "take him and the others there, and +you will certainly be paid." + +"Then why do they not go willingly?" + +"Because they do not wish to leave their friends." + +"Ungrateful dogs! cannot they be thankful for their own good fortune? Do +they take us for slaves, that we should do their will?" + +While the conversation was going on, the other two merchants had headed +their animals to the road; and in a minute after Harry Blount and Colin +had parted with their old messmate Terence, without a hope of ever +meeting him again. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXV. + +EN ROUTE. + + +And now away for the Moorish frontier. + +Away,--trusting that the last hasty promise of the merchant to test +their earnest story, and yield to the importunate desires which they had +so long cherished, might not be unfulfilled. + +Away,--out into the desert again; into that broad, barren wilderness of +sand, stretching wearily on as far as eye could reach, and beyond the +utmost limit of human steps, where the wild beasts almost fear to tread. + +Away,--under the glare of the tropic sun, whose torrid beams fall from +heavens that glow like hot walls of brass, and beat down through an +atmosphere whose faint undulations in the breath of the desert wind ebb +and flow over the parched travellers, like waves of a fiery sea; under a +sun that seems to grow ever larger and brighter as the tired eyes, sick +with beholding its yellow splendor overflowing all the world, yet turn +toward it their fascinated gaze, and faint into burning dryness at its +sight. + +Away,--from the coolness of city walls, and the dark shadows of narrow, +high-built streets, where the sunlight comes only at the height of noon, +where men hide within doors as the hot hours draw nigh, and rest in +silent chambers, or drowse away the time with _tchibouque_ or +_narghileh_, whose softened odor of the rich Eastern tobacco floats up +through perfumed waters and tubes of aromatic woods to leisurely lips, +and curls in dim wreaths before restful eyelids half dropping to repose. + +Away,--from the association of men in street, lane, bazaar, and +market-place. No very profitable or happy association for the poor +captives, one might think; and yet not so. For in every group of +bystanders, or bevy of passers, they perchance might see him who should +prove their angel of deliverance,--a kindly merchant, a new speculator, +or even, by some event of gracious fortune, a countryman or a friend. + +Away,--from all that they had borne and hoped, and borne and seen and +suffered, into the desert whose paths lay invisible to them, mapped out +in the keen intellects of their guides and guards, who read the +streaming sand of Saära as sailors read the wilds of sweeping seas, but +whose dusky faces, as inscrutable as the barren wastes, revealed no +trace of the secret of the path they led,--whether indeed the great +Moorish Empire were their destination, or whether they turned their +steps to some unknown and untried goal. + +Away,--from the hum of business, from the gossip of idlers and the staid +speech of a city into the silence of the vast desolation wherein they +moved, the only reasoning, thinking beings it contained. Silence all +around, unbroken save by the smothered tread of the beasts in their +little train, the shouts of the drivers, the chattering of the +attendants, the rattling of harness and burdens, and the soft sough of +the sand as it sank back into the hot level from which the passing hoofs +had disturbed it. + +Away, away,--and who shall attempt to paint the feelings of the captives +as their wanderings began again? It would need a brilliant pen to convey +the sensations with which the _voyageur_, eager for scenes of adventure +and fresh from the hived-up haunts of civilization, would enter upon a +desert jaunt, to whom all was full of novelty and interest, whose +companions were subjects for curious study, speaking in accents the +unfamiliar Oriental cadence of which fell pleasantly upon his ear, and +who found in every hour some fresh cause for wonder or pleasure. But a +pen of marvellous power and pathos must be invoked to portray the +mingled emotions that swayed in swift succession the minds of our Boy +Slaves! No charm existed for them in the strangeness of desert scenery, +Arab comradeship, and the murmur of Eastern tongues; they had long +passed the time for that, while their bitter familiarity with all these +made even a deep revulsion of feeling in their sorely tried souls. Hope, +fear, doubt, fatigue, anxious yearning, and vague despair,--all in turn +swept through their thoughts, even as the dust of their pitiless pathway +swept over their scorched faces, and covered with effacing monotony +every vestige of their passage. Mine is no such potent pen, and so let +us leave them, bound to their beasts of burden, going down from the +abodes of men into the depths again; and so let us leave them, +journeying ever onward,--away, away! + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVI. + +HOPE DEFERRED. + + +For the first hour of their journey, Harry, Colin, and Sailor Bill, were +borne along fast bound upon the backs of their animals. So disagreeable +did they find this mode of locomotion, that the Krooman was requested to +inform their masters, that they were willing to accompany them without +further opposition, if allowed the freedom of their limbs, this was the +first occasion on which the Krooman had made known to the Arab merchants +that he could speak their language. + +After receiving a few curses and blows for having so long concealed his +knowledge of it, the slaves were unbound, and the animals they bestrode +were driven along in advance of the others, while the two hired guards +were ordered to keep a short watch over them. + +The journey was continued until a late hour of the night; when they +reached the gate of a high wall enclosing a small town. + +Here a long parley ensued, and at first the party seemed likely to be +turned back upon their steps to pass the night in the desert, but at +last the guardians of the village, being satisfied with the +representations of the Arabs, unbarred the portals and let them enter. + +After the slaves had been conducted inside, and the gate fastened behind +them, their masters, relieved of all anxiety about losing their +property, accepted the hospitality of the sheik of the village, and took +their departure for his house, directing only that the white slaves +should be fed. + +After the latter had eaten a hearty meal, consisting of barley-bread and +milk; they were conducted to a pen, which they were told was to be their +sleeping-place, and there they passed the greater part of the night in +fighting fleas. + +Never before had either of them encountered these insects, either so +large in size or of so keen appetites. + +It was but at the hour at which their journey should have been resumed, +that they forgot their hopes and cares in the repose of sleep. Weary in +body and soul, they slept on till a late hour; and when aroused to +consciousness by an Arab bringing some food, they were surprised to see +that the sun was high up in the heavens. + +Why had they not been awakened before? + +Why this delay? + +In the mind of each was an instinctive fear that there must be something +wrong,--that some other obstacle had arisen, blocking up their road to +freedom. Hours passed, and their masters came not near them. + +They remained in much anxiety, vainly endeavoring to surmise what had +caused the interruption to their journey. + +Knowing that the merchants had expressed an intention to conduct them to +Mogador as soon as possible, they could not doubt but what the delay +arose from some cause affecting their own welfare. + +Late in the afternoon they were visited by their masters; and in that +interview their worst fears were more than realized. + +By the aid of the Krooman, one of the merchants informed Harry that they +had been deceived,--that the sheik, of whose hospitality they had been +partaking, had often visited Swearah, and was acquainted with all the +foreign residents there. He had told them that there was no one of the +name "For God sake byas." + +He had assured them that they were being imposed upon; and that by +taking the white slaves to Swearah, they would certainly lose them. + +"We shall not kill you," said one of the masters to Harry, "for we have +not had the trouble of carrying you the whole distance; and besides, we +should be injuring ourselves. We shall take you all to the borders of +the desert, and there sell you for what you will fetch." + +Harry told the Krooman to inform his masters that he had freely pledged +his existence on the truth of the story he had told them; that he +certainly had an uncle and friend in Mogador, who would redeem them all; +but that, should his uncle not be in Swearah at the time they should +arrive there, it would make no difference, as they would certainly be +ransomed by the English Consul. "Tell them," added Harry, "that if they +will take us to Swearah, and we are not ransomed as I promised, they +shall be welcome to take my life. I will then willingly die. Tell them +not to sell us until they have proved my words false; and not to injure +themselves and us by trusting too much to the words of another." + +To this communication the merchants made reply:--That they had been told +that slaves brought from the desert into the Empire of Morocco could, +and sometimes did, claim the protection of the government, which set +them free without paying anything; and those who were at the expense of +bringing them obtained nothing for their trouble. + +One of the merchants, whose name was Bo Musem, seemed inclined to listen +with some favor to the representations of Harry; but he was overruled by +the other two, so that all his assertions about the wealth of his +parents at home, and the immense worth he and his comrades were to this +country, as officers in its navy, failed to convince his masters that +they would be redeemed. + +The merchants at length went away, leaving Harry and Colin in an agony +of despair; while Sailor Bill and the Krooman seemed wholly indifferent +as to their future fate. The prospect of being again taken to the +desert, seemed to have so benumbed the intellect of both, as to leave +them incapable of emotion. + +Hope, fear, and energy seemed to have forsaken the old sailor, who, +usually so fond of thinking aloud, had not now sufficient spirit left, +even for the anathematizing of his enemies. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVII. + +EL HAJJI. + + +Late in the evening of the second night spent within the walls of the +town, two travellers knocked at the gate for admittance. + +One of them gave a name which created quite a commotion in the village, +all seeming eager to receive the owner with some show of hospitality. + +The merchants sat up to a late hour in company with these strangers and +the sheik of the place. Kids were caught and killed, and a savory stew +was soon served up for their guests, while, with coffee, pipes, and many +customary civilities, the time slipped quickly by. + +Notwithstanding this, they were astir upon the following morning before +daybreak, busied in making preparations for their journey. + +The slaves, on being allowed some breakfast, were commanded to eat it in +all haste, and then assist in preparing the animals for the road. + +They were also informed that they were to be taken south, and sold. + +"Shall we go, or die?" asked Colin. "I, for one, had rather die than +again pass through the hardships of a journey in the desert." + +Neither of the others made any reply to this. The spirit of despair had +taken too strong a hold upon them. + +The merchants themselves were obliged to caparison their animals; and +just as they were about to use some strong arguments to induce their +refractory slaves to mount, they were told that "El Hajji" ("the +pilgrim") wished to see the Christians. + +Soon after, one of the strangers who had entered the town so late on the +night before was seen slowly approaching. + +He was a tall, venerable-looking Arab, with a long white beard reaching +down to the middle of his breast. His costume, by its neatness and the +general costliness of the articles of which it was composed, bespoke him +a man of the better class, and his bearing was nowise inferior to his +guise. + +Having performed the pilgrimage to the Prophet's Tomb, he commanded the +respect and hospitality of all good Mussulmans whithersoever he +wandered. + +With the Krooman as interpreter, he asked many questions, and seemed to +be much interested in the fate of the miserable-looking objects before +him. + +After his curiosity had been satisfied as to the name of the vessel in +which they had reached the country, the time they had passed in slavery, +and the manner of their treatment which had produced their emaciated and +wretched appearance, he made inquiries about their friends and relatives +at home. + +Harry informed him that Colin and himself had parents, brothers, and +sisters, who were now probably mourning them as lost: that they and +their two companions were sure to be ransomed, could they find some one +who would take them to Mogador. He also added, that their present +masters had promised to take them to that place, but were now prevented +from doing so through the fear that they would not be rewarded for their +trouble. + +"I will do all I can to assist you," said El Hajji, after the Krooman +had given the interpretation of Harry's speech. "I owe a debt of +gratitude to one of your countrymen, and I shall try to repay it. When +in Cairo I was unwell, and starving for the want of food. An officer of +an English ship of war gave me a coin of gold. That piece of money +proved both life and fortune to me; for with it I was able to continue +my journey, and reach my friends. We are all the children of the true +God; and it is our duty to assist one another. I will have a talk with +your masters." + +The old pilgrim then turning to the three merchants, said,-- + +"My friends, you have promised to take these Christian slaves to +Swearah, where they will be redeemed. Are you bad men who fear not God, +that your promise should be thus broken?" + +"We think they have deceived us," answered one of the merchants, "and we +are afraid to carry them within the emperor's dominions for fear they +will be taken from us without our receiving anything. We are poor men, +and nearly all our merchandise we have given for these slaves. We cannot +afford to lose them." + +"You will not lose the value of them," said the old man, "if you take +them to Swearah. They belong to a country the government of which will +not allow its subjects to remain in bondage; and there is not an English +merchant in Swearah that would not redeem them. A merchant who should +refuse to do so would scarce dare return to his own country again. You +will make more by taking them to Swearah than anywhere else." + +"But they can give themselves up to the governor when they reach +Swearah," urged one of the merchants, "and we may be ordered out of the +country without receiving a single cowrie for all. Such has been done +before. The good sheik here knows of an Arab merchant who was treated +so. He lost all, while the governor got the ransom, and put it in his +own pocket." + +This was an argument El Hajji was unable to answer but he was not long +in finding a plan for removing the difficulty thus presented. + +"Do not take them within the Empire of Morocco," said he, "until after +you have been paid for them. Two of you can stay with them here, while +the other goes to Swearah with a letter from this young man to his +friends. You have as yet no proof that he is trying to deceive you; and +therefore, as true men, have no excuse for breaking your promise to him. +Take a letter to Swearah; and if the money be not paid, then do with +them as you please, and the wrong will not rest upon you." + +Bo Muzem, one of the merchants, immediately seconded the pilgrim's +proposal, and spoke energetically in its favor. + +He said that they were but one day's journey from Agadeez, a frontier +town of Morocco; and that from there Swearah could be reached in three +days. + +The merchants for a few minutes held consultation apart, and then one of +them announced that they had resolved upon following El Hajji's advice. +Bo Muzem should go to Swearah as the bearer of a letter from Harry to +his uncle. + +"Tell the young man," said one of the merchants, addressing himself to +the interpreter, "tell him, from me, that if the ransom be not paid, he +shall surely die on Bo Muzem's return. Tell him that." + +The Krooman made the communication, and Harry accepted the terms. + +A piece of dirty crumpled paper, a reed, and some ink was then placed +before Harry; and while the letter was being written, Bo Muzem commenced +making preparations for his journey. + +Knowing that their only hope of liberty depended on their situation +being made known to some countrymen resident in Mogador, Harry took up +the pen, and, with much difficulty, succeeded in scribbling the +following letter:-- + + "SIR,--Two midshipmen of H. M. S. ---- (lost a few weeks ago north + of Cape Blanco), and two seamen are now held in slavery at a small + town one day's journey from Santa Cruz. The bearer of this note is + one of our masters. His business in Mogador is to learn if we will + be ransomed and if he is unsuccessful in finding any one who will + pay the money to redeem us, the writer of this note is to be + killed. If you cannot or will not pay the money they require (one + hundred and fifty dollars for each slave), direct the bearer to + some one whom you think will do so. + + "There is a midshipman from the same vessel, and another English + sailor one day's journey south of this place. + + "Perhaps the bearer of this note, Bo Muzem, may be induced to + obtain them, so that they also may be ransomed. + + "Henry Blount." + +This letter Harry folded, and directed to "Any English merchant in +Mogador." + +By the time it was written, Bo Muzem was mounted, and ready for the +road. + +After receiving the letter, he wished Harry to be informed once more, +that, should the journey to Swearah be fruitless, nothing but his +(Harry's) life would compensate him for the disappointment. + +After promising to be back in eight days, and enjoining upon his +partners to look well after their property during his absence, Bo Muzem +took his departure from the town. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVIII. + +BO MUZEM'S JOURNEY. + + +Although an Arab merchant, Bo Muzem was an honest man,--one who in all +business transactions told the truth, and expected to hear it from +others. + +He pursued his journey towards Mogador with but a faint hope that the +representations made by Harry Blount would prove true, and with the +determination of taking the life of the latter, should he find himself +deceived. He placed more faith in the story told him by the sheik, than +in the mere supposition of the pilgrim, that the white slaves would find +some one to ransom them. For often,--alas too often!--the hopes which +captives have dwelt on for tedious months, until they have believed them +true, have proved, when put to the test, but empty and fallacious +dreams. + +His journey was partly undertaken through a sense of duty. After the +promise made to the slaves, he thought it but right to become fully +convinced that they would not be redeemed before the idea of taking them +to Mogador should be relinquished. + +He pressed forward on his journey with the perseverance and self-denial +so peculiar to the race. After crossing the spurs of the Atlas Mountain +near Santa Cruz, he reached, on the evening of the third day, a small +walled town, within three hours ride of Mogador. + +Here he stopped for the night, intending to proceed to the city early on +the next morning. Immediately after entering the town, Bo Muzem met a +person whose face wore a familiar look. + +It was the man to whom but a few days before, he had sold Terence and +Jim. + +"Ah! my friend, you have ruined me," exclaimed the Arab grazier, after +their first salutations had passed. "I have lost those two useless +Christian dogs you sold me, and I am ruined." + +Bo Muzem asked him to explain. + +"After your departure," said the grazier, "I tried to get some work out +of the infidels; but they would not obey, and I believe they would have +died before doing anything to make themselves useful. As I am a poor +man, I could not afford to keep them in idleness, nor to kill them, +which I had a strong inclination to do. The day after you left me, I +received intelligence from Swearah which commanded me to go there +immediately on business of importance; and thinking that possibly some +Christian fool in that place might give something for their infidel +countrymen, I took the slaves along with me. + +"They promised that if I would take them to the English Consul, he would +pay a large price for their ransom. When we entered Mogador, and reached +the Consul's house, the dogs told me that they were free, and defied me +trying to take them out of the city, or obtaining anything for my +trouble or expense. The governor of Swearah and the Emperor of Morocco +are on good terms with the infidel's government, and they also hate us +Arabs of the desert. There is no justice there for us. If you take your +slaves into the city you will lose them." + +"I shall not take them into the empire of Morocco," said Bo Muzem, +"until I have first received the money for them." + +"You will never get it in Swearah. Their consul will not pay a dollar, +but will try to get them liberated without giving you anything." + +"But I have a letter from one of my slaves to his uncle,--a nut merchant +in Swearah. The uncle must pay the money." + +"The slave has lied to you. He has no uncle there, and I can soon +convince you that such is the case. There is lying in this place a +Mogador Jew, who is acquainted with every infidel merchant in that +place, and he also understands the languages they speak. Let him see the +letter." + +Anxious to be convinced as to whether he was being deceived or not, Bo +Muzem readily agreed to this proposition; and in company with the +graziers, he repaired to the house where the Jew was staying for the +night. + +The Jew, on being shown the letter, and asked to whom it was addressed, +replied,-- + +"To any English merchant in Mogador." + +"_Bismillah!_" exclaimed Bo Muzem. "All English merchants cannot be +uncles to the young dog who wrote this letter." + +"Tell me," added he, "did you ever hear of an English merchant in +Swearah named 'For God sake byas?'" + +The Jew smiled, and with some difficulty restraining an inclination to +laugh outright at the question, gave the Arab a translation of the +words, "For God's sake buy us." + +Bo Muzem was now satisfied that he had been "sold." + +"I shall go no farther," said he, after they had parted with the Jew. "I +shall return to my partners. We will kill the Christian dog who wrote +the letter, and sell the rest for what we can get for them." + +"That is your best plan," rejoined the grazier. "They do not deserve +freedom, and may Allah forbid that hereafter any true believers should +try to help them to it." + +Early the next morning Bo Muzem set out on his return journey, thankful +for the good fortune that had enabled him so early to detect the +imposture that was being practised upon him. + +He was accompanied by the grazier, who chanced to be journeying in the +same direction. + +"The next Christian slaves I see for sale I intend to buy them," +remarked the latter, as they journeyed along. + +"Bismallah!" exclaimed Bo Muzem, "that is strange. I thought you had had +enough of them?" + +"So I have," answered the grazier; "but that's just why I want more of +them. I want revenge on the unbelieving dogs; and will buy them for the +purpose of obtaining it. I work them until they are too old to do +anything and then let them die of hunger." + +"Then buy those we have for sale," proposed Bo Muzem. "We are willing to +sell them cheap, all but one. The one who wrote this letter I shall +kill. I have sworn it by the prophet's beard." + +As both parties appeared anxious for a bargain, they soon came to an +understanding as to the terms; and the grazier promised to give ten +dollars in money, and four head of horses for each of the slaves that +were for sale. He also agreed that one of his herdsmen should assist in +driving the cattle to any Arab settlement where a market might be found +for them. + +The simple Bo Muzem had now in reality been "sold," for the story he had +been told about the escape of the two slaves, Terence and Jim, was +wholly and entirely false. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIX. + +RAIS MOURAD. + + +Six days passed, during which the white slaves were comparatively well +treated, far better than at any other time since their shipwreck. They +were not allowed to suffer with thirst, and were supplied with nearly as +much food as they required. + +On the sixth day after the departure of Bo Muzem, they were visited by +their masters, accompanied by a stranger, who was a Moor. + +They were commanded to get upon their feet; and were then examined by +the Moor in a manner that awakened suspicion that he was about to buy +them. + +The Moor wore a caftan richly embroidered on the breast and sleeves; and +confined around the waist with a silken vest or girdle. + +A pair of small yellow Morocco-leather boots were seen beneath trowsers +of great width, made of the finest satin, and on his head was worn a +turban of scarlet silk. + +Judging from the respect shown to him by the merchants, he was an +individual of much importance. This was also evident from the number of +his followers, all of whom were mounted on beautiful Arabian horses, the +trappings of which were made from the finest and most delicately shaded +leathers, bestudded beautifully with precious metals and stones. + +The appearance of his whole retinue gave evidence that he was some +personage of wealth and influence. + +After he had examined the slaves, he retired with the two merchants; and +shortly afterwards the Krooman learnt from one of the followers that the +white slaves had become the property of the wealthy Moor. + +The bright anticipations of liberty that had filled their souls for the +last few days, vanished at this intelligence. Each felt a shock of +pain,--of hopeless despair,--that for some moments stunned them almost +to speechlessness. + +Harry Blount was the first to awaken to the necessity of action. + +"Where are our masters the merchants?" he exclaimed. "They cannot--they +shall not sell us. Come, all of you follow me!" + +Reaching forth from the pens that had been allowed them for a residence, +the young Englishman, followed by his companions, started towards the +dwelling of the sheik, to which the merchants and the Moor had retired. + +All were now excited with disappointment and despair; and on reaching +the sheik's house, the two Arab merchants were called out to witness a +scene of anger and grief. + +"Why have you sold us?" asked the Krooman when the merchant came forth. +"Have you not promised that we should be taken to Swearah, and has not +one gone there to obtain the money for our ransom?" + +The merchants were on good terms with themselves and all the world +besides. They had made what they believed to be a good bargain; and were +in a humor for being agreeable. + +Moreover they did not wish to be thought guilty of a wrong, even by +Christian slaves, and they therefore condescended to give some +explanation. + +"Suppose," said one of them, "that our master Bo Muzem should find a man +in Swearah who is willing to ransom you, how much are we to get for +you?" + +"One hundred dollars for me," answered the Krooman, "and one hundred and +fifty for each of the others." + +"True; and for that we should have to take you to Swearah, and be at the +expense of feeding you along the road?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, Rais Mourad, a wealthy Moor, has paid us one hundred and fifty +dollars for each of you; and would we not be fools to take you all the +way to Swearah for less money? Besides we might never get paid at +Swearah,--whereas we have received it in cash from Rais Mourad. You are +no longer our slaves, but his." + +When the Krooman had made this communication to the others, they saw +that all further parley with the Arab merchants was useless; and that +their fate was now in the hands of Rais Mourad. + +At Harry's request, the Krooman endeavored to ascertain in what +direction the Moor was going to take them; but the only information they +received was that Rais Mourad knew his own business, and was not in the +habit of conferring with his slaves as to what he should do with them. + +Some of the followers of the Moor now came forward; and the slaves were +ordered back to their pen, where they found some food awaiting them. +They were commanded to eat it immediately, as they were soon to set +forth upon a long journey. + +Not one of them, after their cruel disappointment, had any appetite for +eating; and Sailor Bill doggedly declared that he would never taste food +again. + +"Don't despair, Bill," said Harry; "there is yet hope for us." + +"Where?--where is it?" exclaimed Colin; "I can't perceive it." + +"If we are constantly changing owners," argued Harry, "we may yet fall +into the hands of some one who will take us to Mogador." + +"Is that your only hope?" asked Colin, in a tone of disappointment. + +"Think of poor Jim," added Bill; "he's 'ad fifty masters,--been ten +years in slavery, and not free yet; and no hope on it neyther." + +"Shall we go quietly with our new master?" asked Colin. + +"Yes," answered Harry; "I have had quite enough of resistance, and the +beating that is sure to follow it. My back is raw at this moment. The +next time I make any resistance, it shall be when there is a chance of +gaining something by it, besides a sound thrashing." + +Rais Mourad being unprovided with animals for his slaves to ride upon, +and wishing to travel at a greater speed than they could walk, purchased +four small horses from the sheik, and it was during the time these +horses were being caught and made ready for the road, that the slaves +were allowed to eat their dinner. + +Although Harry, as well as the others, had determined on making no +opposition to going away with Rais Mourad, they were very anxious to +learn where he intended to take them. + +All the inquiries made by the Krooman for the purpose of gratifying +their curiosity, only produced the answer, "God knows, and will not tell +you. Why should we do more than Him?" + +Just as the horses were brought out, and all were nearly ready for a +start, there was heard a commotion at the gate of the town; and next +moment Bo Muzem, accompanied by three other Arabs, rode in through the +gateway. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXX. + +BO MUZEM BACK AGAIN. + + +As soon as the white slaves recognized Bo Muzem, they all rushed forward +to meet him. + +"Speak, Krooman!" exclaimed Harry. "Ask him if the money for our ransom +will be paid? If so, we are free, and they dare not sell us again." + +"Here,--here!" exclaimed Bill, pointing to one of the Arabs who came +with Bo Muzem. "Ax this man where be brother Jim an' Master Terence?" + +Harry and Colin turned towards the man from whom Bill desired this +inquiry to be made, and recognized in him the grazier, to whom Terence +and Jim had been sold. + +The Krooman had no opportunity for putting the question; for Bo Muzem, +on drawing near to the gate of the town, had allowed his passion to +mount into a violent rage; and as he beheld the slaves, shouted out, +"Christian dogs! you have deceived me. Let every man, woman, and child, +in this town assemble, and be witnesses of the fate that this lying +Christian so richly deserves. Let all witness the death of this young +infidel, who has falsely declared he has an uncle in Swearah, named 'For +God's sake buy us.' Let all witness the revenge Bo Muzem will take on +the unbelieving dog who has deceived him." + +As soon as Bo Muzem's tongue was stopped sufficiently to enable him to +hear the voices of those around him, he was informed that the slaves +were all sold,--the nephew of "For God's sake buy us," among the rest, +and on better terms than he and his partners had expected to get at +Swearah. + +Had Harry Blount been rescued, Bo Muzem would have been much pleased at +this news; but he now declared that his partners had no right to sell +without his concurrence,--that he owned an interest in them; and that +the one who had deceived him should not be sold, but should suffer the +penalty incurred, by sending him on his long and fruitless journey. + +Rais Mourad now came upon the ground. The Moor was not long in +comprehending all the circumstances connected with the affair. He +ordered his followers to gather around the white slaves and escort them +outside the walls of the town. + +Bo Muzem attempted to prevent this order from being executed. He was +opposed by everybody, not only by the Moor, but his own partners, as +well as the sheik of the town, who declared that there should be no +blood spilled among those partaking of his hospitality. + +The slaves were mounted on the horses that had been provided for them, +and then conducted through the gateway leaving Bo Muzem half frantic +with impotent rage. + +There was but one man to sympathize with him in his disappointment, the +grazier to whom Terence and Jim had been sold, and who had made +arrangements for the purchase of the others. + +Riding up to the Moor, this man declared that the slaves were his +property; that he had purchased them the day before, and had given four +horses and ten dollars in money for each. + +He loudly protested against being robbed of his property, and declared +that he would bring two hundred men, if necessary, for the purpose of +taking possession of his own. + +Rais Mourad, paying no attention to this threat, gave orders to his +followers to move on; and, although it was now almost night, started off +in the direction of Santa Cruz. + +Before they had proceeded far, they perceived the Arab grazier riding at +full speed in the opposite direction, and towards his own home. + +"I wish that we had made some inquiries of that fellow about Jim and +Terence," said Colin; "but it's too late now." + +"Yes, too late," echoed Harry, "and I wish that he had obtained +possession of us instead of our present master. We should then have all +come together again. But what are we to think of this last turn of +Fortune's wheel?" + +"I am rather pleased at it," answered Colin. "A while ago we were in +despair, because the Moor had bought us. That was a mistake. If he had +not done so, you Harry would have been killed." + +"Bill!" added the young Scotchman, turning to the old sailor, "what are +you dreaming about?" + +"Nothing," answered Bill, "I'm no goin to drame or think any mair." + +"We ah gwine straight for Swearah," observed the Krooman as he spoke, +glancing towards the northwest. + +"That is true," exclaimed Harry, looking in the same direction. "Can it +be that we are to be taken into the empire of Morocco? If so, there is +hope for us yet." + +"But Bo Muzem could find no one who would pay the money for our ransom," +interposed Colin. + +"He nebba go thar," said the Krooman. "He nebba had de time." + +"I believe the Krooman is right," said Harry. "We have been told that +Mogador is four days' journey from here, and the Arab was gone but six +days." + +The conversation of the slaves was interrupted by the Moors, who kept +constantly urging them to greater speed. + +The night came on very dark, but Rais Mourad would not allow them to +move at a slower pace. + +Sailor Bill, being as he declared unused to "navigate any sort o' land +craft," could only keep his seat on the animal he bestrode, by allowing +it to follow the others, while he clutched its mane with a firm grasp of +both hands. + +The journey was continued until near midnight, when the old sailor, +unable any longer to endure the fatigue, managed to check the pace of +his horse, and dismount. + +The Moors endeavored to make him proceed, but were unsuccessful. + +Bill declared that should he again be placed on the horse, he should +probably fall off and break his neck. + +This was communicated to Rais Mourad, who had turned back in a rage to +inquire the cause of the delay. It was the Krooman who acted as +interpreter. + +The Moor's anger immediately subsided on learning that one of the slaves +could speak Arabic. + +"Do you and your companions wish for freedom?" asked the Moor, +addressing himself to the Krooman. + +"We pray for it every hour." + +"Then tell that foolish man that freedom is not found here--that to +obtain it he must move on with me." + +The Krooman made the communication as desired. + +"I don't want to hear any more about freedom," answered Bill; "I've +'eard enough ov it. If any on 'em is goin' to give us a chance for +liberty, let 'em do it without so many promises." + +The old sailor remained obstinate. + +Neither entreaties nor threats could induce him to go farther; and Rais +Mourad gave orders to his followers to halt upon the spot, as he +intended to stay there for the remainder of the night. The halt was +accordingly made, and a temporary camp established. + +Although exhausted with their long, rough ride, Harry and Colin could +not sleep. The hope of liberty was glowing too brightly within their +bosoms. + +This hope had not been inspired by anything that had been said or done +by Rais Mourad; for they now placed no trust in the promises of any one. + +Their hopes were simply based upon the belief that they were now going +towards Mogador, that the Moor, their master, was an intelligent man--a +man who might know that he would not lose his money by taking English +subjects to a place where they would be sure of being ransomed. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXI. + +A PURSUIT. + + +At the first appearance of day, Rais Mourad ordered the march to be +resumed, over a long ridge of sand. The sun soon after rising, on a high +hill about four leagues distant were seen the white walls of the city of +Santa Cruz, or, as it is called by the Arabs, Agadez. Descending the +sand ridge, the cavalcade moved over a level plain covered with grain +crops, and dotted here and there with small walled villages surrounded +by plantations of vines and date-trees. + +At one of the villages near the road the cavalcade made a halt, and was +admitted within the walls. Throwing themselves down in the shade of some +date-trees, the white slaves soon fell into a sound slumber. + +Three hours after they were awakened to eat a small compound of hot +barley-cakes and honey. + +Before they had finished their repast, Rais Mourad came up to the spot, +and began a conversation with the Krooman. + +"What does the Moor say?" inquired Harry. + +"He say dat if we be no bad, and we no cheat him, he take us to Sweareh, +to de English Consul." + +"Of course we will promise that, or anything else," assented Harry, "and +keep the promise too, if we can. He will be sure to be well paid for us. +Tell him that!" + +The Krooman obeyed: and the Moor, in reply, said that he was well aware +that he would be paid something by the Consul, but that he required a +written promise from the slaves themselves as to the amount. + +He wanted them to sign an agreement that he should be paid two hundred +dollars for each one of them. + +This they readily assented to, and the Moor then produced a piece of +paper, a reed, and some ink. + +Rais Mourad wrote the agreement himself in Arabic, on one side of the +paper, and then, reading it sentence by sentence, requested the Krooman +to translate it to his companions. + +The translation given by the Krooman was-- + + "To English Consul,-- + + "We be four Christian slave. Rais Mourad buy us of Arab. We promise + to gib him two hundred dollar for one, or eight hundred dollar for + four, if he take us to you. Please pay him quick." + +Harry and Colin signed the paper without any hesitation, and it was then +handed with the pen to Sailor Bill. + +The old sailor took the paper; and, after carefully surveying every +object around him, walked up to one of the saddles lying on the ground a +few paces off. + +Spreading the paper on the saddle, he sat down, and very deliberately +set about the task of making his autograph. + +Slowly as the hand of a clock moving over the face of a dial, Bill's +hand passed over the paper, while his head oscillated from side to side +as each letter was formed. + +After Bill had succeeded in painting a few characters which, in his +opinion, expressed the name of William McNeal, Harry was requested to +write a similar agreement on the other side of the paper, which they +were also to sign. + +Rais Mourad was determined on being certain that his slaves had put +their names to such an agreement as he wished, and therefore had written +it himself, so that he might not be deceived. + +About two hours before sunset all were again in the saddle; and, riding +out of the gateway, took a path leading up the mountain on which stands +the city of Santa Cruz. + +When about half-way up, a party of horsemen, between twenty and thirty +in number, was seen coming after them at full speed. + +Rais Mourad remembered the threat made by the grazier who claimed the +slaves as his property, and every exertion was made to reach the city +before his party could be overtaken. + +The horses ridden by the white slaves were small animals, in poor +condition, and were unable to move up the hill with much speed, although +their riders had been reduced by starvation to the very lightest of +weights. + +Before reaching the level plain on the top of the hill, the pursuers +gained on them rapidly, and had lessened the distance between the two +parties by nearly half a mile. The nearest gate of the city was still +more than a mile ahead, and towards it the Moors urged their horses with +all the energy that could be inspired by oaths, kicks, and blows. + +As they neared the gate the herds of their pursuers were seen just +rising over the crest of the hill behind them. But as Rais Mourad saw +that his slaves were now safe, he checked his steed, and the few yards +that remained of the journey were performed at a slow pace, for the Moor +did not wish to enter the gate of a strange city in a hasty or +undignified manner. + +No delay on passing the sentinels, and in five minutes more the weary +slaves dismounted from their nearly exhausted steeds, and were commanded +by Rais Mourad to thank God that they had arrived safe in the Empire of +Morocco. + +In less than a quarter of an hour after Bo Muzem and the grazier rode +through the gateway, accompanied by a troop of fierce-looking Arab +horsemen. + +The wrath of the merchant seemed to have waxed greater in the interval, +and he appeared as if about to make an immediate attack upon Harry +Blount, the chief object of his spiteful vengeance. + +In this he was prevented by Rais Mourad, who appealed to an officer of +the city guard to protect him. + +The officer informed the merchant that while within the walls of the +city he must not molest other people, and Bo Muzem was compelled to give +his word that he would not do so: that is to say, he was bound over to +keep the peace. + +The other Arabs, in whose company they had come, were also given to +understand that they were in a Moorish city; and, as they saw that they +were powerless to do harm without meeting with punishment, their fierce +deportment soon gave way to a demeanor more befitting the streets of a +civilized town. + +Both pursued and pursuers were cautioned against any infringement of the +laws of the place; and as a different quarter was assigned to each +party, all chances of a conflict were, for the time, happily frustrated. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXII. + +MOORISH JUSTICE. + + +The next morning, Rais Mourad was summoned to appear before the governor +of the city. He was ordered, also, to bring his slaves along with him. +He had no reluctance in obeying these orders, and a soldier conducted +him and his followers to the governor's house. + +Bo Muzem and the grazier were there before them; and the governor soon +after made his appearance in the room where both parties were waiting. + +He was a fine-looking man, of venerable aspect, about sixty-five years +of age, and, from his appearance, Harry and Colin had but little fear of +the result of his decision in an appeal that might be made against them. + +Bo Muzem was the first to speak. He stated that, in partnership with two +other merchants, he had purchased the four slaves then present. He had +never given his consent to the sale made by his partners to the Moor; +and there was one of them whom it had been distinctly understood was not +to be sold at all. That slave he now claimed as his own property. He had +been commissioned by his partners to go to Swearah, and there dispose of +the slaves. He had sold the other two to his friend Mahommed, who was +present. He had no claim on them. Mahommed, the grazier was their +present owner. + +The grazier was now called upon to make his statement. + +This was soon done. All he had to say was, that he had purchased three +Christian slaves from his friend, Bo Muzem, and had given four horses +and ten dollars in money for each of them. They had been taken away by +force by the Moor, Rais Mourad, from whom he now claimed them. + +Rais Mourad was next called upon to answer the accusation. The question +was put, why he retained possession of another man's property. + +In reply, he stated that he had purchased them of two Arab merchants, +and had paid for them on the spot; giving one hundred and fifty silver +dollars for each. + +After the Moor had finished his statement, the governor remained silent +for an interval of two or three minutes. + +Presently, turning to Bo Muzem, he asked, "Did your partners offer you a +share of the money they received for the slaves?" + +"Yes," answered the merchant, "but I would not accept it." + +"Have you, or your partners, received from the man, who claims three of +the slaves, twelve horses and thirty dollars?" + +After some hesitation, Bo Muzem answered in the negative. + +"The slaves belong to the Moor, Rais Mourad, who has paid the money for +them," said the governor, "and they shall not be taken from him here. +Depart from my presence, all of you." + +All retired, and, as they did so, the grazier was heard to mutter that +there was no justice for Arabs in Morocco. + +Rais Mourad gave orders to his followers to prepare for the road; and +just as they were ready to start, he requested Bo Muzem to accompany him +outside the walls of the city. + +The merchant consented, on condition that his friend Mahommed the +grazier should go along with them. + +"My friend," said Rais Mourad, addressing Bo Muzem, "you have been +deceived. Had you taken these Christians to Swearah, as you promised, +you would have certainly been paid for them all that you could +reasonably have asked. I live in Swearah, and was obliged to make a +journey to the south upon urgent business. Fortunately, on my return, I +met with your partners, and bought their slaves from them. The profit I +shall make on them will more than repay me all the expenses of my +journey. The man Mahommed, whom you call your friend, has bought two +other Christians. He has sold them to the English Consul. Having made +two hundred dollars by that transaction, he was anxious to trade you out +of these others, and make a few hundred more. He was deceiving you for +the purpose of obtaining them. There is but one God, Mahomet is his +prophet, and you are a fool!" + +Bo Muzem required no further evidence in confirmation of the truth of +this statement. He could not doubt that the Moor was an intelligent man, +who knew what he was about when buying the slaves. The grazier Mahommed +had certainly purchased the two slaves spoken of, had acknowledged +having carried them to Swearah, and was now anxious to obtain the +others. + +All was clear to him now; and for a moment he stood mute and motionless, +under a sense of shame at his own stupidity. + +This feeling was succeeded by one of wild rage against the man who had +so craftily outwitted him. + +Drawing his scimitar, he rushed towards the grazier, who, having been +attentive to all that was said, was not wholly unprepared for the +attack. + +The Arabs never acquire much skill in the use of the scimitar, and an +affair between them with these weapons is soon decided. + +The contest between the merchant and his antagonist was not an exception +to other affrays between their countrymen. It was a strife for life or +death, witnessed by the slaves who felt no sympathy for either of the +combatants. + +A mussulman in a quarrel generally places more dependence on the justice +of his cause than either on his strength or skill; and when such is not +the case much of his natural prowess is lost to him. + +Confident in the rectitude of his indignation, Bo Muzem, with his +Mohammedan ideas of fatalism, was certain that the hour had not yet +arrived for him to die; nor was he mistaken. + +His impetuous onset could not be resisted by a man unfortified with the +belief that he had acted justly: and Mahommed the grazier was soon sent +to the ground, rolling in the dust in the agonies of death. + +"There's one less on 'em anyhow," exclaimed Sailor Bill, as he saw the +Arab cease to live. "I wish he had brought brother Jem and Master +Terence here. I wonder what he has done wi' 'em?" + +"We should learn, if possible," answered Harry, "and before we get any +farther away from them. Suppose we speak to the Moor about them? He may +be able to obtain them in some way." + +At Harry's request, the Krooman proceeded to make the desired +communication, but was prevented by Rais Mourad ordering the slaves into +their places for the purpose of continuing the journey which this tragic +incident had interrupted. + +After cautioning Bo Muzem to beware of the followers of Mahommed, who +now lay dead at their feet, the Moor, at the head of his kafila, moved +off in the direction of Mogador. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIII. + +THE JEW'S LEAP. + + +The road followed by Rais Mourad on the day after leaving Santa Cruz was +through a country of very uneven surface. + +Part of the time the kafila would be in a narrow valley by the seashore, +and in the next hour following a zigzag path on the side of some +precipitous mountain. + +In such places the kafila would have to proceed in single file, while +the Moors would be constantly cautioning the slaves against falling from +the backs of their animals. + +While stopping for an hour at noon for the horses to rest, the Krooman +turned over a flat stone, and underneath it found a large scorpion. + +After making a hole in the sand about six inches deep, and five or six +in diameter, he put the reptile into it. + +He then went in search of a few more scorpions to keep the prisoner +company. Under nearly every stone he turned over, one or two of these +reptiles were found, all of which were cast into the hole where he had +placed the first. + +When he had secured about a dozen within the prison from which they +could not escape, he began teasing them with a stick. + +Enraged at this treatment the reptiles commenced a mortal combat among +themselves, a sight which was witnessed by the white slaves with about +the same interest as that between the two Arabs in the morning. In other +words, they did not care which got the worst of it. + +A battle between two scorpions would commence with much active +skirmishing on both sides, each seeking to fasten its claws on the +other. + +When one of the reptiles would succeed in getting a fair grip, its +adversary would exhibit every disposition to surrender, apparently +begging for its life, but all to no purpose, as no quarter would be +given. + +The champion would inflict the fatal sting; and the unfortunate reptile +receiving it would die immediately after. + +After all the scorpions had been killed except one, the Krooman himself +finished the survivor with a blow of his stick. + +When rebuked by Harry for what the latter regarded as an act of wanton +cruelty, he answered that it was the duty of every man to kill +scorpions. + +In the afternoon they reached a place called the Jew's Leap. It was a +narrow path along the side of a mountain, the base of which was washed +by the sea. + +The path was about half a mile long and not more than four or five feet +broad. The right hand side was bounded by a wall of rocks, in some +places perpendicular and rising to a height of several hundred feet. + +On the left hand side was the sea, about four hundred feet below the +level of the path. + +There was no hope for any one who should fall from this path,--no hope +but heaven. + +Not a bush, tree, or any obstacle was seen to offer the slightest +resistance to the downward course of a falling body. + +The Krooman had passed this way before, and informed his companions that +no one ever ventured on the path in wet weather; that it was at all +times considered dangerous; but that, as it saved a tiresome journey of +seven miles around the mountain, it was generally taken in dry weather. +He also told them that the name of "Jew's Leap" was given to the +precipice, from a party of Jews having once been forced over it. + +It was in the night-time. They had met a numerous party of Moors coming +in the opposite direction. Neither party could turn back, a contest +arose, and several on both sides were hurled over the precipice into the +sea. + +On this occasion as many Moors as Jews had been thrown from the path; +but it had pleased the former to give the spot the name of the "Jew's +Leap," which it still bears. + +Before venturing upon this dangerous road, Rais Mourad was careful to +see that no one was coming from the opposite direction. + +After shouting at the top of his voice, and hearing no reply, he led the +way, bidding his followers to trust more to their animals than to +themselves. + +As the white slaves entered on the pass, two Moors were left behind to +follow them, and when all had proceeded a short distance along the +ledge, the horse ridden by Harry Blount became frightened. It was a +young animal, and having been reared on the plains of the desert, was +unused to mountain-road. + +While the other horses were walking along very cautiously, Harry's steed +suddenly stopped, and refused to go any farther. + +In such a place a rider has good cause to be alarmed at any eccentricity +of behavior in the animal he bestrides, and Harry was just preparing to +dismount, when the animal commenced making a retrograde movement, as if +determined to turn about. + +Harry was behind his companions, and closely followed by one of the +Moors. The latter becoming alarmed for his own safety, struck the young +Englishman's horse a blow with his musket to make it move forward. + +The next instant the hind legs of the refractory animal were over the +edge of the precipice, and its body, with the weight of its rider +clinging to his neck, was about evenly balanced as on the brink. The +horse made a violent struggle to avoid going over, with its nose and +fore feet laid close along the path, and vainly striving to regain the +position from which it had so imprudently parted. + +At this moment its rider determined to make a desperate exertion for his +life. + +Seizing the horse by the ears, and drawing himself up, he placed one +foot on the brink of the precipice, and then sprang clear over the +horse's head, just as the animal relinquished its hold! In another +instant the unfortunate quadruped was precipitated into the sea, its +body striking the water with a dull plunge, as if the life had already +gone out of it. + +The remainder of the ledge was traversed without any difficulty; and +after all had got safely over, Harry's companions were loud in +congratulating him upon his narrow escape. + +The youth remained silent. + +His soul was too full of gratitude to God to give any heed to the words +of man. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIV. + +CONCLUSION. + + +On the evening of the second day after passing the Jew's Leap, Rais +Mourad, with his following, reached the city of Mogador; but too late to +enter its gates, which were closed for the night. + +For a great part of the night, Harry, Colin, and Sailor Bill were unable +to sleep. + +They were kept awake by the memory of the sufferings they had endured in +slavery, but more by the anticipation of liberty, which they believed to +be now near. + +They arose with the sun call, impatient to enter the city, and learn +their fate. Rais Mourad, knowing that no business could be done until +three or four hours later, would not permit them to pass into the gate. + +For three hours they waited with the greatest impatience. So strongly +had their minds been elated with the prospect of getting free, that the +delay was creating the opposite extreme of despair, when they were again +elated at the sight of Rais Mourad returning to them. + +Giving the command to his followers, he led the way into the city. + +After passing through several narrow streets, on turning a corner, they +saw waving over the roof of one of the houses a sight that filled them +with joy inexpressible. It was the flag of Old England! + +It indicated the residence of the English consul. On seeing it all three +gave forth a loud simultaneous cheer, and hastened forward, in the midst +of a crowd of Moorish men, women, and children. + +Rais Mourad knocked at the gate of the consulate, which was opened; and +the white slaves were ushered into the court-yard. At the same instant +two individuals came running forth from the house. They were Terence and +Jim! + +A fine looking man about fifty years of age, now stepped forward; and +taking Harry and Colin by the hand, congratulated them on the certainty +of soon recovering their liberty. + +The presence of Terence and Jim in the consulate at Mogador, was soon +explained. The Arab grazier, after buying them, had started immediately +for Swearah, taking his slaves with him. On bringing them to the English +consul he was paid a ransom, and they were at once set free. At the same +time he had given his promise to purchase the other slaves and bring +them to Mogador. + +The consul made no hesitation in paying the price that had been promised +for Harry, Colin, and Bill; but he did not consider himself justified in +expending the money of his government in the redemption of the Krooman, +who was not an English subject. + +The poor fellow was overwhelmed with despair at the prospect of being +restored to a life of slavery. + +His old companions in misfortune could not remain tranquil spectators of +his grief. They promised he should be free. Each of the middies had +wealthy friends on whom he could draw for money, and they were in hopes +that some English merchant in the city would advance the amount. + +They were not disappointed. On the very next day the Krooman's +difficulty was settled to his satisfaction. + +The consul having mentioned his case to several foreign merchants, a +subscription-list was opened, and the amount necessary to the purchase +of his freedom was easily obtained. + +The three mids were furnished with plenty of everything they required, +and only waited the arrival of some English ship to carry them back to +the shores of their native land. + +They had not long to wait; for shortly after, the tall masts of a +British man-of-war threw their shadows athwart the waters of Mogador +Bay. + +The three middies were once more installed in quarters that befitted +them: while Sailor Bill and his brother, as well as their Krooman +comrade, found a welcome in the forecastle of the man-of-war. + +All three of the young officers rose to rank and distinction in the +naval service of their country. It was their good fortune often to come +in contact with each other, and talk laughingly of that terrible time, +no longer viewed with dread or aversion, when all three of them were +serving their apprenticeship as Boy Slaves in the Saära. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Slaves, by Mayne Reid + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SLAVES *** + +***** This file should be named 31410-8.txt or 31410-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/4/1/31410/ + +Produced by Mary Meehan and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +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. 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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 Boy Slaves + +Author: Mayne Reid + +Release Date: February 26, 2010 [EBook #31410] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SLAVES *** + + + + +Produced by Mary Meehan and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + + +<h1>THE BOY SLAVES.</h1> + +<h2>BY CAPT. MAYNE REID</h2> + + +<h4>AUTHOR OF "THE DESERT HOME," "THE OCEAN WAIFS," ETC.</h4> + +<h4>With Illustrations.</h4> + +<h4>A NEW EDITION,<br /> +WITH A MEMOIR BY R. H. STODDARD.</h4> + +<h4>NEW YORK:<br /> +THOMAS R. KNOX & CO.,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Successors to James Miller</span>,<br /> +813 <span class="smcap">Broadway</span>.</h4> + +<h4>Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1864, by<br /> +TICKNOR AND FIELDS,<br /> +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District<br /> +of Massachusetts.</h4> + +<h4>Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1884, by<br /> +THOMAS R. KNOX & CO.,<br /> +in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.</h4> + +<blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">New York</span>, January 1st, 1869.<br /> +Messrs. Fields, Osgood & Co.:—</p> + +<p>I accept the terms offered, and hereby concede to you the exclusive +right of publication, in the United States, of all my juvenile Tales +of Adventure, known as Boys' Novels.</p> + +<p>MAYNE REID.</p> +</blockquote> + +<h4>TROW'S<br /> +PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY,<br /> +NEW YORK.</h4> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus1" id="illus1"></a> +<img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>THE DEATH OF GOLAH.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#AUTHORS_NOTE">AUTHOR'S NOTE.</a><br /> +<a href="#MEMOIR_OF_MAYNE_REID">MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. <span class="smcap">The Land of the Slave</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. <span class="smcap">Types of the Triple Kingdom</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. <span class="smcap">The Serpent's Tongue</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. <span class="smcap">'Ware the Tide!</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. <span class="smcap">A False Guide</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. <span class="smcap">Wade or Swim?</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. <span class="smcap">A Compulsory Parting</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. <span class="smcap">Safe Ashore</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. <span class="smcap">Uncomfortable Quarters</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. <span class="smcap">'Ware the Sand!</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. <span class="smcap">A Mysterious Nightmare</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. <span class="smcap">The Maherry</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. <span class="smcap">A Liquid Breakfast</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. <span class="smcap">The Sailor among the Shell-fish</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. <span class="smcap">Keeping under Cover</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. <span class="smcap">The Trail on the Sand</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. <span class="smcap">The "Desert Ship"</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. <span class="smcap">Homeward Bound</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX. <span class="smcap">The Dance Interrupted</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI. <span class="smcap">A Serio-Comical Reception</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII. <span class="smcap">The Two Sheiks</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII. <span class="smcap">Sailor Bill Beshrewed</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV. <span class="smcap">Starting on the Track</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV. <span class="smcap">Bill to be Abandoned</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI. <span class="smcap">A Cautious Retreat</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII. <span class="smcap">A Queer Quadruped</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII. <span class="smcap">The Hue and Cry</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX. <span class="smcap">A Subaqueous Asylum</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX. <span class="smcap">The Pursuers Nonplussed</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI. <span class="smcap">A Double Predicament</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII. <span class="smcap">Once more the mocking Laugh</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII. <span class="smcap">A Cunning Sheik</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV. <span class="smcap">A Queer Encounter</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV. <span class="smcap">Holding on to the Hump</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI. <span class="smcap">Our Adventures in Undress</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII. <span class="smcap">The Captives in Conversation</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII. <span class="smcap">The Douar at Dawn</span> </a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX. <span class="smcap">An Obstinate Dromedary</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL. <span class="smcap">Watering the Camels</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLI">CHAPTER XLI. <span class="smcap">A Squabble between the Sheiks</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLII">CHAPTER XLII. <span class="smcap">The Trio Staked</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLIII">CHAPTER XLIII. <span class="smcap">Golah</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLIV">CHAPTER XLIV. <span class="smcap">A Day of Agony</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLV">CHAPTER XLV. <span class="smcap">Colin in Luck</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLVI">CHAPTER XLVI. <span class="smcap">Sailor Bill's Experiment</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLVII">CHAPTER XLVII. <span class="smcap">An Unjust Reward</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLVIII">CHAPTER XLVIII. <span class="smcap">The Waterless Well</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLIX">CHAPTER XLIX. <span class="smcap">The Well</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_L">CHAPTER L. <span class="smcap">A Momentous Inquiry</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LI">CHAPTER LI. <span class="smcap">A Living Grave</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LII">CHAPTER LII. <span class="smcap">The Sheik's Plan of Revenge</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LIII">CHAPTER LIII. <span class="smcap">Captured Again</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LIV">CHAPTER LIV. <span class="smcap">An Unfaithful Wife</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LV">CHAPTER LV. <span class="smcap">Two Faithful Wives</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LVI">CHAPTER LVI. <span class="smcap">Fatima's Fate</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LVII">CHAPTER LVII. <span class="smcap">Further Defection</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LVIII">CHAPTER LVIII. <span class="smcap">A Call for Two More</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LIX">CHAPTER LIX. <span class="smcap">Once More by the Sea</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LX">CHAPTER LX. <span class="smcap">Golah Calls Again</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXI">CHAPTER LXI. <span class="smcap">Sailor Bill Standing Sentry</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXII">CHAPTER LXII. <span class="smcap">Golah Fulfils his Destiny</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXIII">CHAPTER LXIII. <span class="smcap">On the Edge of the Saära</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXIV">CHAPTER LXIV. <span class="smcap">The Rival Wreckers</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXV">CHAPTER LXV. <span class="smcap">Another White Slave</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXVI">CHAPTER LXVI. <span class="smcap">Sailor Bill's Brother</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXVII">CHAPTER LXVII. <span class="smcap">A Living Stream</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXVIII">CHAPTER LXVIII. <span class="smcap">The Arabs at Home</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXIX">CHAPTER LXIX. <span class="smcap">Work or Die</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXX">CHAPTER LXX. <span class="smcap">Victory!</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXI">CHAPTER LXXI. <span class="smcap">Sold Again</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXII">CHAPTER LXXII. <span class="smcap">Onward Once More</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXIII">CHAPTER LXXIII. <span class="smcap">Another Bargain</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXIV">CHAPTER LXXIV. <span class="smcap">More Torture</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXV">CHAPTER LXXV. <span class="smcap">En Route</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXVI">CHAPTER LXXVI. <span class="smcap">Hope Deferred</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXVII">CHAPTER LXXVII. <span class="smcap">El Hajji</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXVIII">CHAPTER LXXVIII. <span class="smcap">Bo Muzem's Journey</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXIX">CHAPTER LXXIX. <span class="smcap">Rais Mourad</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXX">CHAPTER LXXX. <span class="smcap">Bo Muzem Back Again</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXXI">CHAPTER LXXXI. <span class="smcap">A Pursuit</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXXII">CHAPTER LXXXII. <span class="smcap">Moorish Justice</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXXIII">CHAPTER LXXXIII. <span class="smcap">The Jew's Leap</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXXIV">CHAPTER LXXXIV. <span class="smcap">Conclusion</span></a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<p><a href="#illus1">THE DEATH OF GOLAH.</a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus2">'WARE THE TIDE</a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus3">THE OLD SAILOR SUCCEEDS IN GATHERING SOME SHELL-FISH.</a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus4">THE SHEIK CAPTURED</a></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="AUTHORS_NOTE" id="AUTHORS_NOTE"></a>AUTHOR'S NOTE.</h2> + + +<p>Captain Mayne Reid is pleased to have had the help of an American Author +in preparing for publication this story of "The Boy Slaves," and takes +the present opportunity of acknowledging that help, which has kindly +extended beyond matters of merely external form, to points of narrative +and composition, which are here embodied with the result of his own +labor.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Rancho</span>, December, 1864.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="MEMOIR_OF_MAYNE_REID" id="MEMOIR_OF_MAYNE_REID"></a>MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID.</h2> + + +<p>No one who has written books for the young during the present century +ever had so large a circle of readers as Captain Mayne Reid, or ever was +so well fitted by circumstances to write the books by which he is +chiefly known. His life, which was an adventurous one, was ripened with +the experience of two Continents, and his temperament, which was an +ardent one, reflected the traits of two races. Irish by birth, he was +American in his sympathies with the people of the New World, whose +acquaintance he made at an early period, among whom he lived for years, +and whose battles he helped to win. He was probably more familiar with +the Southern and Western portion of the United States forty years ago +than any native-born American of that time. A curious interest attaches +to the life of Captain Reid, but it is not of the kind that casual +biographers dwell upon. If he had written it himself it would have +charmed thousands of readers, who can now merely imagine what it might +have been from the glimpses of it which they obtain in his writings. It +was not passed in the fierce light of publicity, but in that simple, +silent obscurity which is the lot of most men, and is their happiness, +if they only knew it.</p> + +<p>Briefly related, the life of Captain Reid was as follows: He was born in +1818, in the north of Ireland, the son of a Presbyterian clergyman, who +was a type of the class which Goldsmith has described so freshly in the +"Deserted Village," and was highly thought of for his labors among the +poor of his neighborhood. An earnest, reverent man, to whom his calling +was indeed a sacred one, he designed his son Mayne for the ministry, in +the hope, no doubt, that he would be his successor. But nature had +something to say about that, as well as his good father. He began to +study for the ministry, but it was not long before he was drawn in +another direction. Always a great reader, his favorite books were +descriptions of travel in foreign lands, particularly those which dealt +with the scenery, the people, and the resources of America. The spell +which these exercised over his imagination, joined to a love of +adventure which was inherent in his temperament, and inherited, perhaps +with his race, determined his career. At the age of twenty he closed his +theological tomes, and girding up his loins with a stout heart he sailed +from the shores of the Old World for the New. Following the spirit in +his feet he landed at New Orleans, which was probably a more promising +field for a young man of his talents than any Northern city, and was +speedily engaged in business. The nature of this business is not stated, +further than it was that of a trader; but whatever it was it obliged +this young Irishman to make long journeys into the interior of the +country, which was almost a <i>terra incognita</i>. Sparsely settled, where +settled at all, it was still clothed in primeval verdure—here in the +endless reach of savannas, there in the depth of pathless woods, and far +away to the North and the West in those monotonous ocean-like levels of +land for which the speech of England has no name—the Prairies. Its +population was nomadic, not to say barbaric, consisting of tribes of +Indians whose hunting grounds from time immemorial the region was; +hunters and trappers, who had turned their backs upon civilization for +the free, wild life of nature; men of doubtful or dangerous antecedents, +who had found it convenient to leave their country for their country's +good; and scattered about hardy pioneer communities from Eastern States, +advancing waves of the great sea of emigration which is still drawing +the course of empire westward. Travelling in a country like this, and +among people like these, Mayne Reid passed five years of his early +manhood. He was at home wherever he went, and never more so than when +among the Indians of the Red River territory, with whom he spent several +months, learning their language, studying their customs, and enjoying +the wild and beautiful scenery of their camping grounds. Indian for the +time, he lived in their lodges, rode with them, hunted with them, and +night after night sat by their blazing camp-fires listening to the +warlike stories of the braves and the quaint legends of the medicine +men. There was that in the blood of Mayne Reid which fitted him to lead +this life at this time, and whether he knew it or not it educated his +genius as no other life could have done. It familiarized him with a +large extent of country in the South and West; it introduced him to men +and manners which existed nowhere else; and it revealed to him the +secrets of Indian life and character.</p> + +<p>There was another side, however, to Mayne Reid than that we have touched +upon, and this, at the end of five years, drew him back to the average +life of his kind. We find him next in Philadelphia, where he began to +contribute stories and sketches of travel to the newspapers and +magazines. Philadelphia was then the most literate city in the United +States, the one in which a clever writer was at once encouraged and +rewarded. Frank and warm-hearted, he made many friends there among +journalists and authors. One of these friends was Edgar Allan Poe, whom +he often visited at his home in Spring Garden, and concerning whom years +after, when he was dead, he wrote with loving tenderness.</p> + +<p>The next episode in the career of Mayne Reid was not what one would +expect from a man of letters, though it was just what might have been +expected from a man of his temperament and antecedents. It grew out of +the time, which was warlike, and it drove him into the army with which +the United States speedily crushed the forces of the sister +Republic—Mexico. He obtained a commission, and served throughout the +war with great bravery and distinction. This stormy episode ended with a +severe wound, which he received in storming the heights of +Chapultepec—a terrible battle which practically ended the war.</p> + +<p>A second episode of a similar character, but with a more fortunate +conclusion, occurred about four years later. It grew out of another war, +which, happily for us, was not on our borders, but in the heart of +Europe, where the Hungarian race had risen in insurrection against the +hated power of Austria. Their desperate valor in the face of tremendous +odds excited the sympathy of the American people, and fired the heart of +Captain Mayne Reid, who buckled on his sword once more, and sailed from +New York with a body of volunteers to aid the Hungarians in their +struggles for independence. They were too late, for hardly had they +reached Paris before they learned that all was over: Görgey had +surrendered at Arad, and Hungary was crushed. They were at once +dismissed, and Captain Reid betook himself to London.</p> + +<p>The life of the Mayne Reid in whom we are most interested—Mayne Reid, +the author—began at this time, when he was in his thirty-first year, +and ended only on the day of his death, October 21, 1883. It covered +one-third of a century, and was, when compared with that which had +preceded it, uneventful, if not devoid of incident. There is not much +that needs be told—not much, indeed, that can be told—in the life of a +man of letters like Captain Mayne Reid. It is written in his books. +Mayne Reid was one of the best known authors of his time—differing in +this from many authors who are popular without being known—and in the +walk of fiction which he discovered for himself he is an acknowledged +master. His reputation did not depend upon the admiration of the +millions of young people who read his books, but upon the judgment of +mature critics, to whom his delineations of adventurous life were +literature of no common order. His reputation as a story-teller was +widely recognized on the Continent, where he was accepted as an +authority in regard to the customs of the pioneers and the guerilla +warfare of the Indian tribes, and was warmly praised for his freshness, +his novelty, and his hardy originality. The people of France and Germany +delighted in this soldier-writer. "There was not a word in his books +which a school-boy could not safely read aloud to his mother and +sisters." So says a late English critic, to which another adds, that if +he has somewhat gone out of fashion of late years, the more's the pity +for the school-boy of the period. What Defoe is in Robinson +Crusoe—realistic idyl of island solitude—that, in his romantic stories +of wilderness life, is his great scholar, Captain Mayne Reid.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">R. H. Stoddard.</span></p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_BOY_SLAVES" id="THE_BOY_SLAVES"></a>THE BOY SLAVES.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE LAND OF THE SLAVE.</h3> + + +<p>Land of Ethiope! whose burning centre seems unapproachable as the frozen +Pole!</p> + +<p>Land of the unicorn and the lion,—of the crouching panther and the +stately elephant,—of the camel, the camelopard, and the camel-bird! +land of the antelopes,—of the wild gemsbok, and the gentle +gazelle,—land of the gigantic crocodile and huge river-horse,—land +teeming with animal life, and last in the list of my apostrophic +appellations,—last, and that which must grieve the heart to pronounce +it,—land of the slave!</p> + +<p>Ah! little do men think while thus hailing thee, how near may be the +dread doom to their own hearths and homes! Little dream they, while +expressing their sympathy,—alas! too often, as of late shown in +England, a hypocritical utterance,—little do they suspect, while glibly +commiserating the lot of thy sable-skinned children, that hundreds—aye, +thousands—of their own color and kindred are held within thy confines, +subject to a lot even lowlier than these,—a fate far more fearful.</p> + +<p>Alas! it is even so. While I write, the proud Caucasian,—despite his +boasted superiority of intellect,—despite the whiteness of his +skin,—may be found by hundreds in the unknown interior, wretchedly +toiling, the slave not only of thy oppressors, but the slave of thy +slaves!</p> + +<p>Let us lift that curtain, which shrouds thy great Saära, and look upon +some pictures that should teach the son of Shem, while despising his +brothers Ham and Japhet, that he is not yet master of the world.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Dread is that shore between Susa and Senegal, on the western edge of +Africa,—by mariners most dreaded of any other in the world. The very +thought of it causes the sailor to shiver with affright. And no wonder: +on that inhospitable seaboard thousands of his fellows have found a +watery grave; and thousands of others a doom far more deplorable than +death!</p> + +<p>There are two great deserts: one of land, the other of water,—the Saära +and the Atlantic,—their contiguity extending through ten degrees of the +earth's latitude,—an enormous distance. Nothing separates them, save a +line existing only in the imagination. The dreary and dangerous +wilderness of water kisses the wilderness of sand,—not less dreary or +dangerous to those whose misfortune it may be to become castaways on +this dreaded shore.</p> + +<p>Alas! it has been the misfortune of many—not hundreds, but thousands. +Hundreds of ships, rather than hundreds of men, have suffered wreck and +ruin between Susa and Senegal. Perhaps were we to include Roman, +Ph[oe]nician, and Carthaginian, we might say thousands of ships also.</p> + +<p>More noted, however, have been the disasters of modern times, during +what may be termed the epoch of modern navigation. Within the period of +the last three centuries, sailors of almost every maritime nation—at +least all whose errand has led them along the eastern edge of the +Atlantic—have had reason to regret approximation to those shores, known +in ship parlance as the Barbary coast; but which, with a slight +alteration in the orthography, might be appropriately styled +"Barbarian."</p> + +<p>A chapter might be written in explanation of this peculiarity of +expression—a chapter which would comprise many parts of two sciences, +both but little understood—ethnology and meteorology.</p> + +<p>Of the former we may have a good deal to tell before the ending of this +narrative. Of the latter it must suffice to say: that the frequent +wrecks occurring on the Barbary coast—or, more properly, on that of the +Saära south of it—are the result of an Atlantic current setting +eastwards against that shore.</p> + +<p>The cause of this current is simple enough, though it requires +explanation: since it seems to contradict not only the theory of the +"trade" winds, but of the centrifugal inclination attributed to the +waters of the ocean.</p> + +<p>I have room only for the theory in its simplest form. The heating of the +Saära under a tropical sun; the absence of those influences—moisture +and verdure—which repel the heat and retain its opposite; the ascension +of the heated air that hangs over this vast tract of desert; the colder +atmosphere rushing in from the Atlantic Ocean; the consequent eastward +tendency of the waters of the sea.</p> + +<p>These facts will account for that current which has proved a deadly +maelstrom to hundreds—aye, thousands—of ships, in all ages, whose +misfortune it has been to sail unsuspectingly along the western shores +of the Ethiopian continent.</p> + +<p>Even at the present day the castaways upon this desert shore are by no +means rare, notwithstanding the warnings that at close intervals have +been proclaimed for a period of three hundred years.</p> + +<p>While I am writing, some stranded brig, barque, or ship may be going to +pieces between Bojador and Blanco; her crew making shorewards in boats +to be swamped among the foaming breakers; or, riding three or four +together upon some severed spar, to be tossed upon a desert strand, that +each may wish, from the bottom of his soul, should prove <i>uninhabited</i>!</p> + +<p>I can myself record a scene like this that occurred not ten years ago, +about midway between the two headlands above named—Bojador and Blanco. +The locality may be more particularly designated by saying: that, at +half distance between these noted capes, a narrow strip of sand extends +for several miles out into the Atlantic, parched white under the rays of +a tropical sun—like the tongue of some fiery serpent, well represented +by the Saära, far stretching to seaward; ever seeking to cool itself in +the crystal waters of the sea.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>TYPES OF THE TRIPLE KINGDOM.</h3> + + +<p>Near the tip of this tongue, almost within "licking" distance, on an +evening in the month of June 18—, a group of the kind last alluded +to—three or four castaways upon a spar—might have been seen by any eye +that chanced to be near.</p> + +<p>Fortunately for them, there was none sufficiently approximate to make +out the character of that dark speck, slowly approaching the white +sand-spit, like any other drift carried upon the landward current of the +sea.</p> + +<p>It was just possible for a person standing upon the summit of one of the +sand "dunes" that, like white billows, rolled off into the interior of +the continent—it was just possible for a person thus placed to have +distinguished the aforesaid speck without the aid of a glass; though +with one it would have required a prolonged and careful observation to +have discovered its character.</p> + +<p>The sand-spit was full three miles in length. The hills stood back from +the shore another. Four miles was sufficient to screen the castaways +from the observation of anyone who might be straying along the coast.</p> + +<p>For the individuals themselves it appeared very improbable that there +could be any one observing them. As far as eye could reach—east, north, +and south, there was nothing save white sand. To the west nothing but +the blue water. No eye could be upon them, save that of the Creator. Of +His creatures, tame or wild, savage or civilized, there seemed not one +within a circuit of miles: for within that circuit there was nothing +visible that could afford subsistence either to man or animal, bird or +beast. In the white substratum of sand, gently shelving far under the +sea, there was not a sufficiency of organic matter to have afforded food +for fish—even for the lower organisms of <i>mollusca</i>. Undoubtedly were +these castaways alone; as much so, as if their locality had been the +centre of the Atlantic, instead of its coast!</p> + +<p>We are privileged to approach them near enough to comprehend their +character, and learn the cause that has thus isolated them so far from +the regions of animated life.</p> + +<p>There are four of them, astride a spar; which also carries a sail, +partially reefed around it, and partially permitted to drag loosely +through the water.</p> + +<p>At a glance a sailor could have told that the spar on which they are +supported is a topsail-yard, which has been detached from its masts in +such a violent manner as to unloose some of the reefs that had held the +sail, thus partially releasing the canvas. But it needed not a sailor to +tell why this had been done. A ship has foundered somewhere near the +coast. There has been a gale two days before. The spar in question, with +those supported upon it, is but a fragment of the wreck. There might +have been other fragments,—others of the crew escaped, or escaping in +like manner,—but there are no others in sight. The castaways slowly +drifting towards the sand-spit are alone. They have no companions on the +ocean,—no spectators on its shore.</p> + +<p>As already stated, there are four of them. Three are strangely +alike,—at least, in the particulars of size, shape, and costume. In +age, too, there is no great difference. All three are boys: the oldest +not over eighteen, the youngest certainly not a year his junior.</p> + +<p>In the physiognomy of the three there is similitude enough to declare +them of one nation,—though dissimilarity sufficient to prove a distinct +provinciality both in countenance and character. Their dresses of dark +blue cloth, cut pea-jacket shape, and besprinkled with buttons of +burnished yellow,—their cloth caps, of like color, encircled by bands +of gold lace,—their collars, embroidered with the crown and anchor, +declare them, all three, to be officers in the service of that great +maritime government that has so long held undisputed possession of the +sea,—midshipmen of the British navy. Rather should we say, had been. +They have lost this proud position, along with the frigate to which they +had been attached; and they now only share authority upon a dismasted +spar, over which they are exerting some control, since, with their +bodies bent downwards, and their hands beating the water, they are +propelling it in the direction of the sand-spit.</p> + +<p>In the countenances of the three castaways thus introduced, I have +admitted a dissimilitude something more than casual,—something more, +even, than what might be termed provincial. Each presented a type that +could have been referred to that wider distinction known as a +nationality.</p> + +<p>The three "middies" astride of that topsail-yard were of course +castaways from the same ship, in the service of the same government, +though each was of a different nationality from the other two. They were +the respective representatives of Jack, Paddy, and Sandy,—or, to speak +more poetically, of the Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle,—and had the three +kingdoms from which they came been searched throughout their whole +extent, there could scarcely have been discovered purer representative +types of each, than the three reefers on that spar, drifting towards the +sand-spit between Bojador and Blanco.</p> + +<p>Their names were Harry Blount, Terence O'Connor, and Colin Macpherson.</p> + +<p>The fourth individual—who shared with them their frail +embarkation—differed from all three in almost every respect, but more +especially in years. The ages of all three united would not have +numbered his: and their wrinkles, if collected together, would scarce +have made so many as could have been counted in the crowsfeet indelibly +imprinted in the corners of his eyes.</p> + +<p>It would have required a very learned ethnologist to have told to which +of his three companions he was compatriot; though there could be no +doubt about his being either English, Irish, or Scotch.</p> + +<p>Strange to say, his tongue did not aid in the identification of his +nationality. It was not often heard; but even when it was, its utterance +would have defied the most accomplished linguistic ear; and neither from +that, nor other circumstance known to them, could any one of his three +companions lay claim to him as a countryman. When he spoke,—a rare +occurrence already hinted,—it was with a liberal misplacement of "h's" +that should have proclaimed him an Englishman of purest Cockney type. At +the same time his language was freely interspersed with Irish "ochs" and +"shures"; while the "wees" and "bonnys," oft recurring in his speech, +should have proved him a sworn Scotchman. From his countenance you might +have drawn your own inference, and believed him any of the three; but +not from his tongue. Neither in his accent, nor the words that fell from +him, could you have told which of the three kingdoms had the honor of +giving him birth.</p> + +<p>Whichever it was, it had supplied to the Service a true British tar: for +although you might mistake the man in other respects, his appearance +forbade all equivocation upon this point.</p> + +<p>His costume was that of a common sailor, and, as a matter of course, his +name was "Bill." But as he had only been one among many "Bills" rated on +the man-o'-war's books,—now gone to the bottom of the sea,—he carried +a distinctive appellation, no doubt earned by his greater age. Aboard +the frigate he had been known as "Old Bill"; and the soubriquet still +attached to him upon the spar.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>THE SERPENT'S TONGUE.</h3> + + +<p>The presence of a ship's topsail-yard thus bestridden plainly proclaimed +that a ship had been wrecked, although no other evidence of the wreck +was within sight. Not a speck was visible upon the sea to the utmost +verge of the horizon: and if a ship had foundered within that field of +view, her boats and every vestige of the wreck must either have gone to +the bottom, or in some other direction than that taken by the +topsail-yard, which supported the three midshipmen and the sailor Bill.</p> + +<p>A ship <i>had</i> gone to the bottom—a British man-of-war—a corvette on her +way to her cruising ground on the Guinea coast. Beguiled by the +dangerous current that sets towards the seaboard of the Saära, in a dark +stormy night she had struck upon a sand-bank, got bilged, and sunk +almost instantly among the breakers. Boats had been got out, and men had +been seen crowding hurriedly into them; others had taken to such rafts +or spars as could be detached from the sinking vessel: but whether any +of these, or the overladen boats, had succeeded in reaching the shore, +was a question which none of the four astride the topsail-yard were able +to answer.</p> + +<p>They only knew that the corvette had gone to the bottom,—they saw her +go down, shortly after drifting away from her side, but saw nothing more +until morning, when they perceived themselves alone upon the ocean. They +had been drifting throughout the remainder of that long, dark +night,—often entirely under water, when the sea swelled over them,—and +one and all of them many times on the point of being washed from their +frail embarkation.</p> + +<p>By daybreak the storm had ceased, and was succeeded by a clear, calm +day; but it was not until a late hour that the swell had subsided +sufficiently to enable them to take any measures for propelling the +strange craft that carried them. Then using their hands as oars or +paddles, they commenced making some way through the water.</p> + +<p>There was nothing in sight—neither land nor any other object—save the +sea, the sky, and the sun. It was the east which guided them as to +direction. But for it there could have been no object in making way +through the water; but with the sun now sinking in the west, they could +tell the east, and they knew that in that point alone land might be +expected.</p> + +<p>After the sun had gone down the stars became their compass, and +throughout all the second night of their shipwreck they had continued to +paddle the spar in an easterly direction.</p> + +<p>Day again dawned upon them, but without gratifying their eyes by the +sight of land, or any other object to inspire them with a hope.</p> + +<p>Famished with hunger, tortured with thirst, and wearied with their +continued exertions, they were about to surrender to despair; when, as +the sun once more mounted up to the sky, and his bright beams pierced +the crystal water upon which they were floating, they saw beneath them +the sheen of white sand. It was the bottom of the sea, and at no great +depth,—not more than a few fathoms below their feet.</p> + +<p>Such shallow water could not be far from the shore. Reassured and +encouraged by the thought, they once more renewed their exertions, and +continued to paddle the spar, taking only short intervals of rest +throughout the whole of the morning.</p> + +<p>Long before noon they were compelled to desist. They were close to the +tropic of Cancer, almost under its line. It was the season of midsummer, +and of course at meridian hour the sun was right over their heads. Even +their bodies cast no shadow, except upon the white sand directly +underneath them, at the bottom of the sea.</p> + +<p>The sun could no longer guide them; and as they had no other index, they +were compelled to remain stationary, or drift in whatever direction the +breeze or the currents might carry them.</p> + +<p>There was not much movement any way, and for several hours before and +after noon they lay almost becalmed upon the ocean. This period was +passed in silence and inaction. There was nothing for them to talk about +but their forlorn situation, and this topic had been exhausted. There +was nothing for them to do. Their only occupation was to watch the sun, +until, by its sinking lower in the sky, they might discover its +<i>westing</i>.</p> + +<p>Could they at that moment have elevated their eyes only three feet +higher, they would not have needed to wait for the declination of the +orb of day. They would have seen land, such land as it was; but, sunk as +their shoulders were almost to the level of the water, even the summits +of the sand dunes were not visible to their eyes.</p> + +<p>When the sun began to go down towards the horizon, they once more plied +their palms against the liquid wave, and sculled the spar eastward. The +sun's lower limb was just touching the western horizon, when his red +rays, glancing over their shoulders, showed them some white spots that +appeared to rise out of the water.</p> + +<p>Were they clouds? No! Their rounded tops, cutting the sky with a clear +line, forbade this belief. They should be hills, either of snow or of +sand. It was not the region for snow: they could only be sand-hills.</p> + +<p>The cry of "land" pealed simultaneously from the lips of all,—that +cheerful cry that has so oft given gladness to the despairing +castaway,—and redoubling their exertions, the spar was propelled +through the water more rapidly than ever.</p> + +<p>Reinvigorated by the prospect of once more setting foot upon land, they +forgot for the moment thirst, hunger, and weariness, and only occupied +themselves in sculling their craft towards the shore.</p> + +<p>Under the belief that they had still several miles to make before the +beach could be attained, they were one and all working with eyes turned +downward. At that moment old Bill, chancing to look up, gave utterance +to a shout of joy, which was instantly echoed by his youthful +companions: all had at the same time perceived the long sand-spit +projecting far out into the water, and which looked like the hand of +some friend held out to bid them welcome.</p> + +<p>They had scarce made this discovery before another of like pleasant +nature came under their attention. That was, that they were <i>touching +bottom</i>! Their legs, bestriding the spar, hung down on each side of it; +and to the joy of all they now felt their feet scraping along the sand.</p> + +<p>As if actuated by one impulse, all four dismounted from the irksome seat +they had been so long compelled to keep; and, bidding adieu to the spar, +they plunged on through the shoal water, without stop or stay, until +they stood high and dry upon the extreme point of the peninsula.</p> + +<p>By this time the sun had gone down; and the four dripping forms, dimly +outlined in the purple twilight, appeared like four strange creatures +who had just emerged from out the depths of the ocean.</p> + +<p>"Where next?"</p> + +<p>This was the mental interrogatory of all four: though by none of them +shaped into words.</p> + +<p>"Nowhere to-night," was the answer suggested by the inclination of each.</p> + +<p>Impelled by hunger, stimulated by thirst, one would have expected them +to proceed onward in search of food and water to alleviate this double +suffering. But there was an inclination stronger than either,—too +strong to be resisted,—sleep: since for fifty hours they had been +without any; since to have fallen asleep on the spar would have been to +subject themselves to the danger, almost the certainty, of dropping off, +and getting drowned; and, notwithstanding their need of sleep, increased +by fatigue, and the necessity of keeping constantly on the alert,—up to +that moment not one of them had obtained any. The thrill of pleasure +that passed through their frames as they felt their feet upon <i>terra +firma</i> for a moment aroused them. But the excitement could not be +sustained. The drowsy god would no longer be deprived of his rights; and +one after another—though without much interval between—sank down upon +the soft sand, and yielded to his balmy embrace.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>'WARE THE TIDE.</h3> + + +<p>Through that freak, or law, of nature by which peninsulas are shaped, +the point of the sand-spit was elevated several feet above the level of +the sea; while its neck, nearer the land, scarce rose above the surface +of the water.</p> + +<p>It was this highest point—where the sand was thrown up in a "wreath," +like snow in a storm—that the castaways had chosen for their couch. But +little pains had been taken in selecting the spot. It was the most +conspicuous, as well as the driest; and, on stepping out of the water, +they had tottered towards it, and half mechanically chosen it for their +place of repose.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus2" id="illus2"></a> +<img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>'WARE THE TIDE</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<p>Simple as was the couch, they were not allowed to occupy it for long. +They had been scarce two hours asleep, when one and all of them were +awakened by a sensation that chilled, and, at the same time, terrified +them. Their terror arose from a sense of suffocation: as if salt water +was being poured down their throats, which was causing it. In short, +they experienced the sensation of drowning; and fancied they were +struggling amid the waves, from which they had so lately escaped.</p> + +<p>All four sprang to their feet,—if not simultaneously, at least in quick +succession,—and all appeared equally the victims of astonishment, +closely approximating to terror. Instead of the couch of soft, dry sand, +on which they had stretched their tired frames, they now stood up to +their ankles in water,—which was soughing and surging around them. It +was this change in their situation that caused their astonishment; +though the terror quick following sprang from quite another cause.</p> + +<p>The former was short-lived: for it met with a ready explanation. In the +confusion of their ideas, added to their strong desire for sleep, they +had forgotten the tide. The sand, dust-dry under the heat of a burning +sun, had deceived them. They had lain down upon it, without a thought of +its ever being submerged under the sea; but now to their surprise they +perceived their mistake. Not only was their couch completely under +water: but, had they slept a few minutes longer, they would themselves +have been quite covered. Of course the waves had awakened them; and no +doubt would have done so half an hour earlier, but for the profound +slumber into which their long watching and weariness had thrown them. +The contact of the cold water was not likely to have much effect: since +they had been already exposed to it for more than forty hours. Indeed, +it was not that which had aroused them; but the briny fluid getting into +their mouths, and causing them that feeling of suffocation that very +much resembled drowning.</p> + +<p>More than one of the party had sprung to an erect attitude, under the +belief that such was in reality the case; and it is not quite correct to +say that their first feeling was one of mere astonishment. It was +strongly commingled with terror.</p> + +<p>On perceiving how matters stood, their fears subsided almost as rapidly +as they had arisen. It was only the inflow of the tide; and to escape +from it would be easy enough. They would have nothing more to do, than +keep along the narrow strip of sand, which they had observed before +landing. This would conduct them to the true shore. They knew this to be +at some distance; but, once there, they could choose a more elevated +couch, on which they could recline undisturbed till the morning.</p> + +<p>Such was their belief, conceived the instant after they had +got upon their legs. It was soon followed by another,—another +consternation,—which, if not so sudden as the first was, perhaps, ten +times more intense.</p> + +<p>On turning their faces towards what they believed to be the land, there +was no land in sight,—neither sand-hills, nor shore, nor even the +narrow tongue upon whose tip they had been trusting themselves! There +was nothing visible but water; and even this was scarce discernible at +the distance of six paces from where they stood. They could only tell +that water was around them, by hearing it hoarsely swishing on every +side, and seeing through the dim obscurity the strings of white froth +that floated on its broken surface.</p> + +<p>It was not altogether the darkness of the night that obscured their +view; though this was of itself profound. It was a thick mist, or fog, +that had arisen over the surface of the ocean, and which enveloped their +bodies; so that, though standing almost close together, each appeared to +the others like some huge spectral form at a distance!</p> + +<p>To remain where they were, was to be swallowed up by the sea. There +could be no uncertainty about that; and therefore no one thought of +staying a moment longer on the point of the sand-spit, now utterly +submerged.</p> + +<p>But in what direction were they to go? That was the question that +required to be solved before starting; and in the solution of which, +perhaps, depended the safety of their lives.</p> + +<p>We need scarce say perhaps. Rather might we say, for certain. By taking +a wrong direction they would be walking into the sea,—where they would +soon get beyond their depth, and be in danger of drowning. This was all +the more likely, that the wind had been increasing ever since they had +laid down to rest, and was now blowing with considerable violence. +Partly from this, and partly by the tidal influence, big waves had +commenced rolling around them; so that, even in the shoal water where +they stood, each successive swell was rising higher and higher against +their bodies.</p> + +<p>There was no time to be lost. They must find the true direction for the +shore, and follow it,—quickly too; or perish amid the breakers!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>A FALSE GUIDE.</h3> + + +<p>Which way to the shore?</p> + +<p>That was the question that arose to the lips of all.</p> + +<p>You may fancy it could have been easily answered. The direction of the +wind and waves was landward. It was the sea-breeze, which at night, as +every navigator is aware, blows habitually towards the land,—at least, +in the region of the tropics, and more especially towards the hot Saära.</p> + +<p>The tide itself might have told them the direction to take. It was the +in-coming tide, and therefore swelling towards the beach.</p> + +<p>You may fancy that they had nothing to do but follow the waves, keeping +the breeze upon their back.</p> + +<p>So they fancied, at first starting for the shore; but they were not long +in discovering that this guide, apparently so trustworthy was not to be +relied upon; and it was only then they became apprised of the real +danger of their situation. Both wind and waves were certainly proceeding +landward, and in a direct line; but it was just this direct line the +castaways dared not—in fact could not—follow; for they had not gone a +hundred fathoms from the point of the submerged peninsula when they +found the water rapidly deepening before them; and a few fathoms further +on they stood up to their armpits!</p> + +<p>It was evident that, in the direction in which they were proceeding, it +continued to grow deeper; and they turned to try another.</p> + +<p>After floundering about for a while, they found shoal water +again,—reaching up only to their knees; but wherever they attempted to +follow the course of the waves, they perceived that the shoal trended +gradually downward.</p> + +<p>This at first caused them surprise, as well as alarm. The former +affected them only for an instant. The explanation was sought for, and +suggested to the satisfaction of all. The sand-spit did not project +perpendicularly from the line of the coast, but in a diagonal direction. +It was in fact, a sort of natural breakwater—forming one side of a +large cone, or embayment, lying between it and the true beach. This +feature had been observed, on their first setting foot upon it; though +at the time they were so much engrossed with the joyous thought of +having escaped from the sea, that it had made no impression upon their +memory.</p> + +<p>They now remembered the circumstance; though not to their satisfaction; +for they saw at once that the guide in which they had been trusting +could no longer avail them.</p> + +<p>The waves were rolling on over that bay—whose depth they had tried, +only to find it unfordable.</p> + +<p>This was a new dilemma. To escape from it there appeared but one way. +They must keep their course along the combing of the peninsula—if they +could. But their ability to do so had now become a question—each +instant growing more difficult to answer.</p> + +<p>They were no longer certain that they were on the spit; but, whether or +not, they could find no shallower water by trying on either side. Each +way they went it seemed to deepen; and even if they stood still but for +a few moments, as they were compelled to do while hesitating as to their +course—the water rose perceptibly upon their limbs.</p> + +<p>They were now well aware that they had two enemies to contend with—time +and direction. The loss of either one or the other might end in their +destruction. A wrong direction would lead them into deep water; a waste +of time would bring deep water around them. The old adage about time and +tide—which none of them could help having heard—might have been +ringing in their ears at that moment. It was appropriate to the +occasion.</p> + +<p>They thought of it; and the thought filled them with apprehension. From +the observations they had made before sunset, they knew that the shore +could not be near—not nearer than three miles—perhaps four.</p> + +<p>Even with free footing, the true direction, and a clear view of the +path, it might have been a question about time. They all knew enough of +the sea to be aware how rapidly the tide sets in—especially on some +foreign shores—and there was nothing to assure them that the seaboard +of the Saära was not beset by the most treacherous of tides. On the +contrary, it was just this—a tidal current—that had forced their +vessel among the breakers, causing them to become what they now +were,—castaways!</p> + +<p>They had reason to dread the tides of the Saära's shore; and dread them +they did,—their fears at each moment becoming stronger as they felt the +dark waters rising higher and higher around them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>WADE OR SWIM?</h3> + + +<p>For a time they floundered on,—the old sailor in the lead, the three +boys strung out in a line after him. Sometimes they departed from this +formation,—one or another trying towards the flank for shallower water.</p> + +<p>Already it clasped them by the thighs; and just in proportion as it rose +upon their bodies, did their spirits become depressed. They knew that +they were following the crest of the sand-spit. They knew it by the +deepening of the sea on each side of them; but they had by this time +discovered another index to their direction. Old Bill had kept his +"weather-eye" upon the waves; until he had discovered the angle at which +they broke over the "bar," and could follow the "combing" of the spit, +as he called it, without much danger of departure from the true path.</p> + +<p>It was not the <i>direction</i> that troubled their thoughts any longer; but +the <i>time</i> and the <i>tide</i>.</p> + +<p>Up to their waists in water, their progress could not be otherwise than +slow. The time would not have signified could they have been sure of the +tide,—that is, sure of its not rising higher.</p> + +<p>Alas! they could not be in doubt about this. On the contrary, they were +too well assured that it <i>was</i> rising higher; and with a rapidity that +threatened soon to submerge them under its merciless swells. These came +slowly sweeping along, in the diagonal direction,—one succeeding the +other, and each new one striking higher up upon the bodies of the now +exhausted waders.</p> + +<p>On they floundered despite their exhaustion; on along the subaqueous +ridge, which at every step appeared to sink deeper into the water,—as +if the nearer to the land the peninsula became all the more depressed. +This, however, was but a fancy. They had already passed the neck of the +sand-spit where it was lowest. It was not that, but the fast flowing +tide that was deepening the water around them.</p> + +<p>Deeper and deeper,—deeper and deeper, till the salt sea clasped them +around the armpits, and the tidal waves began to break over their heads!</p> + +<p>There seemed but one way open to their salvation,—but one course by +which they could escape from the engulfment that threatened. This was to +forego any further attempt at wading, to fling themselves boldly upon +the waves, and <i>swim</i> ashore!</p> + +<p>Now that they were submerged to their necks, you may wonder at their not +at once adopting this plan. It is true they were ignorant of the +distance they would have to swim before reaching the shore. Still they +knew it could not be more than a couple of miles; for they had already +traversed quite that distance on the diagonal spit. But two miles need +scarce have made them despair, with both wind and tide in their favor.</p> + +<p>Why, then, did they hesitate to trust themselves to the quick, bold +stroke of the swimmer, instead of the slow, timid, tortoise-like tread +of the wader?</p> + +<p>There are two answers to this question; for there were two reasons for +them not having recourse to the former alternative. The first was +selfish; or rather, should we call it <i>self-preservative</i>. There was a +doubt in the minds of all, as to their ability to reach the shore by +swimming. It was a broad bay that had been seen before sundown; and once +launched upon its bosom, it was a question whether any of them would +have strength to cross it. Once launched upon its bosom, there would be +no getting back to the shoal water through which they were wading; the +tidal current would prevent return.</p> + +<p>This consideration was backed by another,—a lingering belief or hope +that the tide might already have reached its highest, and would soon be +on the "turn." This hope, though faint, exerted an influence on the +waders,—as yet sufficient to restrain them from becoming swimmers. But +even after this could no longer have prevailed,—even when the waves +began to surge over, threatening at each fresh "sea" to scatter the +shivering castaways and swallow them one by one,—there was another +thought that kept them together.</p> + +<p>It was a thought neither of self nor self-preservation; but a generous +instinct, that even in that perilous crisis was stirring within their +hearts.</p> + +<p>Instinct! No. It was a thought,—an impulse if you will; but something +higher than an instinct.</p> + +<p>Shall I declare it? Undoubtedly, I shall. Noble emotions should not be +concealed; and the one which at that moment throbbed within the bosoms +of the castaways, was truly noble.</p> + +<p>There were but three of them who felt it. The fourth could not: <i>he +could not swim!</i></p> + +<p>Surely the reader needs no further explanation?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>A COMPULSORY PARTING.</h3> + + +<p>One of the four castaways could not swim. Which one? You will expect to +hear that it was one of the three midshipmen; and will be conjecturing +whether it was Harry Blount, Terence O'Connor, or Colin Macpherson.</p> + +<p>My English boy-readers would scarce believe me, were I to say that it +was Harry who was wanting in this useful accomplishment. Equally +incredulous would be my Irish and Scotch <i>constituency</i>, were I to deny +the possession of it to the representatives of their respective +countries,—Terence and Colin.</p> + +<p>Far be it from me to offend the natural <i>amour propre</i> of my young +readers; and in the present case I have no fact to record that would +imply any national superiority or disadvantage. The castaway who could +not swim was that peculiar hybrid, or <i>tribrid</i>, already described; who, +for any characteristic he carried about him, might have been born either +upon the banks of the Clyde, the Thames, or the Shannon!</p> + +<p>It was "Old Bill" who was deficient in natatory prowess: Old Bill the +sailor.</p> + +<p>It may be wondered that one who has spent nearly the whole of his life +on the sea should be wanting in an accomplishment, apparently and +really, so essential to such a calling. Cases of the kind, however, are +by no means uncommon; and in a ship's crew there will often be found a +large number of men,—sometimes the very best sailors,—who cannot swim +a stroke.</p> + +<p>Those who have neglected to cultivate this useful art, when boys, rarely +acquire it after they grow up to be men; or, if they do, it is only in +an indifferent manner. On the sea, though it may appear a paradox, there +are far fewer opportunities for practising the art of swimming than upon +its shores. Aboard a ship, on her course, the chances of "bathing" are +but few and far between; and, while in port, the sailor has usually +something else to do than spend his idle hours in disporting himself +upon the waves. The sailor, when ashore, seeks for some sport more +attractive.</p> + +<p>As Old Bill had been at sea ever since he was able to stand upon the +deck of a ship, he had neglected this useful art; and though in every +other respect an accomplished sailor—rated A.B., No. 1—he could not +swim six lengths of his own body.</p> + +<p>It was a noble instinct which prompted his three youthful companions to +remain by him in that critical moment, when, by flinging themselves upon +the waves, they might have gained the shore without difficulty.</p> + +<p>Although the bay might be nearly two miles in width there could not be +more than half that distance beyond their depth,—judging by the shoal +appearance which the coast had exhibited as they were approaching it +before sundown.</p> + +<p>All three felt certain of being able to save themselves; but what would +become of their companion, the sailor?</p> + +<p>"We cannot leave you, Bill!" cried Harry: "we will not!"</p> + +<p>"No, that we can't: we won't!" said Terence.</p> + +<p>"We can't, and won't," asseverated Colin, with like emphasis.</p> + +<p>These generous declarations were in answer to an equally generous +proposal: in which the sailor had urged them to make for the shore, and +leave him to his fate.</p> + +<p>"Ye must, my lads!" he cried out, repeating his proposition. "Don't mind +about me; look to yersels! Och! shure I'm only a weather-washed, +worn-out old salt, 'ardly worth savin'. Go now—off wi' ye at onest! The +water'll be over ye, if ye stand 'eer tin minutes longer."</p> + +<p>The three youths scrutinized each other's faces, as far as the darkness +would allow them. Each tried to read in the countenances of the other +two some sign that might determine him. The water was already washing +around their shoulders; it was with difficulty they could keep their +feet.</p> + +<p>"Let loose, lads!" cried Old Bill; "let loose, I say! and swim richt for +the shore. Don't think o' me; it bean't certain I shan't weather it yet. +I'm the whole av my head taller than the tallest av ye. The tide mayn't +full any higher; an' if it don't I'll get safe out after all. Let loose, +lads—let loose I tell ye!"</p> + +<p>This command of the old sailor for his young comrades to forsake him was +backed by a far more irresistible influence,—one against which even +their noble instincts could no longer contend.</p> + +<p>At that moment, a wave, of greater elevation than any that had preceded +it, came rolling along; and the three midshipmen, lifted upon its swell, +were borne nearly half a cable's length from the spot where they had +been standing.</p> + +<p>In vain did they endeavor to recover their feet. They had been carried +into deep water, where the tallest of them could not touch bottom.</p> + +<p>For some seconds they struggled on the top of the swell, their faces +turned towards the spot from which they had been swept. They were close +together. All three seemed desirous of making back to that dark, +solitary speck, protruding above the surface, and which they knew to be +the head of Old Bill. Still did they hesitate to forsake him.</p> + +<p>Once more his voice sounded in their ears.</p> + +<p>"Och, boys!" cried he, "don't thry to come back. It's no use whatever. +Lave me to my fate, an' save yersels. The tide's 'ard against ye. Turn, +an' follow it, as I tell ye. It'll carry ye safe to the shore; an' if +I'm washed afther ye, bury me on the bache. Farewell, brave +boys,—farewell!"</p> + +<p>To the individuals thus apostrophized, it was a sorrowful adieu; and, +could they have done anything to save the sailor, there was not one of +the three who would not have risked his life over and over again. But +all were impressed with the hopelessness of rendering any succor; and +under the still further discouragement caused by another huge wave, that +came swelling up under their chins, they turned simultaneously in the +water; and, taking the tidal current for their guide, swam with all +their strength towards the shore.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>SAFE ASHORE.</h3> + + +<p>The swim proved shorter than any of them had anticipated. They had +scarce made half a mile across the bay, when Terence, who was the worst +swimmer of the three, and who had been allowing his legs to droop, +struck his toes against something more substantial than salt water.</p> + +<p>"I' faith!" gasped he, with exhausted breath, "I think I've touched +bottom. Blessed be the Virgin, I have!" he continued, at the same time +standing erect, with head and shoulders above the surface of the water.</p> + +<p>"All right!" cried Harry, imitating the upright attitude of the young +Hibernian. "Bottom it must be, and bottom it is. Thank God for it!"</p> + +<p>Colin, with a similar grateful ejaculation, suspended his stroke, and +stood upon his feet.</p> + +<p>All three instinctively faced seaward—as they did so, exclaiming—</p> + +<p>"Poor Old Bill!"</p> + +<p>"In troth, we might have brought him along with us!" suggested Terence, +as soon as he had recovered his wind; "might we not?"</p> + +<p>"If we had but known it was so short a swim," said Harry, "it is +possible."</p> + +<p>"How about our trying to swim back? Do you think we could do it?"</p> + +<p>"Impossible!" asserted Colin.</p> + +<p>"What, Colin, you are the best swimmer of us all! Do you say so?" asked +the others, eager to make an effort for saving the old salt, who had +been the favorite of every officer aboard the ship.</p> + +<p>"I say impossible," replied the cautious Colin; "I would risk as much as +any of you, but there is not a reasonable chance of saving him, and +what's the use of trying impossibilities? We'd better make sure that +we're safe ourselves. There may be more deep water between us and the +shore. Let us keep on till we've set our feet on something more like +terra firma."</p> + +<p>The advice of the young Scotchman was too prudent to be rejected; and +all three, once more turning their faces shoreward, continued to advance +in that direction.</p> + +<p>They only knew that they were facing shoreward by the inflow of the +tide, but certain that this would prove a tolerably safe guide, they +kept boldly on, without fear of straying from the track.</p> + +<p>For a while they waded; but, as their progress was both slower and more +toilsome, they once more betook themselves to swimming. Whenever they +felt fatigued by either mode of progression, they changed to the other; +and partly by wading and partly by swimming, they passed through another +mile of the distance that separated them from the shore. The water then +became so shallow, that swimming was no longer possible; and they waded +on, with eyes earnestly piercing the darkness, each moment expecting to +see something of the land.</p> + +<p>They were soon to be gratified by having this expectation realized. The +curving lines that began to glimmer dimly through the obscurity, were +the outlines of rounded objects that could not be ocean waves. They were +too white for these. They could only be the sand-hills, which they had +seen before the going down of the sun. As they were now but knee-deep in +the water, and the night was still misty and dark, these objects could +be at no great distance, and deep water need no longer be dreaded.</p> + +<p>The three castaways considered themselves as having reached the shore.</p> + +<p>Harry and Terence were about to continue on to the beach, when Colin +called to them to come to a stop.</p> + +<p>"Why?" inquired Harry.</p> + +<p>"What for?" asked Terence.</p> + +<p>"Before touching dry land," suggested the thoughtful Colin, "suppose we +decide what has been the fate of poor Old Bill."</p> + +<p>"How can we tell that?" interrogated the other two.</p> + +<p>"Stand still awhile; we shall soon see whether his head is yet above +water."</p> + +<p>Harry and Terence consented to the proposal of their comrade, but +without exactly comprehending its import.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Coley?" asked the impatient Hibernian.</p> + +<p>"To see if the tide's still rising," was the explanation given by the +Scotch youth.</p> + +<p>"And what if it be?" demanded Terence.</p> + +<p>"Only, that if it be, we will never more see the old sailor in the land +of the living. We may look for his lifeless corpse after it has been +washed ashore."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I comprehend you," said Terence.</p> + +<p>"You're right," added Harry. "If the tide be still rising, Old Bill is +under it by this time. I dare say his body will drift ashore before +morning."</p> + +<p>They stood still,—all three of them. They watched the water, as it +rippled up against their limbs, taking note of its ebbing and flowing. +They watched with eyes full of anxious solicitude. They continued this +curious vigil for full twenty minutes. They would have patiently +prolonged it still further had it been necessary. But it was not. No +further observation was required to convince them that the tidal current +was still carried towards the shore; and that the water was yet +deepening around them.</p> + +<p>The data thus obtained were sufficient to guide them to the solution of +the sad problem. During that interval, while they were swimming and +wading across the bay, the tide must have been continually on the +increase. It must have risen at least a yard. A foot would be sufficient +to have submerged the sailor: since he could not swim. There was but one +conclusion to which they could come. Their companion must have been +drowned.</p> + +<p>With heavy hearts they turned their faces toward the shore,—thinking +more of the sad fate of the sailor than their own future.</p> + +<p>Scarce had they proceeded a dozen steps, when a shout, heard from +behind, caused them to come to a sudden stop.</p> + +<p>"Avast there!" cried a voice that seemed to rise from out the depths of +the sea.</p> + +<p>"It's Bill!" exclaimed all three in the same breath.</p> + +<p>"'Old on my 'arties, if that's yerselves that I see!" continued the +voice. "Arrah, 'old on there. I'm so tired wadin', I want a short spell +to rest myself. Wait now, and I'll come to yez, as soon as I can take a +reef out of my tops'ls."</p> + +<p>The joy caused by this greeting, great as it was, was scarce equal to +the surprise it inspired. They who heard it were for some seconds +incredulous. The sound of the sailor's voice, well known as it was, with +something like the figure of a human being dimly seen through the +uncertain mist that shadowed the surface of the water was proof that he +still lived; while, but the moment before, there appeared substantial +proof that he must have gone to the bottom. Their incredulity even +continued, till more positive evidence to the contrary came before them, +in the shape of the old man-o'-war's-man himself; who, rapidly splashing +through the more shallow water, in a few seconds stood face to face with +the three brave boys whom he had so lately urged to abandon him.</p> + +<p>"Bill, is it you?" cried all three in a breath.</p> + +<p>"Auch! and who else would yez expect it to be? Did yez take me for 'ould +Neptune risin' hout of the say? Or did yez think I was a mare-maid? Gee +me a grip o' yer wee fists, ye bonny boys. Ole Bill warn't born to be +drowned!"</p> + +<p>"But how did ye come, Bill? The tide's been rising ever since we left +you."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Terence, "I see how it is, the bay isn't so deep after all: +you've waded all the way."</p> + +<p>"Avast there, master Terry! not half the way, though I've waded part of +it. There's wather between here and where you left me, deep enough to +dhrown Phil Macool. I didn't crass the bay by wading at all—at all."</p> + +<p>"How then?"</p> + +<p>"I was ferried on a nate little craft—as yez all knows of—the same +that carried us safe to the sand-spit."</p> + +<p>"The spar?"</p> + +<p>"Hexactly as ye say. Just as I was about to gee my last gasp, something +struck me on the back o' the head, making me duck under the wather. What +was that but the tops'l yard. Hech! I was na long in mountin' on to it. +I've left it out there afther I feeled my toes trailin' along the +bottom. Now, my bonny babies, that's how Old Bill's been able to rejoin +ye. Flippers all round once more; and then let's see what sort o' a +shore we've got to make port upon."</p> + +<p>An enthusiastic shake of the hands passed between the old sailor and his +youthful companions; after which the faces of all were turned towards +the shore, still only dimly distinguishable, and uninviting as seen, but +more welcome to the sight than the wilderness of water stretching as if +to infinity behind them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>UNCOMFORTABLE QUARTERS.</h3> + + +<p>The waders had still some distance to go before reaching dry land; but, +after splashing for about twenty minutes longer, they at length stood +upon the shore. As the tide was still flowing in they continued up the +beach; so as to place themselves beyond the reach of the water, in the +event of its rising still higher.</p> + +<p>They had to cross a wide stretch of wet sand before they could find a +spot sufficiently elevated to secure them against the further influx of +the tide. Having, at length, discovered such a spot, they stopped to +deliberate on what was best to be done.</p> + +<p>They would fain have had a fire to dry their dripping garments: for the +night had grown chilly under the influence of the fog.</p> + +<p>The old sailor had his flint, steel, and tinder—the latter still safe +in its water-tight tin box; but there was no fuel to be found near. The +spar, even could they have broken it up, was still floating, or +stranded, in the shoal water—more than a mile to seaward.</p> + +<p>In the absence of a fire they adopted the only other mode they could +think of to get a little of the water out of their clothes. They +stripped themselves to the skin, wrung out each article separately; and +then, giving each a good shake, put them on again—leaving it to the +natural warmth of their bodies to complete the process of drying.</p> + +<p>By the time they had finished this operation, the mist had become +sensibly thinner; and the moon, suddenly emerging from under a cloud, +enabled them to obtain a better view of the shore upon which they had +set foot.</p> + +<p>Landward, as far as they could see, there appeared to be nothing but +white sand—shining like silver under the light of the moon. Up and down +the coast the same landscape could be dimly distinguished.</p> + +<p>It was not a level surface that was thus covered with sand, but a +conglomeration of hillocks and ridges, blending into each other and +forming a labyrinth, that seemed to stretch interminably on all +sides—except towards the sea itself.</p> + +<p>It occurred to them to climb to the highest of the hillocks. From its +summit they would have a better view of the country beyond; and perhaps +discover a place suitable for an encampment—perhaps some timber might +then come into view—from which they would be able to obtain a few +sticks.</p> + +<p>On attempting to scale the "dune," they found that their wading was not +yet at an end. Though no longer in the water, they sank to their knees +at every step, in soft yielding sand.</p> + +<p>The ascent of the hillock, though scarce a hundred feet high, proved +exceedingly toilsome—much more so than wading knee-deep in water—but +they floundered on, and at length reached the summit.</p> + +<p>To the right, to the left, in front of them, far as the eye could reach, +nothing but hills and ridges of sand—that appeared under the moonlight +of a whiteness approaching to that of snow. In fact, it would not have +been difficult to fancy that the country was covered with a heavy coat +of snow—as often seen in Sweden, or the Northern parts of +Scotland—drifted into "wreaths," and spurred hillocks of every +imaginable form.</p> + +<p>It was pretty, but soon became painful from its monotony; and the eyes +of that shipwrecked quartette were even glad to turn once more to the +scarce less monotonous blue of the ocean.</p> + +<p>Inland, they could perceive other sand-hills—higher than that to which +they had climbed—and long crested "combings," with deep valleys +between; but not one object to gladden their sight—nothing that offered +promise of either food, drink, or shelter.</p> + +<p>Had it not been for their fatigue they might have gone farther. Since +the moon had consented to show herself, there was light enough to travel +by; and they might have proceeded on—either through the sand-dunes or +along the shore. But of the four there was not one—not even the tough +old tar himself—who was not regularly done up, both with weariness of +body and spirit. The short slumber upon the spit—from which they had +been so unexpectedly startled—had refreshed them but little; and, as +they stood upon the summit of the sand-hill, all four felt as if they +could drop down, and go to sleep on the instant.</p> + +<p>It was a couch sufficiently inviting, and they would at once have +availed themselves of it, but for a circumstance that suggested to them +the idea of seeking a still better place for repose.</p> + +<p>The land wind was blowing in from the ocean; and, according to the +forecast of Old Bill—a great practical meteorologist,—it promised ere +long to become a gale. It was already sufficiently violent—and chill to +boot—to make the situation on the summit of the dune anything but +comfortable. There was no reason why they should make their couch upon +that exposed prominence. Just on the landward side of the hillock +itself—below, at its base—they perceived a more sheltered situation; +and why not select that spot for their resting place?</p> + +<p>There was no reason why they should not. Old Bill proposed it; there was +no opposition offered by his young companions,—and, without further +parley, the four went floundering down the sloping side of the +sand-hill, into the sheltered convexity at its base.</p> + +<p>On arriving at the bottom, they found themselves in the narrowest of +ravines. The hillock from which they had descended was but the highest +summit of a long ridge, trending in the same direction as the coast. +Another ridge, of about equal height, ran parallel to this on the +landward side. The bases of the two approached so near, that their +sloping sides formed an angle with each other. On account of the abrupt +acclivity of both, this angle was almost acute, and the ravine between +the two resembled a cavity out of which some great wedge had been +cut,—like a section taken from the side of a gigantic melon.</p> + +<p>It was in this re-entrant angle that the castaways found themselves, +after descending the side of the dune, and where they had proposed +spending the remainder of the night.</p> + +<p>They were somewhat disappointed on reaching their sleeping-quarters, and +finding them so limited as to space. In the bottom of the ravine there +was not breadth enough for a bed,—even for the shortest of the +party,—supposing him desirous of sleeping in a horizontal position.</p> + +<p>There were not six feet of surface—nor even three—that could strictly +be called horizontal. Even longitudinally, the bottom of the "gully" had +a sloping inclination: for the ravine itself tended upwards, until it +became extinguished in the convergence of its inclosing ridges.</p> + +<p>On discovering the unexpected "strait" into which they had launched +themselves, our adventurers were for a time nonplussed. They felt +inclined to proceed farther in search of a "better bed," but their +weariness outweighed this inclination; and, after some hesitation, they +resolved to remain in the "ditch," into which they had so unwillingly +descended. They proceeded therefore to encouch themselves.</p> + +<p>Their first attempt was made by placing themselves in a half-standing +position—their backs supported upon the sloping side of one of the +ridges, with their feet resting against the other. So long as they kept +awake, this position was both easy and pleasant; but the moment any one +of them closed his eyes in sleep,—and this was an event almost +instantaneous,—his muscles, relaxed by slumber, would no longer have +the strength to sustain him; and the consequence would be an +uncomfortable collapse to the bottom of the "gully," where anything like +a position of repose was out of the question.</p> + +<p>This vexatious interruption of their slumbers happening repeatedly, at +length roused all four to take fresh counsel as to choosing a fresh +couch.</p> + +<p>Terence had been especially annoyed by these repeated disturbances; and +proclaimed his determination not to submit to them any longer. He would +go in search of more "comfortable quarters."</p> + +<p>He had arisen to his feet, and appeared in the act of starting off.</p> + +<p>"We had better not separate," suggested Harry Blount. "If we do, we may +find it difficult to come together again."</p> + +<p>"There's something in what you say, Hal," said the young Scotchman. "It +will not do for us to lose sight of one another. What does Bill say to +it?"</p> + +<p>"I say, stay here," put in the voice of the sailor. "It won't do to +stray the wan from the t'other. No, it won't. Let us hold fast, thin, +where we're already belayed."</p> + +<p>"But who the deuce can sleep here?" remonstrated the son of Erin. "A +hard-worked horse can sleep standing; and so can an elephant, they say; +but, for me, I'd prefer six feet of the horizontal—even if it were a +hard stone—to this slope of the softest sand."</p> + +<p>"Stay, Terry!" cried Colin. "I've captured an idea."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you Scotch are always capturing something—whether it be an idea, a +flea, or the itch. Let's hear what it is."</p> + +<p>"After that insult to ma kintree," good-humoredly rejoined Colin, "I +dinna know whuther I wull."</p> + +<p>"Come, Colin," interrupted Harry Blount, "if you've any good counsel to +give us, pray don't withhold it. We can't get sleep, standing at an +angle of forty-five degrees. Why should we not try to change our +position by seeking another place?"</p> + +<p>"Well, Harry, as you have made the request, I'll tell you what's just +come into my mind. I only feel astonished it didn't occur to any of us +sooner."</p> + +<p>"Mother av Moses!" cried Terence, jocularly adopting his native brogue; +"and why don't you out with it at wanse?—you Scatch are the thrue +<i>rid-tape</i> of society."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Colly!" interposed Blount; "there's no time to listen to +Terry's badinage. We're all too sleepy for jesting; tell us what you've +got in your mind."</p> + +<p>"All of ye do as you see me, and, I'll be your bail, ye'll sleep sound +till the dawn o' the day. Good night!"</p> + +<p>As Colin pronounced the salutation he sank down to the bottom of the +ravine, where, stretched longitudinally, he might repose without the +slightest danger of being awakened by slipping from his couch.</p> + +<p>On seeing him thus disposed, the others only wondered they had not +thought of the thing before.</p> + +<p>They were too sleepy to speculate long upon their own thoughtlessness; +and one after the other, imitating the example set them by the young +Scotchman, laid their bodies lengthwise along the bottom of the ravine, +and entered upon the enjoyment of a slumber from which all the +kettle-drums in creation would scarce have awaked them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>'WARE THE SAND!</h3> + + +<p>As the gully in which they had gone to rest was too narrow to permit of +them lying side by side, they were disposed in a sort of lengthened +chain, with their heads all turned in the same direction. The bottom of +the ravine, as already stated, had a slight inclination; and they had, +of course, placed themselves so that their heads should be higher than +their feet.</p> + +<p>The old sailor was at the lower end of this singular series, with the +feet of Harry Blount just above the crown of his head. Above the head of +Harry were the heels of Terence O'Connor; and, at the top of all, +reclined Colin,—in the place where he had first stretched himself.</p> + +<p>On account of the slope of the ground, the four were thus disposed in a +sort of <i>échelon</i> formation, of which Old Bill was the base. They had +dropped into their respective positions, one after the other, as they +lay.</p> + +<p>The sailor had been the last to commit himself to this curious couch; he +was also the last to surrender to sleep. For some time after the others +had become unconscious of outward impressions, he lay listening to the +"sough" of the sea, and the sighing of the breeze, as it blew along the +smooth sides of the sand-hills.</p> + +<p>He did not remain awake for any great length of time. He was wearied, as +well as his young comrades; and soon also yielded his spirit to the +embrace of the god Somnus.</p> + +<p>Before doing so, however, he had made an observation,—one of a +character not likely to escape the notice of an old mariner such as he. +He had become conscious that a storm was brewing in the sky. The sudden +shadowing of the heavens;—the complete disappearance of the moon, +leaving even the white landscape in darkness;—her red color as she went +out of sight;—the increased noise caused by the roaring of the +breakers; and the louder "swishing" of the wind itself, which began to +blow in quick gusty puffs; all these sights and sounds admonished him +that a gale was coming on.</p> + +<p>He instinctively noted these signs; and on board ship would have heeded +them,—so far as to have alarmed the sleeping watch, and counselled +precaution.</p> + +<p>But stretched upon terra firma—not so very firm had he but known +it—between two huge hills, where he and his companions were tolerably +well sheltered from the wind, it never occurred to the old salt, that +they could be in any danger; and simply muttering to himself, "the storm +be blowed!" he laid his weather-beaten face upon the pillow of soft +sand, and delivered himself up to deep slumber.</p> + +<p>The silent prediction of the sailor turned out a true forecast. Sure +enough there came a storm; which, before the castaways had been half an +hour asleep, increased to a tempest. It was one of those sudden +uprisings of the elements common in all tropical countries, but +especially so in the desert tracts of Arabia and Africa,—where the +atmosphere, rarefied by heat, and becoming highly volatile, suddenly +loses its equilibrium, and rushes like a destroying angel over the +surface of the earth.</p> + +<p>The phenomenon that had broken over the arenaceous couch,—upon which +slept the four castaways,—was neither more nor less than a +"sand-storm;" or, to give it its Arab title, a <i>simoom</i>.</p> + +<p>The misty vapor that late hung suspended in the atmosphere had been +swept away by the first puff of the wind; and its place was now occupied +by a cloud equally dense, though perhaps not so constant,—a cloud of +white sand lifted from the surface of the earth, and whirled high up +towards heaven,—even far out over the waters of the ocean.</p> + +<p>Had it been daylight, huge volumes, of what might have appeared dust, +might have been seen rolling over the ridges of sand,—here swirling +into rounded pillar-like shapes, that could easily have been mistaken +for solid columns, standing for a time in one place, then stalking over +the summits of the hills, or suddenly breaking into confused and +cumbering masses; while the heavier particles, no longer kept in +suspension by the rotatory whirl, might be seen spilling back towards +the earth, like a sand-shower projected downward through some gigantic +"screen."</p> + +<p>In the midst of this turbulent tempest of wind and sand—with not a +single drop of rain,—the castaways continued to sleep.</p> + +<p>One might suppose—as did the old man-o'-war's-man before going to +sleep—that they were not in any danger; not even as much as if their +couch had been under the roof of a house, or strewn amid the leaves of +the forest. There were no trees to be blown down upon them, no bricks +nor large chimney-pots to come crashing through the ceiling, and crush +them as they lay upon their beds.</p> + +<p>What danger could there be among the "dunes?"</p> + +<p>Not much to a man awake, and with open eyes. In such a situation, there +might be discomfort, but no danger.</p> + +<p>Different however, was it with the slumbering castaways. Over them a +peril was suspended—a real peril—of which perhaps, on that night not +one of them was dreaming—and in which, perhaps, not one of them would +have put belief,—but for the experience of it they were destined to be +taught before the morning.</p> + +<p>Could an eye have looked upon them as they lay, it would have beheld a +picture sufficiently suggestive of danger. It would have seen four human +figures stretched along the bottom of a narrow ravine, longitudinally +aligned with one another—their heads all turned one way, and in point +of elevation slightly <i>en échelon</i>—it would have noted that these forms +were asleep, that they were already half buried in sand, which, +apparently descending from the clouds was still settling around them; +and that, unless one or other of them awoke, all four should certainly +become "smoored."</p> + +<p>What does this mean? Merely a slight inconvenience arising from having +the mouth, ears, and nostrils obstructed by sand, which a little +choking, and sneezing, and coughing would soon remove.</p> + +<p>Ask the Highland shepherd who has imprudently gone to sleep under the +"blowin' sna'"; question the Scandinavian, whose calling compels him to +encamp on the open "fjeld"; interrogate Swede or Norwegian, Finn or +Lapp, and you may discover the danger of being "smoored."</p> + +<p>That would be in the snow,—the light, vascular, porous, permeable +snow,—under which a human being may move, and through which he may +breathe,—though tons of it may be superpoised above his body,—the snow +that, while imprisoning its victim, also gives him warmth, and affords +him shelter,—perilous as that shelter may be.</p> + +<p>Ask the Arab what it is to be "smoored" by sand; question the wild +Bedouin of the Bled-el-jereed,—the Tuarick and Tiboo of the Eastern +Desert,—they will tell you it is danger often <i>death</i>!</p> + +<p>Little dreamt the four sleepers as they lay unconscious under that swirl +of sand,—little even would they have suspected, if awake,—that there +was danger in the situation.</p> + +<p>There was, for all that, a danger, great as it was imminent,—the +danger, not only of their being "smoored," but stifled, suffocated, +buried fathoms deep under the sands of the Saära, for fathoms deep will +often be the drift of a single night.</p> + +<p>The Arabs say that, once "submerged" beneath the arenaceous "flood," a +man loses the power to extricate himself. His energies are suspended, +his senses become numbed and torpid—in short, he feels as one who goes +to sleep in a snow-storm.</p> + +<p>It may be true; but, whether or no, it seemed as if the four English +castaways had been stricken with this inexplicable paralysis. Despite +the hoarse roaring of the breakers, despite the shrieking and whistling +of the wind, despite the dust constantly being deposited on their +bodies, and entering ears, mouth, and nostrils,—despite the stifling +sensation one would suppose they must have felt, and which should have +awakened them,—despite all, they continued to sleep. It seemed as if +that sleep was to be eternal!</p> + +<p>If they heard not the storm that raged savagely above them, if they felt +not the sand that pressed heavily upon them, what was there to warn, +what to arouse them from that ill-starred slumber?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>A MYSTERIOUS NIGHTMARE.</h3> + + +<p>The four castaways had been asleep for a couple of hours,—that is, from +the time that, following the example of the young Scotchman, they had +stretched themselves along the bottom of the ravine. It was not quite an +hour, however, since the commencement of the sand-storm; and yet in this +short time the arenaceous dust had accumulated to the thickness of +several inches upon their bodies; and a person passing the spot, or even +stepping right over them, could not have told that four human beings +were buried beneath,—that is, upon the supposition that they would have +lain still, and not got startled from their slumbers by the foot thus +treading upon them.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it was a fortunate circumstance for them, that by such a +contingency they might be awakened, and that by such they <i>were</i> +awakened.</p> + +<p>Otherwise their sleep might have been protracted into the still deeper +sleep—from which there is no awaking.</p> + +<p>All four had begun to feel—if any sensation while asleep can be so +called—a sense of suffocation, accompanied by a heaviness of the limbs +and torpidity in the joints,—as if some immense weight was pressing +upon their bodies, that rendered it impossible for them to stir either +toe or finger. It was a sensation similar to that so well known, and so +much dreaded, under the name of <i>nightmare</i>. It may have been the very +same; and was, perhaps, brought on as much by the extreme weariness they +all felt, as by the superincumbent weight of the sand.</p> + +<p>Their heads, lying higher than their bodies, were not so deeply buried +under the drift; which, blown lightly over their faces, still permitted +the atmosphere to pass through it. Otherwise their breathing would have +been stopped altogether; and death must have been the necessary +consequence.</p> + +<p>Whether it was a genuine nightmare or no, it was accompanied by all the +horrors of this phenomenon. As they afterwards declared, all four felt +its influence, each in his own way dreaming of some fearful fascination +from which he could make no effort to escape. Strange enough, their +dreams were different. Harry Blount thought he was falling over a +precipice; Colin that a gigantic ogre had got hold of and was going to +eat him up; while the young Hibernian fancied himself in the midst of a +conflagration, a dwelling house on fire, from which he could not get +out!</p> + +<p>Old Bill's delusion was more in keeping with their situation,—or at +least with that out of which they had lately escaped. He simply supposed +that he was submerged in the sea, and as he knew he could not swim, it +was but natural for him to fancy that he was drowning.</p> + +<p>Still, he could make no struggle; and, as he would have done this, +whether able to swim or not, his dream did not exactly resemble the real +thing.</p> + +<p>The sailor was the first to escape from the uncomfortable <i>incubus</i>; +though there was but an instant between the awakening of all. They were +startled out of their sleep, one after another, in the order in which +they lay, and inversely to that in which they had lain down.</p> + +<p>Their awakening was as mysterious as the nightmare itself, and scarce +relieved them from the horror which the latter had been occasioning.</p> + +<p>All felt in turn, and in quick succession, a heavy crushing pressure, +either on the limbs or body, which had the effect, not only to startle +them from their sleep, but caused them considerable pain.</p> + +<p>Twice was this pressure applied, almost exactly on the same spot, and +with scarce a second's interval between the applications. It could not +well have been repeated a third time with like exactness, even had such +been the design of whatever creature was causing it; for, after the +second squeeze, each had recovered sufficient consciousness to know he +was in danger of being crushed, and make a desperate effort to withdraw +himself.</p> + +<p>The exclamations, proceeding from four sets of lips, told that all were +still in the land of the living; but the confused questioning that +followed did nothing towards elucidating the cause of that sudden and +almost simultaneous uprising.</p> + +<p>There was too much sneezing and coughing to permit of anything like +clear or coherent speech. The <i>shumu</i> was still blowing. There was sand +in the mouths and nostrils of all four, and dust in their eyes. Their +talk more resembled the jibbering of apes, who had unwisely intruded +into a snuff shop, than the conversation of four rational beings.</p> + +<p>It was some time before any one of them could shape his speech, so as to +be understood by the others; and, after all had at length succeeded in +making themselves intelligible, it was found that each had the same +story to tell. Each had felt two pressures on some part of his person; +and had seen, though very indistinctly, some huge creature passing over +him,—apparently a quadruped, though what sort of quadruped none of them +could tell. All they knew was, that it was a gigantic, uncouth creature, +with a narrow body and neck, and very long legs; and that it had feet +there could be no doubt: since it was these that had pressed so heavily +upon them.</p> + +<p>But for the swirl of the sand-storm, and the dust already in their eyes, +they might have been able to give a better description of the creature +that had so unceremoniously stepped over them. These impediments, +however, had hindered them from obtaining a fair view of it; and some +animal,—grotesquely shaped, with a long neck, body, and legs,—was the +image which remained in the excited minds of the awakened sleepers.</p> + +<p>Whatever it was, they were all sufficiently frightened to stand for some +time trembling. Just awaking from such dreams, it was but natural they +should surrender themselves to strange imaginings; and instead of +endeavoring to identify the odd-looking animal, if animal it was, they +were rather inclined to set it down as some creature of a supernatural +kind.</p> + +<p>The three midshipmen were but boys, not so long from the nursery as to +have altogether escaped from the weird influence which many a nursery +tale had wrapped around them; and as for old Bill, fifty years spent in +"ploughing the ocean" had only confirmed <i>him</i> in the belief, that the +"black art" is not so mythical as philosophers would have us think.</p> + +<p>So frightened were all four, that, after the first ebullition of their +surprise had subsided, they no longer gave utterance to speech, but +stood listening, and trembling as they listened. Perhaps, had they known +the service which the intruder had done for them, they might have felt +gratitude towards it, instead of the suspicion and dread that for some +moments kept them, as if spell-bound, in their places. It did not occur +to any of the party, that that strange summons from sleep—more +effective than the half-whispered invitation of a <i>valet-de-chambre</i>, or +the ringing of a breakfast-bell—had in all probability rescued them +from a silent, but certain death.</p> + +<p>They stood, as I have said, listening. There were several distinct +sounds that saluted their ears. There was the "sough" of the sea, as it +came swelling up the gorge; the "whish" of the wind, as it impinged upon +the crests of the ridges; and the "swish" of the sand as it settled +around them.</p> + +<p>All these were the voices of inanimate objects,—phenomena of nature, +easily understood. But, rising above them, were heard sounds of a +different character, which, though they might be equally natural, were +not equally familiar to those who listened to them.</p> + +<p>There was a sort of dull battering,—as if some gigantic creature was +performing a Terpsichorean feat upon the sand-bank above them; but +sharper sounds were heard at intervals,—screams commingled with short +snortings, both proclaiming something of the nature of a struggle.</p> + +<p>Neither in the screams nor the snortings was there anything that the +listeners could identify as sounds they had ever heard before. They were +alike perplexing to the ears of English, Irish, and Scotch. Even old +Bill, who had heard, sometime or other, nearly every sound known to +creation, could not classify them.</p> + +<p>"Divil take thim!" whispered he to his companions, "I dinna know what to +make av it. It be hawful to 'ear 'em!"</p> + +<p>"Hark!" ejaculated Harry Blount.</p> + +<p>"Hish!" exclaimed Terence.</p> + +<p>"Wheesh!" muttered Colin. "It's coming nearer, whatever it may be. +Wheesh!"</p> + +<p>There could be no doubt about the truth of this conjecture; for as the +caution passed from the lips of the young Scotchman, the dull hammering, +the snorts, and the unearthly screams were evidently drawing +nearer,—though the creature that was causing them was unseen through +the thick sand-mist still surrounding the listeners. These, however, +heard enough to know that some heavy body was making a rapid descent +down the sloping gorge, and with an impetuosity that rendered it prudent +for them to get out of its way.</p> + +<p>More by an instinct, than from any correct appreciation of the danger, +all four fell back from the narrow trench in which they had been +standing,—each, as he best could, retreating up the declivity of the +sand-hill.</p> + +<p>Scarce were they able to obtain footing in their new position, when the +sounds they had heard not only became louder and nearer, but the +creature that had been causing them paused close to their feet,—so +close that most of them could have touched it with their toes.</p> + +<p>For all that, not one of the party could tell what it was; and after it +had passed,—on its way down the ravine,—and was once more lost to +their view amid the swirling sand, they were not a bit further advanced +in their knowledge of the strange creature that had come so near +crushing out their existence with its ponderous weight!</p> + +<p>All that they had been able to see was a conglomeration of dark +objects,—resembling the head, neck, body, and limbs of some uncouth +animal,—while the sounds that proceeded from it were like utterances +that might have come from some other world; for certainly they had but +slight resemblance to anything the castaways had ever heard in +this—either upon sea, or land!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE MAHERRY.</h3> + + +<p>For some length of time they stood conjecturing,—the boys with clasped +hands,—Old Bill near, but apart.</p> + +<p>During this time, at intervals, they continued to hear the sounds that +had so astonished them—the stamping, the snorts, and the screaming, +though they no longer saw the creature that caused them.</p> + +<p>The sand gully opened towards the sea, in a diagonal direction. It could +not be many yards to the spot, where it debouched upon the level of the +beach; and the creature that had caused them such a surprise—and was +still continuing to occupy their thoughts—must have reached this level +surface: though not to suspend its exertions. Every now and then could +be heard the same repetition of dull noises,—as if some animal was +kicking itself to death,—varied by trumpet-like snorts and agonizing +screams, which could be likened to the cry of no animal upon earth.</p> + +<p>But that the castaways knew they were on the coast of Africa,—that +continent renowned for strange existences,—they might have been even +more disposed to a supernatural belief in what was near them; but as the +minutes passed, and their senses began to return to them, they became +more inclined to think that what they had seen, heard, and <i>felt</i>, might +be only some animal—a heavy quadruped—that had trampled over them in +their sleep.</p> + +<p>The chief difficulty in reconciling this belief with the actual +occurrence was the odd behavior of the animal. Why had it gone up the +gorge, apparently <i>parenti passu</i>, to come tumbling down again in such a +confused fashion? Why was it still kicking and stumbling about at the +bottom of the ravine,—for such did the sounds proclaim it to be doing?</p> + +<p>No answer could be given to either of these questions; and none was +given, until day dawned over the sand-hills. This was soon after; and +along with the morning light had come the cessation of the simoom.</p> + +<p>Then saw the castaways that creature that had so abruptly awakened them +from their slumbers,—and, by so doing, perhaps, saved their lives. They +saw it recumbent at the bottom of the gorge, where they had so uneasily +passed the night.</p> + +<p>It proved to be—what from the slight glimpse they had got of it, they +were inclined to believe—an animal, and a quadruped; and if it had +presented an uncouth appearance, as it stepped over them in the +darkness, not less so did it appear as they now beheld it, under the +light of day.</p> + +<p>It was an animal of very large size,—in height far exceeding a +horse,—but of such a grotesque shape as to be easily recognizable by +any one who had ever glanced into a picture-book of quadrupeds. The long +craning neck, with an almost earless head and gibbous profile; the great +straggling limbs, callous at the knees, and ending in broad, wide +splitting hooves; the slender hind-quarters, and tiny, tufted +tail,—both ludicrously disproportioned,—the tumid, misshapen trunk; +but, above all, the huge hunch rising above the shoulders, at once +proclaimed the creature to be a dromedary.</p> + +<p>"Och! it's only a kaymal!" cried Old Bill, as soon as the daylight +enabled him to get a fair view of the animal. "What on hearth is it +doin' 'ere?"</p> + +<p>"Sure enough," suggested Terence, "it was this beast that stepped over +us while we were asleep! It almost squeezed the breath out of me, for it +set its hoof right upon the pit of my stomach."</p> + +<p>"The same with me," said Colin. "It sunk me down nearly a foot into the +sand. Ah, we have reason to be thankful there was that drift-sand over +our bodies at the time. If not, the great brute might have crushed us to +death!"</p> + +<p>There was some truth in Colin's observation. But for the covering of +sand,—which acted as a cushion,—and also from that which formed their +couch yielding beneath them, the hoof of the great quadruped might have +caused them a serious injury. As it was, none of them had received any +hurt beyond the fright which the strange intruder had occasioned them.</p> + +<p>The singular incident was yet only half explained. They saw it was a +camel that had disturbed their slumbers; that the animal had been on its +way up the ravine,—perhaps seeking shelter from the sand-storm; but +what had caused it to return so suddenly back down the slope? Above all, +why had it made the downward journey in such a singular manner? Obscure +as had been their view of it, they could see that it did not go on +all-fours, but apparently tumbling and struggling,—its long limbs +kicking about in the air, as if it was performing the descent by a +series of somersaults.</p> + +<p>All this had been mysterious enough; but it was soon explained to the +satisfaction of the four castaways, who, as soon as they saw the camel +by the bottom of the gorge, had rushed down and surrounded it.</p> + +<p>The animal was in a recumbent position,—not as if it had lain down to +rest, but in a constrained attitude, with its long neck drawn in towards +its forelegs, and its head lying low and half-buried in the sand!</p> + +<p>As it was motionless when they first perceived it, they fancied it was +dead,—that something had wounded it above. This would have explained +the fantastic fashion in which it had returned down the slope,—as the +somersaults observed might have been only a series of death struggles.</p> + +<p>On getting around it, however, they perceived that it was not only still +alive, but in perfect health; and its late mysterious movements were +accounted for at a single glance. A strong hair halter, firmly noosed +around its head, had got caught in the bifurcation of one of its +fore-hoofs, where a knot upon the rope had hindered it from slipping +through the deep split. This had first caused it to trip up, and tumble +head over heels,—inaugurating that series of struggles which had ended +in transporting it back to the bottom of the ravine,—where it now lay +with the trailing end of the long halter knotted inextricably around its +legs.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3>A LIQUID BREAKFAST.</h3> + + +<p>Melancholy as was the situation of the self-caught camel, it was a +joyful sight to those who beheld it. Hungry as they were, its flesh +would provide them with food; and thirsting as they were, they knew that +inside its stomach would be found a supply of water!</p> + +<p>Such were their first thoughts as they came around it.</p> + +<p>They soon perceived, however, that to satisfy the latter appetite it +would not be necessary for them to kill the camel. Upon the top of its +hump was a small, flat pad or saddle, firmly held in its place by a +strong leathern band passing under the animal's belly. This proved it to +be a "maherry," or riding camel,—one of those swift creatures used by +the Arabs in their long rapid journeys across the deserts; and which are +common among the tribes inhabiting the Saära.</p> + +<p>It was not this saddle that gratified the eyes of our adventurers, but a +bag, tightly strapped to it, and resting behind the hump of the maherry. +This bag was of goat-skin, and upon examination was found to be nearly +half-full of water. It was, in fact, the "Gerba," or water-skin, +belonging to whoever had been the owner of the animal,—an article of +camel equipment more essential than the saddle itself.</p> + +<p>The four castaways, suffering the torture of thirst, made no scruple +about appropriating the contents of the bag, and, in the shortest +possible time, it was stripped from the back of the maherry, its stopper +taken out, and the precious fluid extracted from it by all four, in +greedy succession, until its light weight and collapsed sides declared +it to be empty.</p> + +<p>Their thirst being thus opportunely assuaged, a council was next held, +as to what they should do to appease the other appetite.</p> + +<p>Should they kill the camel?</p> + +<p>It appeared to be their only chance; and the impetuous Terence had +already unsheathed his midshipman's dirk, with the design of burying it +in the body of the animal.</p> + +<p>Colin, however, more prudent in counsel, cried to him to hold his +hand,—at least until they should give the subject a more thorough +consideration.</p> + +<p>On this suggestion they proceeded to debate the point between them. They +were of different opinions, and equally divided. Two,—Terence and Harry +Blount,—were for immediately killing the maherry, and making their +breakfast upon its flesh; while the sailor joined Colin in voting that +it should be reprieved.</p> + +<p>"Let us first make use of the animal to help carry us somewhere," urged +the young Scotchman. "We can go without food a day longer. Then, if we +find nothing, we can butcher this beast."</p> + +<p>"But what's to be found in such a country as this?" inquired Harry +Blount. "Look around you! There's nothing green but the sea itself. +There isn't anything eatable within sight,—not so much as would make a +dinner for a dormouse!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," rejoined Colin, "when we've travelled a few miles, we may +come upon a different sort of country. We can keep along the coast. Why +shouldn't we find shell-fish,—enough to keep us alive? See,—yonder's a +dark place down upon the beach. I shouldn't wonder if there's some +there."</p> + +<p>The glances of all were instantly directed towards the beach,—excepting +those of Sailor Bill. His were fixed on a different object; and an +exclamation that escaped him—as well as a movement that accompanied +it—arrested the attention of his companions, causing them to turn their +eyes upon him.</p> + +<p>"Shell-fish be blow'd," cried Bill, "here's something better for +breakfast than cowld oysters. Look!"</p> + +<p>The sailor, as he spoke, pointed to an oval-shaped object, something +larger than a cocoa-nut, appearing between the hind legs of the maherry.</p> + +<p>"It's a shemale!" added he, "and's had a calf not long ago. Look at the +'eldher,' and them tits. They're swelled wi' milk. There'll be enough +for the whole of us, I warrant yez."</p> + +<p>As if to make sure of what he said, the sailor dropped down upon his +knees by the hind-quarters of the prostrate camel; and, taking one of +the teats in his mouth, commenced drawing forth the lacteal fluid which +the udder contained.</p> + +<p>The animal made no resistance. It might have wondered at the curious +"calf" that had thus attached himself to its teats; but only at the +oddness of his color and costume; for no doubt it had often before been +similarly served by its African owner.</p> + +<p>"Fust rate!" cried Bill, desisting for a moment to take breath. "Ayqual +to the richest crame; if we'd only a bite av bred to go along wi' it, or +some av your Scotch porritch, Master Colin. But I forgets. My brave +youngsters," continued he, rising up and standing to one side, "yez be +all hungrier than I am. Go it, wan after another: there'll be enough for +yez all."</p> + +<p>Thus invited, and impelled by their hungry cravings, the three, one +after another, knelt down as the sailor had done, and drank copiously +from that sweet "fountain of the desert."</p> + +<p>Taking it in turns, they continued "sucking," until each had swallowed +about a pint and a half of the nutritious fluid when, the udder of the +camel becoming dry, told that her supply of milk was, for the time, +exhausted.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h3>THE SAILOR AMONG THE SHELL-FISH.</h3> + + +<p>It was no longer a question of slaying the camel. That would be killing +the goose that gave the golden eggs. Though they were still very hungry, +the rich milk had to some extent taken the keen edge off their +appetites; and all declared they could now go several hours without +eating.</p> + +<p>The next question was: where were they to go?</p> + +<p>The reader may wonder that this was a question at all. Having been told +that the camel carried a saddle, and was otherwise caparisoned, it will +naturally be conjectured that the animal had got loose from some owner, +and was simply straying. This was the very hypothesis that passed before +the mind of our adventurers. How could they have conjectured otherwise?</p> + +<p>Indeed it was scarce a guess. The circumstances told them to a certainty +that the camel must have strayed from its owner. The only question was: +where that owner might be found.</p> + +<p>By reading, or otherwise, they possessed enough knowledge of the coast, +on which they had been cast away, to know that the proprietor of the +"stray" would be some kind of an Arab; and that he would be found +living—not in a house or a town—but in a tent; in all likelihood +associated with a number of other Arabs, in an "encampment."</p> + +<p>It required not much reasoning to arrive at these conclusions; and our +adventurers had come to them almost on that instant, when they first set +eyes on the caparisoned camel.</p> + +<p>You may wonder that they did not instantly set forth in search of the +master of the maherry; or of the tent or encampment from which the +latter should have strayed. One might suppose, that this would have been +their first movement.</p> + +<p>On the contrary, it was likely to be their very last; and for sufficient +reasons,—which will be discovered in the conversation that ensued, +after they had swallowed their liquid breakfasts.</p> + +<p>Terence had proposed adopting this course,—that is, to go in search of +the man from whom the maherry must have wandered. The young Irishman had +never been a great reader,—at all events no account of the many +"lamentable shipwrecks on the Barbary coast" had ever fallen into his +hands,—and he knew nothing of the terrible reputation of its people. +Neither had Bill obtained any knowledge of it from books; but, for all +that,—thanks to many a forecastle yarn,—the old sailor was well +informed both about the character of the coast on which they had +suffered shipwreck, and its inhabitants. Bill had the best of reasons +for dreading the denizens of the Saäran desert.</p> + +<p>"Sure they're not cannibals?" urged Terence. "They won't eat us, any +how?"</p> + +<p>"In troth I'm not so shure av that, Masther Terry," replied Bill. "Even +supposin' they won't ate us, they'll do worse."</p> + +<p>"Worse!"</p> + +<p>"Aye, worse, I tell you. They'd torture us, till death would be a +blissin'."</p> + +<p>"How do you know they would?"</p> + +<p>"Ach, Masther Terry!" sighed the old sailor, assuming an air of +solemnity, such as his young comrades had never before witnessed upon +his usually cheerful countenance; "I could tell yez something that 'ud +convince ye of the truth av what I've been sayin', an' that'll gie ye a +hidear av what we've got to expect if we fall into the 'ands av these +feerocious Ayrabs."</p> + +<p>Bill had already hinted at the prospective peril of an encounter with +the people of the country.</p> + +<p>"Tell us, Bill. What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Well, young masthers, it beant much,—only that my own brother was +wrecked som'ere on this same coast. That was ten years agone. He never +returned to owld Hengland."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he was drowned?"</p> + +<p>"Betther for 'im, poor boy, if he 'ad. No, he 'adn't that luck. The +crew,—it was a tradin' vessel, and there was tin o' them,—all got safe +ashore. They were taken prisoners as they landed by a lot o' Ayrabs. +Only one av the tin got home to tell the tale; and he wouldn't a 'ad the +chance but for a Jew merchant at Mogador, that found he had rich +relations as 'ud pay well to ransom him. I see him a wee while after he +got back to Hengland; and he tell me what he had to go through, and my +hown brother as well: for Jim,—that be my brother's name,—was with the +tribe as took 'im up the counthry. None o' yez iver heerd o' cruelties +like they 'ad to put up with. Death in any way would be aisy, compared +to what they 'ad to hendure. Poor Jim! I suppose he's dead long ago. +Tough as I be myself, I don't believe I could a stood it a week,—let +alone tin years. Talk o' knockin' about like a Turk's head. They were +knocked about, an' beat, an' bullied, an' kicked, an' starved,—worse +than the laziest lubber as ever skulked about the decks o' a ship. No, +Masther Terry, we mustn't think av thryin' to find the owner av the +beest; but do everythink we can to keep out o' the way av both him and +his."</p> + +<p>"What would you advise us to do, Bill?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know much 'bout where we be," replied the sailor; "but +wheresomever it is, our best plan are to hug by the coast, an' keep +within sight o' the water. If we go innard, we're sure to get lost one +way or t' other. By keepin' south'ard we may come to some thradin' port +av the Portagee."</p> + +<p>"We'd better start at once, then," suggested the impatient Terence.</p> + +<p>"No, Masther Terry," said the sailor; "not afore night. We musn't leave +'eer till it gets dark. We'll 'ave to thravel betwane two days."</p> + +<p>"What!" simultaneously exclaimed the three midshipmen. "Stay here till +night! Impossible!"</p> + +<p>"Aye, lads! an' we must hide, too. Shure as ye are livin' there'll be +somebody afther this sthray kaymal,—in a wee while, too, as ye'll see. +If we ventured out durin' the daylight, they'd be sure to see us from +the 'ills. It's sayed, the thievin' schoundrels always keep watch when +there's been a wreck upon the coast; an' I'll be bound this beest +belongs to some av them same wreckers."</p> + +<p>"But what shall we do for food?" asked one of the party; "we'll be +famished before nightfall! The camel, having nothing to eat or drink, +won't yield any more milk."</p> + +<p>This interrogative conjecture was probably too near the truth. No one +made answer to it. Colin's eyes were again turned towards the beach. +Once more he directed the thoughts of his comrades to the shell-fish.</p> + +<p>"Hold your hands, youngsthers," said the sailor. "Lie close 'eer behind +the 'ill, an' I'll see if there's any shell-fish that we can make a meal +av. Now that the sun's up, it won't do to walk down there. I must make a +crawl av it."</p> + +<p>So saying, the old salt, after skulking some distance farther down the +sand gully, threw himself flat upon his face, and advanced in this +attitude, like some gigantic lizard crawling across the sand.</p> + +<p>The tide was out; but the wet beach, lately covered by the sea, +commenced at a short distance from the base of the "dunes."</p> + +<p>After a ten minutes' struggle, Bill succeeded in reaching the +dark-looking spot where Colin had conjectured there might be shell-fish.</p> + +<p>The old sailor was soon seen busily engaged about something; and from +his movements it was evident, that his errand was not to prove +fruitless. His hands were extended in different directions; and then at +short intervals withdrawn, and plunged into the capacious pockets of his +pea-jacket.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus3" id="illus3"></a> +<img src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3> THE OLD SAILOR SUCCEEDS IN GATHERING SOME SHELL-FISH.</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<p>After these gestures had been continued for about half an hour, he was +seen to "slew" himself round, and come crawling back towards the +sand-hills.</p> + +<p>His return was effected more slowly than his departure; and it could be +seen that he was heavily weighted.</p> + +<p>On getting back into the gorge, he was at once relieved of his load, +which proved to consist of about three hundred "cockles,"—as he called +the shell-fish he had collected,—and which were found to be a species +of mussel.</p> + +<p>They were not only edible, but delicious,—at least they seemed so to +those who were called upon to swallow them.</p> + +<p>This seasonable supply did a great deal towards allaying the appetites +of all; and even Terence now declared himself contented to remain +concealed, until night should afford them an opportunity of escape from +the monotony of their situation.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h3>KEEPING UNDER COVER.</h3> + + +<p>From the spot, where the camel still lay couched in his "entetherment," +the sea was not visible to one lying along the ground. It was only by +standing erect, and looking over a spur of the sand-ridge, that the +beach could be seen, and the ocean beyond it.</p> + +<p>There would be no danger, therefore, of their being discovered, by any +one coming along the strand—provided they kept in a crouching attitude +behind the ridge, which, sharply crested, like a snow-wreath, formed a +sort of parapet in front of them. They might have been easily seen from +the summit of any of the "dunes" to the rear; but there was not much +likelihood of any one approaching them in that direction. The country +inward appeared to be a labyrinth of sand-hills—with no opening that +would indicate a passage for either man or beast. The camel, in all +probability, had taken to the gorge—guided by its instincts—there to +seek shelter from the sand-storm. The fact of its carrying a saddle +showed that its owner must have been upon the march, at the time it +escaped from him. Had our adventurers been better acquainted with Saäran +customs, they would have concluded that this had been the case: for they +would have known that, on the approach of a "shuma"—the "forecasts" of +which are well known—the Bedouins at once, and in all haste, break up +their encampments; and put themselves, and their whole personal +property, in motion. Otherwise, they would be in danger of getting +smoored under the settling sand-drift.</p> + +<p>Following the counsels of the sailor—whose desert knowledge appeared as +extensive as if it, and not the sea, had been his habitual home—our +adventurers crouched down in such a way as not to be seen by any one +passing along the beach.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had they placed themselves in this humble attitude, when Old +Bill—who had been keeping watch all the while, with only the upper half +of his head elevated above the combing of the sand-wreath—announced, by +a low exclamation, that something was in sight.</p> + +<p>Two dark forms were seen coming along the shore, from the southward; but +at so great a distance that it was impossible to tell what sort of +creatures they might turn out.</p> + +<p>"Let me have a look," proposed Colin. "By good luck, I've got my glass. +It was in my pocket as we escaped from the ship; and I didn't think of +throwing it away."</p> + +<p>As the young Scotchman spoke, he took from the breast of his dreadnought +jacket, a small telescope,—which, when drawn out to its full extent, +exhibited a series of tubes, <i>en échelon</i>, about half a yard in length. +Directing it upon the dark objects,—at the same time taking the +precaution to keep his own head as low down as possible,—he at once +proclaimed their character.</p> + +<p>"They're two bonny bodies," said he, "dressed in all the colors of the +rainbow. I can see bright shawls, and red caps, and striped cloaks. One +is mounted on a horse; the other bestrides a camel,—just such a one as +this by our side. They're coming along slowly; and appear to be staring +about them."</p> + +<p>"Ah, that be hit," said Old Bill. "It be the howners of this 'eer brute. +They be on the sarch for her. Lucky the drift-sand hae covered her +tracks,—else they'd come right on to us. Lie low, Masther Colin. We +mayn't show our heeds over the combin' o' the sand. They'd be sure to +see the size o' a saxpence. We maun keep awthegither oot o' sicht."</p> + +<p>One of the old sailor's peculiarities—or, perhaps, it may have been an +eccentricity—was, that in addressing himself to his companions, he was +almost sure to assume the national <i>patois</i> of the individual spoken to. +In anything like a continued conversation with Harry Blount, his "h's" +were handled in a most unfashionable manner; and while talking with +Terence, the Milesian came from his lips, in a brogue almost as pure as +Tipperary could produce.</p> + +<p>In a <i>tête-à-tête</i> with Colin, the listener might have sworn that Bill +was more Scotch than the young Macpherson himself.</p> + +<p>Colin perceived the justice of the sailor's suggestion; and immediately +ducked his head below the level of the parapet of sand.</p> + +<p>This placed our adventurers in a position at once irksome and uncertain. +Curiosity, if nothing else, rendered them desirous to watch the +movements of the men who were approaching. Without noting these, they +would not be able to tell when they might again raise their heads above +the ridge; and might do so, just at the time when the horseman and the +rider of the maherry were either opposite or within sight of them.</p> + +<p>As the sailor had said, any dark object of the size of a sixpence would +be seen if presented above the smooth combing of snow-white sand; and it +was evident to all that for one of them to look over it might lead to +their being discovered.</p> + +<p>While discussing this point, they knew that some time had elapsed; and, +although the eyes they dreaded might still be distant, they could not +help thinking, that they were near enough to see them if only the hair +of their heads should be shown above the sand.</p> + +<p>They reflected naturally. They knew that these sons of the desert must +be gifted with keen instincts; or, at all events, with an experience +that would enable them to detect the slightest "fault" in the aspect of +a landscape, so well known to them,—in short, that they would notice +anything that might appear "abnormal" in it.</p> + +<p>From that time their situation was one of doubt and anxiety. They dared +not give even as much as a glance over the smooth, snow white sand. They +could only crouch behind it, in anxious expectation, knowing not when +that dubious condition of things could be safely brought to a close.</p> + +<p>Luckily they were relieved from it, and sooner than they had expected. +Colin it was who discovered a way to get out of the difficulty.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" exclaimed he, as an ingenious conception sprang up in his mind. +"I've got an idea that'll do. I'll watch these fellows, without giving +them a chance of seeing me. That will I."</p> + +<p>"How?" asked the others.</p> + +<p>Colin made no verbal reply; but instead, he was seen to insert his +telescope into the sand-parapet, in such a way that its tube passed +clear through to the other side, and of course commanded a view of the +beach, along which the two forms were advancing.</p> + +<p>As soon as he had done so, he placed his eye to the glass, and, in a +cautious whisper, announced that both the horseman and camel-rider were +within his "field of view."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h3>THE TRAIL ON THE SAND.</h3> + + +<p>The tube of the telescope, firmly imbedded in the sand, kept its place +without the necessity of being held in hand. It only required to be +slightly shifted as the horseman and camel-rider changed place,—so as +to keep them within its field of view.</p> + +<p>By this means our adventurers were able to mark their approach and note +every movement they made, without much risk of being seen themselves. +Each of them took a peep through the glass to satisfy their curiosity, +and then the instrument was wholly intrusted to its owner, who was +thenceforth constantly to keep his eye to it, and observe the movements +of the strangers. This the young Scotchman did, at intervals +communicating with his companions in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"I can make out their faces," muttered he, after a time; "and ugly +enough are they. One is yellow, the other black. He must be a negro,—of +course he is,—he's got woolly hair too. It's he that rides the +camel,—just such another as this that stumbled over us. The yellow man +upon the horse has a pointed beard upon his chin. He has a sharp look, +like those Moors we've seen at Tetuan. He's an Arab, I suppose. He +appears to be the master of the black man. I can see him make gestures, +as if he was directing him to do something. There! they have +stopped,—they are looking this way!"</p> + +<p>"Marcy on us!" muttered old Bill, "if they have speered the glass!"</p> + +<p>"Troth! that's like enough," said Terence. "It'll be flashing in the sun +outside the sand. That sharp-eyed Arab is almost sure to see it."</p> + +<p>"Had you not better draw it in?" suggested Harry Blount.</p> + +<p>"True," answered Colin. "But I fear it would be too late now. If that's +what halted them, it's all over with us, so far as hiding goes."</p> + +<p>"Slip it in, any how. If they don't see it any more, they mayn't come +quite up to the ridge."</p> + +<p>Colin was about to follow the advice thus offered, when on taking what +he intended to be a last squint through the telescope, he perceived that +the travellers were moving on up the beach, as if they had seen nothing +that called upon them to deviate from their course.</p> + +<p>Fortunately for the four "stowaways," it was not the sparkle of the lens +that had caused them to make that stop. A ravine, or opening through the +sand-ridges, much larger than that in which our adventurers were +concealed, <i>emboucheed</i> upon the beach, some distance below. It was the +appearance of this opening that had attracted the attention of the two +mounted men; and from their gestures Colin could tell they were talking +about it, as if undecided whether to go that way or keep on up the +strand.</p> + +<p>It ended by the yellow man putting spurs to his horse, and galloping off +up the ravine, followed by the black man on the camel.</p> + +<p>From the way in which both behaved,—keeping their eyes generally bent +upon the ground, but at intervals gazing about over the country,—it was +evident they were in search of something, and this would be the +she-camel that lay tethered in the bottom of the sand-gorge, close to +the spot occupied by our adventurers.</p> + +<p>"They've gone off on the wrong track," said Colin, taking his eye from +the glass as soon as the switch tail of the maherry disappeared behind +the slope of a sand-dune. "So much the better for us. My heart was at my +mouth just a minute ago. I was sure it was all over with us."</p> + +<p>"You think they haven't seen the shine of the lens?" interrogated Harry.</p> + +<p>"Of course not; or else they'd have come on to examine it. Instead, +they've left the beach altogether. They've gone inland, among the hills. +They're no longer in sight."</p> + +<p>"Good!" ejaculated Terence, raising his head over the ridge, as did also +the others.</p> + +<p>"Och! good yez may well say, Masther Terence. Jist look fwhot fools +we've been all four av us! We never thought av the thracks, nayther wan +nor other av us!"</p> + +<p>As Bill spoke, he pointed down towards the beach, in the direction in +which he had made his late crawling excursion. There, distinctly +traceable in the half-wet sand, were the marks he had made both going +and returning, as if a huge tortoise or crocodile had been dragging +itself over the ground.</p> + +<p>The truth of his words was apparent to all. It was chance and not their +cunning that had saved them from discovery. Had the owner of the camel +but continued another hundred yards along the beach, he could not have +failed to see the double "trail" made by the sailor, and of course would +have followed it to the spot where they were hidden. As it was, the two +mounted men had not come near enough to note the sign made by the old +salt in his laborious flounderings; and perhaps fancying they had +followed the strand far enough, they had struck off into the +interior,—through the opening of the sand-hills, in the belief that the +she-camel might have done the same.</p> + +<p>Whatever may have been their reason, they were now gone out of sight, +and the long stretch of desert shore was once more under the eyes of our +adventurers, unrelieved by the appearance of anything that might be +called a living creature.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE "DESERT SHIP."</h3> + + +<p>Though there was now nothing within sight between them, they did not +think it prudent to move out of the gorge, nor even to raise their heads +above the level of the sand-wreath. They did so only at intervals, to +assure themselves that the "coast was clear"; and satisfied on this +score, they would lower their heads again, and remain in this attitude +of concealment.</p> + +<p>One with but slight knowledge of the circumstances—or with the country +in which they were—might consider them over-cautious in acting thus, +and might fancy that in their forlorn, shipwrecked condition they should +have been but too glad to meet men.</p> + +<p>On the contrary, a creature of their own shape was the last thing they +desired either to see or encounter; and for the reasons already given in +their conversation, they could meet no men there who would not be their +enemies,—worse than that, their tyrants, perhaps their torturers. Old +Bill was sure of this from what he had heard. So were Colin and Harry +from what they had read. Terence alone was incredulous as to the cruelty +of which the sailor had given such a graphic picture.</p> + +<p>Terence, however rash he was by nature, allowed himself to be overruled +by his more prudent companions; and therefore, up to the hour when the +twilight began to em-purple the sea, no movement towards stirring from +their place of concealment was made by any of the party.</p> + +<p>The patient camel shared their silent retreat; though they had taken +precautions against its straying from them, had it felt so inclined, by +tying its shanks securely together. Towards evening the animal was again +milked, in the same fashion as in the morning; and, reinvigorated by its +bountiful yield, our adventurers prepared to depart from a spot, of +which, notwithstanding the friendly concealment it had afforded them, +they were all heartily tired.</p> + +<p>Their preparations were easily made, and occupied scarce ten seconds of +time. It was only to untether the camel and take to the road, or, as +Harry jocosely termed it, "unmoor the desert ship and begin their +voyage."</p> + +<p>Just as the last gleam of daylight forsook the white crests of the +sand-hills, and went flickering afar over the blue waters of the ocean, +they stole forth from their hiding-place, and started upon a journey of +which they knew neither the length nor the ending.</p> + +<p>Even of the direction of that undetermined journey they had but a vague +conception. They believed that the coast trended northward and +southward, and that one of these points was the proper one to head for. +It was almost "heads or tails" which of them they should take; and had +they been better acquainted with their true situation, it might as well +have been determined by a toss-up, for any chance they had of ever +arriving at a civilized settlement. But they knew not that. They had a +belief—the old sailor stronger than the rest—that there were +Portuguese forts along the coast, chiefly to the southward, and that by +keeping along shore they might reach one of these. There were such +establishments it is true—still are; and though at that time there were +some nearer to the point where their ship had been wrecked, none were +near enough to be reached by the starving castaway, however +perseveringly he might travel towards them.</p> + +<p>Ignorant of the impracticability of their attempt, our adventurers +entered upon it with a spirit worthy of success,—worthy of the country +from which they had come.</p> + +<p>For some time the maherry was led in hand, old Bill being its conductor. +All four had been well rested during the day, and none of them cared to +ride.</p> + +<p>As the tide, however, was now beginning to creep up into the sundry +inlets, to avoid walking in water, they were compelled to keep well high +up on the beach; and this forced them to make their way through the soft +yielding sand, a course that required considerable exertion.</p> + +<p>Ore after another now began to feel fatigue, and talk about it as well; +and then the proposal was made, that the maherry—who stepped over the +unsure surface with as much apparent lightness as a cat would have +done—should be made to carry at least one of the party. They could ride +in turns, which would give each of them an opportunity of resting.</p> + +<p>No sooner was the proposition made than it was carried into execution. +Terence, who had been the one to advance it, being hoisted in the hump +of the camel.</p> + +<p>But though the young O'Connor had been accustomed to the saddle from +childhood, and had ridden "across country" on many an occasion, it was +not long before he became satisfied with the saddle of a maherry. The +rocking, and jolting, and "pitching," as our adventurers termed it, from +larboard to starboard, fore and aft, and alow and aloft, soon caused +Terence to sing out "enough"; and he descended into the soft sand with a +much greater desire for walking than the moment before he had had for +riding.</p> + +<p>Harry Blount took his place, but although the young Englishman had been +equally accustomed to a hunting-saddle, he found that his experience +went but a little way towards making him easy on the hump of a maherry; +and he was soon in the mood for dismounting.</p> + +<p>The son of Scotia next climbed upon the back of the camel. Whether it +was that natural pride of prowess which oft impels his countrymen to +perseverance and daring deeds,—whether it was that, or whether it arose +from a sterner power of endurance,—certain it is that Colin kept his +seat longer than either of his predecessors.</p> + +<p>But even Scotch sinews could not hold out against such a tension,—such +a bursting and wrenching and tossing,—and it ended by Colin declaring +that upon the whole he would prefer making the journey upon "Shank's +mare."</p> + +<p>Saying this he slid down from the shoulders of the ungainly animal, +resigning the creature once more to the conduct of Old Bill, who had +still kept hold of the halter.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h3>HOMEWARD BOUND.</h3> + + +<p>The experience of his young companions might have deterred the sailor +from imitating their example; more especially as Bill, according to his +own statement, had never been "abroad" a saddle in his life. But they +did not; and for special reasons. Awkward as the old salt might feel in +a saddle, he felt not less awkward <i>afoot</i>. That is ashore,—on <i>terra +firma</i>.</p> + +<p>Place him on the deck of a ship, or in the rigging of one, and no man in +all England's navy could have been more secure as to his footing, or +more difficult to dispossess of it; but set sailor Bill upon shore, and +expect him to go ahead upon it, you would be disappointed: you might as +well expect a fish to make progress on land; and you would witness a +species of locomotion more resembling that of a manatee or a seal, than +of a human biped. As the old man-o'-war's-man had now being floundering +full five weeks through the soft shore-sand, he was thoroughly convinced +that a mode of progression must be preferable to that; and as soon as +the young Scotchman descended from his seat, he climbed into it.</p> + +<p>He had not much climbing to do,—for the well-trained maherry, when any +one wished to mount him, at once knelt down,—making the ascent to his +"summits" as easy as possible.</p> + +<p>Just as the sailor had got firmly into the saddle, the moon shone out +with a brilliance that almost rivalled the light of day. In the midst of +that desert landscape, against the ground of snow-white sand, the +figures of both camel and rider were piquantly conspicuous; and although +the one was figuratively a ship, and the other really a sailor, their +juxtaposition offered a contrast of the queerest kind. So ludicrous did +it seem, that the three "mids," disregarding all ideas of danger, broke +forth with one accord into a strain of loud and continuous laughter.</p> + +<p>They had all seen camels, or pictures of these animals; but never before +either a camel, or the picture of one, <i>with a sailor upon his back</i>. +The very idea of a dromedary carries along with it the cognate spectacle +of an Arab on its back,—a slim, sinewy individual of swarth complexion +and picturesque garb, a bright burnouse steaming around his body, with a +twisted turban on his head. But a tall camel surmounted by a sailor in +dreadnought jacket and sou'-wester, was a picture to make a Solon laugh, +let alone a tier of midshipmen; and it drew from the latter such a +cachinnation as caused the shores of the Saära to echo with sounds of +joy, perhaps never heard there before. Old Bill was not angry, he was +only gratified to see these young gentlemen in such good spirits; and +calling upon them to keep close after him, he gave the halter to his +maherry and started off over the sand.</p> + +<p>For some time his companions kept pace with him, doing their best; but +it soon became apparent, even to the sailor himself, that unless +something was done to restrain the impetuosity of the camel, he must +soon be separated from those following afoot.</p> + +<p>This something its rider felt himself incapable of accomplishing. It is +true he still held the halter in his hand, but this gave him but slight +control over the camel. It was not a mameluke bitt—not even a +snaffle—and for directing the movements of the animal the old sailor +felt himself as helpless as if standing by the wheel of a seventy-four +that had unshipped her rudder. Just like a ship in such a situation did +the maherry behave. Surging through the ocean of soft sand, now mounting +the spurs that trended down to the beach, now descending headlong into +deep gullies, like troughs between the ocean waves, and gliding +silently, gently forward as a shallop upon a smooth sea. Such was the +course that the sailor was pursuing. Very different, however, were his +reflections to those he would have indulged in on board a man-o'-war; +and if any man ever sneered at that simile which likens a camel to a +ship, it was Sailor Bill upon that occasion.</p> + +<p>"Avast there!" cried he, as soon as the maherry had fairly commenced +moving. "Shiver my old timbers! what do yez mean, you brute? Belay +there! belay! 'Ang it, I must pipe all 'ands, an' take in sail. Where +the deevil are ye steerin' to? Be jabers, yez may laugh, young +gentlemen, but this ain't a fair weather craft, I tell yez. Thunder an' +ouns! it be as much as I can do to keep her to her course. Hulloo! she's +off afore the wind!"</p> + +<p>As the rider of the maherry gave out this declaration, the animal was +seen suddenly to increase its speed, not only in a progressive ratio, +but at once to double quick, as if impelled by some powerful motive.</p> + +<p>At the same time it was heard to utter a strange cry, half scream, half +snort, which could not have been caused by any action on the part of its +rider.</p> + +<p>It was already over a hundred yards in advance of those following on +foot; but after giving out that startling cry, the distance became +quickly increased, and in a few seconds of time the three astonished +"mids" saw only the shadow of a maherry, with a sailor upon its back, +first dissolving into dim outline until it finally disappeared behind +the sand dunes that abutted upon the beach.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h3>THE DANCE INTERRUPTED.</h3> + + +<p>Leaving the midshipmen to their mirth, which, however, was not of very +long duration, we must follow Sailor Bill and the runaway camel.</p> + +<p>In reality the maherry had made off with him, though for what reason the +sailor could not divine. He only knew that it was going at the rate of +nine or ten knots an hour, and going its own way; for instead of keeping +to the line of the coast,—the direction he would have wished it to +take,—it had suddenly turned tail upon the sea, and headed towards the +interior of the country.</p> + +<p>Its rider had already discovered that he had not the slightest control +over it. He had tugged upon the hair halter and shouted "Avast!" until +both his arms and tongue were tired. All to no purpose. The camel +scorned his commands, lent a deaf ear to his entreaties, and paid not +the slightest heed to his attempt to pull up, except to push on in the +opposite direction, with its snout elevated in the air and its long +ungainly neck stretched forward in the most determined and provoking +fashion.</p> + +<p>There was not much force in the muscular efforts made to check it. It +was just as much as its rider could do to balance himself on its hump, +which, of course, he had to do Arab-fashion, sitting <i>upon</i> the saddle +as on a chair, with his feet resting upon the back of the animal's neck. +It was this position that rendered his seat so insecure, but no other +could have been adopted in the saddle of a maherry, and the sailor was +compelled to keep it as well as he could.</p> + +<p>At the time the animal first started off, it had not gone at so rapid a +pace but that he might have slipped down upon the soft sand without much +danger of being injured. This for an instant he had thought of doing; +but knowing that while "unhorsing" himself the camel might escape, he +had voluntarily remained on its back, in the hope of being able to pull +the animal up.</p> + +<p>On becoming persuaded that this would be impossible, and that the +maherry had actually made off with him, it was too late to dismount +without danger. The camel was now shambling along so swiftly that he +could not slip down without submitting himself to a fall. It would be no +longer a tumble upon soft sand, for the runaway had suddenly swerved +into a deep gorge, the bottom of which was thickly strewed with boulders +of rock, and through these the maherry was making way with the speed of +a fast-trotting horse.</p> + +<p>Had its rider attempted to abandon his high perch upon the hump, his +chances would have been good for getting dashed against one of the big +boulders, or trodden under the huge hoofs of the maherry itself.</p> + +<p>Fully alive to this danger, Old Bill no more thought of throwing himself +to the ground; but on the contrary, held on to the hump with all the +tenacity that lay in his well-tarred digits.</p> + +<p>He had continued to shout for some time after parting with his +companions; but as this availed nothing, he at length desisted, and was +now riding the rest of his race in silence.</p> + +<p>When was it to terminate? Whither was the camel conducting him? These +were the questions that now came before his mind.</p> + +<p>He thought of an answer, and it filled him with apprehension. The animal +was evidently in eager haste. It was snuffing the wind in its progress +forward; something ahead seemed to be attracting it. What could this +something be but its home, the tent from which it had strayed, the +dwelling of its owner? And who could that owner be but one of those +cruel denizens of the desert they had been taking such pains to avoid?</p> + +<p>The sailor was allowed but little time for conjectures; for almost on +the instant of his shaping this, the very first one, the maherry shot +suddenly round the hip of a hill, bringing him in full view of a +spectacle that realized it.</p> + +<p>A small valley, or stretch of level ground enclosed by surrounding +ridges, lay before him; its gray, sandy surface interspersed by a few +patches of darker color, which the moon, shining brightly from a blue +sky, disclosed to be tufts of tussock-grass and mimosa bushes.</p> + +<p>These, however, did not occupy the attention of the involuntary visitor +to that secluded spot; but something else that appeared in their +midst,—something that proclaimed the presence of human beings.</p> + +<p>Near the centre of the little valley half a dozen dark objects stood up +several feet above the level of the ground. Their size, shape, and color +proclaimed their character. They were tents,—the tents of a Bedouin +encampment. The old man-o'-war's-man had never seen such before; but +there was no mistaking them for anything else,—even going as he was at +a speed that prevented him from having a very clear view of them.</p> + +<p>In a few seconds, however, he was near enough to distinguish something +more than the tents. They stood in a sort of circle of about twenty +yards in diameter, and within this could be seen the forms of men, +women, and children. Around were animals of different sorts,—horses, +camels, sheep, goats, and dogs, grouped according to their kind, with +the exception of the dogs, which appeared to be straying everywhere. +This varied tableau was distinctly visible under the light of a full, +mellow moon.</p> + +<p>There were voices,—shouting and singing. There was music, made upon +some rude instrument. The human forms,—both of men and women,—were in +motion, circling and springing about. The sailor saw they were dancing.</p> + +<p>He heard, and saw, all this in a score of seconds, as the maherry +hurried him forward into their midst. The encampment was close to the +bottom of the hill round which the camel had carried him. He had at +length made up his mind to dismount <i>coute que coute</i>; but there was no +time. Before he could make a movement to fling himself from the +shoulders of the animal, he saw that he was discovered. A cry coming +from the tents admonished him of this fact. It was too late to attempt a +retreat, and, in a state of desponding stupor, he stuck to the saddle. +Not much longer. The camel, with a snorting scream, responding to the +call of its fellows, rushed on into the encampment,—right into the very +circle of the dancers; and there amidst the shouts of men, the screeches +of women, the yelling of children, the neighing of horses, the bleating +of sheep and goats, and the barking of a score or two of cur dogs,—the +animal stopped, with such abrupt suddenness that its rider, after +performing a somersault through the air, came down on all-fours, in +front of its projecting snout!</p> + +<p>In such fashion was Sailor Bill introduced to the Arab encampment.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<h3>A SERIO-COMICAL RECEPTION.</h3> + + +<p>It need scarce be said that the advent of the stranger produced some +surprise among the Terpsichorean crowd, into the midst of which he had +been so unceremoniously projected. And yet this surprise was not such as +might have been expected. One might suppose that an English +man-o'-war's-man in pilot-cloth, pea-jacket, glazed hat, and wide duck +trousers, would have been a singular sight to the eyes of the +dark-skinned individuals who now encircled them—dressed as all of them +were in gay colored floating shawl-robes, slipped or sandalled feet, and +with fez caps or turbans on their heads.</p> + +<p>Not a bit of a singular sight: neither the color of his skin, nor his +sailor-costume, had caused surprise to those who surrounded him. Both +were matters with which they were well acquainted—alas! too well.</p> + +<p>The astonishment they had exhibited arose simply from the <i>sans façons</i> +manner of his coming amongst them; and on the instant after it +disappeared, giving place to a feeling of a different kind.</p> + +<p>Succeeding to the shouts of surprise, arose a simultaneous peal of +laughter from men, women, and children; in which even the animals seemed +to join—more especially the maherry, who stood with its uncouth head +craned over its dismounted rider, and looking uncontrollably comic!</p> + +<p>In the midst of this universal exclamation the sailor rose to his feet. +He might have been disconcerted by the reception, had his senses been +clear enough to comprehend what was passing. But they were not. The +effects of that fearful somersault had confused him; and he had only +risen to an erect attitude, under a vague instinct or desire to escape +from that company.</p> + +<p>After staggering some paces over the ground, his thoughts returned to +him; and he more clearly comprehended his situation. Escape was out of +the question. He was prisoner to a party of wandering Bedouins,—the +worst to be found in all the wide expanse of the Saäran desert,—the +wreckers of the Atlantic coast.</p> + +<p>The sailor might have felt surprised at seeing a collection of familiar +objects into the midst of which he had wandered. By the doorway of a +tent,—one of the largest upon the ground,—there was a pile of +<i>paraphernalia</i>, every article of which was tropical, not of the Saära, +but the sea. There were "belongings" of the cabin and caboose,—the +'tween decks, and the forecastle,—all equally proclaiming themselves +the <i>débris</i> of a castaway ship.</p> + +<p>The sailor could have no conjectures as to the vessel to which they had +belonged. He knew the articles by sight,—one and all of them. They were +the spoils of the corvette, that had been washed ashore, and fallen into +the hands of the wreckers.</p> + +<p>Among them Old Bill saw some things that had appertained to himself.</p> + +<p>On the opposite side of the encampment, by another large tent, was a +second pile of ship's equipments, like the first, guarded by a sentinel +who squatted beside it: the sailor looked around in expectation to see +some of the corvette's crew. Some might have escaped like himself and +his three companions by reaching the shore on cask, hoop, or spar. If +so, they had not fallen into the hands of the wreckers; or if they had, +they were not in the camp—unless, indeed, they might be inside some of +the tents. This was not likely. Most probably they had all been drowned, +or had succumbed to a worse fate than drowning—death at the hands of +the cruel coast robbers, who now surrounded the survivor.</p> + +<p>The circumstances under which the old sailor made these reflections were +such as to render the last hypothesis sufficiently probable. He was +being pushed about and dragged over the ground by two men, armed with +long curved scimitars, contesting some point with one another, +apparently as to which should be first to cut off his head!</p> + +<p>Both of these men appeared to be chiefs; "sheiks" as the sailor heard +them called by their followers, a party of whom—also with arms in their +hands—stood behind each "sheik"—all seemingly alike eager to perform +the act of decapitation.</p> + +<p>So near seemed the old sailor's head to being cut off, that for some +seconds he was not quite sure whether it still remained upon his +shoulders! He could not understand a word that passed between the +contending parties, though there was talk enough to have satisfied a +sitting of parliament, and probably with about the same quantity of +sense in it.</p> + +<p>Before he had proceeded far, the sailor began to comprehend,—not from +the speeches made, but the gestures that accompanied them,—that it was +not the design of either party to cut off his head. The drawn scimitars, +sweeping through the air, were not aimed at his neck, but rather in +mutual menace of one another.</p> + +<p>Old Bill could see that there was some quarrel between the two sheiks, +of which he was himself the cause; that the camp was not a unity +consisting of a single chief, his family, and following; but that there +were too separate leaders, each with his adherents, perhaps temporarily +associated together for purposes of plunder.</p> + +<p>That they had collected the wreck of the corvette, and divided the +spoils between them, was evident from the two heaps being kept carefully +apart, each piled up near the tent of a chief.</p> + +<p>The old man-o'-war's-man made his observations in the midst of great +difficulties: for while noting these particulars, he was pulled about +the place, first by one sheik, then by the other, each retaining his +disputed person in temporary possession.</p> + +<p>From the manner in which they acted, he could tell that it was his +person that was the subject of dispute, and that both wanted to be the +proprietor of it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<h3>THE TWO SHEIKS.</h3> + + +<p>There was a remarkable difference between the two men thus claiming +ownership in the body of Old Bill. One was a little wizen-faced +individual, whose yellow complexion and sharp, angular features +proclaimed him of the Arab stock, while his competitor showed a skin of +almost ebon blackness—a frame of herculean development—a broad face, +with flat nose and thick lubberly lips—a head of enormous +circumference, surmounted by a mop of woolly hair, standing erect +several inches above his occiput.</p> + +<p>Had the sailor been addicted to ethnological speculations, he might have +derived an interesting lesson from that contest, of which he was the +cause. It might have helped him to a knowledge of the geography of the +country in which he had been cast, for he was now upon that neutral +territory where the true Ethiopian—the son of Ham—occasionally +contests possession, both of the soil and the slave, with the wandering +children of Japhet.</p> + +<p>The two men who were thus quarrelling about the possession of the +English tar, though both of African origin, could scarce have been more +unlike had their native country been the antipodes of each other.</p> + +<p>Their object was not so different, though even in this there was a +certain dissimilation. Both designed making the shipwrecked sailor a +slave. But the sheik of Arab aspects wished to possess him, with a view +to his ultimate ransom. He knew that by carrying him northwards there +would be a chance to dispose of him at a good price, either to the Jew +merchants at Wedinoin, or the European consuls at Mogador. It would not +be the first Saärian castaway he had in this manner restored to his +friends and his country—not from any motives of humanity, but simply +for the profit it produced.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the black competitor had a different, though somewhat +similar, purpose in view. His thoughts extended towards the south. There +lay the emporium of his commerce,—the great mud-built town of +Timbuctoo. Little as a white man was esteemed among the Arab merchants +when considered as a <i>mere</i> slave, the sable sheik knew that in the +south of the Saära he would command a price, if only as a curiosity to +figure among the followers of the sultan of some grand interior city. +For this reason, therefore, was the black determined upon the possession +of Bill, and showed as much eagerness to become his owner as did his +tawny competitor.</p> + +<p>After several minutes spent in words and gestures of mutual menace, +which, from the wild shouts and flourishing of scimitars, seemed as if +it could only end in a general lopping off of heads, somewhat to the +astonishment of the sailor, tranquillity became restored without any one +receiving scratch or cut.</p> + +<p>The scimitars were returned to their scabbards; and although the affair +did not appear to be decided, the contest was now carried on in a more +pacific fashion by words. A long argument ensued, in which both sheiks +displayed their oratorial powers. Though the sailor could not understand +a word of what was said, he could tell that the little Arab was urging +his ownership, on the plea that the camel which had carried the captive +into the encampment was his property, and on this account was he +entitled to the "waif."</p> + +<p>The black seemed altogether to dissent from this doctrine; on his side +pointing to the two heaps of plunder; as much as to say that his share +of the spoils—already obtained—was the smaller one.</p> + +<p>At this crisis a third party stepped between the two disputants—a young +fellow, who appeared to have some authority with both. His behavior told +Bill that he was acting as mediator. Whatever was the proposal made by +him, it appeared to satisfy both parties, as both at once desisted from +their wordy warfare—at the same time that they seemed preparing to +settle the dispute in some other way.</p> + +<p>The mode was soon made apparent. A spot of smooth, even sand was +selected by the side of the encampment, to which the two sheiks, +followed by their respective parties, repaired.</p> + +<p>A square figure was traced out, inside of which several rows of little +round holes were scooped in the sand, and then the rival sheiks sat +down, one on each side of the figure. Each had already provided himself +with a number of pellets of camels' dung, which were now placed in the +holes, and the play of "helga" was now commenced.</p> + +<p>Whoever won the game was to become possessed of the single stake, which +was neither more nor less than Sailor Bill.</p> + +<p>The game proceeded by the shifting of the dung pellets in a particular +fashion, from hole to hole, somewhat similar to the moving of draughts +upon the squares of a checker-board.</p> + +<p>During the play not a word was spoken by either party, the two sheiks +squatting opposite each other, and making their moves with as much +gravity as a pair of chess-players engaged in some grand tournament of +this intellectual game.</p> + +<p>It was only when the affair ended, that the noise broke forth again, +which it did in loud, triumphant shouts from the conquering party, with +expressions of chagrin on the side of the conquered.</p> + +<p>By interpreting these shouts, Bill could tell that he had fallen to the +black; and this was soon after placed beyond doubt by the latter coming +up and taking possession of him.</p> + +<p>It appeared, however, that there had been certain subsiding conditions +to the play, and that the sailor had been in some way or another <i>staked +against his own clothes</i>; for before being fully appropriated by his +owner he was stripped to his shirt, and his habiliments, shoes and +sou'-wester included, were handed over to the sheik who had played +second-best in the game of "helga."</p> + +<p>In this forlorn condition was the old sailor conducted to the tent of +his sable master, and placed like an additional piece upon the pile of +plunder already apportioned!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<h3>SAILOR BILL BESHREWED.</h3> + + +<p>Sailor Bill said not a word. He had no voice in the disposal of the +stakes,—which were himself and his "toggery,"—and, knowing this, he +remained silent.</p> + +<p>He was not allowed to remain undisturbed. During the progress of the +game, he had become the cynosure of a large circle of eyes,—belonging +to the women and children of the united tribes.</p> + +<p>He might have looked for some compassion,—at least, from the female +portion of those who formed his <i>entourage</i>. Half famished with +hunger,—a fact which he did not fail to communicate by signs,—he might +have expected them to relieve his wants. The circumstance of his making +them known might argue, that he did expect some sort of kind treatment.</p> + +<p>It was not much, however. His hopes were but slight, and sprang rather +from a knowledge of his own necessities, and of what the women <i>ought</i> +to have done, than what they were likely to do. Old Bill had heard too +much of the character of these hags of the Saära,—and their mode of +conducting themselves towards any unfortunate castaway who might be +drifted among them,—to expect any great hospitality at their hands.</p> + +<p>His hopes, therefore, were moderate; but, for all that, they were doomed +to disappointment.</p> + +<p>Perhaps in no other part of the world is the "milk of human kindness" so +completely wanting in the female breast, as among the women of the +wandering Arabs of Africa. Slaves to their imperious lords,—even when +enjoying the sacred title of wife,—they are themselves treated worse +than the animals which they have to manage and tend,—even worse at +times than their own bond-slaves, with whom they mingle almost on an +equality. As in all like cases, this harsh usage, instead of producing +sympathy for others who suffer, has the very opposite tendency; as if +they found some alleviation of their cruel lot in imitating the +brutality of their oppressors.</p> + +<p>Instead of receiving kindness, the old sailor became the recipient of +insults, not only from their tongues,—which he could not +understand,—but by acts and gestures which were perfectly +comprehensible to him.</p> + +<p>While his ears were dinned by virulent speeches,—which, could he have +comprehended them, would have told him how much he was despised for +being an infidel, and not a follower of the true prophet,—while his +eyes were well-nigh put out by dust thrown in his face,—accompanied by +spiteful expectorations,—his body was belabored by sticks, his skin +scratched and pricked with sharp thorns, his whiskers lugged almost to +the dislocation of his jaws, and the hair of his head uprooted in +fistfuls from his pericranium.</p> + +<p>All this, too, amid screams and fiendish laughter, that resembled an +orgie of furies.</p> + +<p>These women—she-devils they better deserved to be called—were simply +following out the teachings of their inhuman faith,—among religions, +even that of Rome not excepted, the most inhuman that has ever cursed +mankind. Had old Bill been a believer in their "Prophet," that false +seer of the blood-stained sword, their treatment of him would have been +directly the reverse. Instead of kicks and cuffs, hustlings and +scratchings, he would have been made welcome to a share in such +hospitality as they could have bestowed upon him. It was religion, not +nature, made them act as they did. Their hardness of heart came not from +<i>God</i>, but the <i>Prophet</i>. They were only carrying out the edicts of +their "priests of a bloody faith."</p> + +<p>In vain did the old man-o'-war's-man cry out "belay" and "avast." In +vain did he "shiver his timbers," and appeal against their scurvy +treatment, by looks, words, and gesture.</p> + +<p>These seemed only to augment the mirth and spitefulness of his +tormentors.</p> + +<p>In this scene of cruelty there was one woman conspicuous among the rest. +By her companions she was called <i>Fatima</i>. The old sailor, ignorant of +Arabic feminine names, thought "it a misnomer," for of all his +she-persecutors she was the leanest and scraggiest. Notwithstanding the +poetical notions which the readers of Oriental romance might associate +with her name, there was not much poetry about the personage who so +assiduously assaulted Sailor Bill,—pulling his whiskers, slapping his +cheeks, and every now and then spitting in his face!</p> + +<p>She was something more than middle-aged, short, squat, and meagre; with +the eye-teeth projecting on both sides, so as to hold up the upper lip, +and exhibit all the others in their ivory whiteness, with an expression +resembling that of the hyena. This is considered beauty,—a fashion in +full vogue among her countrywomen, who cultivate it with great +care,—though to the eyes of the old sailor it rendered the hag all the +more hideous.</p> + +<p>But the skinning of eye-teeth was not the only attempt at ornament made +by this belle of the Desert. Strings of black beads hung over her +wrinkled bosom; circlets of white bone were set in her hair; armlets and +bangles adorned her wrists and ankles, and altogether did her costume +and behavior betoken one distinguished among the crowd of his +persecutors,—in short, their sultana or queen.</p> + +<p>And such did she prove; for on the black sheik appropriating the old +sailor as a stake fairly won in the game, and rescuing his +newly-acquired property from the danger of being damaged, Fatima +followed him to his tent with such demonstrations as showed her to be, +if not the "favorite," certainly the head of the harem.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<h3>STARTING ON THE TRACK.</h3> + + +<p>As already said, the mirth of the three midshipmen was brought to a +quick termination. It ended on the instant of Sailor Bill's +disappearance behind the spur of the sand-hills. At the same instant all +three came to a stop, and stood regarding one another with looks of +uneasiness and apprehension.</p> + +<p>All agreed that the maherry had made away with the old man-o'-war's-man. +There could be no doubt about it. Bill's shouts, as he was hurried out +of their hearing, proved that he was doing his best to bring to, and +that the "ship of the desert" would not yield obedience to her helm.</p> + +<p>They wondered a little why he had not slipped off, and let the animal +go. They could not see why he should fear to drop down in the soft sand. +He might have had a tumble, but nothing to do him any serious +injury,—nothing to break a bone, or dislocate a joint. They supposed he +had stuck to the saddle, from not wishing to abandon the maherry, and in +hope of soon bringing it to a halt.</p> + +<p>This was just what he had done, for the first three or four hundred +yards. After that he would only have been too well satisfied to separate +from the camel, and let it go its way. But then he was among the rough, +jaggy rocks through which the path led, and then dismounting was no +longer to be thought of, without also thinking of danger, considering +that the camel was nearly ten feet in height, and going at a pitching +pace of ten miles to the hour. To have forsaken his saddle at that +moment would have been to risk the breaking of his neck.</p> + +<p>From where they stood looking after him, the mids could not make out the +character of the ground. Under the light of the moon, the surface seemed +all of a piece,—all a bed of smooth soft sand! For this reason were +they perplexed by his behavior.</p> + +<p>There was that in the incident to make them apprehensive. The maherry +would not have gone off at such a gait, without some powerful motive to +impel it. Up to that moment it had shown no particular <i>penchant</i> for +rapid travelling, but had been going, under their guidance, with a +steady, sober docility. Something must have attracted it towards the +interior. What could that something be, if not the knowledge that its +home, or its companions, were to be found in this direction?</p> + +<p>This was the conjecture that came simultaneously into the minds of all +three,—as is known, the correct one.</p> + +<p>There could be no doubt that their companion had been carried towards an +encampment; for no other kind of settlement could be thought of in such +a place. It was even a wonder that this could exist in the midst of a +dreary, wild expanse of pure sand, like that surrounding them. Perhaps, +thought they, there may be "land" towards the interior of the +country,—a spot of firm soil, with vegetation upon it; in short, an +<i>oasis</i>.</p> + +<p>After their first surprise had partially subsided, they took counsel as +to their course. Should they stay where they were, and wait for Bill's +return? Or should they follow, in the hope of overtaking him?</p> + +<p>Perhaps he might <i>not</i> return. If carried into a camp of barbarous +savages, it was not likely that he would. He would be seized and held +captive to a dead certainty. But surely he would not be such a +simpleton, as to allow the maherry to transport him into the midst of +his enemies.</p> + +<p>Again sprang up their surprise at his not having made an effort to +dismount.</p> + +<p>For some ten or fifteen minutes the midshipmen stood hesitating,—their +eyes all the while bent on the moonlit opening, through which the +maherry had disappeared. There were no signs of anything in the +pass,—at least anything like either a camel or a sailor. Only the +bright beams of the moon glittering upon crystals of purest sand.</p> + +<p>They thought they heard sounds,—the cries of quadrupeds mingling with +the voices of men. There were voices, too, of shriller intonation, that +might have proceeded from the throats of women.</p> + +<p>Colin was confident he heard such. He was not contradicted by his +companions, who simply said, they could not be sure that they heard +anything.</p> + +<p>But for the constant roar of the breakers,—rolling up almost to the +spot upon which they stood,—they would have declared themselves +differently; for at that moment there was a chorus being carried on at +no great distance, in a variety of most unmusical sounds,—comprising +the bark of the dog, the neigh of the horse, the snorting scream of the +dromedary, the bleat of the sheep, and the sharper cry of its near +kindred the goat,—along with the equally wild and scarce more +articulate utterances of savage men, women, and children.</p> + +<p>Colin was convinced that he heard all these sounds, and declared that +they could only proceed from some encampment. His companions, knowing +that the young Scotchman was sharp-eared, made no attempt to question +his belief; but, on the contrary, gave ready credence to it.</p> + +<p>Under any circumstances it seemed of no use to remain where they were. +If Bill did not return, they were bound in honor to go after him; and, +if possible, find out what had become of him. If, on the other hand, he +should be coming back, they must meet him somewhere in the +pass,—through which the camel had carried him off—since there was no +other by which he might conveniently get back to them.</p> + +<p>This point determined, the three mids, setting their faces for the +interior of the country, started off towards the break between the +sand-hills.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<h3>BILL TO BE ABANDONED.</h3> + + +<p>They proceeded with caution,—Colin even more than his companions. The +young Englishman was not so distrustful of the "natives," whoever they +might be, as the son of Scotia; and as for O'Connor, he still persisted +in the belief that there would be little, if any, danger in meeting with +men, and, in his arguments, still continued to urge seeking such an +encounter as the best course they could pursue.</p> + +<p>"Besides," said Terence, "Coly says he hears the voices of women and +children. Sure no human creature that's got a woman and child in his +company would be such a cruel brute as you make out this desert +Ethiopian to be? Sailors' stories, to gratify the melodramatic ears of +Moll and Poll and Sue! Bah! if there be an encampment, let's go straight +into it, and demand hospitality of them. Sure they must be Arabs; and +sure you've heard enough of Arab hospitality?"</p> + +<p>"More than's true, Terry," rejoined the young Englishman. "More than's +true, I fear."</p> + +<p>"You may well say that," said Colin, confirmingly. "From what I've heard +and read,—ay, and from something I've seen while up the +Mediterranean,—a more beggarly hospitality than that called Arab don't +exist on the face of the earth. It's all well enough, so long as you are +one of themselves, and, like them, a believer in their pretended +prophet. Beyond that, an Arab has got no more hospitality than a hyena. +You're both fond of talking about skin-flint Scotchmen."</p> + +<p>"True," interrupted Terence, who, even in that serious situation, could +not resist such a fine opportunity for displaying his Irish humor. "I +never think of a Scotchman without thinking of his skin. 'God bless the +gude Duke of Argyle!'"</p> + +<p>"Shame, Terence!" interrupted Harry Blount; "our situation is too +serious for jesting."</p> + +<p>"He—all of us—may find it so before long," continued Colin, preserving +his temper unruffled. "If that yelling crowd—that I can now hear +plainer than ever—should come upon us, we'll have something else to +think of than jokes about 'gude Duke o' Argyle.' Hush! Do you hear that? +Does it convince you that men and women are near? There are scores of +both kinds."</p> + +<p>Colin had come to a stop, the others imitating his example. They were +now more distant from the breakers,—whose roar was somewhat deadened by +the intervention of a sand-spur. In consequence, the other sounds were +heard more distinctly. They could no longer be mistaken,—even by the +incredulous O'Connor.</p> + +<p>There were voices of men, women, and children,—cries and calls of +quadrupeds,—each according to its own kind, all mingled together in +what might have been taken for some nocturnal saturnalia of the Desert.</p> + +<p>The crisis was that in which Sailor Bill had become a subject of dispute +between the two sheiks,—in which not only their respective followers of +the biped kind appeared to take part, but also every quadruped in the +camp,—dogs and dromedaries, horses, goats, and sheep,—as if each had +an interest in the ownership of the old man-o'-war's-man.</p> + +<p>The grotesque chorus was succeeded by an interval of silence, +uninterrupted and profound. This was while the two sheiks were playing +their game of "helga,"—the "chequers" of the Saära, with Sailor Bill as +their stake.</p> + +<p>During this tranquil interlude, the three midshipmen had advanced +through the rock-strewn ravine, had crept cautiously inside the ridges +that encircled the camp, and concealed by the sparse bushes of mimosa, +and favored by the light of a full moon, had approached near enough to +take note of what was passing among the tents.</p> + +<p>What they saw there, and then, was confirmatory of the theory of the +young Scotchman; and convinced not only Harry Blount, but Terence +O'Connor, that the stories of Arab hospitality were not only untrue, but +diametrically opposed to the truth.</p> + +<p>There was old Bill before their faces, stripped to the shirt,—to the +"buff,"—surrounded by a circle of short, squat women, dark-skinned, +with black hair, and eyes sparkling in the moonlight, who were torturing +him with tongue and touch,—who pinched and spat upon him,—who looked +altogether like a band of infernal Furies collected around some innocent +victim that had fallen among them, and giving full play to their +fiendish instincts!</p> + +<p>Although they were witnesses to the subsequent rescue of Bill by the +black sheik,—and the momentary release of the old sailor from his +tormentors,—it did not increase their confidence in the crew who +occupied the encampment.</p> + +<p>From the way in which the old salt appeared to be treated, they could +tell that he was regarded by the hosts into whose hands he had fallen, +not as a guest, but simply as a "piece of goods,"—just like any other +waif of the wreck that had been washed on that inhospitable shore.</p> + +<p>In whispers the three mids made known their thoughts to one another. +Harry Blount no longer doubted the truth of Colin's statements; and +O'Connor had become equally converted from his incredulity. The conduct +of the women towards the unfortunate castaway—which all three +witnessed—told like the tongue of a trumpet. It was cruel beyond +question. What, when exercised, must be that of their men?</p> + +<p>To think of leaving their old comrade in such keeping was not a pleasant +reflection. It was like their abandoning him upon the sand-spit,—to the +threatening engulfment of the tide. Even worse: for the angry breakers +seemed less spiteful than the hags who surrounded him in the Arab camp.</p> + +<p>Still, what could the boys do? Three midshipmen,—armed only with their +tiny dirks,—what chance would they have among so many? There were +scores of these sinewy sons of the Desert,—without counting the +shrewish women,—each armed with gun and scimitar, any one of whom ought +to have been more than a match for a "mid." It would have been sheer +folly to have attempted a rescue. Despair only could have sanctioned +such a course.</p> + +<p>In a whispered consultation it was determined otherwise. The old sailor +must be abandoned to his fate, just as he had been left upon the +sand-spit. His youthful companions could only breathe a prayer in his +behalf, and express a hope that, as upon the latter occasion, some +providential chance should turn up in his favor, and he might again be +permitted to rejoin them.</p> + +<p>After communicating this hope to one another, all three turned their +faces shoreward, determined to put as much space between themselves and +the Arab encampment as night and circumstances would permit.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<h3>A CAUTIOUS RETREAT.</h3> + + +<p>The ravine, up which the maherry had carried the old man-o'-war's-man, +ran perpendicularly to the trending of the seashore, and almost in a +direct line from the beach to the valley, in which was the Arab +encampment. It could not, however, be said to debouch into this valley. +Across its mouth the sand-drift had formed a barrier, like a huge +"snow-wreath," uniting the two parallel ridges that formed the sides of +the ravine itself. This "mouth-piece" was not so high as either of the +flanking ridges; though it was nearly a hundred feet above the level of +the beach on one side, and the valley on the other. Its crest, viewed +<i>en profile</i>, exhibited a saddle-shaped curve, the concavity turned +upward.</p> + +<p>Through the centre of this saddle of sand, and transversely, the camel +had carried Bill; and over the same track the three midshipmen had gone +in search of him.</p> + +<p>They had seen the Arab tents from the summit of the "pass"; and had it +been daylight, need have gone no nearer to note what was being there +done. Even by the moonlight, they had been able to make out the forms of +the horses, camels, men, and women; but not with sufficient distinctness +to satisfy them as to what was going on.</p> + +<p>For this reason had they descended into the valley,—creeping cautiously +down the slope of the sand-wreath, and with equal caution advancing from +boulder to bush, and bush to boulder.</p> + +<p>On taking the back track to regain the beach, they still observed +caution,—though perhaps not to such a degree as when approaching the +camp. Their desire to put space between themselves and the barbarous +denizens of the Desert,—of whose barbarity they had now obtained both +ocular and auricular proof,—had very naturally deprived them of that +prudent coolness which the occasion required. For all that, they did not +retreat with reckless rashness; and all three arrived at the bottom of +the sloping sand-ridge, without having any reason to think they had been +observed.</p> + +<p>But the most perilous point was yet to be passed. Against the face of +the acclivity, there was not much danger of their being seen. The moon +was shining on the other side. That which they had to ascend was in +shadow,—dark enough to obscure the outlines of their bodies to an eye +looking in that direction, from such a distance as the camp. It was not +while toiling up the slope that they dreaded detection, but at the +moment when they must cross the saddle-shaped summit of the pass. Then, +the moon being low down in the sky, directly in front of their faces, +while the camp, still lower, was right behind their backs, it was not +difficult to tell that their bodies would be exactly aligned between the +luminary of night and the sparkling eyes of the Arabs, and that their +figures would be exhibited in conspicuous outline.</p> + +<p>It had been much the same way on their entrance to the oasis; but then +they were not so well posted up in the peril of their position. They now +wondered at their not having been observed while advancing; but that +could be rationally accounted for, on the supposition that the Bedouins +had been, at the time, too busy over old Bill to take heed of anything +beyond the limits of their encampment.</p> + +<p>It was different now. There was quiet in the camp, though both male and +female figures could be seen stirring among the tents. The <i>saturnalia</i> +that succeeded the castaway had come to a close. A comparative +peacefulness reigned throughout the valley; but in this very +tranquillity lay the danger which our adventurers dreaded.</p> + +<p>With nothing else to attract their attention, the occupants of the +encampments would be turning their eyes in every direction. If any of +them should look westward at a given moment,—that is, while the three +mids should be "in the saddle,"—the latter could not fail to be +discovered.</p> + +<p>What was to be done? There was no other way leading forth from the +valley. It was on all sides encircled by steep ridges of sand,—not so +steep as to hinder them from being scaled; but on every side, except +that on which they had entered, and by which they were about to make +their exit, the moon was shining in resplendent brilliance. A cat could +not have crawled up anywhere, without being seen from the tents,—even +had she been of the hue of the sand itself.</p> + +<p>A hurried consultation, held between the trio of adventurers, convinced +them that there was nothing to be gained by turning back,—nothing by +going to the right or the left. There was no other way—no help for +it—but to scale the ridge in front, and "cut" as quickly as possible +across the hollow of the "saddle."</p> + +<p>There <i>was</i> one other way; or at least a deviation from the course which +had thus recommended itself. It was to wait for the going down of the +moon, before they should attempt the "crossing." This prudent project +originated in the brain of the young Scotchman; and it might have been +well if his companions had adopted the idea. But they would not. What +they had seen of Saäran civilization had inspired them with a keen +disgust for it; and they were only too eager to escape from its +proximity. The punishment inflicted upon poor Bill had made a painful +impression upon them; and they had no desire to become the victims of a +similar chastisement.</p> + +<p>Colin did not urge his counsels. He had been as much impressed by what +he had seen as his companions, and was quite as desirous as they to give +the Bedouins a "wide berth." Withdrawing his opposition, therefore, he +acceded to the original design; and, without further ado, all three +commenced crawling up the slope.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<h3>A QUEER QUADRUPED.</h3> + + +<p>Half way up, they halted, though not to take breath. Strong-limbed, +long-winded lads like them—who could have "swarmed" in two minutes to +the main truck of a man-o'-war—needed no such indulgence as that. +Instead of one hundred feet of sloping sand, any one of them could have +scaled Snowdon without stopping to look back.</p> + +<p>Their halt had been made from a different motive. It was sudden and +simultaneous,—all three having stopped at the same time, and without +any previous interchange of speech. The same cause had brought them to +that abrupt cessation in their climbing; and as they stood side by side, +aligned upon one another, the eyes of all three were turned on the same +object.</p> + +<p>It was an animal,—a quadruped. It could not be anything else if +belonging to a sublunary world; and to this it appeared to belong. A +strange creature notwithstanding; and one which none of the three +remembered to have met before. The remembrance of something like it +flitted across their brains, seen upon the shelves of a museum; but not +enough of resemblance to give a clue for its identification.</p> + +<p>The quadruped in question was not bigger than a "San Bernard," a +"Newfoundland," or a mastiff: but seen as it was, it loomed larger than +any of the three. Like these creatures, it was canine in shape—lupine +we should rather say—but of an exceedingly grotesque and ungainly +figure. A huge square head seemed set without neck upon its shoulders; +while its fore limbs—out of all proportion longer than the hind +ones—gave to the spinal column a sharp downward slant towards the tail. +The latter appendage, short and "bunchy," ended abruptly, as if either +cut or "driven in,"—adding to the uncouth appearance of the animal. A +stiff hedge of hard bristles upon the back continued its <i>chevaux de +frise</i> along the short, thick neck, till it ended between two erect +tufted ears. Such was the shape of the beast that had suddenly presented +itself to the eyes of our adventurers.</p> + +<p>They had a good opportunity of observing its outlines. It was on the +ridge towards the crest of which they were advancing. The moon was +shining beyond. Every turn of its head or body—every motion made by its +limbs—was conspicuously revealed against the luminous background of the +sky.</p> + +<p>It was neither standing, nor at rest in any way. Head, limbs, and body +were all in motion,—constantly changing, not only their relative +attitudes to one another, but their absolute situation in regard to +surrounding objects.</p> + +<p>And yet the change was anything but arbitrary. The relative movements +made by the members of the animal's body, as well as the absolute +alterations of position, were all in obedience to strictly natural +laws,—all repetitions of the same manoeuvre, worked with a monotony +that seemed mechanical.</p> + +<p>The creature was pacing to and fro, like a well-trained sentry,—its +"round" being the curved crest of the sand-ridge, from which it did not +deviate to the licence of an inch. Backward and forward did it traverse +the saddle in a longitudinal direction,—now poised upon the +pommel,—now sinking downward into the seat, and then rising to the +level of the coup,—now turning in the opposite direction, and retracing +in long, uncouth strides, the path over which it appeared to have been +passing since the earliest hour of its existence!</p> + +<p>Independent of the surprise which the presence of this animal had +created, there was something in its aspect calculated to cause terror. +Perhaps, had the mids known what kind of creature it was, or been in any +way apprized of its real character, they would have paid less regard to +its presence. Certainly not so much as they did: for, instead of +advancing upon it, and making their way over the crest of the ridge, +they stopped in their track, and held a whispered consultation as to +what they should do.</p> + +<p>It is not to be denied that the barrier before them presented a +formidable appearance. A brute, it appeared as big as a bull—for +magnified by the moonlight, and perhaps a little by the fears of those +who looked upon it, the quadruped was quite quadrupled in size. +Disputing their passage too; for its movements made it manifest that +such was its design. Backwards and forwards, up and down that curving +crest, did it glide, with a nervous quickness, that hindered any hope of +being able to rush past it—either before or behind—its own crest all +the while erected, like that of the dragon subdued by St. George.</p> + +<p>With all his English "pluck"—even stimulated by this resemblance to the +national knight—Harry Blount felt shy to approach that creature that +challenged the passage of himself and his companions.</p> + +<p>Had there been no danger <i>en arrière</i>, perhaps our adventurers would +have turned back into the valley, and left the ugly quadruped master of +the pass.</p> + +<p>As it was, a different resolve was arrived at—necessity being the +dictator.</p> + +<p>The three midshipmen, drawing their dirks, advanced in line of battle up +the slope. The Devil himself could scarce withstand such an assault. +England, Scotland, Ireland, abreast—<i>tres juncti in uno</i>—united in +thought, aim, and action—was there aught upon earth—biped, quadruped, +or <i>mille-pied</i>—that must not yield to the charge?</p> + +<p>If there was, it was not that animal oscillating along the saddle of +sand, progressing from pommel to cantle, like the pendulum of a clock.</p> + +<p>Whether natural or supernatural, long before our adventurers got near +enough to decide, the creature, to use a phrase of very modern mention, +"skedaddled," leaving them free—so far as it was concerned—to continue +their retreat unmolested.</p> + +<p>It did not depart, however, until after delivering a salute, that left +our adventurers in greater doubt than ever of its true character. They +had been debating among themselves whether it was a thing of the earth, +of time, or something that belonged to eternity. They had seen it under +a fair light, and could not decide. But now that they had heard it,—had +listened to a strain of loud cachinnation,—scarce mocking the laughter +of the maniac,—there was no escaping from the conclusion that what they +had seen was either Satan himself, or one of his Ethiopian satellites!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE HUE AND CRY.</h3> + + +<p>As the strange creature that had threatened to dispute their passage was +no longer in sight, and seemed, moreover, to have gone clear away, the +three mids ceased to think any more of it,—their minds being given to +making their way over the ridge without being seen by the occupants of +the encampment.</p> + +<p>Having returned their dirks to the sheath, they continued to advance +towards the crest of the transverse sand-spar, as cautiously as at +starting.</p> + +<p>It is possible they might have succeeded in crossing, without being +perceived, but for a circumstance of which they had taken too little +heed. Only too well pleased at seeing the strange quadruped make its +retreat, they had been less affected by its parting salutation,—weird +and wild as this had sounded in their ears. But they had not thought of +the effects which the same salute had produced upon the people of the +Arab camp, causing all of them, as it did, to turn their eyes in the +direction whence it was heard. To them there was no mystery in that +screaming cachinnation. Unearthly as it had echoed in the ears of the +three mids, it fell with a perfectly natural tone on those of the Arabs: +for it was but one of the well-known voices of their desert home, +recognized by them as the cry of the <i>laughing hyena</i>.</p> + +<p>The effect produced upon the encampment was twofold. The children +straying outside the tents,—like young chicks frightened by the +swooping of a hawk,—ran inward; while their mothers, after the manner +of so many old hens, rushed forth to take them under their protection. +The proximity of a hungry hyena,—more especially one of the <i>laughing</i> +species,—was a circumstance to cause alarm. All the fierce creature +required was a chance to close his strong, vice-like jaws upon the limbs +of one of those juvenile Ishmaelites, and that would be the last his +mother should ever see of him.</p> + +<p>Knowing this, the screech of the hyena had produced a momentary +commotion among the women and children of the encampment. Neither had +the men listened to it unmoved. In hopes of procuring its skin for house +or tent furniture, and its flesh for food,—for these hungry wanderers +will eat anything,—several had seized hold of their long guns, and +rushed forth from among the tents.</p> + +<p>The sound had guided them as to the direction in which they should go; +and as they ran forward, they saw, not a hyena, but three human beings +just mounting upon the summit of the sand-ridge, under the full light of +the moon. So conspicuously did the latter appear upon the smooth crest +of the wreath, that there was no longer any chance of concealment. Their +dark blue dresses, the yellow buttons on their jackets, and the bands +around their caps, were all discernible. It was the costume of the sea, +not of the Saära. The Arab wreckers knew it at a glance; and, without +waiting to give a second, every man of the camp sallied off in +pursuit,—each, as he started, giving utterance to an ejaculation of +surprise or pleasure.</p> + +<p>Some hurried forward afoot, just as they had been going out to hunt the +hyena; others climbed upon their swift camels; while a few, who owned +horses, thinking they might do better with them, quickly caparisoned +them, and came galloping on after the rest; all three sorts of +pursuers,—foot-men, horsemen, and maherrymen,—seemingly as intent upon +a contest of screaming, as upon a trial of speed!</p> + +<p>It is needless to say that the three midshipmen were, by this time, +fully apprised of the "hue and cry" raised after them. It reached their +ears just as they arrived upon the summit of the sand-ridge; and any +doubt they might have had as to its meaning, was at once determined, +when they saw the Arabs brandishing their arms, and rushing out like so +many madmen from among the tents.</p> + +<p>They stayed to see no more. To keep their ground could only end in their +being captured and carried prisoners to the encampment; and after the +spectacle they had just witnessed, in which the old man-o'-war's-man had +played such a melancholy part, any fate appeared preferable to that.</p> + +<p>With some such fear all three were affected; and simultaneously yielding +to it, they turned their backs upon the pursuit, and rushed headlong +down the ravine, up which they had so imprudently ascended.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + +<h3>A SUBAQUEOUS ASYLUM.</h3> + + +<p>As the gorge was of no great length, and the downward incline in their +favor, they were not long in getting to its lower end, and out to the +level plain that formed the sea-beach.</p> + +<p>In their hurried traverse thither, it had not occurred to them to +inquire for what purpose they were running towards the sea? There could +be no chance of their escaping in that direction; nor did there appear +to be much in any other, afoot as they were, and pursued by mounted men. +The night was too clear to offer any opportunity of hiding themselves, +especially in a country where there was neither "brake, brush, nor +scaur" to conceal them. Go which way they would, or crouch wherever they +might, they would be almost certain of being discovered by their +lynx-eyed enemies.</p> + +<p>There was but one way in which they <i>might</i> have stood a chance of +getting clear, at least for a time. This was to have turned aside among +the sand ridges, and by keeping along some of the lateral hollows, +double back upon their pursuers. There were several such side hollows; +for on going up the main ravine they had observed them, and also in +coming down; but in their hurry to put space between themselves and +their pursuers, they had overlooked this chance of concealment.</p> + +<p>At best it was but slim, though it was the only one that offered. It +only presented itself when it was too late for them to take advantage of +it,—only after they had got clear out of the gully and stood upon the +open level of the sea-beach, within less than two hundred yards of the +sea itself. There they halted, partly to recover breath and partly to +hold counsel as to their further course.</p> + +<p>There was not much time for either; and as the three stood in a triangle +with their faces turned towards each other, the moonlight shone upon +lips and cheeks blanched with dismay.</p> + +<p>It now occurred to them for the first time, and simultaneously, that +there was no hope of their escaping, either by flight or concealment.</p> + +<p>They were already some distance out upon the open plain, as conspicuous +upon its surface of white sand as would have been three black crows in +the middle of a field six inches under snow.</p> + +<p>They saw that they had made a mistake. They should have stayed among the +sand-ridges and sought shelter in some of the deep gullies that divided +them. They bethought them of going back; but a moment's deliberation was +sufficient to convince them that this was no longer practicable. There +would not be time, scarce even to re-enter the ravine, before their +pursuers would be upon them.</p> + +<p>It was an instinct that had caused them to rush towards the sea—their +habitual home, for which they had thoughtlessly sped—notwithstanding +their late rude ejection from it. Now that they stood upon its shore, as +if appealing to it for protection, it seemed still desirous of spurning +them from its bosom, and leaving them without mercy to their merciless +enemies!</p> + +<p>A line of breakers trended parallel to the water's edge—scarce a +cable's length from the shore, and not two hundred yards from the spot +where they had come to a pause.</p> + +<p>They were not very formidable breakers—only the tide rolling over a +sand-bar, or a tiny reef of rocks. It was at best but a big surf, +crested with occasional flakes of foam, and sweeping in successive +swells against the smooth beach.</p> + +<p>What was there in all this to fix the attention of the fugitives—for it +had? The seething flood seemed only to hiss at their despair!</p> + +<p>And yet almost on the instant after suspending their flight, they had +turned their faces towards it—as if some object of interest had +suddenly shown itself in the surf. Object there was none—nothing but +the flakes of white froth and the black vitreous waves over which it was +dancing.</p> + +<p>It was not an object, but a purpose that was engaging their attention—a +resolve that had suddenly sprung up within their minds—almost as +suddenly to be carried into execution. After all, their old home was not +to prove so inhospitable. It would provide them with a place of +concealment!</p> + +<p>The thought occurred to all three almost at the same instant of time; +though Terence was the first to give speech to it.</p> + +<p>"By Saint Patrick!" he exclaimed, "let's take to the wather! Them +breakers'll give us a good hiding-place. I've hid before now in that +same way, when taking a moonlight bath on the coast of owld Galway. I +did it to scare my schoolfellows—by making believe I was drowned. What +say ye to our trying it?"</p> + +<p>His companions made no reply. They had scarce even waited for the +wind-up of his harangue. Both had equally perceived the feasibility of +the scheme; and yielding to a like impulse, all three started into a +fresh run, with their faces turned towards the sea.</p> + +<p>In less than a score of seconds, they had crossed the strip of strand; +and in a similarly short space of time were plunging—thigh +deep—through the water; still striding impetuously onward, as if they +intended to wade across the Atlantic!</p> + +<p>A few more strides, however, brought them to a stand—just inside the +line of breakers—where the seething waters, settling down into a state +of comparative tranquillity, presented a surface variegated with large +clouts of floating froth.</p> + +<p>Amidst this mottling of white and black, even under the bright +moonlight, it would have been difficult for the keenest eye to have +detected the head of a human being—supposing the body to have been kept +carefully submerged; and under this confidence, the mids were not slow +in submerging themselves.</p> + +<p>Ducking down, till their chins touched the water, all three were soon as +completely out of sight—to any eye looking from the shore—as if +Neptune, pitying their forlorn condition, had stretched forth his +trident with a bunch of seaweed upon its prongs, to screen and protect +them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> + +<h3>THE PURSUERS NONPLUSSED.</h3> + + +<p>Not a second too soon had they succeeded in making good their entry into +this subaqueous asylum. Scarce had their chins come in contact with the +water, when the voices of men—accompanied by the baying of dogs, the +snorting of maherries, and the neighing of horses—were heard within the +gorge, from which they had just issued; and in a few minutes after a +straggling crowd, composed of these various creatures, came rushing out +of the ravine. Of men, afoot and on horseback, twenty or more were seen +pouring forth; all, apparently, in hot haste, as if eager to be in at +the death of some object pursued,—that could not possibly escape +capture.</p> + +<p>Once outside the jaws of the gully, the irregular cavalcade advanced +scatteringly over the plain. Only for a short distance, however; for, as +if by a common understanding rather than in obedience to any command, +all came to a halt.</p> + +<p>A silence followed this halt,—apparently proceeding from astonishment. +It was general,—it might be said universal,—for even the animals +appeared to partake of it! At all events, some seconds transpired during +which the only sound heard was the sighing of the sea, and the only +motion to be observed was the sinking and swelling of the waves.</p> + +<p>The Saäran rovers on foot,—as well as those that were mounted,—their +horses, dogs, and camels, as they stood upon that smooth plain, seemed +to have been suddenly transformed into stone, and set like so many +sphinxes in the sand.</p> + +<p>In truth it <i>was</i> surprise that had so transfixed them,—the men, at +least; and their well-trained animals were only acting in obedience to a +habit taught them by their masters, who, in the pursuit of their +predatory life, can cause these creatures to be both silent and still, +whenever the occasion requires it.</p> + +<p>For their surprise,—which this exhibition of it proved to be +extreme,—the Sons of the Desert had sufficient reason. They had seen +the three midshipmen on the crest of the sand-ridge; had even noted the +peculiar garb that bedecked their bodies,—all this beyond doubt. +Notwithstanding the haste with which they had entered on the pursuit, +they had not continued it either in a reckless or improvident manner. +Skilled in the ways of the wilderness,—cautious as cats,—they had +continued the chase; those in the lead from time to time assuring +themselves that the game was still before them. This they had done by +glancing occasionally to the ground, where shoe-tracks in the soft +sand—three sets of them—leading to and fro, were sufficient evidence +that the three mids must have gone back to the <i>embouchure</i> of the +ravine, and thither emerged upon the open sea-beach.</p> + +<p><i>Where were they now?</i></p> + +<p>Looking up the smooth strand as far as the eye could reach, and down it +to a like distance, there was no place where a crab could have screened +itself; and these Saäran wreckers, well acquainted with the coast, knew +that in neither direction was there any other ravine or gully into which +the fugitives could have retreated.</p> + +<p>No wonder, then, that the pursuers wondered, even to speechlessness.</p> + +<p>Their silence was of short duration, though it was succeeded only by +cries expressing their great surprise, among which might have been +distinguished their usual invocations to Allah and the Prophet. It was +evident that a superstitious feeling had arisen in their minds, not +without its usual accompaniment of fear; and although they no longer +kept their places, the movement now observable among them was that they +gathered closer together, and appeared to enter upon a grave +consultation.</p> + +<p>This was terminated by some of them once more proceeding to the +<i>embouchure</i> of the ravine, and betaking themselves to a fresh scrutiny +of the tracks made by the shoes of the midshipmen; while the rest sat +silently upon their horses and maherries awaiting the result.</p> + +<p>The footmarks of the three mids were still easily traceable—even on the +ground already trampled by the Arabs, their horses, and maherries. The +"cloots" of a camel would not have been more conspicuous in the mud of +an English road, than were the shoe-prints of the three young seamen in +the sands of the Saära. The Arab trackers had no difficulty in making +them out; and in a few minutes had traced them from the mouth of the +gorge, almost in a direct line to the sea. There, however, there was a +breadth of wet sea-beach—where the springy sand instantly obliterated +any foot-mark that might be made upon it—and there the tracts ended.</p> + +<p>But why should they have extended farther? No one could have gone beyond +that point, without either walking straight into the water, or keeping +along the strip of sea beach, upwards or downwards.</p> + +<p>The fugitives could not have escaped in either way—unless they had +taken to the water, and committed suicide by drowning themselves! Up the +coast, or down it, they would have been seen to a certainty.</p> + +<p>Their pursuers, clustering around the place where the tracks terminated, +were no wiser than ever. Some of them were ready to believe that +drowning had been the fate of the castaways upon their coast, and so +stated it to their companions. But they spoke only conjectures, and in +tones that told them, like the rest, to be under the influence of some +superstitious fear. Despite their confidence in the protection of their +boasted Prophet, they felt a natural dread of that wilderness of waters, +less known to them than the wilderness of sand.</p> + +<p>Ere long they withdrew from its presence, and betook themselves back to +their encampment, under a half belief that the three individuals seen +and pursued had either drowned themselves in the great deep, or by some +mysterious means known to these strange men of the sea, had escaped +across its far-reaching waters!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2> + +<h3>A DOUBLE PREDICAMENT.</h3> + + +<p>Short time as their pursuers had stayed upon the strand, it seemed an +age to the submerged midshipmen.</p> + +<p>On first placing themselves in position, they had chosen a spot where, +with their knees resting upon the bottom, they could just hold their +chins above water. This would enable them to hold their ground without +any great difficulty, and for some time they so maintained it.</p> + +<p>Soon, however, they began to perceive that the water was rising around +them,—a circumstance easily explained by the influx of the tide. The +rise was slow and gradual: but, for all that, they saw that should they +require to remain in their place of concealment for any length of time, +drowning must be their inevitable destiny.</p> + +<p>A means of avoiding this soon presented itself. Inside the line of +breakers, the water shoaled gradually towards the shore. By advancing in +this direction they could still keep to the same depth. This course they +adopted—gliding cautiously forward upon their knees, whenever the tide +admonished them to repeat the manoeuvre.</p> + +<p>This state of affairs would have been satisfactory enough, but for a +circumstance that, every moment, was making itself more apparent. At +each move they were not only approaching nearer to their enemies, +scattered along the strand; but as they receded from the line of the +breakers, the water became comparatively tranquil, and its smooth +surface, less confused by the masses of floating foam, was more likely +to betray them to the spectators on the shore.</p> + +<p>To avoid this catastrophe—which would have been fatal—they moved +shoreward, only when it became absolutely necessary to do so, often +permitting the tidal waves to sweep completely over the crown of their +heads, and several times threaten suffocation.</p> + +<p>Under circumstances so trying, so apparently hopeless, most lads—aye, +most men—would have submitted to despair, and surrendered themselves to +a fate apparently unavoidable. But with that true British +pluck—combining the tenacity of the Scotch terrier, the English +bulldog, and the Irish staghound—the three youthful representatives of +the triple kingdom determined to hold on.</p> + +<p>And they held on, with the waves washing against their cheeks—and at +intervals quite over their heads—with the briny fluid rushing into +their ears and up their nostrils, until one after another began to +believe, that there would be no alternative between surrendering to the +cruel sea, or to the not less cruel sons of the Saära.</p> + +<p>As they were close together, they could hold council,—conversing all +the time in something louder than a whisper. There was no risk of their +being overheard. Though scarce a cable's length from the shore, the +hoarse soughing of the surf would have drowned the sound of their +voices, even if uttered in a much louder tone; but being skilled in the +acoustics of the ocean, they exchanged their thoughts with due caution; +and while encouraging one another to remain firm, they speculated freely +upon the chances of escaping from their perilous predicament.</p> + +<p>While thus occupied, a <i>predicament</i> of an equally perilous, and still +more singular kind, was in store for them. They had been, hitherto +advancing towards the water's edge,—in regular progression with the +influx of the tide,—all the while upon their knees. This, as already +stated, had enabled them to sustain themselves steadily, without showing +anything more than three quarters of the head above the surface.</p> + +<p>All at once, however, the water appeared to deepen; and by going upon +their knees they could no longer surmount the waves,—even with their +eyes. By moving on towards the beach, they might again get into shallow +water; but just at this point the commotion caused by the breakers came +to a termination, and the flakes of froth, with the surrounding spray of +bubbles, here bursting, one after another, left the surface of the sea +to its restored tranquillity. Anything beyond—a cork, or the tiniest +waif of seaweed—could scarce fail to be seen from the strand,—though +the latter was itself constantly receding as the tide flowed inward.</p> + +<p>The submerged middies were now in a dilemma they had not dreamed of. By +holding their ground, they could not fail to "go under." By advancing +further, they would run the risk of being discovered to the enemy.</p> + +<p>Their first movement was to get up from their knees, and raise their +heads above water by standing in a crouched attitude on their feet. This +they had done before,—more than once,—returning to the posture of +supplication only when too tired to sustain themselves.</p> + +<p>This they attempted again, and determined to continue it to the last +moment,—in view of the danger of approaching nearer to the enemy.</p> + +<p>To their consternation they now found it would no longer avail them. +Scarce had they risen erect before discovering that even in this +position they were immersed to the chin, and after plunging a pace or +two forward, they were still sinking deeper. They could feel that their +feet were not resting on firm bottom, but constantly going down.</p> + +<p>"A quicksand!" was the apprehension that rushed simultaneously into the +minds of all three!</p> + +<p>Fortunately for them, the Arabs at that moment, yielding to their +fatalist fears, had faced away from the shore; else the plunging and +splashing made by them in their violent endeavors to escape from the +quicksand, could not have failed to dissipate these superstitions, and +cause their pursuers to complete the capture they had so childlessly +relinquished.</p> + +<p>As it chanced, the Saäran wreckers saw nothing of all this; and as the +splashing sounds, which otherwise might have reached them, were drowned +by the louder <i>sough</i> of the sea, they returned toward their encampment +in a state of perplexity bordering upon bewilderment!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2> + +<h3>ONCE MORE THE MOCKING LAUGH.</h3> + + +<p>After a good deal of scrambling and struggling, our adventurers +succeeded in getting clear of the quicksand, and planting their feet +upon firmer bottom,—a little nearer to the water's edge. Though at this +point more exposed than they wished to be, they concealed themselves as +well as they could, holding their faces under the water up to the eyes.</p> + +<p>Though believing that their enemies were gone for good, they dared not +as yet wade out upon the beach. The retiring pursuers would naturally be +looking back; and as the moon was still shining clearly as ever, they +might be seen from a great distance.</p> + +<p>They feel that they would not be safe in leaving their place of +concealment until the horde had recrossed the ridge, and descended once +more into the oasis that contained their encampment.</p> + +<p>Making a rough calculation as to the time it would take for the return +journey,—and allowing a considerable margin against the eventuality of +any unforeseen delay,—the mids remained in their subaqueous retreat, +without any material change of position.</p> + +<p>When at length it appeared to them that the "coast was clear," they rose +to their feet, and commenced wading towards the strand.</p> + +<p>Though no longer believing themselves observed, they proceeded silently +and with caution,—the only noise made among them being the chattering +of their teeth, which were going like three complete sets of castanets.</p> + +<p>This they could not help. The night breeze playing upon the saturated +garments,—that clung coldly around their bodies,—chilled them to the +very bones; and not only their teeth, but their knees knocked together, +as they staggered towards the beach.</p> + +<p>Just before reaching it, an incident arose that filled them with fresh +forebodings. The strange beast that had threatened to intercept their +retreat over the ridge, once more appeared before their eyes. It was +either the same, or one of the same kind,—equally ugly, and to all +appearance, equally determined to dispute their passage.</p> + +<p>It was now patrolling the strand close by the water's edge,—going +backwards and forwards, precisely as it had done along the saddle-shaped +sand wreath,—all the while keeping its hideous face turned towards +them. With the moon behind their backs, they had a better view of it +than before; but this, though enabling them to perceive that it was some +strange quadruped, did not in any way improve their opinion of it. They +could see that it was covered with a coat of long shaggy hair, of a +brindled brown color; and that from a pair of large orbs, set obliquely +in its head, gleamed forth a fierce, sullen light.</p> + +<p>How it had come there they knew not; but there it was. Judging from the +experience of their former encounter with it they presumed it would +again retreat at their approach; and, once more drawing their dirks, +they advanced boldly towards it.</p> + +<p>They were not deceived. Long before they were near, the uncouth creature +turned tail; and, again giving utterance to its unearthly cry, scampered +off towards the ravine,—in whose shadowy depths it soon disappeared +from their view.</p> + +<p>Supposing they had nothing further to fear, our adventurers stepped out +upon the strand, and commenced consultation as to their future course.</p> + +<p>To keep on down the coast and get as far as possible from the Arab +encampment,—was the thought of all three; and as they were unanimous in +this, scarce a moment was wasted in coming to a determination. Once +resolved, they faced southward; and started off as briskly as their +shivering frames and saturated garments would allow them.</p> + +<p>There was not much to cheer them on their way,—only the thought that +they had so adroitly extricated themselves from a dread danger. But even +this proved only a fanciful consolation; for scarce had they made a +score of steps along the strand, when they were brought to a sudden +halt, by hearing a noise that appeared to proceed from the ravine behind +them.</p> + +<p>It was a slight noise, something like a snort, apparently made by some +animal; and, for the moment, they supposed it to come from the ugly +quadruped that, after saluting them, had retreated up the gorge.</p> + +<p>On turning their eyes in that direction, they at once saw that they were +mistaken. A quadruped had produced the noise; but one of a very +different kind from the hairy brute with which they had parted. Just +emerging from the shadow of the sand-hills, they perceived a huge +creature, whose uncouth shape proclaimed it to be a camel.</p> + +<p>The sight filled them with consternation. Not that it was a camel; but +because, at the same time, they discovered that there was a man upon its +back, who, brandishing a long weapon, was urging the animal towards +them.</p> + +<p>The three midshipmen made no effort to continue the journey thus +unexpectedly interrupted. They saw that any attempt to escape from such +a fast-going creature would be idle. Encumbered as they were with their +wet garments, they could not have distanced a lame duck; and, resigning +themselves to the chances of destiny, they stood awaiting the encounter.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2> + +<h3>A CUNNING SHEIK.</h3> + + +<p>When the camel and its rider first loomed in sight,—indistinctly seen +under the shadow of the sand dunes,—our adventurers had conceived a +faint hope that it might be Sailor Bill.</p> + +<p>It was possible, they thought, that the old man-o-war's-man, left +unguarded in the camp, might have laid hands on the maherry that had +made away with him, and pressed it into service to assist his escape.</p> + +<p>The hope was entertained only for an instant. Bill had encountered no +such golden opportunity; but was still a prisoner in the tent of the +black sheik, surrounded by his shrewish tormentors.</p> + +<p>It was the maherry, however, that was seen coming back, for as it came +near the three middies recognized the creature whose intrusion upon +their slumbers of the preceding night had been the means, perhaps, of +saving their lives.</p> + +<p>Instead of a Jack Tar now surmounting its high hunch, they saw a little +wizen-faced individual with sharp angular features, and a skin of +yellowish hue puckered like parchment. He appeared to be at least sixty +years of age; while his costume, equipments, and above all, a certain +authoritative bearing, bespoke him to be one of the head men of the +horde.</p> + +<p>Such in truth was he,—one of the two sheiks,—the old Arab to whom the +straying camel belonged; and who was now mounted on his own maherry.</p> + +<p>His presence on the strand at this, to our adventurers, most inopportune +moment, requires explanation.</p> + +<p>He had been on the beach before, along with the others; and had gone +away with the rest. But instead of continuing on to the encampment, he +had fallen behind in the ravine; where, under the cover of some rocks, +and favored by the obscure light within the gorge, he had succeeded in +giving his comrades the slip. There he had remained,—permitting the +rest to recross the ridge, and return to the tents.</p> + +<p>He had not taken these steps without an object. Less superstitious than +his black brother sheik, he knew there must be some natural explanation +of the disappearance of the three castaways; and he had determined to +seek, and if possible, to discover it.</p> + +<p>It was not mere curiosity that prompted him to this determination. He +had been all out of sorts, with himself, since losing Sailor Bill in the +game of <i>helga</i>; and he was desirous of obtaining some compensation for +his ill-luck, by capturing the three castaways who had so mysteriously +disappeared.</p> + +<p>As to their having either drowned themselves, or walked away over the +waste of waters, the old sheik had seen too many Saäran summers and +winters to give credence either to one tale or the other. He knew they +would turn up again; and though he was not quite certain of the where, +he more than half suspected it. He had kept his suspicions to +himself,—not imparting them even to his own special followers. By the +laws of the Saära, a slave taken by any one of the tribe belongs not to +its chief, but to the individual who makes the capture. For this reason, +had the cunning sexagenarian kept his thoughts to himself, and fallen +<i>solus</i> into the rear of the returning horde.</p> + +<p>It might be supposed that he would have made some of his following privy +to his plan,—for the sake of having help to effect such a wholesale +capture. But no. His experience as a "Barbary wrecker" had taught him +that there would be no danger,—no likelihood of resistance,—even +though the castaways numbered thirty instead of three.</p> + +<p>Armed with this confidence, and his long gun, he had returned down the +ravine; and laid in wait near its mouth,—at a point where he commanded +a view of the coast line, to the distance of more than a mile on each +side of him.</p> + +<p>His vigil was soon rewarded: by seeing the three individuals for whom it +had been kept step forth from the sea,—as if emerging from its +profoundest depths,—and stand conspicuously upon the beach.</p> + +<p>He had waited for nothing more; but, giving the word to his maherry, had +ridden out of the ravine, and was now advancing with all speed upon the +tracks of the retreating mids.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2> + +<h3>A QUEER ENCOUNTER.</h3> + + +<p>In about threescore seconds from the time he was first seen pursuing +them, the old sheik was up to the spot where our adventurers had awaited +him.</p> + +<p>His first salute appeared to be some words of menace or +command,—rendered more emphatic by a series of gestures made with his +long gun; which was successively pointed at the heads of the three. Of +course, none of them understood what was said; but his gesticulations +made it clear enough, that he required their company to the Arab +encampment.</p> + +<p>Their first impulse was to yield obedience to this command; and Terence +had given a sign of assent, which was acquiesced in by Colin. Not so +Master Blount, in whom the British bulldog had become aroused even to +the showing of his teeth.</p> + +<p>"See him hanged first!" cried Harry. "What! yield up to an old monkey +like that, and walk tamely to the camp at the tail of his camel? No such +thing! If I am to become a prisoner, it will be to one who can take me."</p> + +<p>Terence, rather ashamed at having shown such facile submission, now +rushed to the opposite extreme; and drawing his dirk, cried out,—</p> + +<p>"By Saint Patrick! I'm with you, Harry! Let's die, rather than yield +ourselves prisoners to such a queer old curmudgeon!"</p> + +<p>Colin, before declaring himself, glanced sharply around,—carrying his +eye towards the <i>embouchure</i> of the ravine, to assure himself that the +Arab was alone.</p> + +<p>As there was nobody else in sight,—and no sound heard that would +indicate the proximity of any one,—it was probable enough that the +rider of the maherry was the only enemy opposed to them.</p> + +<p>"The devil take him!" cried Colin, after making his cautious +reconnaissance. "If he take us, he must first fight for it. Come on, old +skin-flint! you'll find we're true British tars,—ready for a score of +such as you."</p> + +<p>The three youths had by this time unsheathed their shining daggers, and +thrown themselves into a sort of triangle, the maherry in their midst.</p> + +<p>The old sheik—unprepared for such a reception—was altogether taken +aback by it; and for some seconds sate upon his high perch seemingly +irresolute how to act.</p> + +<p>Suddenly his rage appeared to rise to such a pitch, that he could no +longer command his actions; and bringing the long gun to his shoulder, +he levelled it at Harry Blount,—who had been foremost in braving him.</p> + +<p>The stream of smoke, pouring forth from its muzzle, for a moment +enveloped the form of the youthful mariner; but from the midst of that +sulphury <i>nimbus</i> came forth a clear manly voice, pronouncing the word +"Missed!"</p> + +<p>"Thank God!" cried Terence and Colin, in a breath; "now we have him in +our power! He can't load again! Let's on him all together! Heave ho!"</p> + +<p>And uttering this nautical phrase of encouragement, the three mids, with +naked dirks, rushed simultaneously towards the maherry.</p> + +<p>The Arab, old as he may have been, showed no signs either of stiffness +or decrepitude. On the contrary he exhibited all the agility of a +tiger-cat; along with a fierce determination to continue the combat he +had initiated,—notwithstanding the odds that were against him. On +discharging his gun, he had flung the useless weapon to the ground; and +instead of it now grasped a long curving scimitar, with which he +commenced cutting around him in every direction.</p> + +<p>Thus armed, he had the advantage of his assailants; for while he might +reach any one of them by a quick cut, they with their short dirks could +not come within thrusting-distance of him, without imminent danger of +having their arms, or perchance their heads, lopped sheer off their +shoulders.</p> + +<p>Defensively, too, had the rider of the maherry an advantage over his +antagonists. While within distance of them, at the point of his curving +blade, seated upon his high perch, he was beyond the reach of their +weapons. Get close to him as they might, and spring as high as they were +able, they could not bring the tips of their daggers in contact with his +skin.</p> + +<p>In truth, there seemed no chance for them to inflict the slightest wound +upon him; while at each fresh "wheel" of the maherry, and each new sweep +of the scimitar, one or other of them was in danger of decapitation!</p> + +<p>On first entering upon the fight, our adventurers had not taken into +account the impregnable position of their antagonist. Soon, however, did +they discover the advantages in his favor, with their own proportionate +drawbacks. To neutralize these was the question that now occupied them. +If something was not done soon, one or other—perhaps all three—would +have to succumb to that keen cutting of the scimitar.</p> + +<p>"Let's kill the camel!" cried Harry Blount, "that'll bring him within +reach; and then—"</p> + +<p>The idea of the English youth was by no means a bad one; and perhaps +would have been carried out. But before he could finish his speech, +another scheme had been conceived by Terence,—who had already taken +steps towards its execution.</p> + +<p>It was this that had interrupted Harry Blount in the utterance of his +counsel.</p> + +<p>At school the young Milesian had been distinguished in the exercise of +vaulting. "Leap-frog" had been his especial delight; and no mountebank +could bound to a greater height than he. At this crisis he remembered +his old accomplishment, and called it to his aid.</p> + +<p>Seeking an opportunity,—when the head of the maherry was turned towards +his comrades, and its tail to himself,—he made an energetic rush; +sprang half a score of feet from the ground; and flinging apart his +feet, while in the air, came down "stride legs" upon the croup of the +camel.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus4" id="illus4"></a> +<img src="images/illus4.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>THE SHEIK CAPTURED</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>It was fortunate for the old Arab that the effort thus made by the +amateur <i>saltimbanque</i> had shaken the dirk from his grasp,—else, in +another instant, the camel would have ceased to "carry double."</p> + +<p>As it was, its two riders continued upon its back; but in such close +juxtaposition, that it would have required sharp eyes and a good light +to tell that more than one individual was mounted upon it.</p> + +<p>Fast enfolded in the arms of the vigorous young Hibernian, could scarce +be distinguished the carcass of the old Arab sheik,—shrunken to half +size by the powerful compression; while the scimitar, so late whistling +with perilous impetuosity through the air, was now seen lying upon the +sand,—its gleam no longer striking terror into the hearts of those +whose heads it had been threatening to lop off!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2> + +<h3>HOLDING ON TO THE HUMP.</h3> + + +<p>The struggle between Terence and the sheik still continued, upon the +back of the maherry. The object of the young Irishman was to unhorse, or +rather <i>un-camel</i>, his antagonist, and get him to the ground.</p> + +<p>This design the old Arab resisted toughly, and with all his strength, +knowing that dismounted he would be no match for the trio of stout lads +whom he had calculated on capturing at his ease. Once <i>à pied</i> he would +be at their mercy, since he was now altogether unarmed. His gun had been +unloaded; and the shining scimitar, of which he had made such a +dangerous display, was no longer in his grasp. As already stated it had +fallen to the ground, and at that precious moment was being picked up by +Colin; who in all probability would have used it upon its owner, had not +the latter contrived to escape beyond its reach.</p> + +<p>The mode of the sheik's escape was singular enough. Still tenaciously +holding on to the hump, from which the young Irishman was using every +effort to detach him, he saw that his only chance of safety lay in +retreating from the spot, and, by this means, separating the antagonist +who clutched him from the two others that threatened upon the ground +below.</p> + +<p>A signal shout to the maherry was sufficient to effect his purpose. On +hearing it, the well-trained quadruped wheeled, as upon a pivot, and in +a shambling, but quick pace, started back towards the ravine, whence it +had late issued.</p> + +<p>To their consternation Colin and Harry beheld this unexpected movement; +and before either of them could lay hold of the halter,—now trailing +along the sand,—the maherry was going at a rate of speed which they +vainly endeavored to surpass. They could only follow in its wake,—as +they did so, shouting to Terence to let go his hold of the sheik, and +take his chance of a tumble to the ground.</p> + +<p>Their admonitions appeared not to be heeded. They were not needed,—at +least after a short interval had elapsed.</p> + +<p>At first the young Irishman had been so intent on his endeavors to +dismount his adversary, that he did not notice the signal given to the +maherry, nor the retrograde movement it had inaugurated. Not until the +camel was re-entering the ravine, and the steep sides of the sand dunes +cast their dark shadows before him, did he observe that he was being +carried away from his companions.</p> + +<p>Up to this time he had been vainly striving to detach the sheik from his +hold upon the hump. On perceiving the danger, however, he desisted from +this design, and at once entered upon a struggle of a very different +kind,—to detach himself.</p> + +<p>In all probability this would have proved equally difficult, for, +struggle as he might, the tough old Arab, no longer troubling himself +about the control of his camel, had twisted his sinewy fingers under the +midshipman's dirk-belt, and held the latter in juxtaposition to his own +body, supported by the hump of the maherry, as if his very life depended +on not letting go.</p> + +<p>A lucky circumstance—and this only—hindered the young Irishman from +being carried to the Arab encampment; a circumstance very similar to +that which on the preceding night had led to the capture of that same +camel.</p> + +<p>Its halter was again trailing.</p> + +<p>Its owner, occupied with the "double" which it had so unexpectedly been +called upon to carry, was conducting it only by his voice, and had +neither thought nor hands for the halter.</p> + +<p>Once again the trailing end got into the split hoof—once again the +maherry was tripped up; and came down neck foremost upon the sand.</p> + +<p>Its load was spilled—Bedouin and Hibernian coming together to the +ground—both, if not dangerously hurt, at least so shaken, as, for some +seconds, to be deprived of their senses.</p> + +<p>Neither had quite recovered from the shock, when Harry Blount and Colin, +coming up in close pursuit, stooped over the prostrate pair; and neither +Arab nor Irishman was very clear in his comprehension, when a crowd of +strange creatures closed around them, and took possession of the whole +party; as they did so yelling like a cohort of fiends.</p> + +<p>In the obfuscation of his "sivin" senses, the young Irishman may have +scarcely understood what was passing around him. It was too clear to his +companions,—clear as a catastrophe could be to those who are its +victims.</p> + +<p>The shot fired by the sheik, if failing in the effects intended, had +produced a result almost equally fatal to the three fugitives,—it had +given warning to the Arabs in their encampment; who, again sallying +forth, had arrived just in time to witness the "decadence" of the camel, +and now surrounded the group that encircled it.</p> + +<p>The courageous representative of England and the cool young Scotchman +were both taken by surprise, too much so to give them a chance of +thinking either of resistance or flight; while the mind of the Irish +middy, from a different cause, was equally in a hopeless "muddle."</p> + +<p>It resulted in all three being captured and conducted up the ravine +towards the camp of the wreckers.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2> + +<h3>OUR ADVENTURERS IN UNDRESS.</h3> + + +<p>Our adventurers made their approach to the <i>douar</i>,—for such is the +title of an Arab encampment,—with as much unwillingness as Sailor Bill +had done but an hour before. Equally <i>sans cérémonie</i>, or even with less +ceremony, did they enter among the tents, and certainly in a less +becoming costume,—since all three were stark naked with the exception +of their shirts.</p> + +<p>This was the only article of clothing their captors had left upon their +backs; and so far as comfort was concerned, they would have been as well +without it: for there was not a thread of the striped cotton that was +not saturated with sea-water.</p> + +<p>It was a wonder that even these scanty garments were not taken from +them; considering the eagerness with which they had been divested of +everything else.</p> + +<p>On the instant after being laid hold of, they had been stripped with as +much rapidity, as if their bodies were about to be submitted to some +ignominious chastisement. But they knew it was not that—only a desire +on the part of their captors to obtain possession of their +clothes—every article of which became the subject of a separate +contention, and more than one leading to a dispute that was near +terminating in a contest between two scimitars.</p> + +<p>In this way their jackets and dreadnought trowsers—their caps and +shoes—their dirks, belts, and pocket paraphernalia—were distributed +among nearly as many claimants as there were pieces.</p> + +<p>You may suppose that modesty interfered to reserve to them their shirts? +Such a supposition would be altogether erroneous. There is no such word +in the Bedouin vocabulary—no such feeling in the Bedouin breast.</p> + +<p>In the <i>douar</i> to which they were conducted were lads as old as they, +and lasses too, without the semblance of clothing upon their nude +bodies; not even a shirt,—not even the orientally famed fig-leaf!</p> + +<p>The reason of their being allowed to retain their homely garments had +nothing to do with any sentiment of delicacy. For the favor,—if such it +could be called,—they were simply indebted to the avarice of the old +sheik, who, having recovered from the stunning effects of his tumble, +claimed all three as his captives, <i>and their shirts along with them</i>!</p> + +<p>His claim as to their persons was not disputed; they were his by Saäran +custom. So, too, would their clothing, had his capture been complete; +but as there was a question about this, a distribution of the garments +had been demanded and acceded to.</p> + +<p>The sheik, however, would not agree to giving up the shirts; loudly +declaring that they belonged to the skin; and after some discussion on +this moot point, his claim was allowed; and our adventurers were spared +the shame of entering the Arab encampment <i>in puris naturalibus</i>.</p> + +<p>In their shirts did they once more stand face to face with Sailor Bill, +not a bit better clad than they: for though the old man-o'-war's-man was +still "anchored" by the marquee of the black sheik, his "toggery" had +long before been distributed throughout the <i>douar</i>; and scarce a tent +but contained some portion of his "belongings."</p> + +<p>His youthful comrades saw, but were not permitted to approach him. They +were the undisputed property of the rival chieftain,—to whose tent they +were taken; but not until they had "run a muck" among the women and +children, very similar to that which Bill had to submit to himself. It +terminated in a similar manner: that is, by their <i>owner</i> taking them +under his protection,—not from any motives of humanity, but simply to +save his property from receiving damage at the hands of the incarnate +female furies, who seemed to take delight in maltreating them!</p> + +<p>The old sheik, after allowing his <i>fair</i> followers, with their juvenile +<i>neophites</i>, for some length of time to indulge in their customary mode +of saluting strange captives, withdrew the latter beyond the reach of +persecution, to a place assigned them under the shadow of his tent. +There, with a sinewy Arab standing over them,—though as often squatted +beside them,—they were permitted to pass the remainder of the night, if +not in sleep at least in a state of tranquillity.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVII.</h2> + +<h3>THE CAPTIVES IN CONVERSATION.</h3> + + +<p>This tranquillity only related to any disturbance experienced from their +captors. There was none.</p> + +<p>These had been on the eve of striking their tents, and moving off to +some other oasis,—previous to the last incident that had arisen.</p> + +<p>As already stated, the two sheiks, by a mutual understanding, had been +about to shake hands, and separate,—the son of Japhet going north, to +the markets of Morocco, while the descendant of Ham was to face homeward +to his more tropical and appropriate clime,—under the skies of +Timbuctoo.</p> + +<p>The "windfall" that had so unexpectedly dropped into the <i>douar</i>; first +in the shape of Sailor Bill,—and afterwards, in more generous guise, by +the capture of the three "young gentlemen" of the gunroom,—had caused +some change in the plans of their captors.</p> + +<p>By mutual understanding between the two sheiks, something was to be done +in the morning; and their design of separating was deferred to another +day.</p> + +<p>The order to strike tents had been countermanded: and both tribes +retired to rest,—as soon as the captives had been disposed of for the +night.</p> + +<p>The douar was silent,—so far as the children of Ham and Japhet were +concerned. Even <i>their</i> children had ceased to clamor and squall.</p> + +<p>At intervals might be heard the neigh of a Barbary horse, the barking of +a dog, the bleating of a goat, or a sound yet more appropriate to the +scene, the snorting of a maherry.</p> + +<p>In addition to these, human voices were heard. But they proceeded from +the throats of the sons of Shem. For the most part they were uttered in +a low tone, as the three midshipmen conversed seriously and earnestly +together; but occasionally they became elevated to a higher pitch, when +Sailor Bill, guarded on the opposite side of the encampment—took part +in the conversation, and louder speech was necessary to the interchange +of thought between him and his fellow-captives.</p> + +<p>The Arab watchers offered no interruption. They understood not a word of +what was being said, and so long as the conversation of their captives +did not disturb the douar, they paid no heed to it.</p> + +<p>"What have they done to you, Bill?" was the first question asked by the +new comers, after they had been left free to make inquiries.</p> + +<p>"Faix!" responded the sailor, for it was Terry who had put the +interrogatory: "iverything they cowld think av—iverything to make an +old salt as uncomfortable as can be. They've not left a sound bone in my +body; nor a spot on my skin that's not ayther pricked or scratched wid +thar cruel thorns. My carcass must be like an old seventy-four after +comin' out av action—as full av holes as a meal sieve."</p> + +<p>"But what did they do to you, Bill?" said Colin, almost literally +repeating the interrogatory of Terence.</p> + +<p>The sailor detailed his experiences since entering the encampment.</p> + +<p>"It's very clear," remarked the young Scotchman, "that we need look for +nothing but ill-treatment at the hands of these worse than savages. I +suppose they intend making slaves of us."</p> + +<p>"That at least," quietly assented Harry.</p> + +<p>"Sartin," said the sailor. "They've let me know as much a'ready. There +be two captains to their crew; one's the smoke-dried old sinner as +brought yer in; the other a big nayger, as black as the ace o' spades. +You saw the swab? He's inside the tent here. He's my master. The two +came nigh quarrelling about which should have me, and settled it by some +sort o' a game they played wi' balls of kaymal's dung. The black won me; +an' that's why I'm kep by his tent. Mother av Moses! Only to think of a +British tar being the slave o' a sooty nayger! I never thought it wud a +come to this."</p> + +<p>"Where do you think they'll take us, Bill?"</p> + +<p>"The Lord only knows, an' whether we're all bound for the same port."</p> + +<p>"What! you think we may be separated?"</p> + +<p>"Be ma sang, Maister Colin, I ha'e ma fears we wull!"</p> + +<p>"What makes you think so?"</p> + +<p>"Why, ye see, as I've telt ye, I'm booked to ship wi' the +black,—'sheik' I've heerd them ca' him. Well: from what I ha'e seed and +heerd, there's nae doot they're gaein' to separate an' tak different +roads. I did na ken muckle o' what they sayed, but I could mak oot two +words I hae often heerd while cruisin' in the Gulf o' Guinea. They are +the names o' two great toons, a lang way up the kintry,—Timbuctoo and +Sockatoo. They are negro toons; an' for that reezun I ha'e a suspeshun +my master's bound to one or other o' the two ports."</p> + +<p>"But why do you think that we are to be taken elsewhere?" demanded Harry +Blount.</p> + +<p>"Why, because, Master 'Arry, you belong to the hold sheik, as is plainly +a Harab, an' oose port of hentry lies in a different direction,—that be +to the northart."</p> + +<p>"It is all likely enough," said Colin; "Bill's prognostication is but +too probable."</p> + +<p>"Why, ye see, Maister Colin, they are only land sharks who ha'e got hold +o' us. They're too poor to keep us; an' wull be sure to sell us +somewhere, an' to somebody that ha'e got the tocher to gie for us. +That's what they'll do wi' us poor bodies."</p> + +<p>"I hope," said Terence, "they'll not part us. No doubt slavery will be +hard enough to bear under any circumstances; but harder if we have to +endure it alone. Together, we might do something to alleviate one +another's lot. I hope we shall not be separated!"</p> + +<p>To this hope all the others made a sincere response; and the +conversation came to an end. They who had been carrying it on, worn out +by fatigue, and watchfulness long protracted,—despite the +unpleasantness of their situation,—soon after, and simultaneously, +yielded their spirits to the soothing oblivion of sleep.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE DOUAR AT DAWN.</h3> + + +<p>They could have slept for hours,—twenty-four of them,—had they been +permitted such indulgence.</p> + +<p>But they were not. As the first streaks of daylight became visible over +the eastern horizon, the whole douar was up and doing.</p> + +<p>The women and children of both hordes were seen flitting like shadows +among the tents. Some squatted under camels, or kneeling by the sides of +the goats, drew from these animals that lacteal fluid that may be said +to form the staple of their food. Others might be observed emptying the +precious liquid into skin bottles and sacks, and securing it against +spilling in its transport through the deserts.</p> + +<p>The matrons of the tribes—hags they looked—were preparing the true +<i>dejeûner</i>, consisting of <i>Sangleh</i>,—a sort of gruel, made with millet +meal, boiled over a dull fire of camel's dung.</p> + +<p>The <i>Sangleh</i> was to be eaten, by such of them as could afford it, mixed +with goats' or camels' milk,—unstrained and hairy,—half curdled into a +crab-like acidity, the moment it entered its stinking receptacle.</p> + +<p>Here and there men were seen milking their mares or maherries,—not a +few indulging in the universal beverage by a direct application of their +lips to the teats of the animal; while others, appointed to the task, +were preparing the paraphernalia of the douar, for transportation to +some distant oasis.</p> + +<p>Watching these various movements, were the three mids,—still stripped +to their shirts,—and the old man-o'-war's-man, clad with like +scantiness; since the only garment that clung to his sinewy frame was a +pair of cotton drawers neither very clean nor very sound at the seams.</p> + +<p>All four shivered in the chill air of the morning; for hot as is the +Saära under its noonday sun, in the night hours its thermometer +frequently falls almost to the point of freezing!</p> + +<p>Their state of discomfort did not hinder them from observing what was +passing around them. They could have slept on; but the discordant noises +of the douar, and a belief that they would not be permitted any longer +to enjoy their interrupted slumbers, hindered them from reclosing their +eyes. Still recumbent, and occasionally exchanging remarks in a low tone +of voice, they noted the customs of their captors.</p> + +<p>The young Scotchman had read many books relating to the <i>prairies</i> of +America, and their savage denizens. He was forcibly reminded of these by +what he now saw in this oasis of the sandy Saära; the women treated like +dogs, or worse,—doing all the work that might be termed labor,—tending +the cattle, cooking the meals, pitching or striking the tents, loading +the animals,—and themselves bearing such portions of the load as +exceeded the transport strength of the tribal quadrupeds,—aided only by +such wretched helots as misfortune had flung in the way of their common +masters. The men, mostly idle,—ludicrously nonchalant,—reclining on +their saddle-pads, or skins, inhaling the narcotic weed, apparently +proud in the possession of that lordship of wretchedness that surrounded +them.</p> + +<p>Colin was constrained to compare the savage life of two continents, +separated by an ocean. He came to the conclusion, that under similar +circumstances, mankind will ever be the same. In the Comanche of the +<i>Llano Estacado</i>, or the Pawnee of the Platte, he would have found an +exact counterpart of the Ishmaelitish wanderer over the sandy plains of +the Saära.</p> + +<p>He was allowed but scant time to philosophize upon these ethnological +phenomena. As the douar became stirred into general activity, he, along +with his two companions, was rudely started from his attitude of +observation, and ordered to take a share in the toils of the captors.</p> + +<p>At an earlier hour, and still more rudely, had Sailor Bill received the +commands of his master; who, as the first rays of the Aurora began to +dapple the horizon, had ordered the old man-o-war's-man to his feet, at +the same time administering to him a cruel kick, that came very near +shivering some of his stern timbers.</p> + +<p>Had the black sheik been acquainted with the English language,—as +spoken in Ratcliff Highway,—he would have better understood Sailor +Bill's reply to his rude matutinal salutation; which, along with several +not very complimentary wishes, ended by devoting the "nayger's" eyes to +eternal perdition.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h2> + +<h3>AN OBSTINATE DROMEDARY.</h3> + + +<p>The morning meal was eaten as soon as prepared. Its scantiness +surprised our adventurers. Even the more distinguished individuals +of the horde partook of only a very small quantity of milk, or +sangleh. The two sheiks alone got anything like what might have been +deemed an ordinary breakfast; while the more common class, as the +half-breeds—<i>hassanes</i>—and the negro slaves had to content themselves +with less than a pint of sour milk to each, half of which was water—the +mixture denominated <i>cheni</i>.</p> + +<p>Could this meal be meant for breakfast? Harry Blount and Terence thought +not. But Colin corrected them, by alleging that it was. He had read of +the wonderful abstemiousness of these children of the desert: how they +can live on a single meal a day, and this scarce sufficient to sustain +life in a child of six years old; that is, an English child. Often will +they go for several successive days without eating and when they do eat +regularly, a drink of milk is all they require to satisfy hunger.</p> + +<p>Colin was right. It was their ordinary breakfast. He might have added, +their dinner too, for they would not likely obtain another morsel of +food before sundown.</p> + +<p>But where was the breakfast of Colin and his fellow-captives? This was +the question that interested them far more than the dietary of the +Bedouins. They were all hungering like hyenas, and yet no one seemed to +think of them—no one offered them either bite or sup. Filthy as was the +mess made by the Arab women, and filthily as they prepared it,—boiling +it in pots, and serving it up in wooden dishes, that did not appear to +have had a washing for weeks,—the sight of it increased the hungry +cravings of the captives; and they would fain have been permitted to +share the scanty <i>dejeûner</i>.</p> + +<p>They made signs of their desire; piteous appeals for food, by looks and +gestures; but all in vain: not a morsel was bestowed on them. Their +brutal captors only laughed at them, as though they intended that all +four should go without eating.</p> + +<p>It soon became clear that they were not to starve in idleness. As soon +as they had been started to their feet each of them was set to a task; +one to collect camels' dung for the cooking fires; another to fetch +water from the brackish muddy pool which had caused the oasis to become +a place of encampment; while the third was called upon to assist in the +loading of the tent equipage, along with the salvage of the wreck,—an +operation entered upon as soon as the sangleh had been swallowed.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill, in a different part of the douar, was kept equally upon the +alert: and if he, or any of the other three, showed signs of disliking +their respective tasks, one of the two sheiks made little ado about +striking them with a leathern strap, a knotty stick, or any weapon that +chanced to come readiest to hand. They soon discovered that they were +under the government of taskmasters not to be trifled with, and that +resistance or remonstrance would be alike futile. In short, they saw +<i>that they were slaves</i>!</p> + +<p>While packing the tents, and otherwise preparing for the march, they +were witnesses to many customs, curious as new to them. The odd +equipages of the animals,—both those of burden and those intended to be +ridden,—the oval panniers, placed upon the backs of the camels, to +carry the women and younger children; the square pads upon the humps of +the maherries; the tawny little piccaninnies strapped upon the backs of +their mothers; the kneeling of the camels to receive their loads,—as if +consenting to what could not be otherwise than disagreeable to +them,—were all sights that might have greatly interested our +adventurers, had they been viewing them under different circumstances.</p> + +<p>Out of the last mentioned of these sights, an incident arose, +illustrating the craft of their captors in the management of their +domestic animals.</p> + +<p>A refractory camel, that, according to usual habit, had voluntarily +humiliated itself to receive its load, after this had been packed upon +it, refused to rise to its feet. The beast either deemed the burden +inequable and unjust,—for the Arabian camel, like the Peruvian llama, +has a very acute perception of fair play in this respect,—or a fit of +caprice had entered its mulish head. For one reason or another it +exhibited a stern determination <i>not</i> to oblige its owner by rising to +its feet; but continued its genuflexion in spite of every effort to get +it on all-fours.</p> + +<p>Coaxing and cajolery were tried to no purpose. Kicking by sandalled +feet, scourging with whips, and beating with cudgels produced no better +effect; and to all appearance the obstinate brute had made up its mind +to remain in the oasis and let the tribe depart without it.</p> + +<p>At this crisis an ingenious method of making the camel change its mind +suggested itself to its master; or perhaps he had practised it on some +former occasion. Maddened by the obstinacy of the animal, he seized hold +of an old burnouse, and rushing up, threw it over its head. Then drawing +the rag tightly around its snout, he fastened it in such a manner as +completely to stop up the nostrils.</p> + +<p>The camel finding its breathing thus suddenly interrupted, became +terrified; and without further loss of time, scrambled to its feet—to +the great amusement of the women and children who were spectators of the +scene.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XL" id="CHAPTER_XL"></a>CHAPTER XL.</h2> + +<h3>WATERING THE CAMELS.</h3> + + +<p>In an incredibly short space of time the tents were down, and the douar +with all its belongings was no longer to be seen; or only in the shape +of sundry packages balanced upon the backs of the animals.</p> + +<p>The last operation before striking out upon the desert track, was the +watering of these; the supply for the journey having been already dipped +up out of the pool, and poured into goat-skin sacks.</p> + +<p>The watering of the camels appeared to be regarded as the most important +matter of all. In this performance every precaution was taken, and every +attention bestowed, to ensure to the animals a full supply of the +precious fluid,—perhaps from a presentiment on the part of their owners +that they themselves might some day stand in need of, and make use of, +the <i>same</i> water!</p> + +<p>Whether this was the motive or not, every camel belonging to the horde +was compelled to drink till its capacious stomach was quite full; and +the quantity consumed by each would be incredible to any other than the +owner of an African dromedary, Only a very large cask could have +contained it.</p> + +<p>At the watering of the animals, our adventurers had an opportunity of +observing another incident of the Saära,—quite as curious and original +as that already described.</p> + +<p>It chanced that the pool that furnished the precious fluid, and which +contained the only fresh water to be found within fifty miles, was just +then on the eve of being dried up. A long season of drought—that is to +say, <i>three or four years</i>—had reigned over this particular portion of +the desert, and the lagoon, formerly somewhat extensive, had shrunk into +the dimensions of a trifling tank, containing little more than two or +three hundred gallons. This, during the stay of the two tribes united as +wreckers, had been daily diminishing; and had the occupants of the douar +not struck tents at the time they did, in another day or so they would +have been in danger of suffering from thirst. This was in reality the +cause of their projected migration. But for the fear of getting short in +the necessary commodity of fresh water, they would have hugged the +seashore a little longer, in hopes of picking up a few more "waifs" from +the wreck of the English ship.</p> + +<p>At the hour of their departure from the encampment, the pool was on the +eve of exhaustion. Only a few score gallons of not very pure water +remained in it—about enough to fill the capacious stomachs of the +camels; whose owners had gauged them too often to be ignorant of the +quantity.</p> + +<p>It would not do to play with this closely calculated supply. Every pint +was precious; and to prove that it was so esteemed, the animals were +constrained to swallow it in a fashion, which certainly nature could +never have intended.</p> + +<p>Instead of taking it in by the mouth the camels of these Saäran rovers +were compelled to quench their thirst through the nostrils!</p> + +<p>You will wonder in what manner this could be effected? inquiring whether +the quadrupeds voluntarily performed this nasal imbibing?</p> + +<p>Our adventurers, witnesses of the fact, wondered also—while struck with +its quaint peculiarity.</p> + +<p>There is a proverb that "one man may take a horse to the water, but +twenty cannot compel him to drink." Though this proverb may hold good of +an English horse, it has no significance when applied to an African +dromedary. Proof. Our adventurers saw the owner of each camel bring his +animal to the edge of the pool; but instead of permitting the thirsty +creature to step in and drink for itself, its head was held aloft, a +wooden funnel was filled, the narrow end inserted into the nostril, and +by the respiratory canal the water introduced to the throat and stomach!</p> + +<p>You may ask, why this selection of the nostrils instead of the mouth? +Our adventurers so interrogated one another. It was only after becoming +better acquainted with the customs of the Saära that they acquired a +satisfactory explanation of one they had frequent occasion to observe.</p> + +<p>Though ordinarily of the most docile disposition, and in most of its +movements the most tranquil of creatures, the dromedary, when drinking +from a vessel, has the habit of repeatedly shaking its head, and +spilling large quantities of the water placed before it. Where water is +scarce,—and, as in the Saära, considered the most momentous matter of +life,—a waste of it after such a fashion could not be tolerated. To +prevent it, therefore, the camel-owner has contrived that this animal, +so essential to his own safe existence, should drink through the +orifices intended by nature for its respiration.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLI" id="CHAPTER_XLI"></a>CHAPTER XLI.</h2> + +<h3>A SQUABBLE BETWEEN THE SHEIKS.</h3> + + +<p>The process of watering the camels was carried on with the utmost +diligence and care. It was too important to be trifled with, or +negligently performed. While filling the capacious stomachs of the +quadrupeds, their owners were but laying in a stock for themselves.</p> + +<p>As Sailor Bill jocularly remarked, "it was like filling the water-casks +of a man-of-war previous to weighing anchor for a voyage." In truth, +very similar was the purpose for which these ships of the desert were +being supplied; for, when filling the capacious stomachs of the +quadrupeds, their owners were not without the reflection that the supply +might yet pass into their own. Such a contingency was not improbable, +neither would it be new.</p> + +<p>For this reason the operation was conducted with diligence and care,—no +camel being led away from the pool until it was supposed to have had a +"surfeit," and this point was settled by seeing the water poured in at +its nostrils running out at its mouth.</p> + +<p>As each in turn got filled, it was taken back to the tribe to which it +belonged; for the united hordes had by this time become separated into +two distinct parties, preparatory to starting off on their respective +routes.</p> + +<p>Our adventurers could now perceive a marked difference between the two +bands of Saära wanderers into whose hands they had unfortunately fallen. +As already stated, the black sheik was an African of the true negro +type, with thick lips, flattened nostrils, woolly hair, and heels +projecting several inches to the rear of his ankle-joints. Most of his +following were similarly "furnished," though not all of them. There were +a few of mixed color, with straight hair, and features almost Caucasian, +who submitted to his rule, or rather to his ownership, since these last +all appeared to be his slaves.</p> + +<p>Those who trooped after the old Arab were mostly of his own race, mixed +with a remnant of mongrel Portuguese,—descendants of the peninsular +colonists who had fled from the coast settlements after the conquest of +Morocco by the victorious "Sheriffs."</p> + +<p>Of such mixed races are the tribes who thinly people the Saära,—Arabs, +Berbers, Ethiopians of every hue; all equally Bedoweens,—wanderers of +the pathless deserts. It did not escape the observation of our +adventurers that the slaves of the Arab sheik and his followers were +mostly pure negroes from the south, while those of the black +chieftain,—as proclaimed by the color of their skin,—showed a Shemitic +or Japhetic origin. The philosophic Colin could perceive in this a +silent evidence of the retribution of races.</p> + +<p>The supply of water being at length laid in, not only in the skins +appropriated to the purpose, but also within the stomachs of the camels, +the two tribes seemed prepared to exchange with each other the parting +salute,—to speak the "Peace be with you!" And yet there was something +that caused them to linger in each other's proximity. Their new-made +captives could tell this, though ignorant of what it might be.</p> + +<p>It was something that had yet to be settled between the two sheiks, who +did not appear at this moment of leave-taking to entertain for each +other any very cordial sentiment of friendship.</p> + +<p>Could their thoughts have found expression in English words, they would +have taken shape somewhat as follows:—</p> + +<p>"That lubberly nigger," (we are pursuing the train of reflections that +passed through the mind of the Arab sheik,) "old Nick burn him!—thinks +I've got more than my share of this lucky windfall. He wants these boys +bad,—I know that. The Sultan of Timbuctoo has given him a commission to +procure <i>white slaves</i>,—that's clear; and <i>boy slaves</i> if he +can,—that's equally certain. This lot would suit him to a T. I can tell +that he don't care much for the old salt he has tricked me out of by his +superior skill at that silly game of helga. No; His Majesty of the +mud-walled city don't want such as him. It's boys he's after,—as can +wait smartly at his royal table, and give <i>éclat</i> to his ceremonial +entertainments. Well, he can have these <i>three at a price</i>."</p> + +<p>"Ay, but a big price," continued the cunning old trafficker in human +flesh, after a short reflection, "a wopping big price. The togs we've +stripped from them were no common clothing. Good broadcloth in their +jackets, and bullion bands on their caps. They must be the sons of great +sheiks. At Wedmoon the old Jew will redeem them. So, too, the merchants +at Suse; or maybe I had best take them on to Mogador, where the consul +of their country will come down handsomely for such as they. Yes, that's +the trick!"</p> + +<p>At this parting scene the thoughts of Fatima's husband were equally +occupied with trading speculations, in which he was assisted by the +amiable Fatima herself.</p> + +<p>Translated also into English, they would have read as follows:—</p> + +<p>"The Sultan would give threescore of his best blacks for those three +tripe-colored brats."</p> + +<p>"I know it, Fatty dear; he's told me so himself."</p> + +<p>"Then why not get them, and bring 'em along?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, that's easy to say. How can I? You know they belong to the old Arab +by right,—at least, he claims them, though not very fairly, for if we +hadn't come up in good time they would have taken him instead of his +taking them; no matter for that, they're his now by the laws of the +Saära."</p> + +<p>"Bother the laws of the Saära!" exclaimed Fatima, with a disdainful toss +of her head, and a scornful turning up of her two protruding teeth; "all +stuff and nonsense! There's no law in the Saära; and if there was, you +know we're never coming into it again. The price you'd get for those +three hobbledehoys would keep us comfortable for the balance of our +lives; and we need never track the Devil's Desert again. Take 'em by +force from old Yellow-face, if you can't get 'em otherwise; but you may +'chouse' him out of them at a game of <i>helga</i>,—you know you can beat +him at that. If he won't play again, try your hand at bargaining against +your blacks; offer him two to one."</p> + +<p>Thus counselled by the partner of his bosom, the black sheik, instead of +bidding the <i>saleik aloum</i> to his Arab <i>confrère</i>, raised his voice +aloud, and demanded from the latter a parley upon business of +importance.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLII" id="CHAPTER_XLII"></a>CHAPTER XLII.</h2> + +<h3>THE TRIO STAKED.</h3> + + +<p>The parley that followed was of course unintelligible to our +adventurers, the <i>Boy Slaves</i>.</p> + +<p>But although they did not understand the words that were exchanged +between the two sheiks, they were not without having a conjecture as to +their import. The gestures made by the two men, and their looks cast +frequently towards themselves, led them to believe that the conversation +related to their transference from one to the other.</p> + +<p>There was not much to choose between the two masters. Both appeared to +be unfeeling savages, and so far had treated their captives with much +cruelty. They could only hope, in case of a transfer taking place, that +it would not be partial, but would extend to the trio, and that they +would be kept together. They had been already aware that old Bill was to +be parted from them, and this had caused them a painful feeling; but to +be themselves separated, perhaps never to meet again, was a thought +still more distressing.</p> + +<p>The three youths had long been shipmates,—ever since entering the naval +service of their country. They had become fast friends; and believed +that whatever might be the fate before them, they could better bear it +in each other's company. Companionship would at least enable them to +cheer one another; mutual sympathy would, to some extent, alleviate the +hardest lot; while alone, and under such cruel taskmasters, the prospect +was gloomy in the extreme.</p> + +<p>With feelings of keen anxiety, therefore, did they listen to the +palaver, and watch the countenances of their captors.</p> + +<p>After a full half-hour spent in loud talking and gesticulating, some +arrangement appeared to have been arrived at between the two sheiks. +Those most interested in it could only guess what it was by what +followed.</p> + +<p>Silence having been partially restored, the old Arab was seen to step up +to the spot where the slaves of the black sheik were assembled; and, +after carefully scrutinizing them, pick out three of the stoutest, +plumpest, and healthiest young negroes in the gang. These were separated +from the others, and placed on the plain some distance apart.</p> + +<p>"We're to be exchanged," muttered Terence, "we're to belong to the ugly +black nagur. Well, perhaps it's better. We'll be with old Bill."</p> + +<p>"Stay a wee," said Colin; "there's something more to come yet, I think."</p> + +<p>The black sheik at this moment coming up, interrupted the conversation +of the captives.</p> + +<p>What was he going to do? Take them with him, they supposed. The old Arab +had himself led out the three young "darkies"; and the black sheik was +about to act in like manner with the trio of white captives.</p> + +<p>So reasoned they; and, as it was a matter of indifference to them with +which they went, they would offer no opposition.</p> + +<p>To their chagrin, however, instead of all three, only one of them was +led off; the other two being commanded by gestures to keep their ground.</p> + +<p>It was O'Connor to whom this partiality was shown; the black sheik +having selected him after a short while spent in scrutinizing and +comparing the three. The Irish youth was of stouter build than either of +his shipmates; and this, perhaps, guided the black sheik in making his +choice. By all appearances, the conditions of the exchange were to be +different from what our adventurers had anticipated. It was not to be +man for man, or boy for boy; but three for one,—three blacks to a +white.</p> + +<p>This was, in reality, the terms that had been agreed upon. The +avaricious old Arab, not caring very much to part with his share of the +spoil, would not take less than three to one; and to this the black +sheik, after long and loud bargaining, had consented.</p> + +<p>Terence was led up, and placed alongside the three young darkies, who, +instead of taking things as seriously as he, were exhibiting their +ivories in broad grins of laughter, as if the disposal of their persons +was an affair to be treated only as a joke!</p> + +<p>Our adventurers were now apprehensive that they were to be separated. +Their only hope was that the bargaining would not end there; but would +extend to a further exchange of six blacks for the two remaining whites.</p> + +<p>Their conjectures were interrupted by their seeing that the "swop" was +not yet considered complete.</p> + +<p>What followed, in fact, showed them that it was not a regular trade at +all; but a little bit of gambling between the two sheiks, in which +Terence and the three young blacks were to be the respective stakes.</p> + +<p>Old Bill was able to explain the proceedings, from his experience of the +preceding night; and as he saw the two sheiks repair to the place where +his own proprietorship had been decided, he cried out:—</p> + +<p>"Yere goin' to be gambled for, Masther Terry! Och! ye'll be along wid +me,—for the black can bate the owld Arab at that game, all hollow."</p> + +<p>The holes in which the <i>helga</i> had been played on the preceding night +were now resorted to. The proper number of dung pellets were procured, +and the game proceeded.</p> + +<p>It ended as the old man-o'-war's-man had prognosticated, by the black +sheik becoming the winner and owner of Terence O'Connor.</p> + +<p>The Arab appeared sadly chagrined, and by the way in which he strutted +and stormed over the ground, it was evident he would not rest satisfied +with his loss. When did gamester ever leave gaming-table so long as a +stake was left him to continue the play?</p> + +<p>Two of the midshipmen still belonged to the old sheik. With these he +might obtain a <i>revanche</i>. He made the trial. He was unfortunate, as +before. Either the luck was against him, or he was no match at "desert +draughts" for his sable antagonist.</p> + +<p>It ended in the black sheik becoming the owner of the three midshipmen, +who, restored to the companionship of Sailor Bill, in less than twenty +minutes after the conclusion of the game, were trudging it across the +desert in the direction of Timbuctoo!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLIII" id="CHAPTER_XLIII"></a>CHAPTER XLIII.</h2> + +<h3>GOLAH.</h3> + + +<p>In their journey over the sea of sand, our four adventurers formed part +of a company of sixteen men and women, along with six or seven children.</p> + +<p>All were the property of one man,—the huge and dusky sheik who had won +Sailor Bill and the three middies at "desert draughts."</p> + +<p>It soon became known to his white captives that his name was Golah, a +name which Terence suggested might probably be an African abbreviation +of the ancient name of Goliah.</p> + +<p>Golah was certainly a great man,—not in bone and flesh alone, but in +intellect as well.</p> + +<p>We do not claim for him the gigantic mind that by arranging a few +figures and symbols, by the light of a lamp in a garret, could discover +a new planet in the solar system, and give its dimensions, weight, and +distance from the dome of St. Paul's. Neither do we claim that the power +of his intellect, if put forth in a storm of eloquence, could move the +masses of his fellow-creatures, as a hurricane stirs up the waters of +the sea; yet for all this Golah had a great intellect. He was born to +rule, and not a particle of all the propensities and sentiments +constituting his mind was ever intended to yield to the will of another.</p> + +<p>The cunning old sheik, who had the first claim to the three mids, had +been anxious to retain them; but they were also wanted by Golah, and the +Arab was compelled to give them up, after having been fairly beaten at +the game; parting with his sable competitor in a mood that was anything +but agreeable.</p> + +<p>The black sheik had three wives, all of whom possessed the gift of +eloquence in a high degree.</p> + +<p>For all this a simple glance from him was enough to stop any one of them +in the middle of a monosyllable.</p> + +<p>Even Fatima, the favorite, owed much of her influence to the ability she +displayed in studying her lord's wishes to the neglect of her own.</p> + +<p>Golah had seven camels, four of which were required for carrying himself +and his wives, with their children, trappings, tent utensils, and tents.</p> + +<p>The three other camels were laden with the spoils which had been +collected from the wreck.</p> + +<p>Twelve of the sixteen adults in the company were compelled to walk, +being forced to keep up with the camels the best way they could.</p> + +<p>One of these was Golah's son, a youth about eighteen years of age. He +was armed with a long Moorish musket, a heavy Spanish sword, and the +dirk that had been taken from Colin.</p> + +<p>He was the principal guard over the slaves, in which duty he was +assisted by another youth, whom our adventurers afterwards learnt was a +brother of one of Golah's wives.</p> + +<p>This second youth was armed with a musket and scimitar, and both he and +Golah's son seemed to think that their lives depended on keeping a +constant watch over the ten slaves; for there were six others besides +Sailor Bill and his young companions. They had all been captured, +purchased, or won at play, during Golah's present expedition, and were +now on the way to some southern market.</p> + +<p>Two of the six were pronounced by Sailor Bill to be Kroomen,—a race of +Africans with whose appearance he was somewhat familiar, having often +seen them acting as sailors in ships coming from the African coast.</p> + +<p>The other slaves were much lighter in complexion, and by the old +man-o'-war's-man were called "Portugee blacks." All had the appearance +of having spent some time in bondage on the great Saära.</p> + +<p>On the first day of their journey the white captives had learnt the +relations existing between the majority of the company and the chief +Golah; and each of them felt shame as well as indignation at the +humiliating position in which he was placed.</p> + +<p>Those feelings were partly excited and greatly strengthened by hunger +and thirst, as well as by the painful toil they had to undergo in +dragging themselves over the sandy plain beneath a scorching sun.</p> + +<p>"I have had enough of this," said Harry Blount to his companions. "We +might be able to stand it several days longer, but I've no curiosity to +learn whether we can or not."</p> + +<p>"Go on! you are thinking and speaking for me, Harry," said Terence.</p> + +<p>"There are four of us," continued Harry,—"four of that nation whose +people boast they <i>never will be slaves</i>; besides, there are six others, +who are our fellow-bondsmen. They're not much to look at, but still they +might count for something in a row. Shall we four British tars, belong +to a party of ten,—all enslaved by three men,—black men at that?"</p> + +<p>"That's just what I've been thinking about for the last hour or two," +said Terence. "If we don't kill old Golah, and ride off with his camels, +we deserve to pass every day of our lives as we're doing this one—in +slavery."</p> + +<p>"Just say the word,—when and how," cried Harry "I'm waiting. There are +seven camels. Let us each take one; but before we go we must eat and +drink the other three. I'm starving."</p> + +<p>"Pitch on a plan, and I'll pitch into it," rejoined Terence. "I'm ready +for anything,—from pitch and toss up to manslaughter."</p> + +<p>"Stay, Master Terence," interrupted the old sailor. "Av coorse ye are +afther wantin' to do somethin', an' thin to think aftherwards why ye did +it. Arry, my lad, yer half out o yer mind. Master Colin be the only yin +o' ye that keeps his seven senses about him. Suppose all av ye, that the +big chief was dead, an' that his son was not alive, and that the other +nager was a ristin' quietly wid his black heels turned from the place +where the daisies hought to grow,—what should we do thin? We 'ave +neyther chart nor compass. We could'ner mak oot our reckonin'. Don't ye +see a voyage here is just like one at sea, only it be just the revarse. +When men are starvin' at sea, they want to find land, but when they are +starvin' in the desert they want to find water. The big nager, our +captain, can navigate this sea in safety,—we can't. We must let him +take us to some port and then do the best we can to escape from him."</p> + +<p>"You are quite right," said Colin, "in thinking that we might be unable +to find our way from one watering-place to another; but it is well for +us to calculate all the chances. After reaching some <i>port</i>, as you call +it, may we not find ourselves in a position more difficult to escape +from,—where we will have to contend with a hundred or more of these +negro brutes in place of only three?"</p> + +<p>"That's vary likely," answered the sailor; "but they're only men, and we +'av a chance of beatin' 'em. We may fight with men, and conquer 'em, an' +we may fight with water an' conquer that; but when we fight against no +water that will conquer us. Natur is sure to win."</p> + +<p>"Bill's right there," said Terence, "and I feel that Nature is getting +the best of me already."</p> + +<p>While they were holding this conversation, they noticed that one of the +Kroomen kept near them, and seemed listening to all that was said. His +sparkling eyes betrayed the greatest interest.</p> + +<p>"Do you understand us?" asked old Bill, turning sharply towards the +African, and speaking in an angry tone.</p> + +<p>"Yus, sa,—a lilly bit," answered the Krooman, without seeming to notice +the unpleasant manner in which the question had been put.</p> + +<p>"And what are you listening for?"</p> + +<p>"To hear what you tell um. I like go in Ingleesh ship. You talk good for +me. I go long with you."</p> + +<p>With some difficulty the sailor and his companions could comprehend the +Krooman's gibberish. They managed to learn from him that he had once +been in an English ship, and had made a voyage along the African coast, +trading for palm-oil. While on board he had picked up a smattering of +English. He was afterwards shipwrecked in a Portuguese brig. Cast away +on the shores of the Saära, just as our adventurers had been, and had +passed four years in the desert,—a slave to its denizens.</p> + +<p>He gratified our adventurers by telling them that they were in no danger +of having to endure a prolonged period of captivity, as they would soon +be sold into liberty, instead of slavery. Golah could not afford to keep +slaves; and was only a kidnapper and dealer in the article. He would +sell them to the highest bidder, and that would be some English consul +on the coast.</p> + +<p>The Krooman said there was no such hope for him and his companions, for +their country did not redeem its subjects from slavery.</p> + +<p>When he saw that Golah had obtained some English prisoners, he had been +cheered with the hope that he might be redeemed along with them, as an +English subject, to which right he had some claim from having served on +an English ship!</p> + +<p>During the day the black slaves—well knowing the duty they were +expected to perform, had been gathering pieces of dried camels' dung +along the way; this was to supply fuel for the fire of the douar at +night.</p> + +<p>Soon after sunset Golah ordered a halt, when the camels were unloaded +and the tents set up.</p> + +<p>About one quarter the quantity of <i>sangleh</i> that each required, was then +served out to the slaves for their dinner, and as they had eaten nothing +since morning, this article of food appeared to have greatly improved, +both in appearance and flavor. To the palate of our adventurers it +seemed delicious.</p> + +<p>Golah, after examining his human property, and evidently satisfied with +the condition of all, retired to his tent; from which soon after issued +sounds that resembled a distant thunder-storm.</p> + +<p>The black sheik was snoring!</p> + +<p>The two young men—his son and brother-in-law—relieved each other +during the night in keeping watch over the slaves.</p> + +<p>Their vigil was altogether unnecessary. Weak, and exhausted with hunger +and fatigue, the thoughts of the captives were not of the future, but of +present repose; which was eagerly sought, and readily found, by all four +of them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLIV" id="CHAPTER_XLIV"></a>CHAPTER XLIV.</h2> + +<h3>A DAY OF AGONY.</h3> + + +<p>An hour before sunrise the next morning, the slaves were given some +<i>cheni</i> to drink, and then started on their journey.</p> + +<p>The sun, as it soared up into a cloudless sky, shot forth its rays much +warmer than upon the day before, while not a breath of air fanned the +sterile plain. The atmosphere was as hot and motionless as the sands +under their feet. They were no longer hungry. Thirst—raging, burning +thirst—extinguished or deadened every other sensation.</p> + +<p>Streams of perspiration poured from their bodies, as they struggled +through the yielding sand; yet, with all this moisture streaming from +every pore, their throats, tongues, and lips became so parched that any +attempt on their part to hold converse only resulted in producing a +series of sounds that resembled a death-rattle.</p> + +<p>Golah, with his family, rode in the advance, and seemed not to give +himself any concern whether he was followed by others or not. His two +relatives brought up the rear of the <i>kafila</i>, and any of the slaves +exhibiting a disposition to lag behind was admonished to move on with +blows administered by a thick stick.</p> + +<p>"Tell them I must have water or die," muttered Harry to the Krooman in a +hoarse whisper. "I am worth money, and if old Golah lets me die for want +of a drop of water, he's a fool."</p> + +<p>The Krooman refused to make the communication—which he declared would +only result in bringing ill treatment upon himself.</p> + +<p>Colin appealed to Golah's son, and by signs gave him to understand that +they must have water. The young black, in answer, simply condescended to +sneer at him. He was not suffering himself, and could have no sympathy +for another.</p> + +<p>The hides of the blacks, besmeared with oil, seemed to repel the +scorching beams of the sun; and years of continual practice had no doubt +inured them to the endurance of hunger and thirst to a surprising +degree. To their white fellow-captives they appeared more like huge +reptiles than human beings.</p> + +<p>The sand along the route on this, the second day, was less compact than +before, and the task of leg-lifting, produced a weariness such as might +have arisen from the hardest work. Added to the agony of their thirst, +the white sufferers dwelt frequently on thoughts of death—that great +antidote to human miseries; yet so constrained were their actions by +force of circumstances, that only by following their leader and owner, +Golah, could they hope to find relief.</p> + +<p>Had he allowed them to turn back to the coast, whence they had started, +or even to repose for a few hours on the way, they could not have done +so. They were compelled to move on, by a power that could not be +resisted.</p> + +<p>That power was Hope,—the hope of obtaining some <i>sangleh</i> and a little +dirty water.</p> + +<p>To turn back, or to linger behind, would bring them nothing but more +suffering,—perhaps death itself.</p> + +<p>A man intent on dying may throw himself into the water to get drowned, +and then find himself involuntarily struggling to escape from the death +he has courted.</p> + +<p>The same irresistible antipathy to death compelled his white captives to +follow the black sheik.</p> + +<p>They were unwilling to die,—not for the sole reason that they had homes +and friends they wished to see again,—not solely for that innate love +of life, implanted by Nature in the breasts of all; but there was a +pleasure which they desired to experience once more,—aye, yearned to +indulge in it: the pleasure of quenching their terrible thirst. To +gratify this pleasure they must follow Golah.</p> + +<p>One of Golah's wives had three children; and, as each wife was obliged +to look after her own offspring, this woman could not pursue her journey +without a little more trouble than her less favored companions.</p> + +<p>The eldest of her children was too young to walk a long distance; and, +most of the time, was carried under her care upon the maherry. Having +her three restless imps, to keep balanced upon the back of the camel, +requiring her constant vigilance to prevent them from falling off, she +found her hands full enough. It was a sort of travelling that did not at +all suit her; and she had been casting about for some way of being +relieved from at least a portion of her trouble.</p> + +<p>The plan she devised was to compel some one of the slaves to carry her +eldest child, a boy about four years of age.</p> + +<p>Colin was the victim selected for this duty. All the attempts made by +the young Scotchman to avoid the responsibilities thus imposed upon him +proved vain. The woman was resolute, and Colin had to yield; although he +resisted until she threatened to call Golah to her assistance.</p> + +<p>This argument was conclusive; and the young darkey was placed upon +Colin's shoulders, with its legs around his neck, and one of its hands +grasping him tightly by the hair.</p> + +<p>When this arrangement was completed, night had drawn near; and the two +young men who acted as guards hastened forward to select a place for the +douar.</p> + +<p>There was no danger of any of the slaves making an attempt to escape; +for all were too anxious to receive the small quantity of food that was +to be allowed them at the night halt.</p> + +<p>Encumbered with the "piccaninny," and wearied with the long, ceaseless +struggle through the sand, Colin lingered behind his companions. The +mother of the child, apparently attentive to the welfare of her +first-born, checked the progress of her maherry, and rode back to him.</p> + +<p>After the camels had been unloaded, and the tents pitched, Golah +superintended the serving out of their suppers, which consisted only of +<i>sangleh</i>. The quantity was even less than had been given the evening +before; but it was devoured by the white captives with a pleasure none +of them had hitherto experienced.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill declared that the brief time in which he was employed in +consuming the few mouthfuls allowed him, was a moment of enjoyment that +repaid him for all the sufferings of the day.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Master Arry!" said he, "it's only now we are larnin' to live, +although I did think, one time to-day, we was just larnin' to die. I +never mean to eat again until I'm hungry Master Terry," he added, +turning to the young Irishman, "isn't this foine livin' intirely? and +are yez not afther bein' happy?"</p> + +<p>"'T is the most delicious food man ever ate," answered Terence, "and the +only fault I can find is that there is not enough of it."</p> + +<p>"Then you may have what is left of mine," said Colin, "for I can't say +that I fancy it."</p> + +<p>Harry, Terence, and the sailor gazed at the young Scotchman with +expressions of mingled alarm and surprise. Small as had been the amount +of <i>sangleh</i> with which Colin had been served, he had not eaten more +than one half of it.</p> + +<p>"Why, puir Maister Colly, what is wrang wi' ye?" exclaimed Bill, in a +tone expressing fear and pity. "If ye dinna eat, mon, ye'll dee."</p> + +<p>"I'm quite well," answered Colin, "but I have had plenty, and any of you +can take what is left."</p> + +<p>Though the hunger of Colin's three companions was not half satisfied, +they all refused to finish the remainder of his supper, hoping that he +might soon find his appetite, and eat it himself.</p> + +<p>The pleasure they had enjoyed in eating the small allowance given them +rendered it difficult for them to account for the conduct of their +companion. His abstemiousness caused them uneasiness, even alarm.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLV" id="CHAPTER_XLV"></a>CHAPTER XLV.</h2> + +<h3>COLIN IN LUCK.</h3> + + +<p>The next morning, when the caravan started, Colin again had the care of +the young black. He did not always have to carry him, as part of the +time the boy trotted along by his side.</p> + +<p>During the fore-part of the day, the young Scotchman with his charge +easily kept up with his companions, and some of the time might be seen a +little in advance of them. His kind attentions to the boy were observed +by Golah, who showed some sign of human feeling, by exhibiting a +contortion of his features intended for a smile.</p> + +<p>Towards noon, Colin appeared to become fatigued with the toil of the +journey, and then fell back to the rear, as he had done the evening +before. Again the anxious mother, ever mindful of the welfare of her +offspring, was seen to check her camel, and wait until Colin and the boy +overtook her.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill had been much surprised at Colin's conduct the evening +before, especially at the patient manner in which the youth had +submitted to the task of looking after the child. There was a mystery in +the young Scotchman's behavior he could not comprehend,—a mystery that +soon became more profound. It had also attracted the attention of Harry +and Terence, notwithstanding the many unpleasant circumstances of the +journey calculated to abstract their thoughts from him and his charge.</p> + +<p>Shortly after noon, the woman was seen driving Colin up to the <i>kafila</i>, +urging him forward with loud screams, and blows administered with the +knotted end of the rope by which she guided her maherry.</p> + +<p>After a time Golah, apparently annoyed by her shrill, scolding voice, +ordered her to desist, and permit the slave to continue his journey in +peace.</p> + +<p>Although unable to understand the meaning of her words, Colin must have +known that the woman was not using terms of endearment.</p> + +<p>The screaming, angry tone, and the blows of the rope might have told him +this; and yet he submitted to her reproaches and chastisements with a +meekness and a philosophic resignation which surprised his companions.</p> + +<p>When his thoughts were not too much absorbed by painful reveries over +the desire for food and water, Harry endeavored to converse with the +Krooman already mentioned. He now applied to the man for an +interpretation of the words so loudly vociferated by the angry negress, +and launched upon the head of the patient young Scotchman.</p> + +<p>The Krooman said that she had called the lad a lazy pig, a Christian +dog, and an unbelieving fool; and that she threatened to kill him unless +he kept up with the <i>kafila</i>.</p> + +<p>On the third day of their journeying, it chanced not to be quite so hot +as on the one preceding it; and consequently the sufferings of the +slaves, especially from thirst, were somewhat less severe.</p> + +<p>"I shall never endure such agony again," said Harry, speaking of his +experience of the previous day. "Perhaps I may die for the want of +water, and on this desert; but I can never suffer so much real pain a +second time."</p> + +<p>"'Ow is that, Master Arry?" asked Bill.</p> + +<p>"Because I cannot forget, after my experience of last night, that the +greater the desire for water, the more pleasure there is in gratifying +it; and the anticipation of such happiness will go far to alleviate +anything I may hereafter feel."</p> + +<p>"Well, there be summat in that, for sartin," answered the sailor, "for I +can't 'elp thinkin' about 'ow nice our supper was last night, and only +'ope it will taste as well to-night again."</p> + +<p>"We have learnt something new," said Terence, "new, at least, to me; and +I shall know how to live when I get where there is plenty. Heretofore I +have been like a child—eating and drinking half my time, not because I +required it, but because I knew no better. There is Colly, now, he don't +seem to appreciate the beauty of this Arabian style of living; or he may +understand it better than we. Perhaps he is waiting until he acquires a +better appetite, so that he may have all the more pleasure in gratifying +it. Where is he now?"</p> + +<p>They all looked about. They saw that Colin had once more fallen behind; +and that the mother of the child was again waiting for him.</p> + +<p>Harry and Terence walked on, expecting that they would soon see their +companion rudely driven up by the angry negress.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill stopped, as though he was interested in being a witness to +the scene thus anticipated.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes after, the young Scotchman, with the child, was hurried +forward by the enraged hag—who once more seemed in a great rage at his +inability or unwillingness to keep up with the others.</p> + +<p>"I ken it 'a noo," said Bill, after he had stood for some time +witnessing the ill-treatment heaped upon Colin.</p> + +<p>"Our freen Colly's in luck. I've no langer any wonder at his taking a' +this tribble wi' the blackey bairn."</p> + +<p>"What is it, Bill? what have you learnt now?" asked Terence and Harry in +a breath.</p> + +<p>"I've larnt why Colly could not eat his dinner yesterday."</p> + +<p>"Well, why was it?"</p> + +<p>"I've larnt that the nager's anger with Colly is all a pretince, an' +that she's an old she schemer."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, Bill; that is all a fancy of yours," said Colin, who, with +the child on his shoulders, was now walking alongside his companions.</p> + +<p>"It is no fancy of mine, mon," answered Bill, "but a fancy o' the woman +for a bra' fair luddie. What is it that she gives you to eat, Maister +Colly?"</p> + +<p>Seeing that it was idle to conceal his good fortune any longer, Colin +now confessed it,—informing them that the woman, whenever she could do +so without being seen, had given him a handful of dried figs, with a +drink of camel's milk from a leathern bottle which she carried under her +cloak.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the opinion they had just expressed, on the enjoyment +attending prolonged thirst and hunger, Colin's companions congratulated +him on his good fortune,—one and all declaring their willingness to +take charge of the little darkey, on the condition of being similarly +rewarded.</p> + +<p>They had no suspicion at that moment that their opinions might soon +undergo a change; and that Colin's supposed good fortune would ere long +become a source of much uneasiness to all of them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLVI" id="CHAPTER_XLVI"></a>CHAPTER XLVI.</h2> + +<h3>SAILOR BILL'S EXPERIMENT.</h3> + + +<p>The afternoon of this day was very warm, yet Golah rode on at such a +quick pace, that it required the utmost exertion of the slaves to keep +up with him.</p> + +<p>This manner of travelling, under the circumstances in which he was +required to pursue it, proved too severe for Sailor Bill to endure with +any degree of patience.</p> + +<p>He became unable, as he thought, to walk any farther; or, if not wholly +unable, he was certainly unwilling, and he therefore sat down.</p> + +<p>A heavy shower of blows produced no effect in moving him from the spot +where he had seated himself, and the two young men who acted as guards, +not knowing what else to do, and having exhausted all their arguments, +accompanied by a series of kicks, at length appealed to Golah.</p> + +<p>The sheik instantly turned his maherry, and rode back.</p> + +<p>Before he had reached the place, however, the three mids had used all +their influence in an endeavor to get their old companion to move on. In +this they had been joined by the Krooman, who entreated Bill, if he +placed any value on his life, to get up before Golah should arrive, for +he declared the monster would show him no mercy.</p> + +<p>"For God's sake," exclaimed Harry Blount, "if it is possible for you to +get up and go a little way farther, do so."</p> + +<p>"Try to move on, man," said Terence, "and we will help you. Come, Bill, +for the sake of your friends try to get up. Golah is close by."</p> + +<p>While thus speaking, Terence, assisted by Colin, took hold of Bill and +tried to drag him to his feet; but the old sailor obstinately persisted +in remaining upon the ground.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I could walk on a bit farther," said he, "but I won't. I've 'ad +enough on it. I'm goin' to ride, and let Golah walk awhile. He's better +able to do it than I am. Now don't you boys be so foolish as to get +yersels into trouble on my account. All ye've got to do is to look on, +an' ye'll larn somethin'. If I've no youth an' beauty, like Colly, to +bring me good luck, I've age and experience, and I'll get it by +schamin'."</p> + +<p>On reaching the place where the sailor was sitting, Golah was informed +of what had caused the delay, and that the usual remedy had failed of +effect.</p> + +<p>He did not seem displeased at the communication. On the contrary, his +huge features bore an expression that for him might have been considered +pleasant.</p> + +<p>He quietly ordered the slave to get up, and pursue his journey.</p> + +<p>The weary sailor had blistered feet; and, with his strength almost +exhausted by hunger and thirst, had reached the point of desperation. +Moreover, for the benefit of himself and his young companions, he wished +to try an experiment.</p> + +<p>He told the Krooman to inform the sheik that he would go on, if allowed +to ride one of the camels.</p> + +<p>"You want me to kill you?" exclaimed Golah, when this communication was +made to him; "you want to cheat me out of the price I have paid for you; +but you shall not. You must go on. I, Golah, have said it."</p> + +<p>The sailor, in reply, swore there was no possible chance for them to +take him any farther, without allowing him to ride.</p> + +<p>This answer to the sheik's civil request was communicated by the +Krooman; and, for a moment, Golah seemed puzzled as to how he should +act.</p> + +<p>He would not kill the slave after saying that he must go on; nor would +he have him carried, since the man would then gain his point.</p> + +<p>He stood for a minute meditating on what was to be done. Then a hideous +smile stole over his features. He had mastered the difficulty.</p> + +<p>Taking its halter from the camel, he fastened one end of it to the +saddle, and the other around the wrists of the sailor. Poor old Bill +made resistance to being thus bound, but he was like an infant in the +powerful grasp of the black sheik.</p> + +<p>The son and brother-in-law of Golah stood by with their muskets on full +cock, and the first move any of Bill's companions could have made to +assist him, would have been a signal for them to fire.</p> + +<p>When the fastenings were completed, the sheik ordered his son to lead +the camel forward, and the sailor, suddenly jerked from his attitude of +repose, was rudely dragged onward over the sand.</p> + +<p>"You are going now!" exclaimed Golah, nearly frantic with delight; "and +we are not carrying you, are we? Neither are you riding? <i>Bismillah!</i> I +am your master!"</p> + +<p>The torture of travelling in this manner was too great to be long +endured, and Bill had to take to his feet and walk forward as before. He +was conquered; but as a punishment for the trouble he had caused, the +sheik kept him towing at the tail of the camel for the remainder of that +day's journey.</p> + +<p>Any one of the white slaves would once have thought that he possessed +too much spirit to allow himself or a friend to be subjected to such +treatment as Bill had that day endured.</p> + +<p>None of them was deficient in true courage; yet the proud spirit, of +which each had once thought himself possessed, was now subdued by a +power to which, if it be properly applied, all animate things must +yield.</p> + +<p>That power was the feeling of hunger; and there is no creature so wild +and fierce but will tamely submit to the dominion of the man who +commands it. It is a power that must be used with discretion, or the +victims to it, urged by desperation, may destroy their keeper. Golah had +the wisdom to wield it with effect; for by it, with the assistance of +two striplings, he easily controlled those who, under other +circumstances, would have claimed the right to be free.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLVII" id="CHAPTER_XLVII"></a>CHAPTER XLVII.</h2> + +<h3>AN UNJUST REWARD.</h3> + + +<p>The next morning on resuming the journey Golah condescended to tell his +captives that they should reach a well or spring that afternoon, and +stay by it for two or three days.</p> + +<p>This news was conveyed to Harry by the Krooman; and all were elated at +the prospect of rest, with a plentiful supply of water.</p> + +<p>Harry had a long conversation with the Krooman as they were pursuing +their route. The latter expressed his surprise that the white captives +were so contented to go on in the course in which the sheik was +conducting them.</p> + +<p>This was a subject about which Harry and his companions had given +themselves no concern; partly because that they had no idea that Golah +was intending to make a very long journey, and partly that they supposed +his intentions, whatever they were, could not be changed by anything +they might propose.</p> + +<p>The Krooman thought different. He told Harry that the route they were +following, if continued, would lead them far into the interior of the +country—probably to Timbuctoo; and that Golah should be entreated to +take them to some port on the coast, where they might be ransomed by an +English consul.</p> + +<p>Harry perceived the truth of these suggestions; and, after having a +conversation with his companions, it was determined between them that +they should have a talk with Golah that very night.</p> + +<p>The Krooman promised to act as interpreter, and to do all in his power +to favor their suit. He might persuade the sheik to change his +destination, by telling him that he would find a far better market in +taking them to some place where vessels arrive and depart, than by +carrying them into the interior of the country.</p> + +<p>The man then added, speaking in a mysterious manner, that there was one +more subject on which he wished to give them warning. When pressed to +mention it, he appeared reluctant to do so.</p> + +<p>He was at last prevailed upon to be more communicative; when he +proclaimed his opinion, that their companion, Colin, would never leave +the desert.</p> + +<p>"Why is that?" asked Harry.</p> + +<p>"Bom-by he be kill. De sheik kill um."</p> + +<p>Although partly surmising his reasons for having formed this opinion, +Harry urged him to further explain himself.</p> + +<p>"Ef Golah see de moder ob de piccaninny gib dat lad one lilly fig,—one +drop ob drink, he kill um, sartin-sure. I see, one, two,—seb'ral more +see. Golah no fool. Bom-by he see too, and kill um bof,—de lad an' de +piccaninny moder."</p> + +<p>Harry promised to warn his companion of the danger, and save him before +the suspicions of Golah should be aroused.</p> + +<p>"No good, no good," said the Krooman.</p> + +<p>In explanation of this assertion, Harry was told that, should the young +Scotchman refuse any favor from the woman, her wounded vanity would +change her liking to the most bitter hatred, and she would then contrive +to bring down upon him the anger of Golah,—an anger that would +certainly be fatal to its victim.</p> + +<p>"Then what must I do to save him?" asked Harry.</p> + +<p>"Noting," answered the Krooman. "You noting can do. Ony bid him be good +man, and talk much,—pray to God. Golah wife lub him, and he sure muss +die."</p> + +<p>Harry informed the sailor and Terence of what the Krooman had told him, +and the three took counsel together.</p> + +<p>"I believes as how the darkey be right," said Bill. "Of course, if the +swab Goliarh larns as 'ow one av 'is wives ha' taken a fancy to Master +Colly, 't will be all up wi' the poor lad. He will be killed,—and +mayhap eaten too, for that matter."</p> + +<p>"Like enough," assented Terence. "And should he scorn her very +particular attentions, her resentment might be equally as dangerous as +Golah's. I fear poor Colin has drifted into trouble."</p> + +<p>"What ye be afther sayin' about the woman," said Bill, "'minds me o' a +little story I wunce heeard whin I was a boy. I read it in a book called +the Bible. It was about a young man, somethin' like Master Colly, +barrin' his name was Joseph. A potter's wife tuck a fancy to him; but +Joseph, bein' a dacent an' honest youngster, treted her wid contimpt, +an' came to great grief by doin' that same. You must 'ave read that +story, Master 'Arry," continued Bill, turning from Terence to the young +Englishman, and changing his style of pronunciation. "Did it not 'appen +summers in this part o' the world? Hif I remember rightly, it did. I +know 't was summers in furrin parts."</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Harry, "that little affair did happen in this part of +the world,—since it was in Africa,—and our comrade has a fair prospect +of being more unfortunate than Joseph. In truth, I don't see how we +shall be able to assist him."</p> + +<p>"There he is, about a hundred cable lengths astern," said Bill, looking +back. "And there's the old 'oman, too, lookin' sharp afther him, while +Colly is atin' the figs and drinkin' the camel's milk; and while I'm +dying for a dhrop of that same, old Goliarh is no doubt proud wid the +great care she's takin' of his child. Bud won't there be a row when he +larns summat more? Won't there, Master 'Arry?"</p> + +<p>"There will, indeed," answered Harry. "Colin will soon be up with us, +and we must talk to him."</p> + +<p>Harry was right, for Colin soon after overtook them,—having been driven +up as usual by the negress, who seemed in great anger at the trouble he +was causing her.</p> + +<p>"Colin," said Harry, when their companion and the child had joined them, +"you must keep that woman away from you. Her partiality for you has +already been noticed by others. The Krooman has just been telling us +that you will not live much longer; that Golah is neither blind nor +foolish; and that, on the slightest suspicion he has of the woman +showing you any favor,—even to giving you a fig,—he will kill you."</p> + +<p>"But what can I do?" asked Colin. "If the woman should come to you and +offer you a handful of figs and a drink of milk, could you refuse them?"</p> + +<p>"No, I certainly could not. I only wish such an alternative would +present itself; but you must manage in some way or other to keep away +from her. You must not linger behind, but remain all the time by us."</p> + +<p>"If you knew," asked Colin, "that you could quench your thirst by +lagging a few paces behind, would you not do so?"</p> + +<p>"That would be a strong temptation, and I should probably yield; but I +tell you that you are in danger."</p> + +<p>Neither of Colin's companions could blame him. Suffering, as he was, +from the ceaseless agony of hunger and thirst, any indiscretion, or even +crime, seemed justifiable, for the sake of obtaining relief.</p> + +<p>The day became hotter and hotter, until in the afternoon the sufferings +of the slaves grew almost unendurable. Sailor Bill appeared to be more +severely affected than any of his companions. He had been knocking about +the world for many long years, injuring his constitution by dissipation +and exposure in many climes; and the siege that thirst and hunger were +now making to destroy his strength became each hour more perceptible in +its effect.</p> + +<p>By the middle of the afternoon it was with the utmost difficulty he +could move along; and his tongue was so parched that in an attempt to +speak he wholly failed. His hands were stretched forth towards Colin; +who, since the warning he had received, had kept up along with the rest.</p> + +<p>Colin understood the signal; and placed the boy on the old man's +shoulders. Bill wished to learn if the mother would reward him for +taking care of her child, as she had his predecessor in the office. To +carry out the experiment he allowed himself to be left in the rear of +the caravan.</p> + +<p>Golah's son and the other guard had noticed the old sailor's suffering +condition, and objected to his being incumbered with the child. They +pointed to Harry and Terence; but Bill was resolute in holding on to his +charge; and cursing him for an unbelieving fool, they allowed him to +have his own way.</p> + +<p>Not long after, the mother of the child was seen to stop her camel, and +the three mids passed by her unnoticed. The old sailor hastened up as +fast as his weary limbs would allow to receive the hoped-for reward; but +the poor fellow was doomed to a cruel disappointment.</p> + +<p>When the woman perceived who had been entrusted with the carrying of her +child, she pronounced two or three phrases in a sharp, angry tone. +Understanding them, the child dismounted from the sailor's back and ran +with all speed towards her.</p> + +<p>Bill's reward was a storm of invectives, accompanied by a shower of +blows with the knotted end of the halter. He strove to avoid the +punishment by increasing his speed; but the camel seemed to understand +the relative distance that should be maintained between its rider and +the sailor, so that the former might deliver and the latter receive the +blows with the most painful effect. This position it kept until Bill had +got up to his companions; his naked shoulders bearing crimson evidence +of the woman's ability in the handling of a rope's end.</p> + +<p>As she rode past Colin, who had again taken charge of the child, she +gave the young Scotchman a look that seemed to say, "You have betrayed +me!" and without waiting for a look in return, she passed on to join her +husband at the head of the caravan.</p> + +<p>The black slaves appeared highly amused at the sailor's misfortunes. The +incident had aroused their expiring energies, and the journey was +pursued by them with more animation than ever.</p> + +<p>Bill's disappointment was not without some beneficial effect upon +himself. He was so much revived by the beating, that he soon after +recovered his tongue; and as he shuffled on alongside his companions, +they could hear him muttering curses, some in good English, some in bad, +some in a rich Irish brogue, and some in the broadest Scotch.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLVIII" id="CHAPTER_XLVIII"></a>CHAPTER XLVIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE WATERLESS WELL.</h3> + + +<p>Golah expected to reach the watering-place early in the evening; and all +the caravan was excited by the anticipation of soon obtaining a +plentiful supply of water.</p> + +<p>It was well they were inspired by this hope. But for that, long before +the sun had set, Sailor Bill and three or four others would have dropped +down in despair, physically unable to have moved any further. But the +prospect of plenty of water, to be found only a few miles ahead, +brought, at the same time, resolution, strength, and life. Faint and +feeble, they struggled on, nearly mad with the agony of nature's fierce +demands; and soon after sunset they succeeded in reaching the well.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">It was dry!</span></p> + +<p>Not a drop of the much desired element was shining in the cavity where +they had expected to find it.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill and some of the other slaves sank upon the earth, muttering +prayers for immediate death.</p> + +<p>Golah was in a great rage with everything, and his wives, children, +slaves, and camels, that were most familiar with his moods, rushed here +and there to get out of his way.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he seemed to decide on a course to be taken in this terrible +emergency, and his anger to some extent subsided.</p> + +<p>Unbuckling the last goat-skin of water from one of the camels, he poured +out a small cup for each individual of the <i>kafila</i>. Each was then +served with a little <i>sangleh</i> and a couple of dried figs.</p> + +<p>All were now ordered to move on towards the west, Golah leading the way. +The new route was at right angles to the course they had been following +during the earlier part of the day.</p> + +<p>Some of the slaves who declared that they were unable to go further, +found out, after receiving a few ticklings of the stick, that they had +been mistaken. The application of Golah's cudgel awakened dormant +energies of which they had not deemed themselves possessed.</p> + +<p>After proceeding about two miles from the scene of their disappointment, +Golah suddenly stopped,—as he did so, giving to his followers some +orders in a low tone.</p> + +<p>The camels were immediately brought into a circle, forced to kneel down, +while their lading was removed from them.</p> + +<p>While this was going on, the white captives heard voices, and the +trampling of horses' hoofs.</p> + +<p>The black sheik, with his highly educated ear, had detected the approach +of strangers. This had caused him to order the halt.</p> + +<p>When the noises had approached a little nearer Golah called out in +Arabic: "Is it peace?"</p> + +<p>"It is," was the answer; and as the strangers drew nearer, the +salutations of "Peace be with you!"—"Peace be with all here, and with +your friends!" were exchanged.</p> + +<p>The caravan they had met consisted of between fifteen and twenty men, +some horses and camels; and the sheik who commanded it inquired of Golah +from whence he came.</p> + +<p>"From the west," answered Golah, giving them to understand that he was +travelling the same way as themselves.</p> + +<p>"Then why did you not keep on to the well?" was the next inquiry.</p> + +<p>"It is too far away," answered Golah. "We are very weary."</p> + +<p>"It is not far," said the chief, "not more than half a league. You had +better go on."</p> + +<p>"No. I think it is more than two leagues, and we shall wait till +morning."</p> + +<p>"<i>We</i> shall not. I know the well is not far away, and we shall reach it +to-night."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Golah, "go, and may God be with you. But stay, +masters, have you a camel to sell?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a good one. It is a little fatigued now, but will be strong in the +morning."</p> + +<p>Golah was aware that any camel they would sell him that night would be +one that could only move with much difficulty,—one that they despaired +of getting any further on the way. The black sheik knew his own business +best; and was willing they should think they had cheated him in the +bargain.</p> + +<p>After wrangling for a few minutes, he succeeded in buying their +camel,—the price being a pair of blankets, a shirt, and the dirk that +had been taken from Terence. The camel had no cargo; and had for some +time been forced onward at considerable trouble to its owner.</p> + +<p>The strangers soon took their departure, going off in the direction of +the dry well. As soon as they were out of sight Golah gave orders to +reload the animals, and resume the interrupted march. To excite the +slaves to a continuance of the journey, he promised that the camel he +had purchased should be slaughtered on the next morning for their +breakfast; and that they should have a long rest in the shade of the +tents during the following day.</p> + +<p>This promise, undoubtedly, had the anticipated effect in revivifying +their failing energies, and they managed to move on until near daybreak, +when the camel lately purchased laid itself down, and philosophically +resisted every attempt at compelling it to continue the journey.</p> + +<p>It was worn out with toil and hunger, and could not recover its feet.</p> + +<p>The other animals were stopped and unladen, the tents were pitched, and +preparations made for resting throughout the day.</p> + +<p>After some dry weeds had been collected for fuel, Golah proceeded to +fulfil his promise of giving them plenty of food.</p> + +<p>A noose was made at the end of a rope, and placed around the camel's +lower jaw. Its head was then screwed about, as far as it would reach, +and the rope was made fast to the root of its tail,—the long neck of +the camel allowing its head to be brought within a few inches of the +place where the rope was tied.</p> + +<p>Fatima, the favorite, stood by holding a copper kettle; while Golah +opened a vein on the side of the animal's neck near the breastbone. The +blood gushed forth in a stream; and before the camel had breathed its +last, the vessel held to catch it had become filled more than half full.</p> + +<p>The kettle was then placed over the fire, and the blood boiled and +stirred with a stick until it had become as thick as porridge. It was +then taken off, and when it had cooled down, it resembled, both in color +and consistency, the liver of a fresh killed bullock.</p> + +<p>This food was divided amongst the slaves, and was greedily devoured by +all.</p> + +<p>The heart and liver of the camel, Golah ordered to be cooked for his own +family; and what little flesh was on the bones, was cut into strips, and +hung up in the sun to dry.</p> + +<p>In one portion of the camel's stomach was about a gallon and a half of +water, thick and dirty with the vegetation it had last consumed; but all +was carefully poured into a goat's skin, and preserved for future use.</p> + +<p>The intestines were also saved, and hung out in the sun to get cured by +drying, to be afterwards eaten by the slaves.</p> + +<p>During the day Harry and Terence asked for an interview with Golah; and, +accompanied by the Krooman, were allowed to sit down by the door of his +tent while they conversed with him.</p> + +<p>Harry instructed the Krooman to inform their master, that if they were +taken to some seaport, a higher ransom would be paid for them than any +price for which they could be sold elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Golah's reply to this information was, that he doubted its truth; that +he did not like seaport towns; that his business lay away from the sea; +and that he was anxious to reach Timbuctoo as soon as possible. He +further stated, that if all his slaves were Christian dogs, who had +reached the country in ships, it might be worth his while to take them +to some port where they would be redeemed; but as the most of them were +of countries that did not pay ransoms for their subjects, there would be +no use in his carrying them to the coast,—where they might escape from +him, and he would then have had all his trouble for nothing.</p> + +<p>He was next asked if he would not try to sell the white captives along +with the two Kroomen, to some slave dealer, who would take them to the +coast for a market.</p> + +<p>Golah would not promise this. He said, that to do so, he should have to +sell them on the desert, where he could not obtain half their value.</p> + +<p>The only information they were able to obtain from him was, that they +were quite certain of seeing that far-famed city, Timbuctoo,—that was +if they should prove strong enough to endure the hardships of the +journey.</p> + +<p>After thanking Golah for his condescension in listening to their appeal, +the Krooman withdrew, followed by the others, who now for the first time +began to realize the horror of their position. A plentiful supply of +food, along with the day's rest, had caused all the white slaves to turn +their thoughts from the present to the future.</p> + +<p>Harry Blount and Terence, after their interview with Golah, found Colin +and Sailor Bill anxiously awaiting their return.</p> + +<p>"Well, what's the news?" asked Bill, as they drew near.</p> + +<p>"Very bad," answered Terence. "There is no hope for us: we are going to +Timbuctoo."</p> + +<p>"No, I'm no going there," said Bill, "if it was in another world I might +see the place soon enough, but in this, niver,—niver!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLIX" id="CHAPTER_XLIX"></a>CHAPTER XLIX.</h2> + +<h3>THE WELL.</h3> + + +<p>At an early hour next morning the caravan started on its journey, still +moving westward. This direction Golah was compelled to pursue to obtain +a supply of water, although it was taking him no nearer his destination.</p> + +<p>Two days' journey was before them ere they could reach another well. +While performing it, Golah, vexed at the delay thus occasioned, was in +very ill-humor with things in general.</p> + +<p>Some of his displeasure was vented upon the camel he was riding, and the +animal was usually driven far ahead of the others.</p> + +<p>The sheik's wrath also fell upon his wives for lingering behind, and +then upon the slaves for not following closer upon the heels of his +camel. His son, and brother-in-law, would at intervals be solemnly +cursed in the name of the Prophet for not driving the slaves faster.</p> + +<p>Before the well had been reached, the four white slaves were in a very +wretched condition. Their feet were blistered and roasted by the hot +sand, and as the clothing allowed them was insufficient protection +against the blazing sun, their necks and legs were inflamed and +bleeding.</p> + +<p>The intestines and most of the flesh of the slaughtered camel had been +long ago consumed, as well as the filthy water taken from its stomach.</p> + +<p>Colin had again established himself in the favor of the sheik's wife, +and was allowed to have the care of the child; but the little food and +drink he received for his attention to it were dearly earned.</p> + +<p>The weight of the young negro was a serious incumbrance in a weary +journey through what seemed to be a burning plain; moreover the +"darkey," in keeping its seat on the young Scotchman's shoulders, had +pulled a quantity of hair out of his head, besides rendering his scalp +exceedingly irritable to further treatment of a like kind.</p> + +<p>Hungry, thirsty, weak, lame, and weary, the wretched captives struggled +on until the well was reached.</p> + +<p>On arriving within sight of a small hill on which were growing two or +three sickly bushes, Golah pointed towards it, at the same time turning +his face to those who were following him. All understood the signal, and +seemed suddenly inspired with hope and happiness. The travellers pressed +forward with awakened energy, and after passing over the hill came in +sight of the well at its foot.</p> + +<p>The eagerness exhibited by the slaves to quench their thirst might have +been amusing to any others than those who beheld them; but their master +seemed intent on giving them a further lesson in the virtue of patience.</p> + +<p>He first ordered the camels to be unladen, and the tents to be pitched. +While some were doing this, he directed others to seek for fuel.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, he amused himself by collecting all the dishes and +drinking-vessels, and placing them contiguous to the well.</p> + +<p>He then attached a rope to a leathern bucket, and, drawing water from +the reservoir, he carefully filled the utensils, with the least possible +waste of the precious fluid his followers were so anxious to obtain.</p> + +<p>When his arrangements were completed, he called his wives and children +around him. Then, serving out to each of them about a pint of the water, +and giving them a few seconds for swallowing it, he ordered them off.</p> + +<p>Each obeyed without a murmur, all apparently satisfied.</p> + +<p>The slaves were next called up, and then there was a rush in real +earnest. The vessels were eagerly seized, and their contents greedily +swallowed. They were presented for more, refilled, and again emptied.</p> + +<p>The quantity of water swallowed by Sailor Bill and his three young +companions, and the rapacity with which it was gulped down, caused Golah +to declare that there was but one God, that Mahomet was his Prophet, and +that four of the slaves about him were Christian swine.</p> + +<p>After all had satisfied the demands of nature, Golah showed them the +quantity of water he deemed sufficient for a thirsty individual by +drinking about a pint himself—not more than a fifth of the amount +consumed by each of his white slaves.</p> + +<p>Long years of short allowance had accustomed the negro sheik to make +shift with a limited allowance of the precious commodity, and yet +continue strong and active.</p> + +<p>About two hours after they had reached the well, and just as they had +finished watering the camels, another caravan arrived. Its leader was +hailed by Golah with the words, "Is it peace?"—the usual salutation +when strangers meet on the desert.</p> + +<p>The answer was, "It is peace"; and the new comers dismounted, and +pitched their camp.</p> + +<p>Next morning Golah had a long talk with their sheik, after which he +returned to his own tents in much apparent uneasiness.</p> + +<p>The caravan newly arrived consisted of eleven men, with eight camels and +three Saäran horses. The men were all Arabs—none of them being slaves. +They were well armed, and carried no merchandise. They had lately come +from the northwest, for what purpose Golah knew not: since the account +the stranger sheik had given of himself was not satisfactory.</p> + +<p>Though very short of provisions, Golah resolved not to leave the well +that day; and the Krooman learnt that this resolution was caused by his +fear of the strangers.</p> + +<p>"If he is afraid of them," said Harry, "I should suppose that would make +him all the more anxious to get out of their company."</p> + +<p>The Krooman, in explanation, stated that if the Arabs were +robbers—pirates of the desert—they would not molest Golah so long as +he remained at the well.</p> + +<p>In this the Krooman was correct. Highway robbers do not waylay their +victims at an inn, but on the road. Pirates do not plunder ships in a +harbor, but out on the open ocean. Custom, founded on some good purpose, +has established a similar rule on the great sandy ocean of the Saära.</p> + +<p>"I wish they were robbers, and would take us from Golah!" said Colin. +"We should then perhaps be carried to the north, where we might be +ransomed some time or other. As it is, if we are to be taken to +Timbuctoo, we shall never escape out of Africa."</p> + +<p>"We shall not be taken there," cried Terence. "We shall turn robbers +ourselves first. I will for one; and when I do, Golah shall be robbed of +one of his slaves at least."</p> + +<p>"An' that wan will be Misther Terence O'Connor, ov coorse?" said Bill.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Thin ye will 'ave done no more than Master Colly, who has already +robbed 'im ov twa—the haffections ov 'is wife an' bairn."</p> + +<p>"That will do, Bill," said Colin, who did not like hearing any allusion +made to the woman. "We have something else that should engage our +attention. Since we have learnt that they intend taking us to Timbuctoo, +it is time we began to act. We must not go there."</p> + +<p>"That is understood," said Harry; "but what can we do? Something should +be done immediately. Every day we journey southward carries us farther +from home, or the chance of ever getting there. Perhaps these Arabs may +buy us, and take us north. Suppose we get the Krooman to speak to them?"</p> + +<p>All consented to this course. The Krooman was called, and when informed +of their wishes he said that he must not be seen speaking to the Arabs, +or Golah would be displeased. He also stated—what the white captives +had already observed—that Golah and his son were keeping a sharp watch +over them, as well as over the strangers; and that an opportunity of +talking to the Arab sheik might not be easily obtained.</p> + +<p>While he was still speaking, the latter was observed proceeding towards +the well to draw some water.</p> + +<p>The Krooman instantly arose, and sauntered after.</p> + +<p>He was observed by the quick eye of Golah, who called to him to come +away; which he did, but not before quenching his thirst, that did not +appear to be very great.</p> + +<p>On the Krooman's return from the well, he informed Harry that he had +spoken to the Arab sheik. He had said, "Buy us. You will get plenty of +money for us in Swearah;" and that the reply of the sheik was, "The +white slaves are dogs, and not worth buying."</p> + +<p>"Then we have no hope from that source!" exclaimed Terence.</p> + +<p>The Krooman shook his head; not despondently, but as if he did not agree +in the opinion Terence had expressed.</p> + +<p>"What! do you think there is any hope?" asked Harry.</p> + +<p>The man gave a nod of assent.</p> + +<p>"How? In what way?"</p> + +<p>The Krooman vouchsafed no explanation, but sauntered silently away.</p> + +<p>When the sun was within two or three hours of setting over the Saära, +the Arabs struck their tents, and started off in the direction of the +dry well—from whence Golah and his caravan had just come. After they +had disappeared behind the hill, Golah's son was sent to its top to +watch them, while his women and slaves were ordered to strike the tents +as quickly as possible.</p> + +<p>Then waiting till the shades of night had descended over the desert, and +the strangers were beyond the reach of vision, Golah gave orders to +resume the march once more in a southeasterly direction—which would +carry them away from the seacoast—and, as the white slaves believed, +from all chances of their ever recovering their freedom.</p> + +<p>The Krooman, on the contrary, appeared to be pleased at their taking +this direction, notwithstanding the objections he had expressed to going +inland.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_L" id="CHAPTER_L"></a>CHAPTER L.</h2> + +<h3>A MOMENTOUS INQUIRY.</h3> + + +<p>During the night's journey Golah still seemed to have some fear of the +Arabs; and so great was his desire to place as much ground as possible +between himself and them, that he did not halt, until the sun was more +than two hours above the horizon.</p> + +<p>For some time before a halt had been planned, Fatima, his favorite wife, +had been riding by his side, and making, what seemed, from the excited +movements of both, an important communication.</p> + +<p>After the tents had been pitched, and food was about being served out, +Golah commanded the mother of the boy carried by Colin to produce the +bag of figs that had been intrusted to her keeping.</p> + +<p>Trembling with apprehension, the woman rose to obey. The Krooman glanced +at the white captives with an expression of horror; and although they +had not understood Golah's command, they saw that something was going +wrong.</p> + +<p>The woman produced the bag; which was not quite half full. There were in +it about two quarts of dried figs.</p> + +<p>The figs that had been served out three days before at the dry well had +been taken from another bag kept in the custody of Fatima.</p> + +<p>The one now produced by the second wife should have been full: and Golah +demanded to know why it was not.</p> + +<p>The woman tremblingly asseverated that she and her children had eaten +them.</p> + +<p>At this confession Fatima uttered a scornful laugh, and spoke a few +words that increased the terror of the delinquent mother,—at the same +time causing the boy to commence howling with affright.</p> + +<p>"I tell you so," said the Krooman, who was standing near the white +slaves; "Fatima say to Golah, 'Christian dog eat the figs'; Golah kill +him now; he kill da woman too."</p> + +<p>In the opinion of those who travel the great desert, about the greatest +crime that can be committed is to steal food or drink, and consume +either unknown to their companions of the journey.</p> + +<p>Articles of food intrusted to the care of any one must be guarded and +preserved,—even at the expense of life.</p> + +<p>Under no circumstances may a morsel be consumed, until it is produced in +the presence of all, and a division, either equitable or otherwise, has +been made.</p> + +<p>Even had the story told by the woman been true, her crime would have +been considered sufficiently great to have endangered her life; but her +sin was greater than that.</p> + +<p>She had bestowed favor upon a slave,—a Christian dog,—and had aroused +the jealousy of her Mahometan lord and master.</p> + +<p>Fatima seemed happy; for nothing less than a miracle could, in her +opinion, save the life of her fellow-wife, who chanced to be a hated +rival.</p> + +<p>After drawing his scimitar from its sheath, and cocking his musket, +Golah ordered all the slaves to squat themselves on the ground, and in a +row.</p> + +<p>This order was quickly comprehended and obeyed,—the whites seating +themselves together at one end of the line.</p> + +<p>Golah's son and the other guard—each with his musket loaded and +cocked—were stationed in front of the row: and were ordered by the +sheik to shoot any one who attempted to get up from the ground.</p> + +<p>The monster then stepped up to Colin, and, seizing the young Scotchman +by the auburn locks, dragged him a few paces apart from his companions. +There, for a time, he was left alone.</p> + +<p>Golah then proceeded to serve out some cheni to every individual on the +ground; but none was given to the woman who had aroused his anger, nor +to Colin.</p> + +<p>In the sheik's opinion, to have offered them food would have been an act +as foolish as to have poured it upon the sands.</p> + +<p>Food was intended to sustain life, and it was not designed by him that +they should live much longer. And yet it was evident from his manner +that he had not quite determined as to how they were to die.</p> + +<p>The two guards, with the muskets in their grasp, kept a sharp eye on the +slaves, while Golah became engaged in a close consultation with Fatima.</p> + +<p>"What shall we do?" asked Terence; "the old villain means mischief, and +how can we prevent it? We must not let him kill poor Colly?"</p> + +<p>"We must do something immediately," said Harry. "We have neglected it +too long, and shall now have to act under the disadvantage of their +being prepared for an attack. Bill, what should we do?"</p> + +<p>"I was just thinking," said Bill, "that if we all made a rush at 'em, at +the words <i>One—two—three!</i> not more 'n two or three of us might be +killed afore we grappled with 'em. Now, this might do, if these black +fellows would only jine us."</p> + +<p>The Krooman here expressed himself as one willing to take his chance in +any action they should propose, and believed that his countrymen would +do the same. He feared, however, that the other blacks could not be +trusted, and that any proposal he might make to them would be in a +language the two guards would understand.</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said Harry, "there will be six of us against three. Shall +I give the word?"</p> + +<p>"All right!" said Terence, drawing his feet under his body, by way of +preparation for rising suddenly.</p> + +<p>The scheme was a desperate one, but all seemed willing to undertake it.</p> + +<p>Since leaving the well, they had felt convinced that life and liberty +depended on their making a struggle; though circumstances seemed to have +forced that struggle upon them when there was the least hope of success.</p> + +<p>"Now all make ready," muttered Harry, speaking in a calm voice, so as +not to excite the attention of the guards. "<i>One!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Stop!" exclaimed Colin, who had been listening attentively to all that +was said. "I'm not with you. We should all be killed. Two or three would +be shot, and the sheik himself could finish all the rest with his +scimitar. It is better for him to kill me, if he really means to do so, +than to have all four destroyed in the vain hope of trying to save one."</p> + +<p>"It is not for you alone that we are going to act," interposed Harry. +"It is as much for ourselves."</p> + +<p>"Then act when there is a chance of succeeding," pursued Colin. "You +cannot save me, and will only lose your own lives."</p> + +<p>"De big black sheik am going to kill someb'dy, dat berry sure," said the +Krooman, as he sat with his eyes fixed upon Golah.</p> + +<p>The latter was still in consultation with Fatima, his face wearing an +expression that was horrible for all except herself to behold. Murder by +excruciating torture seemed written on every feature of his countenance.</p> + +<p>The woman, upon whose manner of death they were deliberating, was in the +act of caressing her children, apparently conscious that she had but a +few minutes more to remain in their company. Her features wore an +expression of calm and hopeless resignation, as if she had yielded +herself up to the decree of an inevitable fate.</p> + +<p>The third wife had retired a short distance from the others. With her +child in her arms, she sat upon the ground, contemplating the scene +before her with a look of mingled surprise, curiosity, and regret.</p> + +<p>From the appearance of the whole caravan, a stranger could have divined +that some event of thrilling interest was about to transpire.</p> + +<p>"Colin," cried Terence, encouragingly, "we won't sit here quietly, and +see you meet death. We had better do something while yet we have a +chance. Let Harry give the word."</p> + +<p>"I tell you it's madness," expostulated Colin. "Wait till we see what he +intends doing. Perhaps he'll keep me a while for future vengeance, and +ye may have a chance of a rescue when there are not two men standing +over us ready to blow our brains out."</p> + +<p>Colin's companions saw there was truth in this remark, and for a while +they waited in silence, with their eyes fixed upon the tent of the +sheik.</p> + +<p>They had not long to wait, for, soon after, Golah came forth, having +finished his consultation with Fatima.</p> + +<p>On his face appeared a hideous smile,—a smile that made most of those +who beheld it shudder with a sensation of horror.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LI" id="CHAPTER_LI"></a>CHAPTER LI.</h2> + +<h3>A LIVING GRAVE.</h3> + + +<p>Golah's first act after coming forth was to take some thongs from his +saddle. Having done this, he beckoned to the two who guarded the slaves, +giving them some admonition in an unknown tongue. The effect was to +excite their greater vigilance. The muzzles of their muskets were turned +towards the white captives, and they seemed anxiously waiting the order +to fire.</p> + +<p>Golah then looked towards Terence, and made a sign for the young +Irishman to get up and come towards him.</p> + +<p>Terence hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Go on, Terry," muttered Colin "He don't mean <i>you</i> any harm."</p> + +<p>At this instant Fatima stepped out from the tent, armed with her +husband's scimitar, and apparently anxious for an opportunity of using +it.</p> + +<p>Acting under the advice of the others, Terence sprang to his feet: and +advanced to the spot where the sheik was standing. The Krooman who spoke +English was then called up; and Golah, taking him and the midshipman +each by a hand, led them into his tent,—whither they were followed by +Fatima.</p> + +<p>The sheik now addressed a few words to the Krooman, who then told +Terence that his life depended on perfect obedience to Golah's orders. +His hands were to be tied; and he must not call out so as to be heard by +the others.</p> + +<p>"He say," said the Krooman, "if you no make fight, and no make noise, he +no kill you."</p> + +<p>The man further counselled Terence to submit quietly,—saying that the +least resistance would lead to all the white slaves being killed.</p> + +<p>Though possessing more than average strength and power for a youth of +his age, Terence knew that, in a strife with the gigantic black sheik, +he would not have the slightest chance of being victor.</p> + +<p>Should he shout to his companions, and have them all act in concert,—as +they had already proposed?</p> + +<p>No. Such an act would most likely lead to two of them being shot; to the +third having his brains knocked out with the butt-end of a musket; and +to the fourth,—himself,—being strangled in the powerful grasp of +Golah, if not beheaded with the scimitar in the hands of Fatima. On +reflection, the young Scotchman yielded, and permitted his hands to be +tied behind his back; so, too, did the Krooman.</p> + +<p>Golah now stepped out of the tent: and immediately after returned, +leading Harry Blount along with him.</p> + +<p>On reaching the opening, and seeing Terence and the Krooman lying bound +upon the floor, the young Englishman started back, and struggled to free +himself from the grasp of the hand that had hold of him. His efforts +only resulted in his being instantly flung to the earth, and fast held +by his powerful adversary, who at the same time was also employed in +protecting his victim from the fury of Fatima.</p> + +<p>Terence, Harry, and the Krooman were now conducted back over the ground, +and placed in their former position in the row,—from which they had +been temporarily taken.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill and Colin were next treated in a similar fashion,—both +being fast bound like their companions.</p> + +<p>"What does the ould divil mane?" asked Bill when Golah was tying his +hands together. "Will he murder us all?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered the Krooman, "He no kill but one of your party."</p> + +<p>His eyes turned upon Colin as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Colin! Colin!" exclaimed Harry; "see what you have done by opposing our +plan! We are all helpless now."</p> + +<p>"And so much the better for yourselves," answered Colin. "You will now +suffer no further harm."</p> + +<p>"If he means no harm, why has he bound us?" asked Bill. "It's a queer +way of showing friendship."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but a safe one," answered Colin. "You cannot now bring yourselves +into danger by a foolish resistance to his will."</p> + +<p>Terence and Harry understood Colin's meaning; and now, for the first +time, comprehended the reason why they had been bound.</p> + +<p>It was to prevent them from interfering with Golah's plans for the +disposal of his two victims.</p> + +<p>Now that the white slaves were secured, no danger was apprehended from +the others; and the two who had been guarding them, retired to the shade +of a tent to refresh themselves with a drink of cheni.</p> + +<p>While the brief conversation above related was being held, Golah had +become busily engaged in overhauling the lading of one of his camels.</p> + +<p>The object of his search was soon discovered: for, the moment after, he +came towards them carrying a long Moorish spade.</p> + +<p>Two of the black slaves were then called from the line; the spade was +placed in the hands of one, and a wooden dish was given to the other. +They were then ordered to make a large hole in the sand,—to accomplish +which they at once set to work.</p> + +<p>"They are digging a grave for me, or that of the poor woman,—perhaps +for both of us?" suggested Colin, as he calmly gazed on the spectacle.</p> + +<p>His companions had no doubt but that it was as he had said; and sat +contemplating the scene in melancholy silence.</p> + +<p>While the slaves were engaged in scooping up the hole, Golah called the +two guards, and gave them some orders about continuing the journey.</p> + +<p>The blacks set about the work were but a few minutes in making an +excavation in the loose sand of some four feet in depth. They were then +directed to dig another.</p> + +<p>"It's all over with me," said Colin; "he intends to kill two, and of +course I must be one of them."</p> + +<p>"He <i>should</i> kill us all," exclaimed Terence. "We deserve it for leaving +the well last night. We should have made an effort for our lives, while +we had the chance."</p> + +<p>"You are right," replied Harry; "we <i>are</i> fools, cowardly fools! We +deserve neither pity in this world nor happiness in the next. Colly, my +friend, if you meet with any harm, I swear to avenge it, whenever my +hands are free."</p> + +<p>"And I'll be with you," added Terence.</p> + +<p>"Never mind me, old comrades," answered Colin, who seemed less excited +than the others. "Do the best you can for yourselves, and you may some +time escape from this monster."</p> + +<p>The attention of Harry was now attracted to Sailor Bill, who had turned +his back toward one of the black slaves sitting near him, and was by +signs entreating the man to untie his hand.</p> + +<p>The man refused, evidently fearing the anger of Golah should he be +detected.</p> + +<p>The second Krooman, who was unbound, now offered to loose the hands of +his countryman; but the latter seemed satisfied with his want of +freedom, and refused the proffered aid. He also feared death at the +hands of Golah.</p> + +<p>If left to divine the ultimate intentions of the black sheik by the +knowledge of human nature they had acquired before falling into his +hands, the white captives would not have been seriously alarmed for the +welfare of any one of their number. But Golah was a specimen of natural +history new to them; and their apprehensions were excited to the highest +pitch by the conduct of those whom they knew to be better acquainted +with his character.</p> + +<p>The behavior of the woman who had aroused his anger showed that she was +endeavoring to resign herself to some fearful mode of death. The wild +lamentations of her children denoted that they were conscious of some +impending misfortune.</p> + +<p>Fatima seemed about to realize the fulfilment of some long-cherished +hope,—the hope of revenge on a detested rival.</p> + +<p>The care Golah had taken to hinder any interference with his plans,—the +words of the Krooman, the looks and gestures of the guards and of Golah +himself, the digging of two graves in the sand,—all gave warning that +some fearful tragedy was about to be enacted. Our adventurers were +conscious of this, and conscious, also, that they could do nothing to +prevent it.</p> + +<p>Nearly frantic with the helplessness of their position, they could only +wait—"trembling for the birth of Fate."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LII" id="CHAPTER_LII"></a>CHAPTER LII.</h2> + +<h3>THE SHEIK'S PLAN OF REVENGE.</h3> + + +<p>The second sand-pit was dug a short distance from the first; and when it +had been sunk to the depth of about four and a half feet, Golah +commanded the blacks to leave off their labor,—one of them being sent +back to the line to be seated along with his fellow-slaves.</p> + +<p>By this time the tents had been struck, the camels loaded; and all but +Golah and Fatima appeared willing and anxious to depart from the spot. +These were not: for their business at that camping-place had not yet +been completed.</p> + +<p>When the two guards had again resumed their former stations in front of +the line,—as before with their muskets at full cock,—Golah advanced +towards the woman, who, disengaging herself from her children, stood up +at his approach.</p> + +<p>Then succeeded a moment of intense interest.</p> + +<p>Was he going to kill her?</p> + +<p>If so, in what manner?</p> + +<p>All looked on with painful anticipation of some dire event.</p> + +<p>It soon transpired. The woman was seized by Golah himself; dragged +towards the pits that had been dug; and thrust into one of them. The +slave who wielded the spade was then commanded to fill up the excavation +around her.</p> + +<p>Terence was the first to speak.</p> + +<p>"God help her!" he exclaimed; "the monster is going to bury her alive! +Can't we save her?"</p> + +<p>"We are not men if we do not try!" exclaimed Harry, as he suddenly +sprang to his feet.</p> + +<p>His example was immediately followed by his white companions.</p> + +<p>The two muskets were instantly directed towards them; but at a shout +from Golah their muzzles were as quickly dropped.</p> + +<p>The sheik's son then, at his father's command, ran to the pit to secure +the woman, while Golah himself rushed forward to meet the helpless men +who were advancing towards him.</p> + +<p>In an instant the four were thrown prostrate to the earth.</p> + +<p>With their hands tied, the powerful sheik upset them as easily as though +they had been bags of sand.</p> + +<p>Raising Harry by the hair of his head with one hand and Terence with the +other, he dragged them back to their places in the line where they had +been already seated.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill saved himself from like treatment by rolling over and over +until he had regained his former place. Colin was allowed to lie on the +ground where the sheik had knocked him over.</p> + +<p>Golah now returned to the pit where the woman stood half buried.</p> + +<p>She made no resistance—she uttered no complaint—but seemed calmly to +resign herself to a fate that could not be averted. Golah apparently did +not intend to behold her die, for, when the earth was filled in around +her body, her head still remained above ground. She was to be starved to +death! As the sheik was turning away to attend to other matters, the +woman spoke. Her words were few, and produced no effect upon him. They +did, however, upon the Krooman, whose eyes were seen to fill with tears +that rapidly chased each other down his mahogany-colored cheeks.</p> + +<p>Colin, who seemed to notice everything except the fate threatening +himself, observed the Krooman's excitement, and inquired its cause.</p> + +<p>"She ask him to be kind to her little boy," said the man, in a voice +trembling with emotion.</p> + +<p>Are tears unmanly?—No.</p> + +<p>The shining drops that rolled from that man's eyes, and sparkled adown +his dusky cheeks, on hearing the unfortunate woman's prayer for her +children, proved that he was not a brute, but a man,—a man with a soul +that millions might envy.</p> + +<p>After leaving the place where the woman was buried, Golah walked up to +Colin; and, dragging him to his feet, led him away to the other pit.</p> + +<p>His intentions were now evident to all. The two individuals, who had +aroused his anger and jealousy, were to be left near each other, buried +alive, to perish in this fearful fashion.</p> + +<p>"Colin! Colin! what can we do to save you?" exclaimed Harry, in a tone +expressing despair and anguish.</p> + +<p>"Nothing," answered Colin; "don't attempt it, or you will only bring +trouble on yourselves. Leave me to my fate."</p> + +<p>At this moment the speaker was thrown into the pit, and held in an +upright attitude by Golah, while the black slave proceeded to fill in +the earth around him.</p> + +<p>Following the philosophical example set by the woman, Colin made no +useless resistance; and was soon submerged under the sand piled up to +his shoulders. His companions sat gazing with speechless horror, all +suffering the combined anguish of shame, regret, and despair.</p> + +<p>The sheik was now ready to depart; and ordered the slave who had been +assisting him in his diabolical work to mount the camel formerly ridden +by the woman who was thus entombed. The black obeyed, pleased to think +that his late task was to be so agreeably rewarded; but a sudden change +came over his features when Golah and Fatima passed up the three +children, and placed them under his care.</p> + +<p>Golah had but one more act to perform before leaving the spot. It was an +act worthy of himself, although suggested by Fatima.</p> + +<p>After filling a bowl about half full of water, he placed it midway +between Colin and the woman, but so distant from each that neither could +possibly reach it!</p> + +<p>This Satanic idea was executed with the design of tantalizing the +sufferers in their dying hours with the sight of that element the want +of which would soon cause them the most acute anguish. By the side of +the bowl he also placed a handful of figs.</p> + +<p>"There," he tauntingly exclaimed; "I leave you two together, and with +more food and drink than you will ever consume. Am I not kind? What more +can you ask? <i>Bismillah!</i> God is great, and Mahomet is his prophet; and +I am Golah, the kind, the just!"</p> + +<p>Saying this, he gave orders to resume the march.</p> + +<p>"Don't move!" exclaimed Terence; "we will give him some trouble yet."</p> + +<p>"Of course we'll not go, and leave Colin there," said Harry. "The sheik +is too avaricious to kill all his slaves. Don't move a step, Bill, and +we may have Colly liberated yet."</p> + +<p>"I shall do as you say, ov coorse," said Bill; "but I expect we shall +'ave to go. Golah has got a way of making a man travel, whether he be +willing or not."</p> + +<p>All started forward from the place but the three white slaves and the +two whom Golah intended to remain.</p> + +<p>"Cheer up, lad," said Bill to Colin; "we'll never go, and leave you +there."</p> + +<p>"Go on, go on!" exclaimed Colin. "You can do me no good, and will only +injure yourselves."</p> + +<p>Golah had mounted his camel and ridden forward, leaving to his two +guards the task of driving on the slaves; and, as if apprehensive of +trouble from them, he had directed Terence, Harry, Bill, and the Krooman +to be brought on with their hands tied behind them.</p> + +<p>The three refused to move; and when all efforts to get them on had been +tried in vain, the guards made a loud appeal to their sheik.</p> + +<p>Golah came riding back in a great rage.</p> + +<p>Dismounting from his camel he drew the ramrod from his musket; then, +rushing up to Terence, who was the nearest to him, administered to him a +shower of blows that changed the color of his shirt from an untidy white +to the darker hue of blood.</p> + +<p>The two guards, following the example of their lord and master, +commenced beating Harry and Bill, who, unable to make any resistance, +had to endure the torture in silence.</p> + +<p>"Go on, my friends!" exclaimed Colin; "for God's sake, go, and leave me! +You cannot do anything to avert my fate!"</p> + +<p>Colin's entreaties, as well as the torture from the blows they received, +were alike without effect. His shipmates could not bring themselves to +desert their old comrade, and leave him to the terrible death that +threatened him.</p> + +<p>Rushing up to Bill and Harry, Golah caught hold of each, and hurled them +to the ground by the side of Terence. Keeping all three together, he now +ordered a camel to be led up; and the order was instantly obeyed by one +of the guards. The halter was then taken from the head of the animal.</p> + +<p>"We 'ave got to go now," said Bill. "He's going to try the same dodge as +beat me the other day. I shall save him the trouble."</p> + +<p>Bill tried to rise, but was prevented. He had refused to walk when +earnestly urged to do so; and now, when he was willing to go on, he had +to wait the pleasure of his owner as to the manner in which his journey +should be continued.</p> + +<p>While Golah was fastening the rope to Harry's hands, the sharp shrill +voice of Fatima called his attention to some of the people who had gone +on before.</p> + +<p>The two women, who led the camels loaded with articles taken from the +wreck, had advanced about three hundred yards from the place; and were +now, along with the black slaves, surrounded by a party of men mounted +on maherries and horses.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LIII" id="CHAPTER_LIII"></a>CHAPTER LIII.</h2> + +<h3>CAPTURED AGAIN.</h3> + + +<p>Golah's fear of the Arabs met by the well had not been without a cause. +His forced night march, to avoid meeting them again, had not secured the +object for which it had been made.</p> + +<p>Approaching from the direction of the rising sun, the Arabs had not been +discovered in the distance; and Golah, occupied in overcoming the +obstinate resistance of the white slaves, had allowed them to come quite +near before they had been observed by him.</p> + +<p>Leaving his captives, the sheik seized his musket; and, followed by his +son and brother-in-law, rushed forward to protect his wives and +property.</p> + +<p>He was too late. Before he could reach them they were in the possession +of others; and as he drew near the spot where they had been captured, he +saw a dozen muskets presented towards himself, and heard some one loudly +commanding him, in the name of the Prophet, to approach in peace!</p> + +<p>Golah had the discretion to yield to a destiny that could not be +averted,—the misfortune of being made a prisoner and plundered at the +same time.</p> + +<p>Calmly saying, "It is the will of God," he sat down, and invited his +captors to a conference on the terms of capitulation.</p> + +<p>As soon as the caravan had fallen into the possession of the robbers, +the Krooman's hands were unbound by his companion, and he hastened to +the relief of the white slaves.</p> + +<p>"Golah no our massa now," said he, while untying Harry's wrists; "our +massa is Arab dat take us norf. We get free. Dat why dis Arab no buy +us,—he know us he hab for noting."</p> + +<p>The cords were quickly untied, and the attention of the others was now +turned to disinterring Colin and the woman from their living graves.</p> + +<p>To do this, Harry wanted to use the water-bowl the sheik had left for +the purpose of tantalizing his victims with the sight of its contents.</p> + +<p>"Here, drink this water," said he, holding the vessel to Colin's lips. +"I want to make use of the dish."</p> + +<p>"No, no; dig me out without that," answered Colin. "Leave the water as +it is; I have a particular use for it when I get free. I wish the old +sheik to see me drink it."</p> + +<p>Bill, Harry, and the Krooman set to work: and Colin and the woman were +soon uncovered and dragged out. Terence was then awakened to +consciousness by a few drops of the water poured over his face.</p> + +<p>Owing to the cramped position in which he had been placed and so long +held, Colin was for a few minutes unable to walk. They waited, to give +him time to recover the use of his limbs. The slave who had the care of +the woman's children was now seen coming back with them, and the woman +ran to meet him.</p> + +<p>The delight of the wretched mother at again embracing her offspring was +so great, that the gentle-souled Krooman was once more affected to +tears.</p> + +<p>In the conference with the Arab robbers, Golah was unable to obtain the +terms he fancied a sheik should be entitled to.</p> + +<p>They offered him two camels and the choice of one wife out of the three, +on condition he should go back to his own country, and return to the +desert no more.</p> + +<p>These terms Golah indignantly refused, and declared that he would rather +die in defence of his rights.</p> + +<p>Golah was a pure negro, and one of a class of traders much disliked by +the Arabs. He was a lawless intruder on their grounds,—a trespasser +upon their special domain, the Great Desert. He had just acquired a +large amount of wealth in goods and slaves, that had been cast on their +coast; and these they were determined he should not carry back with him +to his own country.</p> + +<p>Though he was as much a robber as themselves, they had no sympathies +with him, and would not be satisfied with merely a share of his plunder. +They professed to understand all his doings in the past; and accused him +of not being a <i>fair trader</i>!</p> + +<p>They told him that he never came upon the desert with merchandise to +exchange, but only with camels, to be driven away, laden with property +justly belonging to them, the real owners of the land.</p> + +<p>They denied his being a true believer in the Prophet; and concluded +their talk by declaring that he should be thankful for the liberal terms +they had offered him.</p> + +<p>Golah's opposition to their proposal became so demonstrative, that the +Arabs were obliged to disarm and bind him; though this was not +accomplished without a fierce struggle, in which several of his +adversaries were overthrown.</p> + +<p>A blow on the head with the stock of a musket at length reduced him to +subjection, after which his hands were fast tied behind his back.</p> + +<p>During the struggle, Golah's son was prevented from interfering in +behalf of his father, by the black slaves who had been so long the +victims of his cruel care; while the brother-in-law, as well as Fatima +and the third wife, remained passive spectators of the scene.</p> + +<p>On Golah being secured, the white slaves, with old Bill at their head, +came up and voluntarily surrendered themselves to their new masters.</p> + +<p>Colin had in his hands the bowl of water, and the dried figs that had +been placed beside it.</p> + +<p>Advancing towards Golah, he held the figs up before his eyes, and then, +with a nod and an expression that seemed to say, "Thank you for this," +he raised the bowl to his lips with the intention of drinking.</p> + +<p>The expression on the sheik's features became Satanic, but suddenly +changed into a glance of pleasure, as one of the Arabs snatched the +vessel out of Colin's hands, and instantly drank off its contents.</p> + +<p>Colin received the lesson meekly, and said not a word.</p> + +<p>The Arabs speedily commenced making arrangements for leaving the place. +The first move was to establish a communication between Golah and the +saddle of one of his camels.</p> + +<p>This was accomplished by using a rope as a medium; and the black giant +was compelled to walk after the animal with his hands tied behind +him,—in the same fashion as he had lately set for Sailor Bill.</p> + +<p>His wives and slaves seemed to comprehend the change in their fortunes, +and readily adapted their conduct to the circumstances.</p> + +<p>The greatest transformation of all was observable in the behavior of the +favorite Fatima.</p> + +<p>Since his capture she had kept altogether aloof from her late lord, and +showed not the slightest sympathy for his misfortunes.</p> + +<p>By her actions she seemed to say: "The mighty Golah has fallen, and is +no longer worthy of my distinguished regard."</p> + +<p>Very different was the behavior of the woman whom the cruel sheik would +have left to die a lingering death. Her husband's misfortune seemed to +have awakened within her a love for the father of her children: and her +features, as she gazed upon the captive,—who, although defeated, was +unsubdued in spirit,—wore a mingled expression of pity and grief.</p> + +<p>Hungry, thirsty, weary and bleeding—enslaved on the Great Desert, still +uncertain of what was to be their fate, and doubtful of surviving much +longer the hardships they might be forced to endure—our adventurers +were far from being happy; but, with all their misery, they felt joyful +when comparing their present prospects with those before them but an +hour ago.</p> + +<p>With the exception of Golah, the Arabs had no trouble with their +captives. The white and black slaves knew they were travelling towards +the well; and the prospect of again having plenty of water was +sufficient inducement to make them put forth all their strength in +following the camels.</p> + +<p>Early in the evening a short halt was made; when each of the company was +served with about half a pint of water from the skins. The Arabs, +expecting to reach the well soon after, could afford to be thus liberal; +but the favor so granted, though thankfully received by the slaves was +scornfully refused by their late master—the giant bodied and +strong-minded Golah.</p> + +<p>To accept of food and drink from his enemies in his present humiliating +position—bound and dragged along like a slave—was a degradation to +which he scorned to submit.</p> + +<p>On Golah contemptuously refusing the proffered cup of water, the Arab +who offered it simply ejaculated, "Thank God!" and then drank it +himself.</p> + +<p>The well was reached about an hour after midnight; and after quenching +their thirst, the slaves were allowed to go to rest and sleep,—a +privilege they stood sorely in need of having been over thirty hours +afoot, upon their cheerless and arduous journey.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LIV" id="CHAPTER_LIV"></a>CHAPTER LIV.</h2> + +<h3>AN UNFAITHFUL WIFE.</h3> + + +<p>On waking up the next morning, our adventurers were gratified with a bit +of intelligence communicated by the Krooman: that they were to have a +day of rest. A camel was also to be killed for food.</p> + +<p>The Arabs were going to divide amongst themselves the slaves taken from +Golah; and the opportunity was not to be lost of recruiting their +strength for a long journey.</p> + +<p>As Sailor Bill reflected upon their sufferings since leaving that same +place two days before, he expressed regret that they had not been +captured before leaving the well, and thus spared the horrors they had +endured.</p> + +<p>Stimulated by the remembrance of so much suffering needlessly incurred, +he asked the Krooman to explain the conduct of their new masters.</p> + +<p>The Krooman's first attempt at satisfying his curiosity was to state, +that the Arabs had acted after a manner peculiar to themselves,—in +other words, that it was "a way they had."</p> + +<p>The old sailor was not satisfied with this answer; and pressed for a +further explanation.</p> + +<p>He was then told that the robbers on the desert were always in danger of +meeting several caravans at a watering-place; and that any act of +violence committed there would bring upon the perpetrators everlasting +disgrace, as well as the enmity of all desert travellers. The Krooman +explained himself by saying, that should a caravan of a hundred men +arrive at the well, they would not now interfere in behalf of Golah, but +would only recognize him as a slave. On the contrary, had they found him +engaged in actual strife with the robbers they would have assisted him.</p> + +<p>This was satisfactory to all but Bill. Even Colin, who had been buried +alive, and Terence, who had been so unmercifully beaten, were pleased at +their change of masters on any terms; but the old sailor, sailor-like, +would not have been himself without some cause of complaint.</p> + +<p>Before their newly acquired wealth could be divided, the Arabs had to +come to some resolution as to the disposal of the black sheik; who still +remained so unmanageable that he had to be kept bound, with a guard +placed over him.</p> + +<p>The Arabs could not agree amongst themselves as to what should be done +with him. Some of them urged that, despite the color of his skin, he +might be a true believer in the Prophet; and that, notwithstanding his +manner of trading and acquiring wealth—a system nearly as dishonest as +their own—he was entitled to his liberty, with a certain portion of his +property.</p> + +<p>Others claimed that they had a perfect right to add him and his large +family to the number of their slaves.</p> + +<p>He was not an Arab, but an Ethiopian, like most of his following; and, +as a slave, would bring a high price in any of the markets where men +were bought and sold.</p> + +<p>Those who argued thus were in the minority; and Golah was at length +offered his wives and their children, with a couple of camels and his +scimitar.</p> + +<p>This offer the black sheik indignantly refused,—much to the +astonishment of those who had been so eloquent in his behalf.</p> + +<p>His decision produced another debate; in which the opinions of several +of his captors underwent such a change, that it was finally determined +to consider him as one of the slaves.</p> + +<p>Every article that had been obtained from the wreck was now exposed to +view, and a fixed price set upon it.</p> + +<p>The slaves were carefully examined and valued,—as well as the camels, +muskets, and everything that had belonged to Golah or his dependants.</p> + +<p>When these preliminary arrangements had been completed, the Arabs +proceeded to an equitable partition of the property.</p> + +<p>This proved a very difficult matter to manage, and occupied their time +for the rest of the day. Three or four would covet the same article; and +long and noisy discussions would take place before the dispute could be +settled to their mutual satisfaction.</p> + +<p>The Krooman, who understood the desert language, was attentive to all +that transpired; and from time to time informed the white slaves of what +was being done.</p> + +<p>At an early period in the discussions, he discovered that each of the +four was to fall to different masters.</p> + +<p>"You and me," said he to Harry, "we no got two massas—only one."</p> + +<p>His words were soon after proved to be true. They were carried apart +from each other, evidently with the designs of being appropriated by +different owners; and the fear that they might also be separated again +came over them.</p> + +<p>When the slaves, camels, tents, and articles that had been gathered from +the wreck were distributed amongst the eleven Arabs, each one took the +charge of his own; but there still remained Golah, his wives and their +children, to be disposed of.</p> + +<p>No one seemed desirous of becoming the owner of the black sheik and his +wives. Even those who had said that he would make a valuable slave, +appeared unwilling to take him, although induced to do so by the taunts +of their companions.</p> + +<p>The fact was, that they were afraid of him. He would be too difficult to +manage; and none of them wished to be the master of one who obstinately +refused both food and drink, and who so defiantly invoked upon the heads +of his captors the curse of Mahomet, and swore by the beard of the +Prophet that the moment his hands were free, he would kill the man who +should dare to own or claim him as a slave.</p> + +<p>Golah, with all his faults, was neither cunning nor deceitful, and, +having a spirit too great to affect submission, he did not intend to +yield.</p> + +<p>He was arrogant, cruel, avaricious, and vindictive; but the wrongs he +did were always accomplished in a plain, open-handed way, and never by +stratagem or treachery.</p> + +<p>By accepting the terms the Arabs had offered him, his strength, courage, +and unconquerable will might afterwards have enabled him to obtain +revenge upon his captors, and regain a portion of his property; but it +was not in his nature to sham submission, even for the sake of gaining a +future advantage.</p> + +<p>As not one of the Arabs was willing to accept of him, at the value at +which he had been appraised, or to allow another to have him for less, +it was finally decided that he should be retained as the common property +of all, until he could be sold to some other tribe, when a distribution +might be made of the proceeds of the sale. His wives and children were +to be disposed of in like manner.</p> + +<p>This arrangement was satisfactory to all but Golah himself, who +expressed himself greatly displeased with it. Nevertheless, he seemed a +little disposed to yield to circumstances; for, soon after the decision +of his captors was made known to him, he called to Fatima, and commanded +her to bring him a bowl of water.</p> + +<p>The favorite refused, under the plea that she had been forbidden to give +him anything.</p> + +<p>This was true; for, as he had declined to accept of anything at the +hands of those claiming to be his masters, they had determined to starve +him into submission.</p> + +<p>Fatima's refusal to obey him caused Golah his greatest chagrin. Ever +accustomed to prompt and slavish obedience from others, the idea of his +own wife—his favorite too—denying his modest request, almost drove him +frantic.</p> + +<p>"I am your husband," he cried, "and whom should you obey but me? Fatima! +I command you to bring me some water!"</p> + +<p>"And I command you not to do it," said the Arab sheik, who, standing +near by, had heard the order.</p> + +<p>Fatima was an artful, selfish woman, who had gained some influence over +her husband by flattering his vanity, and professing a love she had +never felt.</p> + +<p>She had acted with slavish obedience to him when he was all-powerful; +but now that he was himself a slave, her submission had been transferred +with perfect facility to the chief of the band who had captured him.</p> + +<p>It was now that Golah began to realize the fact that he was a conquered +man.</p> + +<p>His heart was nearly bursting with rage, shame, and disappointment; for +nothing could so plainly awaken him to the comprehension of his real +position, as the fact that Fatima, his favorite, she who had ever +professed for him so much love and obedience, now refused to attend to +his simplest request.</p> + +<p>After making one more violent and ineffectual effort at breaking his +bonds, he sank down upon the earth and remained silent—bitterly +contemplating the degraded condition into which he had fallen.</p> + +<p>The Krooman, who was a very sharp observer of passing events, and had an +extensive knowledge of peculiar specimens of human nature, closely +watched the behavior of the black sheik.</p> + +<p>"He no like us," he remarked to the whites. "He nebba be slave. Bom-by +you see him go dead."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LV" id="CHAPTER_LV"></a>CHAPTER LV.</h2> + +<h3>TWO FAITHFUL WIVES.</h3> + + +<p>While Golah's mind appeared to be stunned almost to unconsciousness by +the refusal of Fatima to obey his orders, his other two wives were +moving about, as if engaged in some domestic duty.</p> + +<p>Presently the woman he had buried in the sand was seen going towards him +with a calabash of water, followed by the other who carried a dish of +<i>sangleh</i>.</p> + +<p>One of the Arabs perceiving their intention, ran up, and, in an angry +tone, commanded them to retire to their tents. The two women persisted +in their design, and in order to prevent them, without using violence, +the Arab offered to serve the food and drink himself.</p> + +<p>This they permitted him to do; but when the water was offered to Golah +it was again refused.</p> + +<p>The black sheik would not receive either food or drink from the hand of +a master.</p> + +<p>The <i>sangleh</i> was then consumed by the Arab with a real or sham +profession of gratitude; the water was poured into a bucket, and given +to one of the camels; and the two calabashes were returned to the women.</p> + +<p>Neither a keen longing for food, nor a burning thirst for water, could +divert Golah's thoughts from the contemplation of something that was +causing his soul extreme anguish.</p> + +<p>His physical tortures seemed, for the time, extinguished by some deep +mental agony.</p> + +<p>Again the wives—the unloved ones—advanced towards him, bearing water +and food; and again the Arab stepped forward to intercept them. The two +women persisted in their design, and, while opposing the efforts of the +Arab to turn them back, they called on the two youths, the relatives of +the black sheik, as also on Fatima, to assist them.</p> + +<p>Of the three persons thus appealed to, only Golah's son obeyed their +summons; but his attempt to aid the women was immediately frustrated by +the Arab, who claimed him as a slave, and who now commanded him to stand +aside. His command having no effect, the Arab proceeded to use force. At +the risk of his life the youth resisted. He dared to use violence +against a master—a crime that on the desert demands the punishment of +death.</p> + +<p>Aroused from his painful reverie by the commotion going on around him, +Golah, seeing the folly of the act, shouted to his son to be calm, and +yield obedience; but the youth, not heeding the command of his father, +continued his resistance. He was just on the point of being cut down, +when the Krooman ran forward, and pronouncing in Arabic two words +signifying "father and son," saved the youth's life. The Arab robber had +sufficient respect for the relationship to stay his hand from committing +murder; but to prevent any further trouble with the young fellow, he was +seized by several others, fast bound, and flung to the ground by the +side of his father.</p> + +<p>The two women, still persisting in their design to relieve the wants of +their unfortunate husband, were then knocked down, kicked, beaten, and +finally dragged inside the tents.</p> + +<p>This scene was witnessed by Fatima; who, instead of showing sympathy, +appeared highly amused by it,—so much so as even to give way to +laughter! Her unnatural behavior once more roused the indignation of her +husband.</p> + +<p>The wrong of being robbed—the humiliation of being bound—the knowledge +that he himself, along with his children, would be sold into +slavery—the torture of hunger and thirst—were sources of misery no +longer heeded by him; all were forgotten in the contemplation of a far +greater anguish.</p> + +<p>Fatima, the favorite, the woman to whom his word should have been +law,—the woman who had always pretended to think him something more +than mortal,—now not only shunning but despising him in the midst of +his misfortunes!</p> + +<p>This knowledge did more towards subduing the giant than all his other +sufferings combined.</p> + +<p>"Old Golah looks very down in the mouth," remarked Terence to his +companions. "If it was not for the beating he gave me yesterday, I could +almost pity him. I made an oath, at the time he was thwacking me with +the ramrod, that if my hands were ever again at liberty, I'd see if it +was possible to kill him; but now that they are free, and his are bound, +I've not the heart to touch him, bad as he is."</p> + +<p>"That is right, Terry," said Bill; "it's only wimin an' bits o' boys as +throws wather on a drowned rat,—not as I mane to say the owld rascal is +past mischief yet. I believe he'll do some more afore the Devil takes +'im intirely; but I mane that Him as sits up aloft is able to do His own +work without your helping Him."</p> + +<p>"You speak truth, Bill," said Harry; "I don't think there is any +necessity for seeking revenge of Golah for his cruel treatment of us; he +is now as ill off as the rest of us."</p> + +<p>"What is that you say?" inquired Colin. "Golah like one of us? Nothing +of the kind. He has more pluck, endurance, obstinacy, and true manly +spirit about him than there is in the four of us combined."</p> + +<p>"Was his attempt to starve you dictated by a manly spirit?" asked Harry.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not, but it was the fault of the circumstances under which he +has been educated. I don't think of that now; my admiration of the man +is too strong. Look at his refusing that drink of water when it had been +several times offered him!"</p> + +<p>"There is something wonderful about him, certainly," assented Harry; +"but I don't see anything in him to admire."</p> + +<p>"No more do I," said Bill. "He might be as comfortable now as we are; +and I say a man's a fool as won't be 'appy when he can."</p> + +<p>"What you call his folly," rejoined Colin, "is but a noble pride that +makes him superior to any of us. He has a spirit that will not submit to +slavery, and we have not."</p> + +<p>"That be truth," remarked the Krooman; "Golah nebbar be slave."</p> + +<p>Colin was right. By accepting food and drink from his captors, the black +sheik might have satisfied the demands of mere animal nature, but only +at the sacrifice of all that was noble in his nature. His self-respect, +along with the proud, unyielding spirit by which everything good and +great is accomplished, would have been gone from him for ever.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill and his companions, the boy slaves, had been taught from +childhood to yield to circumstances, and still retain some moral +feeling; but Golah had not.</p> + +<p>The only thing he could yield to adverse fate was <i>his life</i>.</p> + +<p>At this moment the Krooman, by a gesture, called their attention towards +the captive sheik, at the same time giving utterance to a sharp +ejaculation.</p> + +<p>"Look!" exclaimed he, "Golah no stay longer on de Saära. You him see +soon die now—look at him!"</p> + +<p>At the same instant Golah had risen to his feet, inviting his Arab +master to a conference.</p> + +<p>"There is but one God," said he, "Mahomet is his prophet; and I am his +servant. I will never be a slave. Give me one wife, a camel, and my +scimitar, and I will go. I have been robbed; but God is great, and it is +his will, and my destiny."</p> + +<p>Golah had at length yielded, though not because that he suffered for +food and water; not that he feared slavery or death; not that his proud +spirit had become weak or given way; but rather that it had grown +stronger under the prompting of <i>Revenge</i>.</p> + +<p>The Arab sheik conferred with his followers; and there arose a brief +controversy among them.</p> + +<p>The trouble they had with their gigantic captive, the difficulty they +anticipated in disposing of him, and their belief that he was a good +Mussulman, were arguments in favor of granting his request, and setting +him at liberty.</p> + +<p>It was therefore decided to let him go—on the condition of his taking +his departure at once.</p> + +<p>Golah consented; and they proceeded to untie his hands. While this was +being done, the Krooman ran up to Colin's master, and cautioned him to +protect his slave, until the sheik had departed.</p> + +<p>This warning was unnecessary, for Golah had other and more serious +thoughts to engage his mind than that of any animosity he might once +have felt against the young Scotchman.</p> + +<p>"I am free," said Golah, when his hands were untied. "We are equals, and +Mussulmen. I claim your hospitality. Give me some food and drink."</p> + +<p>He then stepped forward to the well, and quenched his thirst, after +which some boiled camel meat was placed before him.</p> + +<p>While he was appeasing an appetite that had been two days in gaining +strength, Fatima, who had observed a strange expression in his eyes, +appeared to be in great consternation. She had believed him doomed to a +life of slavery, if not to death; and this belief had influenced her in +her late actions.</p> + +<p>Gliding up to the Arab sheik, she entreated to be separated from her +husband; but the only answer she received was, that Golah should have +either of the three wives he chose to take; that he (the sheik) and his +companions were men of honor, who would not break the promise they had +given.</p> + +<p>A goat-skin of water, some barley meal, for making <i>sangleh</i>, and a few +other necessary articles, were placed on a camel, which was delivered +over to Golah.</p> + +<p>The black sheik then addressed a few words in some African language to +his son; and, calling Fatima to follow him, he started off across the +desert.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LVI" id="CHAPTER_LVI"></a>CHAPTER LVI.</h2> + +<h3>FATIMA'S FATE.</h3> + + +<p>A complete change had come over the fortunes of Fatima. Vain, cruel, and +tyrannical but the moment before, she was now humbled to the dust of the +desert. In place of commanding her fellow wives, she now approached them +with entreaties, begging them to take charge of her child, which she +seemed determined to leave behind her. Both willingly assented to her +wishes.</p> + +<p>Our adventurers were puzzled by this circumstance, for there appeared to +be no reason that Fatima should leave her offspring behind her. Even the +Krooman could not explain it; and as the shades of night descended over +the desert, the mother separated from her child, perhaps never more to +embrace it in this world of wickedness and woe.</p> + +<p>About two hours before daybreak, on the morning after the departure of +Golah, there was an alarm in the douar, which created amongst the Arabs +a wonderful excitement.</p> + +<p>The man who had been keeping guard over the camp was not to be seen; and +one of the fleetest camels, as well as a swift desert horse, was also +gone.</p> + +<p>The slaves were instantly mustered, when it was found that one of them +was likewise missing. It was Golah's son.</p> + +<p>His absence accounted for the loss of the camel, and perhaps the horse, +but what had become of the Arab guard?</p> + +<p>He certainly would not have absconded with the slave, for he had left +valuable property behind him.</p> + +<p>There was no time for exchanging surmises over this mystery. Pursuit +must be instantly made for the recovery of slave, camel, and horse.</p> + +<p>The Arab sheik detailed four of his followers to this duty, and they +hastened to make ready for their departure. They would start as soon as +the light of day should enable them to see the course the missing +animals had taken.</p> + +<p>All believed that the fugitives would have to be sought for in a +southerly direction; and therefore the caravan would have to be further +delayed in its journey.</p> + +<p>While making preparations for the pursuit, another unpleasant discovery +was made. Two ship's muskets, that had been taken from Golah's party +were also missing.</p> + +<p>They had been extracted from a tent in which two of the Arabs had +slept,—two of the four who were now preparing to search for the missing +property.</p> + +<p>The sheik became alarmed. The camp seemed full of traitors; and yet, as +the guns were the private property of the two men who slept in the tent, +they could not, for losing them, reasonably be accused of anything more +than stupidity.</p> + +<p>Contrary to the anticipations of all, the tracks of the lost animals +were found to lead off in a north-westerly direction; and at about two +hundred yards from the camp a dark object was seen lying upon the +ground. On examination it proved to be the Arab who had been appointed +night-guard over the douar.</p> + +<p>He was stone dead; and by his side lay one of the missing muskets, with +the stock broken, and covered with his own brains.</p> + +<p>The tragedy was not difficult to be explained. The man had seen one or +two of the hoppled animals straying from the camp. Not thinking that +they were being led gently away, he had, without giving any alarm, gone +out to bring them back. Golah's son, who was leading them off, by +keeping concealed behind one of the animals, had found an opportunity of +giving the guard his death-blow, without any noise to disturb the +slumbering denizens of the douar.</p> + +<p>No doubt he had gone to rejoin his father, and the adroit manner in +which he had made his departure, taking with him a musket, a camel, and +a horse, not only excited the wonder, but the admiration of those from +whom he had stolen them.</p> + +<p>In the division of the slaves, young Harry Blount and the Krooman had +become the property of the Arab sheik. The Krooman having some knowledge +of the Arabic language, soon established himself in the good opinion of +his new master. While the Arabs were discussing the most available mode +to obtain revenge for the murder of their companion, as well as to +regain possession of the property they had lost, the Krooman, skilled in +Golah's character, volunteered to assist them by a little advice.</p> + +<p>Pointing to the south, he suggested to them that, by going in that +direction, they would certainly see or hear something of Golah and his +son.</p> + +<p>The sheik could the more readily believe this, since the country of the +black chief lay to the southward, and Golah, on leaving the douar, had +gone in that direction.</p> + +<p>"But why did his dog of a son not go south?" inquired the Arabs, +pointing to the tracks of the stolen horse, which still appeared to lead +towards the northwest.</p> + +<p>"If you go north," replied the Krooman, "you will be sure to see Golah; +or if you stay here, you will learn something of him?"</p> + +<p>"What! will he be in both directions at the same time, and here +likewise?"</p> + +<p>"No, not that; but he will follow you."</p> + +<p>The Arabs were willing to believe that there was a chance of recovering +their property on the road they had been intending to follow, especially +as the stolen horse and camel had been taken in that direction.</p> + +<p>They determined, therefore, to continue their journey.</p> + +<p>Too late they perceived their folly in treating Golah as they had done. +He was now beyond their reach, and, in all likelihood, had been rejoined +by his son. He was an enemy against whom they would have to keep a +constant watch; and the thought of this caused the old Arab sheik to +swear by the Prophet's beard that he would never again show mercy to a +man whom he had plundered.</p> + +<p>For about an hour after resuming their march, the footprints of the +camel could be traced in the direction they wished to go; but gradually +they became less perceptible, until at length they were lost altogether. +A smart breeze had been blowing, which had filled the tracks with sand, +which was light and easily disturbed.</p> + +<p>Trusting to chance, and still with some hope of recovering the stolen +property, they continued on in the same direction, and, not long after +losing the tracks, they found some fresh evidence that they were going +the right way.</p> + +<p>The old sheik, who was riding in advance of the others, on looking to +the right, perceived an object on the sand that demanded a closer +inspection. He turned and rode towards it, closely followed by the +people of his party.</p> + +<p>On drawing near to the object it proved to be the body of a human being, +lying back upwards, and yet with the face turned full towards the +heavens. The features were at once recognized as those of Fatima, the +favorite!</p> + +<p>The head of the unfortunate woman had been severed from her body, and +then placed contiguous to it, with the face in an inverted position.</p> + +<p>The ghastly spectacle was instructive. It proved that Golah, although +going off southward, must have turned back again, and was now not far +off, hovering about the track he believed his enemies would be likely to +take. His son, moreover, was, in all likelihood, along with him.</p> + +<p>When departing along with her husband, Fatima had probably anticipated +the terrible fate that awaited her; and, for that reason, had left her +child in the care of the other wives.</p> + +<p>Neither of these seemed in the least surprised on discovering the body. +Both had surmised that such would be Fatima's fate; and it was for that +reason they had so willingly taken charge of her child.</p> + +<p>The caravan made a short halt, which was taken advantage of by the two +women to cover the body with sand.</p> + +<p>The journey was then resumed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LVII" id="CHAPTER_LVII"></a>CHAPTER LVII.</h2> + +<h3>FURTHER DEFECTION.</h3> + + +<p>Notwithstanding that Golah's brother-in-law, who had formerly been a +freeman, was now a slave, he seemed well satisfied with the change in +his circumstances.</p> + +<p>He made himself very useful to his new masters in looking after the +camel, and doing all the other necessary work which his knowledge of +Saäran life enabled him effectually to execute.</p> + +<p>When the Arab caravan came to a halt on the evening of his first day's +journey along with it, he assisted in unloading the camels, putting the +hopples on them, pitching the tents, and doing anything else which was +required to be done.</p> + +<p>While the other slaves were eating the small portion of food allowed +them, one of the camels formerly belonging to Golah—a young and fleet +maherry that had been ridden by Fatima, strayed a short distance from +the douar. Seeing it the black sheik's brother-in-law, who had been +making himself so useful, ran after the animal as if to fetch it back. +He was seen passing beyond the camel, as though he intended turning it +toward the camp; but in another instant it was discovered that he had no +such design. The youth was seen to spring to the back of the maherry, +lay hold of its hump, and ride rapidly away. Accustomed to hearing the +sound of his voice, the faithful and intelligent animal obeyed his words +of command. Its neck was suddenly craned out towards the north; and its +feet were flung forward in long strides that bore its rider rapidly away +from the rest. The incident caused a tremendous commotion in the +caravan. It was so wholly unexpected, that none of the Arabs were +prepared to intercept the fugitive. The guard for the night had not been +appointed. They were all seated on the ground, engaged in devouring +their evening repast, and before a musket could be discharged at the +runaway, he had got so far into the glimmering twilight that the only +effect of two or three shots fired after him was to quicken the pace of +the maherry on which he was fleeing.</p> + +<p>Two fleet horses were instantly saddled and mounted, one by the owner of +the camel that had been stolen, and the other by the owner of the slave +who had stolen it.</p> + +<p>Each, arming himself with musket and scimitar, felt sure of recapturing +the runaway. Their only doubt arose from the knowledge of the swiftness +of the maherry, and that its rider was favored by the approaching +darkness.</p> + +<p>The whole encampment was by this time under arms and after the departure +of the pursuers, the sheik gathered all the slaves together, and swore +by the beard of the Prophet that they should all be killed, and that he +would set the example by killing the two belonging to himself, which +were Harry Blount and the Krooman. Several of his followers proceeded to +relieve their excitement by each beating the slave or slaves that were +his own property, and amongst these irate slave-owners was the master of +Sailor Bill. The old man-o-war's-man was cudgelled till his objections +to involuntary servitude were loudly expressed, and in the strongest +terms that English, Scotch, and Irish could furnish for the purpose.</p> + +<p>When the rage of the old sheik had to some extent subsided, he procured +a leathern thong, and declared that his two slaves should be fast bound, +and never released as long as they remained in his possession.</p> + +<p>"Talk to him," exclaimed Harry to the Krooman; "tell him, in his own +language, that God is great, and that he is a fool! We don't wish to +escape,—certainly not at present."</p> + +<p>Thus counselled, the Krooman explained to the sheik that the white +slaves, as well as himself, who had sailed in English ships, had no +intention of running away, but wished to be taken north, where they +might be ransomed; and that they were not such fools as to part from him +in a place where they would certainly starve. The Krooman also informed +the sheik that they were all very glad at being taken out of the hands +of Golah, who would have carried them to Timbuctoo, whence they never +could have returned, but must have ended their days in slavery.</p> + +<p>While the Krooman was talking to the sheik, several of the others came +up and listened. The black further informed them that the white slaves +had friends living in Agadeer and Swearah (Santa Cruz and +Mogador),—friends who would pay a large price to ransom them. Why, +then, should they try to escape while journeying towards the place where +those friends were living?</p> + +<p>The Krooman went on to say that the young man who had just made off was +Golah's brother-in-law; that, unlike themselves, in going north he would +not be seeking freedom but perpetual slavery, and for that reason he had +gone to rejoin Golah and his son.</p> + +<p>This explanation seemed so reasonable to the Arabs, that their fears for +the safety of their slaves soon subsided, and the latter were permitted +to repose in peace.</p> + +<p>As a precautionary measure, however, two men were kept moving in a +circle around the douar throughout the whole of the night; but no +disturbance arose, and morning returned without bringing back the two +men who had gone in pursuit of the cunning runaway.</p> + +<p>The distance to the next watering-place was too great to admit of any +delay being made; and the journey was resumed, in the hope that the two +missing men would be met on the way.</p> + +<p>This hope was realized.</p> + +<p>All along the route the old sheik, who rode in advance, kept scanning +the horizon, not only ahead, but to the right and left of their course. +About ten miles from their night's halting-place he was seen to swerve +suddenly from his course, and advance towards something that had +attracted his attention. His followers hastened after him,—all except +the two women and their children, who lingered a long way behind.</p> + +<p>Lying on the ground, their bodies contiguous to each other, were the two +Arabs who had gone in pursuit of the runaway.</p> + +<p>They were both dead.</p> + +<p>One of them had been shot with a musket ball that had penetrated his +skull, entering directly between his temples. The other had been cut +down with a scimitar, his body being almost severed in twain.</p> + +<p>The youth who had fled the night before, had evidently come up with +Golah and his son; and the two men who had pursued him had lost their +lives, their animals, muskets, and scimitars.</p> + +<p>Golah now had two accomplices, and the three were well mounted and well +armed.</p> + +<p>The anger of the Arabs was frightful to behold. They turned towards the +two women whom they knew to be Golah's wives. The latter had thrown +themselves on their knees and were screaming and supplicating for mercy.</p> + +<p>Some of the Arabs would have killed them on the instant; but were +prevented by the old sheik, who, although himself wild with rage, had +still sufficient reason left to tell him that the unfortunate women were +not answerable for the acts of their husband. Our adventurers found +reason to regret the misfortune that had befallen their new masters; for +they could not but regard with alarm the returning power of Golah.</p> + +<p>"We shall fall into his hands again," exclaimed Terence. "He will kill +all these Arabs one after another, and obtain all he has lost, ourselves +included. We shall yet be driven to Timbuctoo."</p> + +<p>"Then we should deserve it," cried Harry, "for it will partly be our own +fault, if ever we fall into Golah's power again."</p> + +<p>"I don't think so," said Bill, "Golah is a wondersome man, and as got +somethin' more nor human natur' to 'elp 'im. I think as 'ow if we should +see 'im 'alf a mile off, signalizin' for us to follow 'im, we should +'ave to go. I've tried my hand at disobeyin' his orders, and don't do it +again,—not if I knows it."</p> + +<p>The expressions of anger hitherto portrayed on the countenances of the +Arabs, had given place to those of anxiety. They knew that an enemy was +hovering around them,—an enemy whom they had wronged,—whose power they +had undervalued, and whom they had foolishly restored to liberty.</p> + +<p>The bodies of their companions were hastily interred in the sand, and +their journey northward was once more resumed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LVIII" id="CHAPTER_LVIII"></a>CHAPTER LVIII.</h2> + +<h3>A CALL FOR TWO MORE.</h3> + + +<p>The sufferings of the slaves for water and food again commenced, while +the pace at which they were compelled to travel, to keep up with the +camels, soon exhausted the little strength they had acquired from the +rest by the well.</p> + +<p>During the long afternoon following the burial of the two Arabs, each of +the boy slaves at different times declared his utter inability to +proceed any farther.</p> + +<p>They were mistaken; and had yet to learn something of the power which +love of life exerts over the body.</p> + +<p>They knew that to linger behind would be death. They did not desire to +die, and therefore struggled on.</p> + +<p>Like men upon a treadmill, they were compelled to keep on moving, +although neither able nor willing.</p> + +<p>The hour of sunset found them wading through sand that had lately been +stirred by a storm. It was nearly as light and loose as snow; and the +toil of moving through it was so wearisome, that the mounted Arabs, +having some pity on those who had walked, halted early for the night. +Two men were appointed to guard the camp in the same manner as upon the +night before; and with the feelings of hunger and thirst partly +appeased, weary with the toils of day, our adventurers were soon in a +sound slumber. Around them, and half-buried in the soft sand, lay +stretched the other denizens of the douar, all slumbering likewise.</p> + +<p>Their rest remained undisturbed until that darkest hour of the night, +just before the dawning of day. They were then startled from sleep by +the report of a musket,—a report that was immediately followed by +another in the opposite direction. The douar was instantly in wild +confusion.</p> + +<p>The Arabs seized their weapons, and rushed forth from among the tents.</p> + +<p>One of the party that ran in the direction in which the first shot was +heard, seeing a man coming towards them, in the excitement of the moment +fired his musket, and shot the individual who was advancing, who proved +to be one of those entrusted with the guard of the camp.</p> + +<p>No enemies could be discovered. They had fled, leaving the two +camp-guards in the agonies of death.</p> + +<p>Some of the Arabs would have rushed wildly hither and thither, in search +of the unseen foe, but were prevented by the sheik, who, fearing that +all would be lost, should the douar be deserted by the armed men, +shouted the signal for all his followers to gather around him.</p> + +<p>The two wounded men were brought into a tent, where, in a few +minutes, one of them—the man who had been shot by one of his +companions—breathed his last. He had also received a wound from the +first shot that had been heard, his right arm having been shattered by a +musket-ball.</p> + +<p>The spine of the other guard had been broken by a bullet, so that +recovery was clearly impossible.</p> + +<p>He had evidently heard the first shot fired at his companion from the +opposite side of the camp: and was turning his back upon the foe that +had attacked himself.</p> + +<p>The light of day soon shone upon the scene, and they were able to +perceive how their enemies had approached so near the camp without being +observed.</p> + +<p>About a hundred paces from where the guards had been standing at the +time the first two shots were fired, was a furrow or ravine running +through the soft sand.</p> + +<p>This ravine branched into two lesser ones, including within their angle +the Arab camp, as also the sentinels stationed to guard it.</p> + +<p>Up the branches the midnight murderers had silently stolen, each taking +a side; and in this way had got within easy distance of the unsuspecting +sentries.</p> + +<p>In the bottom of one of the furrows, where the sand was more firmly +compacted, was found the impression of human footsteps.</p> + +<p>The tracks had been made by some person hurriedly leaving the spot.</p> + +<p>"Dis be de track ob Golah," said the Krooman to Harry, after he had +examined it. "He made um when runnin' 'way after he fire da musket."</p> + +<p>"Very likely," said Harry; "but how do you know it is Golah's track?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause Golah hab largess feet in all de world, and no feet but his make +dat mark."</p> + +<p>"I tell you again," said Terence, who overheard the Krooman's remark, +"we shall have to go with Golah to Timbuctoo. We belong to him. These +Arabs are only keeping us for a few days, but they will all be killed +yet, and we shall have to follow the black sheik in the opposite +direction."</p> + +<p>Harry made no reply to this prophetic speech. Certainly, there was a +prospect of its proving true.</p> + +<p>Four Arabs out of the eleven of which their party was originally +composed, were already dead, while still another was dying!</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill pronounced Golah, with his son and brother-in-law, quite a +match for the six who were left. The black sheik, he thought, was equal +to any four of their present masters in strength, cunning, and +determination.</p> + +<p>"But the Arabs have us to help them," remarked Colin. "We should count +for something."</p> + +<p>"So we do,—as merchandise," replied Harry; "we have hitherto been +helpless as children in protecting ourselves. What can we do? The +boasted superiority of our race or country cannot be true here in the +desert. We are out of our element."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's sartain!" exclaimed Bill; "but we're not far from it. +Shiver my timbers if I don't smell salt water. Be Jabers! if we go on +towards the west we shall see the say afore night."</p> + +<p>During this dialogue the Arabs were holding a consultation as to what +they should do.</p> + +<p>To divide the camp, and send some after their enemies, was pronounced +impolitic: the party sent in pursuit, and that left to guard the +caravan,—either would be too weak if attacked by their truculent enemy.</p> + +<p>In union alone was strength, and they resolved to remain together, +believing that they should have a visit from Golah again, while better +prepared to receive him.</p> + +<p>The footprints leading out from the two ravines were traced for about a +mile in the direction they wished to follow.</p> + +<p>The tracks of camels and horses were there found; and they could tell by +the signs that their enemies had mounted and ridden off towards the +west.</p> + +<p>They possibly might have avoided meeting Golah again by going eastward; +but, from their knowledge of the desert, no water was to be found in +that direction in less than five days' journey.</p> + +<p>Moreover, they did not yet wish to avoid him. They thirsted for revenge, +and were impatient to move on; for a journey of two days was still +before them before they could hope to arrive at the nearest water.</p> + +<p>When every preparation had been made to resume their route, there was +one obstacle in the way of their taking an immediate departure.</p> + +<p>Their wounded companion was not yet defunct. They saw it would be +impossible for him to live much longer; for the lower part of his +body,—all below the shattered portion of the spine,—appeared already +without life. A few hours at most would terminate his sufferings; but +for the expiration of those few hours,—or minutes, as fate should +decide,—his companions seemed unwilling to wait!</p> + +<p>They dug a hole in the sand near where the wounded man was lying. This +was but the work of a few minutes. As soon as the grave was completed, +the eyes of all were once more turned upon the wretched sufferer.</p> + +<p>He was still alive, and by piteous moans expressing the agony he was +enduring.</p> + +<p>"Bismillah!" exclaimed the old sheik, "why do you not die, my friend? We +are waiting for the fulfilment of your destiny."</p> + +<p>"I am dead," ejaculated the sufferer, speaking in a faint voice, and +apparently with great difficulty.</p> + +<p>Having said this, he relapsed into silence, and remained motionless as a +corpse.</p> + +<p>The sheik then placed one hand upon his temples. "Yes!" he exclaimed, +"the words of our friend are those of truth and wisdom. He is dead."</p> + +<p>The wounded man was then rolled into the cavity which had been scooped +out, and they hastily proceeded to cover him with sand.</p> + +<p>As they did so, his hands were repeatedly uplifted, while a low moaning +came from his lips; but his movements were apparently unseen, and his +cries of agony unnoticed!</p> + +<p>His companions remained both deaf and blind to any evidence that might +refute his own assertion that he was dead.</p> + +<p>The sand was at length heaped up, so as completely to cover his body, +when, by an order from the old sheik, his followers turned away from the +spot and the Kafila moved on.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LIX" id="CHAPTER_LIX"></a>CHAPTER LIX.</h2> + +<h3>ONCE MORE BY THE SEA.</h3> + + +<p>Sailor Bill's conjecture that they were not far from the sea proved +correct.</p> + +<p>On the evening of that same day they saw the sun sink down into a +shining horizon, which they knew was not that of the burning sand-plain +over which they had been so long moving.</p> + +<p>That faint and distant view of his favorite element was a joyful moment +for the old sailor.</p> + +<p>"We are in sight of home!" he exclaimed. "Shiver my timbers if I ever +lose sight of it again! I shan't be buried in the sand. If I must go +under alive, it shall be under water, like a Christyun. If I could swim, +I'd start right off for Hold Hingland as soon as we get to yonder +shore."</p> + +<p>The boy slaves were alike inspired with hope and joy at the distant +view.</p> + +<p>The sea was still too far off to be reached that night, and the douar +was pitched about five miles from the shore.</p> + +<p>During this night, three of the Arabs were kept constantly on guard; but +the camp was not disturbed, and next morning they resumed their journey, +some with the hope, and others with the fear, that Golah would trouble +them no more.</p> + +<p>The Arabs wished to meet him during the hours of daylight, and secure +the property they had lost; and from their knowledge of the part of the +desert they were now traversing, they were in hopes of doing this. They +knew there was but one place within two days' journey where fresh water +could be obtained; and should they succeed in reaching this place before +Golah, they could lie in wait for his arrival. They were certain he must +visit this watering-place to save his animals from perishing with +thirst.</p> + +<p>At noonday a halt was made not far from the beach. It was only for a +short while; for they were anxious to reach the well as soon as +possible. The few minutes spent at the halting-place were well employed +by the boy slaves in gathering shell-fish and bathing their bodies in +the surf.</p> + +<p>Refreshed by this luxurious food, as well as by the washing, of which +they were greatly in need, they were able to proceed at a better pace; +so that about an hour before sunset the caravan arrived at the well.</p> + +<p>Just before reaching it, the old sheik and one of his companions had +dismounted and walked forward to examine such tracks as might be found +about the place. They were chagrined to find that Golah had been before. +He had been to the well, and obtained a supply of water. His footmarks +were easily identified. They were fresh, having been made but an hour or +two before the arrival of the caravan; and in place of their having to +wait for Golah, he was undoubtedly waiting for them. They felt sure that +the black sheik was not far off, watching for a favorable opportunity of +again paying them a nocturnal visit. They could now understand why he +had not attempted to molest them on the preceding night. He had been +hastening forward, in order to reach the well in advance of them.</p> + +<p>The apprehensions of the Arabs became keener and keener after this +discovery. They were also much puzzled as to what they should do; and a +diversity of opinion arose as to the best plan for guarding the camp +against their implacable foe. Some were in favor of staying by the well +for several days, until the supply of water which their enemy had taken +with him should be exhausted. Golah would then have to revisit the well, +or perish of thirst upon the desert. The idea was an ingenious one, but +unfortunately their stock of provisions would not admit of any delay, +and it was resolved that the journey should be resumed at once.</p> + +<p>Just as they were preparing to move away from the well, a caravan of +traders arrived from the south, and the old sheik made anxious inquiries +as to whether the new-comers had seen any one on their route. The +traders, to whom the caravan belonged, had that morning met three men +who answered to the description of Golah and his companions. They were +journeying south, and had purchased a small supply of food from the +caravan.</p> + +<p>Could it be that Golah had given up the hope of recovering his lost +property? relinquished his deadly purpose of revenge? The Arabs +professed much unwillingness to believe it. Some of them loudly proposed +starting southward in pursuit. But this proposition was overruled, and +it was evident that the old sheik, as well as most of his followers, +were in reality pleased to think that Golah would trouble them no more.</p> + +<p>The sheik decreed that the property of those who had perished should be +divided amongst those who survived. This giving universal satisfaction, +the Arab Kafila took its departure, leaving the caravan of the traders +by the well, where they were intending to remain for some time longer.</p> + +<p>Shortly after leaving the well, the old sheik ordered a halt by the +seashore, where he stopped long enough for his slaves to gather some +shell-fish, enough to satisfy the hunger of all his followers.</p> + +<p>A majority of the Arabs were under the belief that the black sheik had +started at last for his own country—satisfied with the revenge he had +already taken. They seemed to think that keeping watch over the camp +would no longer be necessary.</p> + +<p>With this opinion their Krooman captive did not agree; and, fearing to +fall again into the possession of Golah, he labored to convince his new +master that they were as likely that night to receive a visit from the +black sheik as they had ever been before.</p> + +<p>He argued that, if Golah had entertained a hope of defeating his +foes—eleven in number—when alone, and armed only with a scimitar, he +certainly would not be likely to relinquish that hope after having +succeeded in killing nearly half of them, and being strengthened by a +couple of able assistants.</p> + +<p>The Krooman believed that Golah's going south,—as reported by the party +met at the well,—was proof that he really intended proceeding north; +and he urged the Arab sheik to set a good guard over the douar through +the night.</p> + +<p>"Tell him," said Harry, "if they are not inclined to keep guard for +themselves, that we will stand it, if they will only allow us to have +weapons of some kind or other."</p> + +<p>The Krooman made this communication to the Arab sheik, who smiled only +in reply.</p> + +<p>The idea of allowing slaves to guard an Arab douar, especially to +furnish them with fire-arms, was very amusing to the old chieftain of +the Saära.</p> + +<p>Harry understood the meaning of his smile. It meant refusal; but the +young Englishman had also become impressed with the danger suggested by +Terence, that Golah would yet kill the Arabs, and take the boy slaves +back to Timbuctoo.</p> + +<p>"Tell the sheik that he is an old fool," said he to the interpreter; +"tell him that we have a greater objection to falling into the hands of +Golah than he has of losing either us or his own life. Tell him that we +wish to go north, where we can be redeemed; and that for this reason +alone we should be far more careful than any of his own people in +guarding the camp against surprise."</p> + +<p>When this communication was made to the old sheik it seemed to strike +him as having some reason in it; and, convinced by the Krooman's +arguments that there was still danger to be apprehended from Golah's +vengeance, he directed that the douar should be strictly guarded, and +that the white slaves might take part in the duty.</p> + +<p>"You shall be taken north, and sold to your countrymen," promised he, +"if you give us no trouble in the transit. There are but few of my +people left now, and it is hard for us to travel all day and keep watch +all night. If you are really afraid of falling into the hands of this +Prophet-accursed negro, and will help us in guarding against his +murderous attacks, you are welcome to do so; but if any one of you +attempt to play traitor, the whole four of you shall lose your heads. I +swear it by the beard of the Prophet!"</p> + +<p>The Krooman assured him that none of the white slaves had any desire to +deceive him, adding that self-interest, if nothing else, would cause +them to be true to those who would take them to a place where they would +have a chance of being ransomed out of slavery.</p> + +<p>Darkness having by this time descended over the desert, the sheik set +about appointing the guard for the night. He was too suspicious of his +white slaves to allow all the four of them to act as guards at the same +time, while he and his companions were asleep. He was willing, however, +that one of them should be allowed to keep watch in company with one of +his own followers.</p> + +<p>In choosing the individual for this duty, he inquired from the Krooman +which of the four had been most ill-used by the black sheik. Sailor Bill +was pointed out as the man, and the interpreter gave some details of the +cruel treatment to which the old man-o'-war's-man had been subjected at +the hands of Golah.</p> + +<p>"Bismillah! that is well," said the sheik. "Let him keep the watch. +After what you say, revenge should hinder him from closing his eyes in +sleep for a whole moon. There's no fear that he will betray us."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LX" id="CHAPTER_LX"></a>CHAPTER LX.</h2> + +<h3>GOLAH CALLS AGAIN.</h3> + + +<p>In setting the watch for the night one of the sentinels was stationed on +the shore about a hundred yards north of the douar. His instructions +were to walk a round of about two hundred paces, extending inward from +the beach.</p> + +<p>Another was placed about the same distance south of the camp, and was to +pace backwards and forwards after a similar fashion.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill was stationed on the land side of the camp, where he was to +move to and fro between the beats of the two Arab guards, each of whom, +on discovering him at the termination of his round, was to utter the +word "<i>Akka</i>," so that the sailor should distinguish them from an enemy.</p> + +<p>The Arabs themselves were supposed to be sufficiently intelligent to +tell a friend from a foe without requiring any countersign.</p> + +<p>Before Bill was sent upon his beat, the old sheik went into a tent, and +soon after reappeared with a large pistol, bearing a strong likeness to +a blunderbuss. This weapon he placed in the sailor's hand, with the +injunction—translated to him by the interpreter—not to discharge it +until he should be certain of killing either Golah or one of his +companions.</p> + +<p>The old sailor, although sorely fatigued with the toil of the day's +journey, had so great a horror of again becoming the property of the +black sheik, that he cheerfully promised to "walk the deck all night, +and keep a good lookout for breakers," and his young companions sought +repose in full confidence that the promise would be faithfully kept.</p> + +<p>Any one of the boy slaves would willingly have taken his place, and +allowed their old comrade to rest for the night; but Bill had been +selected by the old sheik, and from his decree there was no appeal.</p> + +<p>The two Arabs doing duty as sentinels knew, from past experience, that +if the Kafila was still followed by Golah, they would be the individuals +most exposed to danger; and this knowledge was sufficient to stimulate +them to the most faithful discharge of their trust.</p> + +<p>Neither of them wished to become victims to the fate which had befallen +their predecessors in office.</p> + +<p>For two or three hours both paced slowly to and fro; and Bill, each time +he approached the end of his beat, could hear distinctly pronounced the +word "<i>Akka</i>" which proved that his co-sentinels were fully on the +alert.</p> + +<p>It so chanced that one of them had no faith in the general belief that +the enemy had relinquished his purposes sanguinary of vengeance.</p> + +<p>He drew his deductions from Golah's conduct in the past, and during the +long silent hours of the night his fancy was constantly dwelling on the +manner in which the dreaded enemy had approached the douar on former +occasions.</p> + +<p>This sentry was the one stationed to the south of the douar; and with +eyes constantly striving to pierce the darkness that shrouded the sand +plain, the water, on which a better light was reflected, received no +attention from him. He believed the douar well protected on the side of +the sea, for he had no idea that danger could come from that direction.</p> + +<p>He was mistaken.</p> + +<p>Had their enemies been, like himself and his companions, true children +of the Saära, his plan of watching for their approach might have +answered well enough; but the latter chanced to be the offspring of a +different country and race.</p> + +<p>About three hours after the watch had been established, the sentinel +placed on the southern side of the douar was being closely observed by +the black sheik, yet knew it not.</p> + +<p>Golah had chosen a singular plan to secure himself against being +observed, similar to that selected by the three mids for the like +purpose soon after their being cast away upon the coast.</p> + +<p>He had stolen into the water, and with only his woolly occiput above the +surface, had approached within a few yards of the spot where the Arab +sentry turned upon his round.</p> + +<p>In the darkness of the night, at the distance of twelve or fifteen +paces, he might have been discovered, had a close survey been made of +the shining surface. But there was no such survey, and Golah watched the +sentinel, himself unseen.</p> + +<p>The attention of the Arab was wholly occupied in looking for the +approach of a foe from the land side; and while he was in continual fear +of hearing the report of a musket, or feeling the stroke of its bullet.</p> + +<p>This disagreeable surprise he never expected could come from the sea, +but was so fully anticipated from the land, that he paid but little or +no attention to the restless waves that were breaking with low moans +against the beach.</p> + +<p>As he turned his back upon the water for the hundredth time, with the +intention of walking to the other end of his beat, Golah crept gently +out of the water and hastened after him.</p> + +<p>The deep sighing of the waves against the shingly shore hindered the +sound of footsteps from being heard.</p> + +<p>Golah was only armed with a scimitar; but it was a weapon that, in his +hands, was sure to fall with deadly effect. It was a weapon of great +size and weight, having been made expressly for himself; and with this +upraised, he silently but swiftly glided after the unconscious Arab.</p> + +<p>Adding the whole strength of his powerful arm to the weight of the +weapon, the black sheik brought its sharp edge slantingly down upon the +neck of the unsuspecting sentinel.</p> + +<p>With a low moan, that sounded in perfect harmony with the sighing of the +waves, the Arab fell to the earth, leaving his musket in the huge hand +his assassin had stretched forth to grasp it. Putting the gun to full +cock, Golah walked on in the direction in which the sentry had been +going. He intended next to encounter the man who was guarding the +eastern side of the douar. Walking boldly on, he took no trouble to +avoid the sound of his footsteps being heard, believing that he would be +taken for the sentry he had just slain. After going about a hundred +paces without seeing any one, he paused, and with his large fiercely +gleaming eyes strove to penetrate the surrounding gloom. Still no one +was to be seen, and he laid himself along the earth to listen for +footfalls.</p> + +<p>Nothing could be heard; but after glancing for some moments along the +ground, he saw a dark object outlined above the surface. Unable, from +the distance, to form a correct idea of what it was, he cautiously +advanced towards it, keeping on all fours, till he could see that the +object was a human being, prostrate on the ground, and apparently +listening, like himself. Why should the man be listening? Not to note +the approach of his companion, for that should be expected without +suspicion, as his attitude would indicate. He might be asleep, reasoned +Golah. If so, Fortune seemed to favor him, and with this reflection he +steadily moved on towards the prostrate form.</p> + +<p>Though the latter moved not, still Golah was not quite sure that the +sentry was asleep. Again he paused, and for a moment fixed his eyes on +the body with a piercing gaze. If the man was not sleeping, why should +he allow an enemy to approach so near? Why lie so quietly, without +showing any sign or giving an alarm? If Golah could despatch this +sentinel as he had done the other, without making any noise, he would, +along with his two relatives (who were waiting the result of his +adventure), afterwards steal into the douar, and all he had lost might +be again recovered.</p> + +<p>The chance was worth the risk, so thought Golah, and silently moved on.</p> + +<p>As he drew nearer, he saw that the man was lying on his side, with his +face turned towards him, and partly concealed by one arm.</p> + +<p>The black sheik could see no gun in his hands, and consequently there +would be but little danger in an encounter with him, if such should +chance to arise.</p> + +<p>Golah grasped the heavy scimitar in his right hand, evidently intending +to despatch his victim as he had done the other, with a single blow.</p> + +<p>The head could be severed from the body at one stroke, and no alarm +would be given to the slumbering camp.</p> + +<p>The heavy blade of shining steel was raised aloft; and the gripe of the +powerful hand clutching its hilt became more firm and determined.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill! has your promise to keep a sharp lookout been broken so +soon?</p> + +<p>Beware! Golah is near with strength in his arm, and murder in his mind!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXI" id="CHAPTER_LXI"></a>CHAPTER LXI.</h2> + +<h3>SAILOR BILL STANDING SENTRY.</h3> + + +<p>After two hours had been passed in moving slowly to and fro, hearing the +word "<i>Akka</i>" and seeing nothing but gray sand, Sailor Bill began to +feel weary, and now regretted that the old sheik had honored him with +his confidence.</p> + +<p>For the first hour of his watch he had kept a good lookout to the +eastward, and had given the whole of his attention to his sentinel's +duty.</p> + +<p>Gradually his intense alertness forsook him, and he began to think of +the past and future.</p> + +<p>Themes connected with these subjects seldom troubled Bill,—his thoughts +generally dwelling upon the present; but, in the darkness and solitude +in which he was now placed, there was but little of the present to +arrest his attention. For the want of something else to amuse his mind, +it was turned to the small cannon he was carrying in his hand.</p> + +<p>"This 'ere thing," thought he, "aint o' much use as a pistol, though it +might be used as a war-club at close quarters. I hope I shan't 'ave to +fire it hoff. The barrel is thin, and the bullet hinside it must be +a'most as large as an 'en's heg. It ud be like enough to bust. Preaps 't +aint loaded, and may 'ave been given to me for amusement. I may as well +make sure about that."</p> + +<p>After groping about for some time, the sailor succeeded in finding a +small piece of stick, with which he measured the length of the barrel on +the outside; then, by inserting the stick into the muzzle, he found that +the depth of the barrel was not quite equal to its length.</p> + +<p>There must be something inside therefore, but he was positive there was +no ball. He next examined the pan, and found the priming all right.</p> + +<p>"I see 'ow 'tis," muttered he, "the old sheik only wants me to make a +row with it, in case I sees anything as is suspicious. He was afeard to +put a ball in it lest I should be killin' one of themselves. That's his +confidence. He on'y wants me to bark without being able to bite. But +this don't suit me at all, at all. Faix, I'll find a bit of a stone and +ram it into the barrel."</p> + +<p>Saying this he groped about the ground in search of a pebble of the +proper size; but for some time could find none to his liking. He could +lay his hand on nothing but the finest sand.</p> + +<p>While engaged in this search he fancied he heard some one approaching +from the side opposite to that in which he was expecting to hear the +word "<i>Akka</i>."</p> + +<p>He looked in that direction, but could see nothing save the gray surface +of the sea-beach.</p> + +<p>Since being on the desert Bill had several times observed the Arabs lay +themselves along the earth to listen for the sound of footsteps. This +plan he now tried himself.</p> + +<p>With his eyes close to the ground, the old sailor fancied he was able to +see to a greater distance than when standing upright. There seemed to be +more light on the surface of the earth than at four or five feet above +it; and objects in the distance were placed more directly between his +eyes and the horizon.</p> + +<p>While thus lying extended along the sand, he heard footsteps approaching +from the shore; but, believing they were those of the sentinel, he paid +no attention to them. He only listened for a repetition of those sounds +he fancied to have come from the opposite direction.</p> + +<p>But nothing was now heard to the eastward; and he came to the conclusion +that he had been deceived by an excited fancy.</p> + +<p>Of one thing, however, he soon became certain. It was, that the +footsteps which he supposed to be those of the Arab who kept, what Bill +called, the "larboard watch," were drawing nearer than usual, and that +the word "<i>Akka</i>" was not pronounced as before.</p> + +<p>The old sailor slewed himself around, and directed his gaze towards the +shore.</p> + +<p>The sound of footsteps was no longer heard, but the figure of a man was +perceived at no great distance from the spot.</p> + +<p>He was not advancing nearer, but standing erect, and apparently gazing +sharply about him.</p> + +<p>Could this man be the Arab sentinel?</p> + +<p>The latter was known to be short and of slight frame, while the man now +seen appeared tall and of stout build. Instead of remaining in his +upright attitude, and uttering, as the sentry should have done, the word +"<i>Akka</i>," the stranger was seen to stoop down, and place his ear close +to the earth as if to listen.</p> + +<p>During a moment or two while the man's eyes appeared to be turned away +from him, the sailor took the precaution to fill the barrel of his +pistol with sand.</p> + +<p>Should he give the alarm by firing off the pistol, and then run towards +the camp?</p> + +<p>No! he might have been deceived by an excited imagination. The +individual before him might possibly be the Arab guard trying to +discover his presence before giving the sign.</p> + +<p>While the sailor was thus undecided, the huge form drew nearer, +approaching on all fours. It came within eight or ten paces of the spot, +and then slowly assumed an upright position. Bill now saw it was not the +sentinel but the black sheik!</p> + +<p>The old man-o'-war's-man was never more frightened in his life. He +thought of discharging the pistol, and running back to the douar; but +then came the thought that he would certainly be shot down the instant +he should rise to his feet; and fear held him motionless.</p> + +<p>Golah drew nearer and nearer, and the sailor seeing the scimitar +uplifted suddenly formed the resolution to act.</p> + +<p>Projecting the muzzle of his huge pistol towards the black, he pulled +the trigger, and at the same instant sprang to his feet.</p> + +<p>There was a loud deafening report, followed by a yell of wild agony.</p> + +<p>Bill stayed not to note the effect of his fire: but ran as fast as his +legs would carry him towards the camp,—already alarmed by the report of +the pistol.</p> + +<p>The Arabs were running to and fro in terrible fear and confusion, +shouting as they ran.</p> + +<p>Amidst these shouts was heard,—in the direction from which the sailor +had fled,—a loud voice frantically calling, "Muley! Muley!"</p> + +<p>"'Tis the voice of Golah!" exclaimed the Krooman in Arabic. "He is +calling for his son,—Muley is his son's name!"</p> + +<p>"They are going to attack the douar," shouted the Arab sheik, and his +words were followed by a scene of the wildest terror.</p> + +<p>The Arabs rushed here and there, mingling their cries with those of the +slaves; while women shrieked, children screamed, dogs barked, horses +neighed, and even the quiet camels gave voice to their alarm.</p> + +<p>In the confusion the two wives of Golah, taking their children along +with them, hurried away from the camp, and escaped undiscovered in the +darkness.</p> + +<p>They had heard the voice of the father of their children, and understood +that accent of anguish in which he had called out the name of his son.</p> + +<p>They were women,—women who, although dreading their tyrant husband in +his day of power, now pitied him in his hour of misfortune.</p> + +<p>The Arabs, anxiously expecting the appearance of their enemy, in great +haste made ready to meet him; but they were left unmolested.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes all was quiet: not a sound was heard in the vicinity of +the douar; and the late alarm might have appeared only a panic of +groundless fear.</p> + +<p>The light of day was gradually gathering in the east when the Arab +sheik, recovering from his excitement, ventured to make an examination +of the douar and its denizens.</p> + +<p>Two important facts presented themselves as evidence, that the fright +they had experienced was not without a cause. The sentry who had been +stationed to guard the camp on its southern side was not present, and +Golah's two wives and their children were also absent!</p> + +<p>There could be no mystery about the disappearance of the women. They had +gone to rejoin the man whose voice had been heard calling "Muley."</p> + +<p>But where was the Arab sentry? Had another of the party fallen a victim +to the vengeance of Golah?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXII" id="CHAPTER_LXII"></a>CHAPTER LXII.</h2> + +<h3>GOLAH FULFILS HIS DESTINY.</h3> + + +<p>Taking the Krooman by one arm, the Arab sheik led him up to the old +man-o'-war's-man, who, sailor-like having finished his watch, had gone +to sleep.</p> + +<p>After being awakened by the sheik, the Krooman was told to ask the white +man why he fired his pistol.</p> + +<p>"Why, to kill Golah,—the big nager!" answered Bill; "an' I'm mighty +desaved if I 'ave not done it."</p> + +<p>This answer was communicated to the sheik, who had the art of expressing +unbelief with a peculiar smile, which he now practised.</p> + +<p>Bill was asked if he had seen the black sheik.</p> + +<p>"Seen him! sartinly I did," answered the sailor. "He was not more nor +four paces from me at the time I peppered 'im. I tell you he is gone and +done for."</p> + +<p>The sheik shook his head, and again smiled incredulously.</p> + +<p>Further inquiries were interrupted by the discovery of the body of the +Arab sentinel whom Golah had killed, and all clustered around it.</p> + +<p>The man's head was nearly severed from his body; and the blow—which +must have caused instant death—had evidently been given by the black +sheik. Near the corpse, tracks were observed in the sand such as no +other human being but Golah could have made.</p> + +<p>It was now broad daylight; and the Arabs, glancing along the shore to +southward, made another discovery.</p> + +<p>Two camels with a horse were seen upon the beach about half a mile off; +and, leaving one of their number to guard the douar, the old sheik with +his followers started off in the hope of recovering some of the property +they had lost.</p> + +<p>They were followed by most of the slaves; who, by the misfortunes of +their master, were under less restraint.</p> + +<p>On arriving near the place where the camels were, the young man we have +described as Golah's brother-in-law, was found to be in charge of them. +He was lying on the ground; but on the approach of the Arabs, he sprang +to his feet, at the same time holding up both his hands.</p> + +<p>He carried no weapon; and the gesture signified, "It is peace."</p> + +<p>The two women, surrounded by their children, were near by, sitting +silent and sorrowful on the sea-beach. They took no heed of the approach +of the Arabs; and did not even look up as the latter drew near.</p> + +<p>The muskets and other weapons were lying about. One of the camels was +down upon the sand. It was dead; and the young negro was in the act of +eating a large piece of raw flesh he had severed from its hump.</p> + +<p>The Arab sheik inquired after Golah. He to whom the inquiry was directed +pointed to the sea, where two dark bodies were seen tumbling about in +the surf as it broke against the shingle of the beach.</p> + +<p>The three midshipmen, at the command of the sheik, waded in, and dragged +the bodies out of the water.</p> + +<p>They were recognized as those of Golah and his son, Muley.</p> + +<p>Golah's face appeared to have been frightfully lacerated; and his once +large fierce eyes were altogether gone.</p> + +<p>The brother-in-law was called on to explain the mysterious death of the +black sheik and his son.</p> + +<p>His explanation was as follows:—</p> + +<p>"I heard Golah calling for Muley after hearing the report of a gun. From +that I knew that he was wounded. Muley ran to assist him, while I stayed +behind with the horse and camels. I am starving! Very soon Muley came +running back, followed by his father, who seemed possessed of an evil +spirit. He ran this way and that way, swinging his scimitar about, and +trying to kill us both as well as the camels. He could not see, and we +managed to keep out of his way. I am starving!"</p> + +<p>The young negro here paused, and, once more picking up the piece of +camel's flesh, proceeded to devour it with an alacrity that proved the +truth of his assertion.</p> + +<p>"Pig!" exclaimed the sheik, "tell your story first, and eat afterwards."</p> + +<p>"Praise be to Allah!" said the youth, as he resumed his narrative, +"Golah ran against one of the camels and killed it."</p> + +<p>His listeners looked towards the dead camel. They saw that the body bore +the marks of Golah's great scimitar.</p> + +<p>"After killing the camel," continued the young man, "the sheik became +quiet. The evil spirit had passed out of him; and he sat down upon the +sand. Then his wives came up to him; and he talked to them kindly, and +put his hands on each of the children, and called them by name. They +screamed when they looked at him, and Golah told them not to be +frightened; that he would wash his face and frighten them no more. The +little boy led him to the water and he rushed into the sea as far as he +could wade. He went there to die. Muley ran after to bring him out, and +they were both drowned. I could not help them, for I was starving!"</p> + +<p>The emaciated appearance of the narrator gave strong evidence of the +truth of the concluding words of his story. For nearly a week he had +been travelling night and day, and the want of sleep and food could not +have been much longer endured.</p> + +<p>At the command of the Arab chief, the slaves now buried the bodies of +Golah and his son.</p> + +<p>Gratified at his good fortune, in being relieved from all further +trouble with his implacable foeman, the sheik determined to have a day +of rest, which to his slaves was very welcome, as was also the flesh of +the dead camel, now given them to eat.</p> + +<p>About the death of Golah there was still a mystery the Arabs could not +comprehend; and the services of the Krooman as interpreter were again +called into requisition.</p> + +<p>When the sheik learnt what the sailor had done,—how the pistol had been +made an effective weapon by filling the barrel with sand,—he expressed +much satisfaction at the manner in which the old man-o'-war's-man had +performed his duty.</p> + +<p>Full of gratitude for the service thus rendered him, he promised that +not only the sailor himself, but the boy slaves, his companions, should +be taken to Mogador, and restored to their friends.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXIII" id="CHAPTER_LXIII"></a>CHAPTER LXIII.</h2> + +<h3>ON THE EDGE OF THE SAÄRA.</h3> + + +<p>After a journey of two long dreary days—days that were to the boy +slaves periods of agonizing torture, from fatigue, hunger, thirst, and +exposure to a burning sun—the kafila arrived at another watering-place.</p> + +<p>As they drew near the place, our adventurers perceived that it was the +same where they had first fallen into the hands of Golah.</p> + +<p>"May God help us!" exclaimed Harry Blount, as they approached the place. +"We have been here before. We shall find no water, I fear. We did not +leave more than two bucketfuls in the hole; and as there has been no +rain since, that must be dried up, long ago."</p> + +<p>An expression of hopeless despair came over the countenances of his +companions. They had seen, but a few days before, nearly all the water +drawn out of the pool, and given to the camels.</p> + +<p>Their fears were soon removed, and followed by the real gratification of +a desire they had long been indulging—the desire to quench their +thirst. There was plenty of water in the pool—a heavy deluge of rain +having fallen over the little valley since they had left it.</p> + +<p>The small supply of food possessed by the travellers would not admit of +their making any delay at this watering-place; and the next morning the +journey was resumed.</p> + +<p>The Arabs appeared to bear no animosity towards the young man who had +assisted Golah in killing their companions; and now that the black sheik +was dead, they had no fear that the former would try to escape. The +negro was one of those human beings who cannot own themselves, and who +never feel at home unless with some one to control them. He quietly took +his place along with the other slaves,—apparently resigned to his +fate,—a fate that doomed him to perpetual slavery, though a condition +but little lower than that he had occupied with his brother-in-law.</p> + +<p>Eight days were now passed in journeying in a direction that led a +little to the east of north.</p> + +<p>To the white slaves they were days of indescribable agony, from those +two terrible evils that assail all travellers through the Saära,—hunger +and thirst. Within the distance passed during these eight days they +found but one watering-place, where the supply was not only small in +quantity but bad in quality.</p> + +<p>It was a well, nearly dried up, containing a little water, offensive to +sight and smell, and only rendered endurable to taste by the +irresistible power of thirst.</p> + +<p>The surface of the pool was covered nearly an inch thick with dead +insects, which had to be removed to reach the discolored element +beneath. They were not only compelled to use, but were even thankful to +obtain, this impure beverage.</p> + +<p>The route followed during these eight days was not along the seashore; +and they were therefore deprived of the opportunity of satisfying their +hunger with shell-fish. The Arabs were in haste to reach some place +where they could procure food for their animals, and at the pace at +which they rode forward, it required the utmost exertion on the part of +their slaves to keep up with them.</p> + +<p>The old man-o'-war's-man, unused to land travelling, could never have +held out, had not the Arabs allowed him, part of the time, to ride on a +camel. The feat he had performed, in ridding them of that enemy who had +troubled them so much—and who, had he not been thwarted in his attack +upon the camp, would probably have killed them all—had inspired his +masters with some slight gratitude. The sailor, therefore, was permitted +to ride, when they saw that otherwise they would have to leave him +behind to die upon the desert.</p> + +<p>During the last two days of the eight, our adventurers noticed something +in the appearance of the country, over which they were moving, that +inspired them with hope. The face of the landscape became more uneven; +while here and there stunted bushes and weeds were seen, as if +struggling between life and death.</p> + +<p>The kafila had arrived on the northern border of the great Saära; and a +few days more would bring them to green fields, shady groves, and +streams of sparkling water.</p> + +<p>Something resembling the latter was soon after discovered. At the close +of the eighth day they reached the bed of what appeared to be a river +recently dried up. Although there was no current they found some pools +of stagnant water: and beside one of these the douar was established.</p> + +<p>On a hill to the north were growing some green shrubs to which the +camels were driven; and upon these they immediately commenced browsing. +Not only the leaves, but the twigs and branches were rapidly twisted off +by the long prehensile lips of the animals, and as greedily devoured.</p> + +<p>It was twilight as the camp had been fairly pitched; and just then two +men were seen coming towards them leading a camel. They were making for +the pools of water, for the purpose of filling some goat skins which +were carried on their camel. They appeared both surprised and annoyed to +find the pools in possession of strangers.</p> + +<p>Seeing they could not escape observation, the men came boldly forward, +and commenced filling their goat-skins. While thus engaged they told the +Arab sheik that they belonged to a caravan near at hand that was +journeying southward; and that they should continue their journey early +the next morning.</p> + +<p>After the departure of the two men the Arabs held a consultation.</p> + +<p>"They have told us a lie," remarked the old sheik, "they are not on a +journey, or they would have halted here by the water. By the beard of +our Prophet they have spoken falsely!"</p> + +<p>With this opinion his followers agreed; and it was suggested that the +two men they had seen were of some party encamped by the seashore, and +undoubtedly amusing themselves with a wreck, or gathering wealth in some +other unusual way.</p> + +<p>Here was an opportunity not to be lost; and the Arabs determined to have +a share in whatever good fortune Providence might have thrown in the way +of those already upon the ground. If it should prove to be a wreck there +might be serious difficulty with those already in possession; it was +resolved, therefore, to wait for the morning, when they could form a +better opinion of their chances of success, should a conflict be +necessary to secure it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXIV" id="CHAPTER_LXIV"></a>CHAPTER LXIV.</h2> + +<h3>THE RIVAL WRECKERS.</h3> + + +<p>Early next morning the kafila was <i>en route</i> for the seashore, which was +discovered not far distant. On coming near a douar of seven tents was +seen standing upon the beach: and several men stepped forward to receive +them.</p> + +<p>The usual salutations were exchanged, and the new comers began to look +about them. Several pieces of timber lying along the shore gave evidence +that their conjecture, as to a wreck having taken place, had been a +correct one.</p> + +<p>"There is but one God, and He is kind to us all," said the old sheik; +"He casts the ships of unbelievers on our shores, and we have come to +claim a share of His favors."</p> + +<p>"You are welcome to all you can justly claim," answered a tall man, who +appeared to be the leader of the party of wreckers. "Mahomet is the +prophet of Him who sends favors to all, both good and bad. If he has +sent anything for you, look along the sea-beach and find it."</p> + +<p>On this invitation the camels of the kafila were unloaded, and the tents +pitched. The new-comers then set about searching for the <i>débris</i> of the +wrecked vessel.</p> + +<p>They discovered only some spars, and other pieces of ship-timbers, which +were of no value to either party.</p> + +<p>A consultation now took place between the old sheik and his followers. +They were unanimous in the belief that a sunken ship was near them, and +that they had only to watch the rival wreckers, and learn where she was +submerged.</p> + +<p>Desisting from their search, they resolved to keep a lookout.</p> + +<p>When this determination became known to the other party, its chief, +after conferring with his companions, came forward, and, announcing +himself as the representative of his people, proposed a conference.</p> + +<p>"I am Sidi Hamet," said he, "and the others you see here are my friends +and relatives. We are all members of the same family, and faithful +followers of the Prophet. God is great, and has been kind to us. He has +sent us a prize. We are about to gather the gifts of His mercy. Go your +way, and leave us in peace."</p> + +<p>"I am Rais Abdallah Yezzed," answered the old sheik, "and neither my +companions nor myself are so bad but that we, too, may be numbered among +those who are entitled to God's favor, when it pleases Him to cast on +our shores the ships of the infidel."</p> + +<p>In rejoinder Sidi Hamet entered upon a long harangue; in which he +informed the old sheik that in the event of a vessel having gone to +pieces, and the coast having been strown with merchandise, each party +would have been entitled to all it could gather; but unfortunately for +both, those pleasant circumstances did not now exist; although it was +true, that the hulk of a vessel, containing a cargo that could not wash +ashore was lying under water near by. They had discovered it, and +therefore laid claim to all that it contained.</p> + +<p>Sidi Hamet's party was a strong one, consisting of seventeen men; and +therefore could afford to be communicative without the least danger of +being disturbed in their plans and prospects.</p> + +<p>They acknowledged that they had been working ten days in clearing the +cargo out of the sunken vessel, and that their work was not yet half +done—the goods being very difficult to get at.</p> + +<p>The old sheik inquired of what the cargo consisted; but could obtain no +satisfactory answer.</p> + +<p>Here was a mystery. Seventeen men had been fourteen days unloading the +hulk of a wrecked ship, and yet no articles of merchandise were to be +seen near the spot!</p> + +<p>A few casks, some pieces of old sail, with a number of cooking utensils +that had belonged to a ship's galley, lay upon the beach; but these +could not be regarded as forming any portion of the cargo of a ship.</p> + +<p>The old sheik and his followers were in a quandary.</p> + +<p>They had often heard of boxes full of money having been obtained from +wrecked ships.</p> + +<p>Sailors cast away upon their coast had been known to bury such +commodities, and afterwards under torture to reveal the spot where the +interment had been made.</p> + +<p>Had this vessel, on which the wreckers were engaged, been freighted with +money, and had the boxes been buried as soon as brought ashore?</p> + +<p>It was possible, thought the new comers. They must wait and learn; and +if there was any means by which they could claim a share in the good +fortune of those who had first discovered the wreck, those means must be +adopted.</p> + +<p>The original discoverers were too impatient to stay proceedings till +their departure; and feeling secure in the superiority of numbers, they +recommenced their task of discharging the submerged hulk.</p> + +<p>They advanced to the water's edge, taking along with them a long rope +that had been found attached to the spars. At one end of this rope they +had made a running noose, which was made fast to a man, who swam out +with it to the distance of about a hundred yards.</p> + +<p>The swimmer then dived out of sight. He had gone below to visit the +wreck, and attach the rope to a portion of the cargo.</p> + +<p>A minute after his head was seen above the surface, and a shout was sent +forth. Some of his companions on the beach now commenced hauling in the +rope, the other end of which had been left in their hands.</p> + +<p>When the noose was pulled ashore, it was found to embrace a large block +of sandstone, weighing about twenty-five or thirty pounds!</p> + +<p>The Krooman had already informed Harry Blount and his companions of +something he had learnt from the conversation of the wreckers; and the +three mids had been watching with considerable interest the movements of +the diver and his assistants.</p> + +<p>When the block of sandstone was dragged up on the beach, they stared at +each other with expressions of profound astonishment.</p> + +<p>No wonder: the wreckers were employed in clearing the ballast out of a +sunken ship!</p> + +<p>What could be their object? Our adventurers could not guess. Nor, +indeed, could the wreckers themselves have given a good reason for +undergoing such an amount of ludicrous labor.</p> + +<p>Why they had not told the old sheik what sort of cargo they were saving +from the wreck, was because they had no certain knowledge of its value, +or what in reality it was they were taking so much time and trouble to +get safely ashore.</p> + +<p>As they believed that the white slaves must have a perfect knowledge of +the subject upon which they were themselves so ignorant, they closely +scanned the countenances of the latter, as the block of ballast was +drawn out upon the dry sand.</p> + +<p>They were rewarded for their scrutiny.</p> + +<p>The surprise exhibited by Sailor Bill and the three mids confirmed the +wreckers in their belief that they were saving something of grand value; +for, in fact, had the block of sandstone been a monstrous nugget of +gold, the boy slaves could not have been more astonished at beholding +it.</p> + +<p>Their behavior increased the ardor of the salvors in the pursuit in +which they were engaged, along with the envy of the rival party, who, by +the laws of the Saäran coast, were not allowed to participate in their +toil.</p> + +<p>The Krooman now endeavored to undeceive his master as to the value of +the "salvage,"—telling him that what their rivals were taking out of +the sunken ship was nothing but worthless stone.</p> + +<p>But his statement was met with a smile of incredulity. Those engaged in +getting the ballast ashore regarded the Krooman's statements with equal +contempt. He was either a liar or a fool, and therefore unworthy of the +least attention. With this reflection they went on with their work.</p> + +<p>After some time spent in reconsidering the subject, the old sheik called +the Krooman aside; and when out of hearing of the wreckers, asked him to +give an explanation of the real nature of what he himself persisted in +calling the "cargo" of the wreck,—as well as a true statement of its +value.</p> + +<p>The slave did as he was desired; but the old sheik only shook his head, +once more declaring his incredulity.</p> + +<p>He had never heard of a ship that did not carry a cargo of something +valuable. He thought that no men would be so stupid and foolish as to go +from one country to another in ships loaded only with worthless stones.</p> + +<p>As nothing else in the shape of cargo was found aboard the wreck, the +stones must be of some value. So argued the Arab.</p> + +<p>While the Krooman was trying to explain the real purpose for which the +stones had been placed in the hold of the vessel, one of the wreckers +came up and informed him that a white man was in one of their tents, +that he was ill, and wished to see and converse with the infidel slaves, +of whose arrival he had just heard.</p> + +<p>The Krooman communicated this piece of intelligence to our adventurers; +and the tent that contained the sick white man having been pointed out +to them, they at once started towards it, expecting to see some +unfortunate countryman, who, like themselves, had been cast away on the +inhospitable shores of the Saära.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXV" id="CHAPTER_LXV"></a>CHAPTER LXV.</h2> + +<h3>ANOTHER WHITE SLAVE.</h3> + + +<p>On entering within the tent to which they had been directed, they found, +lying upon the ground, a man about forty years of age. Although he +appeared a mere skeleton, consisting of little more than skin and bones, +he did not present the general aspect of a man suffering from ill +health; nor yet would he have passed for a <i>white</i> man anywhere out of +Africa.</p> + +<p>"You are the first English people I've seen for over thirty years," said +he, as they entered the tent: "for I can tell by your looks that every +one of you are English. You are my countrymen. I was white once myself; +and you will be as black as I am when you have been sun-scorched here +for forty-three years, as I have been."</p> + +<p>"What!" exclaimed Terence; "have you been a slave in the Saära so long +as that? If so, God help us! What hope is there of our ever getting +free?"</p> + +<p>The young Irishman spoke in a tone of despair.</p> + +<p>"Very little chance of your ever seeing home again, my lad," answered +the invalid; "but <i>I</i> have a chance now, if you and your comrades don't +spoil it. For God's sake don't tell these Arabs that they are the fools +they are for making salvage of the ballast. If you do, they'll be sure +to make an end of me. It's all my doing. I've made them believe the +stones are valuable, so that they may take them to some place where I +can escape. It is the only chance I have had for years,—don't destroy +it, as you value the life of a fellow-countryman."</p> + +<p>From further conversation with the man, our adventurers learned that he +had been shipwrecked on the coast many years before, and had ever since +been trying to get transported to some place where he might be ransomed. +He declared that he had been backward and forward across the desert +forty or fifty times; and that he had belonged to not less than fifty +masters!</p> + +<p>"I have only been with these fellows a few weeks," said he, "and +fortunately when we came this way we were able to tell where the sunken +ship was by seeing her foremast then sticking out of the water. The +vessel was in ballast; and the crew probably put out to sea in their +boats, without being discovered. It was the first ship my masters had +ever heard of without a cargo; and they would not believe but what the +stones were such, and must be worth something—else why should they be +carried about the world in a ship. I told them it was a kind of stone +from which gold was obtained; but that it must be taken to some place +where there was plenty of coal or wood, before the gold could be melted +out of it, and then intrusted to white men who understood the art of +extracting the precious metal from the rocks.</p> + +<p>"They believe all this; for they can see shining particles in the +sandstone which they think is really gold, or something that can be +converted into it. For four days they forced me to toil, at diving and +assisting them; but that didn't suit my purpose; and I've at length +succeeded in making them believe that I am not able to work any longer."</p> + +<p>"But do you really think," asked Harry Blount, "that they will carry the +ballast any distance without learning its real value?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I did think that they might take it to Mogador, and that they +would let me go along with them."</p> + +<p>"But some one will meet them, and tell them that their lading is +worthless?" suggested Colin.</p> + +<p>"No, I think that fear of losing their valuable freight will keep them +from letting any one know what they've got. They are hiding it in the +sand now, as fast as they get it ashore, for fear some party stronger +than themselves should come along and take it away from them. I intend +to tell them after they have started on their journey, not to let any +one see or know what they have, until they are safe within the walls of +Mogador, where they will be under the protection of the governor. They +have promised to take me along with them, and if I once get within sight +of a seaport, not all the Arabs in Africa will hinder me from recovering +my liberty."</p> + +<p>While the pretended invalid was talking to them, Sailor Bill had been +watching him, apparently with eager interest.</p> + +<p>"Beg pardon for 'aving a small taste o' difference wid you in the mather +ov your age," said the sailor, as soon as the man had ceased speaking; +"but I'll never belave you've been about 'ere for forty years. It can't +be so long as that."</p> + +<p>The two men, after staring at each other for a moment, uttered the words +"Jim!" "Bill!" and then, springing forward, each grasped the hand of the +other. Two brothers had met!</p> + +<p>The three mids remembered that Bill had told them of a brother, who, +when last heard from, was a slave somewhere in the Saära, and they +needed no explanation of the scene now presented to them.</p> + +<p>The two brothers were left alone; and after the others had gone out of +the tent they returned to the Krooman—who had just succeeded in +convincing the sheik, that the stones being fished out of the sunken +ship were, at that time and place, of no value whatever.</p> + +<p>All attempts on the part of the old sheik to convince the wreckers, as +he had been convinced himself, proved fruitless.</p> + +<p>The arguments he used to them were repeated to the sailor, Bill's +brother; and by him were easily upset with a few words.</p> + +<p>"Of course they will try to make you believe the cargo is no good," +retorted Jim. "They wish you to leave it, so that they can have it all +to themselves. Does not common sense tell you that they are liars?"</p> + +<p>This was conclusive; and the wreckers continued their toil, extracting +stone after stone out of the hold of the submerged ship.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill, at his brother's request, then summoned his companions to +the tent.</p> + +<p>"Which of you have been trying to do me an injury?" inquired Jim. "I +told you not to say that the stones were worthless."</p> + +<p>It was explained to him how the Krooman had been enlightening his +master.</p> + +<p>"Call the Krooman," said Jim, "and I'll enlighten him. If these Arabs +find out that they have been deceived, I shall be killed, and your +master—the old sheik—will certainly lose all his property. Tell him to +come here also. I must talk to him. Something must be done immediately, +or I shall be killed."</p> + +<p>The Krooman and the old sheik were conducted into the tent; and Jim +talked to them in the Arabic language.</p> + +<p>"Leave my masters alone to their folly," said he to the sheik; "and they +will be so busy that you can depart in peace. If not, and you convince +them that they have been deceived, they will rob you of all you have +got. You have already said enough to excite their suspicions, and they +will in time learn that I have been humbugging them. My life is no +longer safe in their company. You buy me, then; and let us all take our +departure immediately."</p> + +<p>"Are the stones in the wreck really worth nothing?" asked the sheik.</p> + +<p>"No more than the sand on the shore; and when they find out that such is +the case, some one will be robbed. They have come to the seacoast to +seek wealth, and they will have it one way or the other. They are a +tribe of bad men. Buy me, and leave them to continue the task they have +so ignorantly undertaken."</p> + +<p>"You are not well," replied the sheik; "and if I buy you, you cannot +walk."</p> + +<p>"Let me ride on a camel until I get out of sight of these my masters," +answered Jim; "you will then see whether I can walk or not. They will +sell me cheap; for they think I am done up. But I am not; I was only +weary of diving after worthless stones."</p> + +<p>The old sheik promised to follow Jim's advice; and ordered his +companions to prepare immediately for the continuance of their journey.</p> + +<p>Sidi Hamet was called, and asked by Rais Abdallah if he would sell some +of the stones they had saved from the infidel ship.</p> + +<p>"Bismillah! No!" exclaimed the wrecker. "You say they are of no value, +and I do not wish to cheat any true believer of the prophet."</p> + +<p>"Will you <i>give</i> me some of them, then?"</p> + +<p>"No! Allah forbid that Sidi Hamet should ever make a worthless present +to a friend!"</p> + +<p>"I am a merchant," rejoined the old sheik; "and wish to do business. +Have you any slaves, or other property you can sell me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes! You see that Christian dog," replied the wrecker, pointing to +Sailor Bill's brother; "I will sell him."</p> + +<p>"You have promised to take me to Swearah," interrupted Jim. "Do not sell +me, master; I think I shall get well some time, and will then work for +you as hard as I can."</p> + +<p>Sidi Hamet cast upon his infidel slave a look of contempt at this +allusion to his illness; but Jim's remark, and the angry glance, were +both unheeded by the Arab sheik.</p> + +<p>The slave's pretended wishes not to be sold were disregarded; and for +the consideration of an old shirt and a small camel-hair tent, he became +the property of Rais Abdallah Yezzed.</p> + +<p>The old sheik and his followers then betook themselves to their camels; +and the kafila was hurried up the dry bed of the river,—leaving the +wreckers to continue their toilsome and unprofitable task.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXVI" id="CHAPTER_LXVI"></a>CHAPTER LXVI.</h2> + +<h3>SAILOR BILL'S BROTHER.</h3> + + +<p>After leaving the coast, the travellers kept at a quick pace, and Sailor +Bill and his brother had but little opportunity of holding converse +together. When the douar had been pitched for the night, the old salt +and the "young gentlemen," his companions, gathered around the man whose +experience in the miseries of Saäran slavery so far exceeded their own.</p> + +<p>"Now, Jim," began the old man-o'-war's-man, "you must spin us the yarn +of all your cruising since you've been here. We've seen somethin' o' the +elephant since we've been cast ashore, and that's not long. I don't +wonder at you sayin' you 'ave been aboard this craft forty-three years."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is the correct time according to my reckoning," interrupted +Jim; "but, Bill, you don't look much older than when I saw you last. How +long ago was it?"</p> + +<p>"About eleven years."</p> + +<p>"Eleven years! I tell you that I've been here over forty."</p> + +<p>"'Ow can that be?" asked Bill. "Daze it, man, you'll not be forty years +old till the fourteenth o' the next month. You 'ave lost yer senses, an' +in troth, it an't no wonder!"</p> + +<p>"That is true, for there is nothing in the Saära to help a man keep his +reckoning. There are no seasons; and every day is as like another as two +seconds in the same minute. But surely I must have been here for more +than eleven years."</p> + +<p>"No," answered Bill, "ye 'ave no been here only a wee bit langer than +tin; but afther all ye must 'ave suffered in that time, it is quare that +ye should a know'd me at all, at all."</p> + +<p>"I did not know you until you spoke," rejoined Jim "Then I couldn't +doubt that it was you who stood before me, when I heard our father's +broad Scotch, our mother's Irish brogue, and the talk of the cockneys +amongst whom your earliest days were passed, all mingled together."</p> + +<p>"You see, Master Colly," said Bill, turning to the young Scotchman. "My +brother Jim has had the advantage of being twelve years younger than I; +and when he was old enough to go to school, I was doing something to +help kape 'im there, and for all that I believe he is plased to see me."</p> + +<p>"Pleased to see you!" exclaimed Jim. "Of course I am."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure av it," said Bill.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, brother, go ahead, an' spin us your yarn."</p> + +<p>"I have no one yarn to spin," replied Jim, "for a narrative of my +adventures in the desert would consist of a thousand yarns, each giving +a description of some severe suffering or disappointment. I can only +tell you that it seems to me that I have passed many years in travelling +through the sands of the Saära, years in cultivating barley on its +borders, years in digging wells, and years in attending flocks of goats, +sheep, and other animals. I have had many masters,—all bad, and some +worse,—and I have had many cruel disappointments about regaining my +liberty. I was once within a single day's journey of Mogador, and was +then sold again and carried back into the very heart of the desert. I +have attempted two or three times to escape; but was recaptured each +time, and nearly killed for the unpardonable dishonesty of trying to rob +my master of my own person. I have often been tempted to commit suicide; +but a sort of womanly curiosity and stubbornness has prevented me. I +wished to see how long Fortune would persecute me, and I was determined +not to thwart her plans by putting myself beyond their reach. I did not +like to give in, for any one who tries to escape from trouble by killing +himself, shows that he has come off sadly worsted in the war of life."</p> + +<p>"You are quite right," said Harry Blount; "but I hope that your hardest +battles in that war are now over. Our masters have promised to carry us +to some place where we may be ransomed by our countrymen, and you of +course will be taken along with us."</p> + +<p>"Do not flatter yourselves with that hope," said Jim. "<i>I</i> was amused +with it for several years. Every master I have had gave me the same +promise, and here I am yet. I did think when my late owners were saving +the stones from the wreck, that I could get them to enter the walls of +some seaport town, and that possibly they might take me along with them. +But that hope has proved as delusive as all others I have entertained +since shipwrecked on the shore of this accursed country. I believe there +are a few who are fortunate enough to regain their liberty; but the +majority of sailors cast away on the Saäran coast never have the good +fortune to get away from it. They die under the hardships and +ill-treatment to which they are exposed upon the desert—without leaving +a trace of their existence any more than the dogs or camels belonging to +their common masters.</p> + +<p>"You have asked me to give an account of my life since I have been +shipwrecked. I cannot do that; but I shall give you an easy rule by +which you may know all about it. We will suppose you have all been three +months in the Saära, and Bill here says that I have been here ten years; +therefore I have experienced about forty times as long a period of +slavery as one of yourselves. Now, multiply the sum total of your +sufferings by forty, and you will have some idea of what I have +undergone.</p> + +<p>"You have probably witnessed some scenes of heartless cruelty—scenes +that shocked and wounded the most sensitive feelings of your nature. I +have witnessed forty times as many. While suffering the agonies of +thirst and hunger, you may have prayed for death as a relief to your +anguish. Where such have been your circumstances once, they have been +mine for forty times.</p> + +<p>"You may have had some bright hopes of escaping, and once more +revisiting your native land; and then have experienced the bitterness of +disappointment. In this way I have suffered forty times as much as any +one of you."</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill and the young gentlemen,—who had been for several days +under the pleasant hallucination that they were on the high road to +freedom,—were again awakened to a true sense of their situation by the +words of a man far more experienced than they in the deceitful ways of +the desert.</p> + +<p>Before separating for the night, the three mids learnt from Bill and his +brother that the latter had been first officer of the ship that had +brought him to the coast. They could perceive by his conversation that +he was an intelligent man,—one whose natural abilities and artificial +acquirements were far superior to those of their shipmate,—the old +man-of-war's-man.</p> + +<p>"If such an accomplished individual," reasoned they, "has been for ten +years a slave in the Saära, unable to escape or reach any place where +his liberty might be restored, what hope is there for us?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXVII" id="CHAPTER_LXVII"></a>CHAPTER LXVII.</h2> + + +<h3>A LIVING STREAM.</h3> + + +<p>Every hour of the journey presented some additional evidence that the +kafila was leaving the great desert behind, and drawing near a land that +might be considered fertile.</p> + +<p>On the day after parting from the wreckers a walled town was reached, +and near it, on the sides of some of the hills, were seen growing a few +patches of barley.</p> + +<p>At this place the caravan rested for the remainder of the day. The +camels and horses were furnished with a good supply of food, and water +drawn from deep wells. It was the best our adventurers had drunk since +being cast away on the African coast.</p> + +<p>Next morning the journey was continued.</p> + +<p>After they had been on the road about two hours, the old sheik and a +companion, riding in advance of the others, stopped before what seemed, +in the distance, a broad stream of water.</p> + +<p>All hastened forward, and the Boy Slaves beheld a sight that filled them +with much surprise and considerable alarm. It was a stream,—a stream of +living creatures moving over the plain.</p> + +<p>It was a migration of insects,—the famed locusts of Africa.</p> + +<p>They were young ones,—not yet able to fly; and for some reason, unknown +perhaps even to themselves, they were taking this grand journey.</p> + +<p>Their march seemed conducted in regular order, and under strict +discipline.</p> + +<p>They formed a living moving belt of considerable breadth, the sides of +which appeared as straight as any line mathematical science could have +drawn.</p> + +<p>Not one could be seen straggling from the main body, which was moving +along a track too narrow for their numbers,—scarce half of them having +room on the sand, while the other half were crawling along on the backs +of their <i>compagnons du voyage</i>.</p> + +<p>Even the Arabs appeared interested in this African mystery, and paused +for a few minutes to watch the progress of the glittering stream +presented by these singular insects.</p> + +<p>The old sheik dismounted from his camel; and with his scimitar broke the +straight line formed by the border of the moving mass—sweeping them off +to one side.</p> + +<p>The space was instantly filled up again by those advancing from behind, +and the straight edge restored, the insects crawling onward without the +slightest deviation.</p> + +<p>The sight was not new to Sailor Bill's brother. He informed his +companions that should a fire be kindled on their line of march, the +insects, instead of attempting to pass around it, would move right into +its midst until it should become extinguished with their dead bodies.</p> + +<p>After amusing himself for a few moments in observing these insects, the +sheik mounted his camel, and, followed by the kafila, commenced moving +through the living stream.</p> + +<p>A hoof could not be put down without crushing a score of the creatures; +but immediately on the hoof being lifted, the space was filled with as +many as had been destroyed!</p> + +<p>Some of the slaves, with their naked feet, did not like wading through +this living crawling stream. It was necessary to use force to compel +them to pass over it.</p> + +<p>After looking right and left, and seeing no end to the column of +insects, our adventurers made a rush, and ran clear across it.</p> + +<p>At every step their feet fell with a crunching sound, and were raised +again, streaming with the blood of the mangled locusts.</p> + +<p>The belt of the migratory insects was about sixty yards in breadth; yet, +short as was the distance, the Boy Slaves declared that it was more +disagreeable to pass over than any ten miles of the desert they had +previously traversed.</p> + +<p>One of the blacks, determined to make the crossing as brief as possible, +started in a rapid run. When about half way through, his foot slipped, +and he fell full length amidst the crowd of creepers.</p> + +<p>Before he could regain his feet, hundreds of the disgusting insects had +mounted upon him, clinging to his clothes, and almost smothering him by +their numbers.</p> + +<p>Overcome by disgust, horror, and fear, he was unable to rise; and two of +his black companions were ordered to drag him out of the disagreeable +company into which he had stumbled.</p> + +<p>After being rescued and delivered from the clutch of the locusts, it was +many minutes before he recovered his composure of mind, along with +sufficient nerve to resume his journey.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill had not made the crossing along with the others; and for +some time resisted all the attempts of the Arabs to force him over the +insect stream.</p> + +<p>Two of them at length laid hold of him; and, after dragging him some +paces into the crawling crowd, left him to himself.</p> + +<p>Being thus brought in actual contact with the insects, the old sailor +saw that the quickest way of getting out of the scrape was to cross over +to the other side.</p> + +<p>This he proceeded to do in the least time, and with the greatest +possible noise. His paces were long, and made with wonderful rapidity; +and each time his foot came to the ground, he uttered a horrible yell, +as though it had been planted upon a sheet of red-hot iron.</p> + +<p>Bill's brother had now so far recovered from his feigned illness, that +he was able to walk along with the Boy Slaves.</p> + +<p>Naturally conversing about the locusts, he informed his companions, that +the year before he had been upon a part of the Saäran coast where a +cloud of these insects had been driven out to sea by a storm, and +drowned. They were afterwards washed ashore in heaps; the effluvia from +which became so offensive that the fields of barley near the shore could +not be harvested, and many hundred acres of the crop were wholly lost to +the owners.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXVIII" id="CHAPTER_LXVIII"></a>CHAPTER LXVIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE ARABS AT HOME.</h3> + + +<p>Soon after encountering the locusts, the kafila came upon a well-beaten +road, running through a fertile country, where hundreds of acres of +barley could be seen growing on both sides.</p> + +<p>That evening, for some reason unknown to the slaves, their masters did +not halt at the usual hour. They saw many walled villages, where dwelt +the proprietors of the barley fields; but hurried past them without +stopping either for water or food—although their slaves were sadly in +need of both.</p> + +<p>In vain the latter complained of thirst, and begged for water. The only +reply to their entreaties was a harsh command to move on faster, +frequently followed by a blow.</p> + +<p>Towards midnight, when the hopes and strength of all were nearly +exhausted, the kafila arrived at a walled village, where a gate was +opened to admit his slaves. The old sheik then informed them that they +should have plenty of food and drink, and would be allowed to rest for +two or three days in the village.</p> + +<p>A quantity of water was then thickened with barley meal; and of this +diet they were permitted to have as much as they could consume.</p> + +<p>It was after night when they entered the gate of the village, and +nothing could be seen. Next morning they found themselves in the centre +of a square enclosure surrounded by about twenty houses, standing within +a high wall. Flocks of sheep and goats, with a number of horses, camels, +and donkeys, were also within the inclosure.</p> + +<p>Jim informed his companions that most of the Saäran Arabs have fixed +habitations, where they dwell the greater part of the year,—generally +walled towns, such as the one they had now entered.</p> + +<p>The wall is intended for a protection against robbers, at the same time +that it serves as a pen to keep their flocks from straying or +trespassing on the cultivated fields during the night time.</p> + +<p>It was soon discovered that the Arabs had arrived at their home; for as +soon as day broke, they were seen in company with their wives and +families. This accounted for their not making halt at any of the other +villages. Being so near their own, they had made an effort to reach it +without extending their journey into another day.</p> + +<p>"I fear we are in the hands of the wrong masters for obtaining our +freedom," said Jim to his companions. "If they were traders, they might +take us farther north and sell us; but it's clear they are not! They are +graziers, farmers, and robbers, when the chance arises,—that's what +they be! While waiting for their barley to ripen, they have been on a +raiding expedition to the desert, in the hope of capturing a few slaves, +to assist them in reaping their harvest."</p> + +<p>Jim's conjecture was soon after found to be correct. On the old sheik +being asked when he intended taking his slaves on to Swearah, he +answered:—</p> + +<p>"Our barley is now ripe, and we must not leave it to spoil. You must +help us in the harvest, and that will enable us to go to Swearah all the +sooner."</p> + +<p>"Do you really intend to take your slaves to Swearah?" asked the +Krooman.</p> + +<p>"Certainly!" replied the sheik. "Have we not promised? But we cannot +leave our fields now. Bismillah! our grain must be gathered."</p> + +<p>"It is just as I supposed," said Jim. "They will promise anything. They +do not intend taking us to Mogador at all. The same promise has been +made to me by the same sort of people a score of times."</p> + +<p>"What shall we do?" asked Terence.</p> + +<p>"We must do nothing," answered Jim. "We must not assist them in any way, +for the more useful we are to them the more reluctant they will be to +part with us. I should have obtained my liberty years ago, had I not +tried to gain the good-will of my Arab masters, by trying to make myself +useful to them. That was a mistake, and I can see it now. We must not +give them the slightest assistance in their barley-cutting."</p> + +<p>"But they will compel us to help them?" suggested Colin.</p> + +<p>"They cannot do that if we remain resolute; and I tell you all that you +had better be killed at once than submit. If we assist in their harvest, +they will find something else for us to do, and your best days, as mine +have been, will be passed in slavery! Each of you must make himself a +burden and expense to whoever owns him, and then we may be passed over +to some trader who has been to Mogador, and knows that he can make money +by taking us there to be redeemed. That is our only chance. These Arabs +don't know that we are sure to be purchased for a good price in any +large seaport town, and they will not run any risk in taking us there. +Furthermore, these men are outlaws, desert robbers, and I don't believe +that they dare enter the Moorish dominions. We must get transferred to +other hands, and the only way to do that is to refuse work."</p> + +<p>Our adventurers agreed to be guided by Jim's counsels, although +confident that they would experience much difficulty in following them.</p> + +<p>Early on the morning of the second day after the Arabs reached their +home, all the slaves, both white and black, were roused from their +slumbers; and after a spare breakfast of barley-gruel, were commanded to +follow their masters to the grain fields, outside the walls of the town.</p> + +<p>"Do you want us to work?" asked Jim, addressing himself directly to the +old sheik.</p> + +<p>"Bismillah! Yes!" exclaimed the Arab. "We have kept you too long in +idleness. What have you done, or who are you, that we should maintain +you? You must work for your living, as we do ourselves!"</p> + +<p>"We cannot do anything on land," said Jim. "We are sailors, and have +only learnt to work on board a ship."</p> + +<p>"By Allah, you will soon learn! Come, follow us to the barley fields!"</p> + +<p>"No; we have all agreed to die rather than work for you! You promised to +take us to Swearah; and we will go there or die. We will not be slaves +any longer!"</p> + +<p>Most of the Arabs, with their wives and children, had now assembled +around the white men, who were ordered instantly to move on.</p> + +<p>"It will not do for us to say we will not or can't move on," said Jim, +speaking to his companions in English. "We must go to the field. They +can make us do that; but they can't make us work. Go quietly to the +field; but don't make yourselves useful when you get there."</p> + +<p>This advice was followed; and the Boy Slaves soon found themselves by +the side of a large patch of barley, ready for the reaping-hook. A +sickle of French manufacture was then placed in the hands of each, and +they were instructed how to use them.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Jim. "Go to work with a will, mates! We'll show them +a specimen of how reaping is done aboard ship!"</p> + +<p>Jim proceeded to set an example by cutting the grain in a careless +manner—letting the heads fall in every direction, and then trampling +them under foot as he moved on.</p> + +<p>The same plan was pursued by his brother Bill, the Krooman, and Harry +Blount.</p> + +<p>In the first attempt to use the sickle, Terence was so awkward as to +fall forward and break the implement into two pieces.</p> + +<p>Colin behaved no better: since he managed to cut one of his fingers, and +then apparently fainted away at the sight of the blood.</p> + +<p>The forenoon was passed by the Arabs in trying to train their slaves to +the work, but in this they were sadly unsuccessful.</p> + +<p>Curses, threats, and blows were expended upon them to no purpose, for +the Christian dogs seemed only capable of doing much harm and no good. +During the afternoon they were allowed to lie idle upon the ground, and +watch their masters cutting the barley; although this indulgence was +purchased at the expense of lacerated skins and aching bones. Nor was +this triumph without the cost of further suffering: for they were not +allowed a mouthful of food or a drop of water, although an abundance of +both had been distributed to the other laborers in the field.</p> + +<p>All five, however, remained obstinate; withstanding hunger and thirst, +threats, cursings, and stripes,—each one disdaining to be the first to +yield to the wishes of their Arab masters.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXIX" id="CHAPTER_LXIX"></a>CHAPTER LXIX.</h2> + +<h3>WORK OR DIE.</h3> + + +<p>That night, after being driven within the walls of the town, the white +slaves, along with their guard and the Krooman, were fastened in a large +stone building partly in ruins, that had been recently used as a +goat-pen.</p> + +<p>They were not allowed a mouthful of food nor a drop of water, and +sentinels walked around all night to prevent them from breaking out of +their prison.</p> + +<p>No longer targets for the beams of a blazing sun, they were partly +relieved from their sufferings; but a few handfuls of barley they had +managed to secrete and bring in from the field, proved only sufficient +to sharpen an appetite which they could devise no means of appeasing.</p> + +<p>A raging thirst prevented them from having much sleep; and, on being +turned out next morning, and ordered back to the barley fields, weak +with hunger and want of sleep, they were strongly tempted to yield +obedience to their masters.</p> + +<p>The black slaves had worked well the day before; and, having satisfied +their masters, had received plenty of food and drink.</p> + +<p>Their white companions in misery saw them eating their breakfast before +being ordered to the field.</p> + +<p>"Jim," said Sailor Bill, "I've 'alf a mind to give in. I must 'ave +somethin' to heat an' drink. I'm starvin' all over."</p> + +<p>"Don't think of it, William," said his brother. "Unless you wish to +remain for years in slavery, as I have done, you must not yield. Our +only hope of obtaining liberty is to give the Arabs but one chance of +making anything by us,—the chance of selling us to our countrymen. They +won't let us die,—don't think it! We are worth too much for that. They +will try to make us work if they can; but we are fools if we let them +succeed."</p> + +<p>Again being driven to the field, another attempt was made by the Arabs +to get some service out of them.</p> + +<p>"We can do nothing now," said Jim to the old sheik; "we are dying with +hunger and thirst. Our life has always been on the sea, and we can do +nothing on land."</p> + +<p>"There is plenty of food for those who earn it," rejoined the sheik; +"and we cannot give those food who do not deserve it."</p> + +<p>"Then give us some water."</p> + +<p>"Allah forbid! We are not your servants to carry water for you."</p> + +<p>All attempts to make the white slaves perform their task having failed, +they were ordered to sit down in the hot sun; where they were tantalized +with the sight of the food and water of which they were not permitted to +taste.</p> + +<p>During the forenoon of the day, all the eloquence Jim could command was +required to prevent his brother from yielding. The old man-o'-war's-man +was tortured by extreme thirst, and was once or twice on the eve of +selling himself in exchange for a cooling draught.</p> + +<p>Long years of suffering on the desert had inured Jim to its hardships; +and not so strongly tempted as the others, it was easier for him to +remain firm.</p> + +<p>Since falling into the company of his countrymen, his hope of freedom +had revived, and he was determined to make a grand effort to regain it.</p> + +<p>He knew that five white captives were worth the trouble of taking to +some seaport frequented by English ships; and he believed, if they +refrained from making themselves useful, there was a prospect of their +being thus disposed of.</p> + +<p>Through his influence, therefore, the refractory slaves remained staunch +in their resolution to abstain from work.</p> + +<p>Their masters now saw that they were better off in the field than in the +prison. They could not be prevented from obtaining a few heads of the +barley, which they greedily ate, nor from obtaining a little moisture by +chewing the roots of the weeds growing around them.</p> + +<p>As soon as this was noticed, two of the Arabs were sent to conduct them +back to the place where they had been confined on the night before.</p> + +<p>It was with the utmost exertion that Sailor Bill and Colin were able to +reach the town; while the others, with the exception of Jim, were in a +very weak and exhausted state. Hunger and thirst were fast subduing +them—in body, if not in spirit.</p> + +<p>On reaching the door of the goat-pen, they refused to go in, all +clamoring loudly for food and water.</p> + +<p>Their entreaties were met with the declaration: that it was the will of +God that those who would not work should suffer starvation.</p> + +<p>"Idleness," argued their masters, "is always punished by ill-health"; +and they wound up by expressing their thanks that such was the case.</p> + +<p>It was not until the two Arabs had obtained the assistance of several of +the women and boys of the village that they succeeded in getting the +white slaves within the goat-pen.</p> + +<p>"Jim, I tell you I can't stand this any longer," said Sailor Bill. "Call +an' say to 'em as I gives in, and will work to-morrow, if they will let +me have water."</p> + +<p>"And so will I," said Terence. "There is nothing in the future to +compensate for this suffering, and I can endure it no longer."</p> + +<p>"Nor will I," exclaimed Harry; "I must have something to eat and drink +immediately. We shall all be punished in the next world for self-murder +in this unless we yield."</p> + +<p>"Courage! patience!" exclaimed Jim. "It is better to suffer for a few +hours more than to remain all our lives in slavery."</p> + +<p>"What do I care for the future?" muttered Terence; "the present is +everything. He is a fool who kills himself to-day to keep from being +hungry ten years after. I will try to work to-morrow, if I live so +long."</p> + +<p>"Yes, call an' tell 'em, Jem, as 'ow we gives in, an' they'll send us +some refreshment," entreated the old sailor. "It ain't in human nature +to die of starvation if one can 'elp it."</p> + +<p>But neither Jim nor the Krooman would communicate to the Arabs the +wishes of their companions; and the words and signals the old sailor +made to attract the attention of those outside were unheeded.</p> + +<p>Early in the evening, both Colin and the Krooman also expressed +themselves willing to sacrifice the future for the present.</p> + +<p>"We have nothing to do with the future," said Colin; in answer to Jim's +entreaties that they should remain firm. "The future is the care of God, +and we are only concerned with the present. We ought to promise anything +if we can obtain food by it."</p> + +<p>"I tink so too now," said the Krooman; "for it am worse than sure dat if +we starve now we no be slaves bom by."</p> + +<p>"They will not quite starve us to death," said Jim. "I have told you +before that we are worth too much for that. If we will not work they +will sell us, and we may reach Mogador. If we do work, we may stay here +for years. I entreat you to hold out one day longer."</p> + +<p>"I cannot," answered one.</p> + +<p>"Nor I," exclaimed another.</p> + +<p>"Let us first get something to eat, and then take our liberty by force," +said Terence, "I fancy that if I had a drink of water, I could whip all +the Arabs on earth."</p> + +<p>"And so could I," said Colin.</p> + +<p>"And I, too," added Harry Blount.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill had sunk upon the floor, hardly conscious of what the others +were saying; but, partly aroused by the word water, repeated it, +muttering, in a hoarse whisper, "Water! Water!"</p> + +<p>The Krooman and the three youths joined in the cry; and then all, as +loudly as their parched throats would permit, shouted the word, "Water! +Water!"</p> + +<p>The call for water was apparently unheeded by the Arab men, but it was +evidently music to many of the children of the village, for it attracted +them to the door of the goat-pen, around which they clustered, listening +with strong expressions of delight.</p> + +<p>Through a long night of indescribable agony, the cry of "Water! Water!" +was often repeated in the pen, and at each time in tones fainter and +more supplicating than before.</p> + +<p>The cry at length became changed from a demand to a piteous prayer.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXX" id="CHAPTER_LXX"></a>CHAPTER LXX.</h2> + +<h3>VICTORY!</h3> + + +<p>Next morning, when the Arabs opened the door of the prison, Sailor Bill +and Colin were found unable to rise; and the old salt seemed quite +unconscious of all efforts made to awaken his attention.</p> + +<p>Not till then did Jim's resolution begin to give way. He would now +submit to save them from further suffering; but although knowing it was +the wish of all that he should tender their submission on the terms the +Arabs required, for a while be delayed doing so, in order to discover +the course their masters designed adopting towards them.</p> + +<p>"Are you Christian dogs willing to earn your food now?" inquired the old +sheik, as he entered the goat-pen.</p> + +<p>Faint and weak with hunger, nearly mad with thirst, alarmed for the +condition of his brother, and pitying the agony of the others, Jim was +about to answer the sheik's question in the affirmative; but there was +something in the tone in which the question had been put, that +determined him to refrain for a little longer.</p> + +<p>The earthly happiness of six men might depend upon the next word he +should utter, and that word he should not speak without some +deliberation.</p> + +<p>With an intellect sharpened by torture, Jim turned his gaze from the old +sheik upon several other Arabs that had come near.</p> + +<p>He could see that they had arrived at some decision amongst themselves, +as to what they should do, and that they did not seem much interested in +the ultimatum demanded by the sheik's inquiry.</p> + +<p>This lack of excitement or interest did not look like further starvation +and death; and in place of telling the Arabs that they were willing to +submit, Jim informed the old sheik that all were determined to die +rather than remain slaves.</p> + +<p>"There is not one of us that wishes to live," he added, "except for the +purpose of seeing our native land again. Our bodies are now weak, but +our spirits are still strong. We will die!"</p> + +<p>On receiving this answer, the Arabs departed, leaving the Christians in +the pen.</p> + +<p>The Krooman, who had been listening during the interview, then faintly +called after them to return; but he was stopped by Jim, who still +entertained the hope that his firmness would yet be rewarded.</p> + +<p>Half an hour passed, and Jim began to doubt again. He might not have +correctly interpreted the expressions he had noted upon the faces of the +Arabs.</p> + +<p>"What did you tell them?" muttered Terence. "Did you tell them that we +were willing to work, if they would give us water?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—certainly!" answered Jim, now beginning to regret that he had not +tendered their submission before it might be too late.</p> + +<p>"Then why do they not come and relieve us?" asked Terence, in a +whisper—hoarse from despair.</p> + +<p>Jim vouchsafed no answer; and the Krooman seemed in too much mental and +bodily anguish to heed what had been said.</p> + +<p>Shortly after, Jim could hear the flocks being driven out of the town; +and looking through a small opening in the wall of the pen, he could see +some of the Arabs going out towards the barley fields.</p> + +<p>Could it be that he had been mistaken—that the Arabs were going to +apply the screw of starvation for another day? Alarmed by this +conjecture, he strove to hail them, and bring them back; but the effort +only resulted in a hoarse whisper.</p> + +<p>"May God forgive me!" thought he. "My brother, as well as all the +others, will die before night! I have murdered them, and perhaps +myself!"</p> + +<p>Driven frantic with the thought, frenzy furnished him with the will and +strength to speak out.</p> + +<p>His voice could now be heard, for the walls of the stone building rang +with the shouts of a madman!</p> + +<p>He assailed the door with such force that the structure gave way, and +Jim rushed out, prepared to make any promises or terms with their +masters, to save the lives he had endangered by his obstinacy.</p> + +<p>His submission was not required: for on looking out, two men and three +or four boys were seen coming towards the pen, bearing bowls of water, +and dishes filled with barley-gruel.</p> + +<p>Jim had conquered in the strife between master and man. The old sheik +had given orders for the white slaves to be fed.</p> + +<p>Jim's frenzy immediately subsided into an excitement of a different +nature.</p> + +<p>Seizing a calabash of water, he ran to his brother Bill; and raising him +into a sitting posture, he applied the vessel to the man-o'-war's-man's +lips.</p> + +<p>Bill had not strength even to drink, and the water had to be poured down +his throat.</p> + +<p>Not until all of his companions had drunk, and swallowed a few mouthfuls +of the barley-gruel, did Jim himself partake of anything.</p> + +<p>The effect of food and water in restoring the energies of a starving man +is almost miraculous; and he now congratulated his companions on the +success of his scheme.</p> + +<p>"It is all right!" he exclaimed. "We have conquered them! We shall not +have to reap their harvest! We shall be fed, fattened, and sold; and +perhaps be taken to Mogador. We should thank God for bringing us all +safely through the trial. Had we yielded, there would have been no hope +of ever regaining our liberty!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXI" id="CHAPTER_LXXI"></a>CHAPTER LXXI.</h2> + +<h3>SOLD AGAIN.</h3> + +<p>Two days elapsed, during which time our adventurers were served with +barley-gruel twice a day. They were allowed a sufficient quantity of +water, with only the trouble of bringing it from the well, and enduring +a good deal of insult and abuse from the women and children whom they +chanced to meet on their way.</p> + +<p>The second Krooman, who, in a moment of weakness inspired by the torture +of thirst, had assisted the other slaves at their task, now tried in +vain to get off from working. He came each evening to the pen to +converse with his countryman; and at these meetings bitterly expressed +his regret that he had submitted.</p> + +<p>There was no hope for him now, for he had given proof that he could be +made useful to his owners.</p> + +<p>On the evening of the second day after they had been relieved from +starvation, the white slaves were visited in their place of confinement +by three Arabs they had not before seen.</p> + +<p>These were well-armed, well-dressed, fine-looking fellows, having +altogether a more respectable appearance than any inhabitants of the +desert they had yet encountered.</p> + +<p>Jim immediately entered into conversation with them; and learned that +they were merchants, travelling with a caravan; and that they had +claimed the hospitality of the town for that night.</p> + +<p>They were willing to purchase slaves; and had visited the pen to examine +those their hosts were offering for sale.</p> + +<p>"You are just the men we are most anxious to see," said Jim, in the +Arabic language, which, during his long residence in the country, he had +become acquainted with, and could speak fluently. "We want some merchant +to buy us, and take us to Mogador, where we may find friends to ransom +us."</p> + +<p>"I once bought two slaves," rejoined one of the merchants, "and at great +expense took them to Mogador. They told me that their consul would be +sure to redeem them; but I found that they had no consul there. They +were not redeemed; and I had to bring them away again,—having all the +trouble and expense of a long journey."</p> + +<p>"Were they Englishmen?" asked Jim.</p> + +<p>"No: Spaniards."</p> + +<p>"I thought so. Englishmen would certainly have been ransomed."</p> + +<p>"That is not so certain," replied the merchant; "the English may not +always have a consul in Mogador to buy up his countrymen."</p> + +<p>"We do not care whether there is one or not!" answered Jim. "One of the +young fellows you see here has an uncle—a rich merchant in Mogador, who +will ransom not only him, but all of his friends. The three young men +you see are officers of an English ship-of-war. They have rich fathers +in England,—all of them grand sheiks,—and they were learning to be +captains of war-ships, when they were lost on this coast. The uncle of +one of them in Mogador will redeem the whole party of us."</p> + +<p>"Which is he who has the rich uncle?" inquired one of the Arabs.</p> + +<p>Jim pointed to Harry Blount, saying, "That is the youngster. His uncle +owns many great vessels, that come every year to Swearah, laden with +rich cargoes."</p> + +<p>"What is the name of this uncle?"</p> + +<p>To give an appearance of truth to his story, Jim knew that it was +necessary for some of the others to say something that would confirm it; +and turning towards Harry, he muttered, "Master Blount, you are expected +to say something—only two or three words—any thing you like!"</p> + +<p>"For God's sake, get them to buy us!" said Harry, in complying with the +singular request made to him.</p> + +<p>Believing that the name he must give to the Arabs should something +resemble in sound the words Harry had spoken, Jim told them that the +name of the Mogador merchant was "For God's sake buy us."</p> + +<p>After repeating these words two or three times, the Arabs were able to +pronounce them—after a fashion.</p> + +<p>"Ask the young man," commanded one of them, "if he is sure the merchant +'For God's sake bias' will ransom you all?"</p> + +<p>"When I am done speaking to you," said Jim, whispering to Harry, "say +Yes! nod your head, and then utter some words!"</p> + +<p>"Yes!" exclaimed Harry, giving his head an abrupt inclination. "I think +I know what you are trying to do, Jim. All right!"</p> + +<p>"Yes!" said Jim, turning to the Arab; "the young fellow says that he is +quite certain his uncle will buy us all. Our friends at home will repay +him."</p> + +<p>"But how about the black man?" asked one of the merchants. "He is not an +Englishman?"</p> + +<p>"No; but he speaks English. He has sailed in English ships, and will +certainly be redeemed with the rest."</p> + +<p>The Arabs now retired from the pen, after promising to call and see our +adventurers early in the morning.</p> + +<p>After their departure, Jim related the whole of the conversation to his +companions, which had the effect of inspiring them with renewed hope.</p> + +<p>"Tell them anything," said Harry, "and promise anything; for I think +there is no doubt of our being ransomed, if taken to Mogador, although +I'm sure I have no uncle there, and don't know whether there's any +English consul at that port."</p> + +<p>"To get to Mogador is our only chance," said Jim; "and I wish I were +guilty of no worse crime than using deception, to induce some one to +take us there. I have a hope that these men will buy us on speculation; +and if lies will induce them to do so, they shall have plenty of them +from me. And you," continued he, turning to the Krooman, "you must not +let them know that you speak their language, or they will not give a +dollar for you. When they come here in the morning, you must converse +with the rest of us in English,—so that they may have reason to think +that you will also be redeemed."</p> + +<p>Next morning, the merchants again came to the pen, and the slaves, at +their request, arose and walked out to the open space in front, where +they could be better examined.</p> + +<p>After becoming satisfied that all were capable of travelling, one of the +Arabs, addressing Jim, said:—</p> + +<p>"We are going to purchase you, if you satisfy us that you are not trying +to deceive us, and agree to the terms we offer. Tell the nephew of the +English merchant that we must be paid one hundred and fifty Spanish +dollars for each of you."</p> + +<p>Jim made the communication to Harry; who at once consented that this sum +should be paid.</p> + +<p>"What is the name of his uncle?" asked one of the Arabs. "Let the young +man tell us."</p> + +<p>"They wish to know the name of your uncle," said Jim, turning to Harry. +"The name I told you yesterday. You must try and remember it; for I must +not be heard repeating it to you."</p> + +<p>"For God's sake buy us!" exclaimed Harry.</p> + +<p>The Arabs looked at each other with an expression that seemed to say, +"It's all right!"</p> + +<p>"Now," said one of the party, "I must tell you what will be the penalty, +if we be deceived. If we take you to Mogador, and find that there is no +one there to redeem you, if the young man, who says he has an uncle, be +not telling the truth, then we shall cut his throat, and bring the rest +of you back to the desert, to be sold into perpetual slavery. Tell him +that."</p> + +<p>"They are going to buy us," said Jim to Harry Blount; "but if we are not +redeemed in Mogador, you are to have your throat cut for deceiving +them."</p> + +<p>"All right!" said Harry, smiling at the threat, "that will be better +than living any longer a slave in the Saära."</p> + +<p>"Now look at the Krooman"; suggested Sailor Bill, "and say something +about him."</p> + +<p>Harry taking the hint, turned towards the African.</p> + +<p>"I hope," said he, "that they will purchase the poor fellow; and that we +may get him redeemed. After the many services he has rendered us, I +should not like to leave him behind."</p> + +<p>"He consents that you may kill the Krooman, if we are not ransomed"; +said Jim, speaking to the Arab merchants, "but he does not like to +promise more than one hundred dollars for a negro. His uncle might +refuse to pay more."</p> + +<p>For some minutes the Arabs conversed with each other in a low tone; and +then one of them replied, "It is well. We will take one hundred dollars +for the negro. And now get ready for the road. We shall start with you +to-morrow morning by daybreak."</p> + +<p>The merchants then went off to complete their bargain with the old +sheik, and make other arrangements for their departure.</p> + +<p>For a few minutes the white slaves kept uttering exclamations of delight +at the prospect of being once more restored to liberty. Jim then gave +them a translation of what he had said about the Krooman.</p> + +<p>"I know the Arab character so well," said he, "that I did not wish to +agree to all their terms without a little haggling, which prevents them +from entertaining the suspicion that we are trying to deceive them. +Besides, as the Krooman is not an English subject, there may be great +difficulty in getting him redeemed; and we should therefore bargain for +him as cheaply as possible."</p> + +<p>Not long after the Arab merchants had taken their departure from the +pen, a supply of food and drink was served out to them: which, from its +copiousness, proved that it was provided at the expense of their new +owners.</p> + +<p>This beginning augured well for their future treatment; and that night +was spent by the Boy Slaves in a state of contentment and repose, +greater than they had experienced since first setting foot on the +inhospitable shores of the Saära.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXII" id="CHAPTER_LXXII"></a>CHAPTER LXXII.</h2> + +<h3>ONWARD ONCE MORE.</h3> + + +<p>Early next morning our adventurers were awakened and ordered to prepare +for the road.</p> + +<p>The Arab merchants had purchased from their late hosts three donkeys, +upon which the white slaves were allowed to ride in turns. Harry Blount, +however, was distinguished from the rest. As the nephew of the rich +merchant, "For God's sake buy us!" he was deemed worthy of higher favor, +and was permitted to have a camel.</p> + +<p>In vain he protested against being thus <i>elevated</i> above his companions. +The Arabs did not heed his remonstrances, and at a few words from Jim he +discontinued them.</p> + +<p>"They think that we are to be released from slavery by the money of your +relative," said Jim, "and you must do nothing to undeceive them. Not to +humor them might awaken their suspicions. Besides, as you are the +responsible person of the party,—the one whose throat is to be cut if +the money be not found,—you are entitled to a little distinction, as a +compensation for extra anxiety."</p> + +<p>The Krooman, who had joined the slaves in cutting the grain, was in the +field at work when the merchants moved off, and was not present to bid +farewell to his more fortunate countryman.</p> + +<p>After travelling about twelve miles through a fertile country, much of +which was in cultivation, the Arab merchants arrived at a large +reservoir of water, where they encamped for the night.</p> + +<p>The water was in a stone tank, placed so as to catch all the rain that +fell in a long narrow valley, gradually descending from some hills to +the northward.</p> + +<p>Jim had visited the place before, and told his companions that the tank +had been constructed by a man whose memory was much respected, and who +had died nearly a hundred years ago.</p> + +<p>During the night the Krooman, who had been left behind, entered the +encampment, confident in the belief that he had escaped from his +taskmasters.</p> + +<p>At sunset he had contrived to conceal himself among the barley sheaves +until his masters were out of sight, when he had started off on the +track taken by the Arab merchants.</p> + +<p>He was not allowed long indulgence in his dream of liberty. On the +following morning, as the kafila was about to continue its journey, +three men were seen approaching on swift camels; and shortly after Rais +Abdallah Yessed, and two of his followers rode up.</p> + +<p>They were in pursuit of the runaway Krooman, and in great rage at the +trouble which he had caused them. So anxious were the Boy Slaves that +the poor fellow should continue along with them, that, for their sake, +the Arab merchants made a strenuous effort to purchase him; but Rais +Abdallah obstinately refused to sell him at anything like a reasonable +price. The Krooman had given proof that he could be very useful in the +harvest-field; and a sum much greater than had been paid for any of the +others, was demanded for him. He was worth more to his present owners +than what the Arab merchants could afford to give; and was therefore +dragged back to the servitude from which he had hoped to escape.</p> + +<p>"You can see now, that I was right," said Jim. "Had we consented to cut +their harvest, we should never have had an opportunity of regaining our +liberty. Our labor for a single year would have been worth as much to +them as the price they received for us, and we should have been held in +perpetual bondage."</p> + +<p>Jim's companions could perceive the truth of this observation, but not +without being conscious that their good fortune was, on their part, +wholly undeserved, and that had it not been for him, they would have +yielded to the wishes of their late masters.</p> + +<p>After another march, the merchants made halt near some wells, around +which a large Arab encampment was found already established,—the flocks +and herds wandering over the adjacent plain. Here our adventurers had an +opportunity of observing some of the manners and customs of this nomadic +people.</p> + +<p>Here, for the first time, they witnessed the Arab method of making +butter.</p> + +<p>A goat's skin, nearly filled with the milk of camels, asses, sheep, and +goats, all mixed together, was suspended to the ridge pole of a tent, +and then swung to and fro by a child, until the butter was produced. The +milk was then poured off, and the butter clawed out of the skin by the +black dirty fingers of the women.</p> + +<p>The Arabs allege that they were the first people who discovered the art +of making butter,—though the discovery does not entitle them to any +great credit, since they could scarce have avoided making it. The +necessity of carrying milk in these skin bags, on a journey, must have +conducted them to the discovery. The agitation of the fluid, while being +transported on the backs of the camels, producing the result, naturally +suggested the idea of bringing it about by similar means when they were +not travelling.</p> + +<p>At this place the slaves were treated to some barley-cakes, and were +allowed a little of the butter; and this, notwithstanding the filthy +mode in which it had been prepared, appeared to them the most delicious +they had ever tasted.</p> + +<p>During the evening, the three merchants, along with several other Arabs, +seated themselves in a circle; when a pipe was lit and passed round from +one to another. Each would take a long draw, and then hand the pipe to +his left-hand neighbor.</p> + +<p>While thus occupied, they kept up an animated conversation, in which the +word "Swearah" was often pronounced. Swearah of course meant "Mogador."</p> + +<p>"They are talking about us," said Jim, "and we must learn for what +purpose. I am afraid there is something wrong. Krooman!" he continued, +addressing himself to the black, "they don't know that you understand +their language. Lie down near them, and pretend to be asleep; but take +note of every word they say. If I go up to them they will drive me +away."</p> + +<p>The Krooman did as desired; and carelessly sauntering near the circle, +appeared to be searching for a soft place on which to lay himself for +the night.</p> + +<p>This he discovered some seven or eight paces from the spot where the +Arabs were seated.</p> + +<p>"I have been disappointed about obtaining my freedom so many times," +muttered Jim, "that I can scarce believe I shall ever succeed. Those +fellows are talking about Mogador; and I don't like their looks. Hark! +what is that about 'more than you can get in Swearah!' I believe these +new Arabs are making an offer to buy us. If so, may their prophets curse +them!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXIII" id="CHAPTER_LXXIII"></a>CHAPTER LXXIII.</h2> + +<h3>ANOTHER BARGAIN.</h3> + + +<p>The conversation amongst the Arabs was kept up until a late hour; and +during the time it continued, our adventurers were impatiently awaiting +the return of the Krooman.</p> + +<p>He came at length, after the Arabs had retired to their tents; and all +gathered around him, eager to learn what he had heard.</p> + +<p>"I find out too much," said he, in answer to their inquiries; "too much, +and no much good."</p> + +<p>"What was it?"</p> + +<p>"Two of you be sold to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"What two?"</p> + +<p>"No one know. One man examine us all in the morning, but take only two."</p> + +<p>After suffering a long lesson teaching the virtue of patience, they +learnt from the Krooman that one of those who had been conversing with +their masters was a grazier, owning large droves of cattle; and that he +had lately been to Swearah.</p> + +<p>He had told the merchants that they would not be able to get a large +price for their slaves in that place; and that the chances were much +against their making more than the actual expenses incurred in so long a +journey. He assured the Arab merchants that no Christian consul or +foreign merchant in Mogador would pay a dollar more for redeeming six +slaves than what they could be made to pay for two or three; that they +were not always willing or prepared to pay anything; and that whenever +they did redeem a slave, they did not consider his value, but only the +time and expense that had been incurred in bringing him to the place.</p> + +<p>Under the influence of these representations, the Arab merchants had +agreed to sell two of their white slaves to the grazier,—thinking they +would get as much for the remaining four as they would by taking all six +to the end of the journey.</p> + +<p>The owner of the herds was to make his choice in the morning.</p> + +<p>"I thought there was a breaker ahead," exclaimed Jim, after the Krooman +had concluded his report. "We must not be separated except by liberty or +death. Our masters must take us all to Mogador. There is trouble before +us yet; but we must be firm, and overcome it. Firmness has saved us +once, and may do so again."</p> + +<p>After all had promised to be guided in the coming emergency by Jim, they +laid themselves along the ground, and sought rest in sleep.</p> + +<p>Next morning, while they were eating their breakfast, they were visited +by the grazier who was expected to make choice of two of their number.</p> + +<p>"Which is the one who speaks Arabic?" he inquired from one of the +merchants.</p> + +<p>Jim was pointed out, and was at once selected as one of the two to be +purchased.</p> + +<p>"Tell 'im to buy me, too, Jim," said Bill, "We'll sail in company, you +and I, though I don't much like partin' with the young gentlemen here."</p> + +<p>"You shall not part either with them or me, if I can help it," answered +Jim; "but we must expect some torture. Let all bear it like devils; and +don't give in. That's our only chance!"</p> + +<p>Glancing his eyes over the other slaves, the grazier selected Terence as +the second for whom he was willing to pay a price.</p> + +<p>His terms having been accepted by the merchants, they were about +concluding the bargain, when they were accosted by Jim.</p> + +<p>He assured them that he and his companions were determined to die, +before they should be separated,—that none of them would do any work if +retained in slavery,—and that all were determined to be taken to +Swearah.</p> + +<p>The merchants and the buyer only smiled at this interruption; and went +on with the negotiation.</p> + +<p>In vain did Jim appeal to their cupidity,—reminding them that the +merchant, "for God's sake bias," would pay a far higher price for +himself and his companions.</p> + +<p>His arguments and entreaties failed to change their determination,—the +bargain was concluded; and Jim and Terence were made over to their new +master.</p> + +<p>The merchants then mounted their camels, and ordered the other four to +follow them.</p> + +<p>Harry Blount, Colin, and Sailor Bill answered this command by sulkily +sitting down upon the sand.</p> + +<p>Another command from the merchants was given in sharp tones that +betrayed their rising wrath.</p> + +<p>"Obey them!" exclaimed Jim. "Go on; and Master Terence and I will follow +you. We'll stand the brunt of the battle. They shall not hold me here +alive!"</p> + +<p>Colin and Bill each mounted a donkey, and Harry his camel—the Arab +merchants seeming quite satisfied at the result of their slight +exhibition of anger.</p> + +<p>Jim and Terence attempted to follow them; but their new master was +prepared for this; and, at a word of command, several of his followers +seized hold of and fast bound both of them.</p> + +<p>Jim's threat that they should not hold him alive, had thus proved but an +idle boast.</p> + +<p>Harry, Colin, and Bill, now turned back, dismounted, and showed their +determination to remain with their companions, by sitting down alongside +of them.</p> + +<p>"These Christian dogs do not wish for liberty!" exclaimed one of the +merchants. "Allah forbid that we should force them to accept it. Who +will buy them?"</p> + +<p>These words completely upset all Jim's plans. He saw that he was +depriving the others of the only opportunity they might ever have of +obtaining their liberty.</p> + +<p>"Go on, go on!" he exclaimed. "Make no further resistance. It is +possible they may take you to Mogador. Do not throw away the chance."</p> + +<p>"We are not goin' to lave you, Jim," said Bill, "not even for +liberty,—leastways, I'm not. Don't you be afeerd of that!"</p> + +<p>"Of course we will not, unless we are forced to do so," added Harry. +"Have you not said that we must keep together?"</p> + +<p>"Have you not all promised to be guided by me?" replied Jim. "I tell you +now to make no more resistance. Go on with them if you wish ever to be +free!"</p> + +<p>"Jim knows what he is about," interposed Colin; "let us obey him."</p> + +<p>With some reluctance, Harry and Bill were induced to mount again; but +just as they were moving away, they were recalled by Jim, who told them +not to leave; and that all must persevere in the determination not to be +separated.</p> + +<p>"The man has certainly gone mad," reflected Harry Blount, as he turned +back once more. "We must no longer be controlled by him; but Terence +must not be left behind. We cannot forsake <i>him</i>."</p> + +<p>Again the three dismounted, and returning to the spot where Jim and +Terence lay fast bound along the sand, sat determinedly down beside +them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXIV" id="CHAPTER_LXXIV"></a>CHAPTER LXXIV.</h2> + +<h3>MORE TORTURE.</h3> + + +<p>The sudden change of purpose and the counter-orders given by Jim were +caused by something he had just heard while listening to the +conversation of the Arabs.</p> + +<p>Seeing that the merchants, rather than have any unnecessary trouble with +them, were disposed to sell them all, Jim had been unwilling to deprive +his brother and the others of an opportunity of obtaining their freedom. +For this reason had he entreated them to leave Terence and himself to +their fate.</p> + +<p>But just as he had prevailed on Harry and his companion to go quietly, +he learnt from the Arabs that the man who had purchased Terence and +himself refused to have any more of them; and also that the other Arabs +present were either unable or unwilling to buy them.</p> + +<p>The merchants, therefore, would have to take them farther before they +could dispose of them.</p> + +<p>In Jim's mind then revived the hope that, by opposing the wishes of his +late masters, he and Terence might be bought back again and taken on to +Mogador.</p> + +<p>It was this hope that had induced him to recall his companions after +urging them to depart.</p> + +<p>A few words explained his apparently strange conduct to Harry and Colin, +and they promised to resist every attempt made to take them any farther +unless all should go in company.</p> + +<p>The merchants in vain commanded and entreated that the Christian dogs +should move on. They used threats, and then resorted to blows.</p> + +<p>Harry, to whom they had hitherto shown much respect, was beaten until +his scanty garments were saturated with blood.</p> + +<p>Unwilling to see others suffering so much torture unsupported by any +selfish desire, Jim again counselled Harry and the others to yield +obedience to their masters.</p> + +<p>In this counsel he was warmly seconded by Terence.</p> + +<p>But Harry declared his determination not to desert his old shipmate +Colin, and Bill remained equally firm under the torture; while the +Krooman, knowing that his only chance of liberty depended on remaining +true to the white slaves, and keeping in their company, could not be +made to yield.</p> + +<p>Perceiving that all his entreaties—addressed to his brother, Harry, and +Colin—could not put an end to the painful scene he was compelled to +witness, Jim strove to effect some purpose by making an appeal to his +late masters.</p> + +<p>"Buy us back, and take us all to Swearah as you promised," said he. "If +you do so, we will go cheerfully as we were doing before. I tell you, +you will be well paid for your trouble."</p> + +<p>One of the merchants, placing some confidence in the truth of this +representation, now offered to buy Jim and Terence on his own account; +but their new master refused to part with his newly-acquired property.</p> + +<p>A crowd of men, women, and children had now gathered around the spot; +and from all sides were heard shouts of "Kill the obstinate Christian +'dogs.' How dare they resist the will of true believers!"</p> + +<p>This advice was given by those who had no pecuniary interest in the +chattels in question; but the merchants, who had invested a large sum in +the purchase of the white slaves, had no idea of making such a sacrifice +for the gratification of a mere passion.</p> + +<p>There was but one way for them to overcome the difficulty that had so +unexpectedly presented itself. This was to separate the slaves by force, +taking the four along with them; and leaving the other two to the +purchaser who would not revoke his bargain.</p> + +<p>To accomplish this, the assistance of the bystanders was required and +readily obtained.</p> + +<p>Harry was first seized and placed on the back of his camel, to which he +was firmly bound.</p> + +<p>Colin, Bill, and the Krooman were each set astride of a donkey, and then +made fast by having their feet tied under the animal's belly.</p> + +<p>For a small sum the merchants then engaged two of the Arabs to accompany +them and guard the white slaves to the frontier of the Moorish empire, a +distance of two days' journey.</p> + +<p>While the party was about to move away from the spot, one of the +merchants, addressing himself to Jim, made the following observations.</p> + +<p>"Tell the young man, the nephew of the merchant, 'For God's sake bias,' +that since we have started for Swearah in the belief that his story is +true, we shall now take him there whether he is willing or not, and if +he has in anyway deceived us, he shall surely die."</p> + +<p>"He has not deceived you," said Jim, "take him and the others there, and +you will certainly be paid."</p> + +<p>"Then why do they not go willingly?"</p> + +<p>"Because they do not wish to leave their friends."</p> + +<p>"Ungrateful dogs! cannot they be thankful for their own good fortune? Do +they take us for slaves, that we should do their will?"</p> + +<p>While the conversation was going on, the other two merchants had headed +their animals to the road; and in a minute after Harry Blount and Colin +had parted with their old messmate Terence, without a hope of ever +meeting him again.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXV" id="CHAPTER_LXXV"></a>CHAPTER LXXV.</h2> + +<h3>EN ROUTE.</h3> + + +<p>And now away for the Moorish frontier.</p> + +<p>Away,—trusting that the last hasty promise of the merchant to test +their earnest story, and yield to the importunate desires which they had +so long cherished, might not be unfulfilled.</p> + +<p>Away,—out into the desert again; into that broad, barren wilderness of +sand, stretching wearily on as far as eye could reach, and beyond the +utmost limit of human steps, where the wild beasts almost fear to tread.</p> + +<p>Away,—under the glare of the tropic sun, whose torrid beams fall from +heavens that glow like hot walls of brass, and beat down through an +atmosphere whose faint undulations in the breath of the desert wind ebb +and flow over the parched travellers, like waves of a fiery sea; under a +sun that seems to grow ever larger and brighter as the tired eyes, sick +with beholding its yellow splendor overflowing all the world, yet turn +toward it their fascinated gaze, and faint into burning dryness at its +sight.</p> + +<p>Away,—from the coolness of city walls, and the dark shadows of narrow, +high-built streets, where the sunlight comes only at the height of noon, +where men hide within doors as the hot hours draw nigh, and rest in +silent chambers, or drowse away the time with <i>tchibouque</i> or +<i>narghileh</i>, whose softened odor of the rich Eastern tobacco floats up +through perfumed waters and tubes of aromatic woods to leisurely lips, +and curls in dim wreaths before restful eyelids half dropping to repose.</p> + +<p>Away,—from the association of men in street, lane, bazaar, and +market-place. No very profitable or happy association for the poor +captives, one might think; and yet not so. For in every group of +bystanders, or bevy of passers, they perchance might see him who should +prove their angel of deliverance,—a kindly merchant, a new speculator, +or even, by some event of gracious fortune, a countryman or a friend.</p> + +<p>Away,—from all that they had borne and hoped, and borne and seen and +suffered, into the desert whose paths lay invisible to them, mapped out +in the keen intellects of their guides and guards, who read the +streaming sand of Saära as sailors read the wilds of sweeping seas, but +whose dusky faces, as inscrutable as the barren wastes, revealed no +trace of the secret of the path they led,—whether indeed the great +Moorish Empire were their destination, or whether they turned their +steps to some unknown and untried goal.</p> + +<p>Away,—from the hum of business, from the gossip of idlers and the staid +speech of a city into the silence of the vast desolation wherein they +moved, the only reasoning, thinking beings it contained. Silence all +around, unbroken save by the smothered tread of the beasts in their +little train, the shouts of the drivers, the chattering of the +attendants, the rattling of harness and burdens, and the soft sough of +the sand as it sank back into the hot level from which the passing hoofs +had disturbed it.</p> + +<p>Away, away,—and who shall attempt to paint the feelings of the captives +as their wanderings began again? It would need a brilliant pen to convey +the sensations with which the <i>voyageur</i>, eager for scenes of adventure +and fresh from the hived-up haunts of civilization, would enter upon a +desert jaunt, to whom all was full of novelty and interest, whose +companions were subjects for curious study, speaking in accents the +unfamiliar Oriental cadence of which fell pleasantly upon his ear, and +who found in every hour some fresh cause for wonder or pleasure. But a +pen of marvellous power and pathos must be invoked to portray the +mingled emotions that swayed in swift succession the minds of our Boy +Slaves! No charm existed for them in the strangeness of desert scenery, +Arab comradeship, and the murmur of Eastern tongues; they had long +passed the time for that, while their bitter familiarity with all these +made even a deep revulsion of feeling in their sorely tried souls. Hope, +fear, doubt, fatigue, anxious yearning, and vague despair,—all in turn +swept through their thoughts, even as the dust of their pitiless pathway +swept over their scorched faces, and covered with effacing monotony +every vestige of their passage. Mine is no such potent pen, and so let +us leave them, bound to their beasts of burden, going down from the +abodes of men into the depths again; and so let us leave them, +journeying ever onward,—away, away!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXVI" id="CHAPTER_LXXVI"></a>CHAPTER LXXVI.</h2> + +<h3>HOPE DEFERRED.</h3> + + +<p>For the first hour of their journey, Harry, Colin, and Sailor Bill, were +borne along fast bound upon the backs of their animals. So disagreeable +did they find this mode of locomotion, that the Krooman was requested to +inform their masters, that they were willing to accompany them without +further opposition, if allowed the freedom of their limbs, this was the +first occasion on which the Krooman had made known to the Arab merchants +that he could speak their language.</p> + +<p>After receiving a few curses and blows for having so long concealed his +knowledge of it, the slaves were unbound, and the animals they bestrode +were driven along in advance of the others, while the two hired guards +were ordered to keep a short watch over them.</p> + +<p>The journey was continued until a late hour of the night; when they +reached the gate of a high wall enclosing a small town.</p> + +<p>Here a long parley ensued, and at first the party seemed likely to be +turned back upon their steps to pass the night in the desert, but at +last the guardians of the village, being satisfied with the +representations of the Arabs, unbarred the portals and let them enter.</p> + +<p>After the slaves had been conducted inside, and the gate fastened behind +them, their masters, relieved of all anxiety about losing their +property, accepted the hospitality of the sheik of the village, and took +their departure for his house, directing only that the white slaves +should be fed.</p> + +<p>After the latter had eaten a hearty meal, consisting of barley-bread and +milk; they were conducted to a pen, which they were told was to be their +sleeping-place, and there they passed the greater part of the night in +fighting fleas.</p> + +<p>Never before had either of them encountered these insects, either so +large in size or of so keen appetites.</p> + +<p>It was but at the hour at which their journey should have been resumed, +that they forgot their hopes and cares in the repose of sleep. Weary in +body and soul, they slept on till a late hour; and when aroused to +consciousness by an Arab bringing some food, they were surprised to see +that the sun was high up in the heavens.</p> + +<p>Why had they not been awakened before?</p> + +<p>Why this delay?</p> + +<p>In the mind of each was an instinctive fear that there must be something +wrong,—that some other obstacle had arisen, blocking up their road to +freedom. Hours passed, and their masters came not near them.</p> + +<p>They remained in much anxiety, vainly endeavoring to surmise what had +caused the interruption to their journey.</p> + +<p>Knowing that the merchants had expressed an intention to conduct them to +Mogador as soon as possible, they could not doubt but what the delay +arose from some cause affecting their own welfare.</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon they were visited by their masters; and in that +interview their worst fears were more than realized.</p> + +<p>By the aid of the Krooman, one of the merchants informed Harry that they +had been deceived,—that the sheik, of whose hospitality they had been +partaking, had often visited Swearah, and was acquainted with all the +foreign residents there. He had told them that there was no one of the +name "For God sake byas."</p> + +<p>He had assured them that they were being imposed upon; and that by +taking the white slaves to Swearah, they would certainly lose them.</p> + +<p>"We shall not kill you," said one of the masters to Harry, "for we have +not had the trouble of carrying you the whole distance; and besides, we +should be injuring ourselves. We shall take you all to the borders of +the desert, and there sell you for what you will fetch."</p> + +<p>Harry told the Krooman to inform his masters that he had freely pledged +his existence on the truth of the story he had told them; that he +certainly had an uncle and friend in Mogador, who would redeem them all; +but that, should his uncle not be in Swearah at the time they should +arrive there, it would make no difference, as they would certainly be +ransomed by the English Consul. "Tell them," added Harry, "that if they +will take us to Swearah, and we are not ransomed as I promised, they +shall be welcome to take my life. I will then willingly die. Tell them +not to sell us until they have proved my words false; and not to injure +themselves and us by trusting too much to the words of another."</p> + +<p>To this communication the merchants made reply:—That they had been told +that slaves brought from the desert into the Empire of Morocco could, +and sometimes did, claim the protection of the government, which set +them free without paying anything; and those who were at the expense of +bringing them obtained nothing for their trouble.</p> + +<p>One of the merchants, whose name was Bo Musem, seemed inclined to listen +with some favor to the representations of Harry; but he was overruled by +the other two, so that all his assertions about the wealth of his +parents at home, and the immense worth he and his comrades were to this +country, as officers in its navy, failed to convince his masters that +they would be redeemed.</p> + +<p>The merchants at length went away, leaving Harry and Colin in an agony +of despair; while Sailor Bill and the Krooman seemed wholly indifferent +as to their future fate. The prospect of being again taken to the +desert, seemed to have so benumbed the intellect of both, as to leave +them incapable of emotion.</p> + +<p>Hope, fear, and energy seemed to have forsaken the old sailor, who, +usually so fond of thinking aloud, had not now sufficient spirit left, +even for the anathematizing of his enemies.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXVII" id="CHAPTER_LXXVII"></a>CHAPTER LXXVII.</h2> + +<h3>EL HAJJI.</h3> + + +<p>Late in the evening of the second night spent within the walls of the +town, two travellers knocked at the gate for admittance.</p> + +<p>One of them gave a name which created quite a commotion in the village, +all seeming eager to receive the owner with some show of hospitality.</p> + +<p>The merchants sat up to a late hour in company with these strangers and +the sheik of the place. Kids were caught and killed, and a savory stew +was soon served up for their guests, while, with coffee, pipes, and many +customary civilities, the time slipped quickly by.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this, they were astir upon the following morning before +daybreak, busied in making preparations for their journey.</p> + +<p>The slaves, on being allowed some breakfast, were commanded to eat it in +all haste, and then assist in preparing the animals for the road.</p> + +<p>They were also informed that they were to be taken south, and sold.</p> + +<p>"Shall we go, or die?" asked Colin. "I, for one, had rather die than +again pass through the hardships of a journey in the desert."</p> + +<p>Neither of the others made any reply to this. The spirit of despair had +taken too strong a hold upon them.</p> + +<p>The merchants themselves were obliged to caparison their animals; and +just as they were about to use some strong arguments to induce their +refractory slaves to mount, they were told that "El Hajji" ("the +pilgrim") wished to see the Christians.</p> + +<p>Soon after, one of the strangers who had entered the town so late on the +night before was seen slowly approaching.</p> + +<p>He was a tall, venerable-looking Arab, with a long white beard reaching +down to the middle of his breast. His costume, by its neatness and the +general costliness of the articles of which it was composed, bespoke him +a man of the better class, and his bearing was nowise inferior to his +guise.</p> + +<p>Having performed the pilgrimage to the Prophet's Tomb, he commanded the +respect and hospitality of all good Mussulmans whithersoever he +wandered.</p> + +<p>With the Krooman as interpreter, he asked many questions, and seemed to +be much interested in the fate of the miserable-looking objects before +him.</p> + +<p>After his curiosity had been satisfied as to the name of the vessel in +which they had reached the country, the time they had passed in slavery, +and the manner of their treatment which had produced their emaciated and +wretched appearance, he made inquiries about their friends and relatives +at home.</p> + +<p>Harry informed him that Colin and himself had parents, brothers, and +sisters, who were now probably mourning them as lost: that they and +their two companions were sure to be ransomed, could they find some one +who would take them to Mogador. He also added, that their present +masters had promised to take them to that place, but were now prevented +from doing so through the fear that they would not be rewarded for their +trouble.</p> + +<p>"I will do all I can to assist you," said El Hajji, after the Krooman +had given the interpretation of Harry's speech. "I owe a debt of +gratitude to one of your countrymen, and I shall try to repay it. When +in Cairo I was unwell, and starving for the want of food. An officer of +an English ship of war gave me a coin of gold. That piece of money +proved both life and fortune to me; for with it I was able to continue +my journey, and reach my friends. We are all the children of the true +God; and it is our duty to assist one another. I will have a talk with +your masters."</p> + +<p>The old pilgrim then turning to the three merchants, said,—</p> + +<p>"My friends, you have promised to take these Christian slaves to +Swearah, where they will be redeemed. Are you bad men who fear not God, +that your promise should be thus broken?"</p> + +<p>"We think they have deceived us," answered one of the merchants, "and we +are afraid to carry them within the emperor's dominions for fear they +will be taken from us without our receiving anything. We are poor men, +and nearly all our merchandise we have given for these slaves. We cannot +afford to lose them."</p> + +<p>"You will not lose the value of them," said the old man, "if you take +them to Swearah. They belong to a country the government of which will +not allow its subjects to remain in bondage; and there is not an English +merchant in Swearah that would not redeem them. A merchant who should +refuse to do so would scarce dare return to his own country again. You +will make more by taking them to Swearah than anywhere else."</p> + +<p>"But they can give themselves up to the governor when they reach +Swearah," urged one of the merchants, "and we may be ordered out of the +country without receiving a single cowrie for all. Such has been done +before. The good sheik here knows of an Arab merchant who was treated +so. He lost all, while the governor got the ransom, and put it in his +own pocket."</p> + +<p>This was an argument El Hajji was unable to answer but he was not long +in finding a plan for removing the difficulty thus presented.</p> + +<p>"Do not take them within the Empire of Morocco," said he, "until after +you have been paid for them. Two of you can stay with them here, while +the other goes to Swearah with a letter from this young man to his +friends. You have as yet no proof that he is trying to deceive you; and +therefore, as true men, have no excuse for breaking your promise to him. +Take a letter to Swearah; and if the money be not paid, then do with +them as you please, and the wrong will not rest upon you."</p> + +<p>Bo Muzem, one of the merchants, immediately seconded the pilgrim's +proposal, and spoke energetically in its favor.</p> + +<p>He said that they were but one day's journey from Agadeez, a frontier +town of Morocco; and that from there Swearah could be reached in three +days.</p> + +<p>The merchants for a few minutes held consultation apart, and then one of +them announced that they had resolved upon following El Hajji's advice. +Bo Muzem should go to Swearah as the bearer of a letter from Harry to +his uncle.</p> + +<p>"Tell the young man," said one of the merchants, addressing himself to +the interpreter, "tell him, from me, that if the ransom be not paid, he +shall surely die on Bo Muzem's return. Tell him that."</p> + +<p>The Krooman made the communication, and Harry accepted the terms.</p> + +<p>A piece of dirty crumpled paper, a reed, and some ink was then placed +before Harry; and while the letter was being written, Bo Muzem commenced +making preparations for his journey.</p> + +<p>Knowing that their only hope of liberty depended on their situation +being made known to some countrymen resident in Mogador, Harry took up +the pen, and, with much difficulty, succeeded in scribbling the +following letter:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—Two midshipmen of H. M. S. —— (lost a few weeks ago north +of Cape Blanco), and two seamen are now held in slavery at a small +town one day's journey from Santa Cruz. The bearer of this note is +one of our masters. His business in Mogador is to learn if we will +be ransomed and if he is unsuccessful in finding any one who will +pay the money to redeem us, the writer of this note is to be +killed. If you cannot or will not pay the money they require (one +hundred and fifty dollars for each slave), direct the bearer to +some one whom you think will do so.</p> + +<p>"There is a midshipman from the same vessel, and another English +sailor one day's journey south of this place.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the bearer of this note, Bo Muzem, may be induced to +obtain them, so that they also may be ransomed.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Henry Blount.</span>"</p></blockquote> + +<p>This letter Harry folded, and directed to "Any English merchant in +Mogador."</p> + +<p>By the time it was written, Bo Muzem was mounted, and ready for the +road.</p> + +<p>After receiving the letter, he wished Harry to be informed once more, +that, should the journey to Swearah be fruitless, nothing but his +(Harry's) life would compensate him for the disappointment.</p> + +<p>After promising to be back in eight days, and enjoining upon his +partners to look well after their property during his absence, Bo Muzem +took his departure from the town.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_LXXVIII"></a>CHAPTER LXXVIII.</h2> + +<h3>BO MUZEM'S JOURNEY.</h3> + + +<p>Although an Arab merchant, Bo Muzem was an honest man,—one who in all +business transactions told the truth, and expected to hear it from +others.</p> + +<p>He pursued his journey towards Mogador with but a faint hope that the +representations made by Harry Blount would prove true, and with the +determination of taking the life of the latter, should he find himself +deceived. He placed more faith in the story told him by the sheik, than +in the mere supposition of the pilgrim, that the white slaves would find +some one to ransom them. For often,—alas too often!—the hopes which +captives have dwelt on for tedious months, until they have believed them +true, have proved, when put to the test, but empty and fallacious +dreams.</p> + +<p>His journey was partly undertaken through a sense of duty. After the +promise made to the slaves, he thought it but right to become fully +convinced that they would not be redeemed before the idea of taking them +to Mogador should be relinquished.</p> + +<p>He pressed forward on his journey with the perseverance and self-denial +so peculiar to the race. After crossing the spurs of the Atlas Mountain +near Santa Cruz, he reached, on the evening of the third day, a small +walled town, within three hours ride of Mogador.</p> + +<p>Here he stopped for the night, intending to proceed to the city early on +the next morning. Immediately after entering the town, Bo Muzem met a +person whose face wore a familiar look.</p> + +<p>It was the man to whom but a few days before, he had sold Terence and +Jim.</p> + +<p>"Ah! my friend, you have ruined me," exclaimed the Arab grazier, after +their first salutations had passed. "I have lost those two useless +Christian dogs you sold me, and I am ruined."</p> + +<p>Bo Muzem asked him to explain.</p> + +<p>"After your departure," said the grazier, "I tried to get some work out +of the infidels; but they would not obey, and I believe they would have +died before doing anything to make themselves useful. As I am a poor +man, I could not afford to keep them in idleness, nor to kill them, +which I had a strong inclination to do. The day after you left me, I +received intelligence from Swearah which commanded me to go there +immediately on business of importance; and thinking that possibly some +Christian fool in that place might give something for their infidel +countrymen, I took the slaves along with me.</p> + +<p>"They promised that if I would take them to the English Consul, he would +pay a large price for their ransom. When we entered Mogador, and reached +the Consul's house, the dogs told me that they were free, and defied me +trying to take them out of the city, or obtaining anything for my +trouble or expense. The governor of Swearah and the Emperor of Morocco +are on good terms with the infidel's government, and they also hate us +Arabs of the desert. There is no justice there for us. If you take your +slaves into the city you will lose them."</p> + +<p>"I shall not take them into the empire of Morocco," said Bo Muzem, +"until I have first received the money for them."</p> + +<p>"You will never get it in Swearah. Their consul will not pay a dollar, +but will try to get them liberated without giving you anything."</p> + +<p>"But I have a letter from one of my slaves to his uncle,—a nut merchant +in Swearah. The uncle must pay the money."</p> + +<p>"The slave has lied to you. He has no uncle there, and I can soon +convince you that such is the case. There is lying in this place a +Mogador Jew, who is acquainted with every infidel merchant in that +place, and he also understands the languages they speak. Let him see the +letter."</p> + +<p>Anxious to be convinced as to whether he was being deceived or not, Bo +Muzem readily agreed to this proposition; and in company with the +graziers, he repaired to the house where the Jew was staying for the +night.</p> + +<p>The Jew, on being shown the letter, and asked to whom it was addressed, +replied,—</p> + +<p>"To any English merchant in Mogador."</p> + +<p>"<i>Bismillah!</i>" exclaimed Bo Muzem. "All English merchants cannot be +uncles to the young dog who wrote this letter."</p> + +<p>"Tell me," added he, "did you ever hear of an English merchant in +Swearah named 'For God sake byas?'"</p> + +<p>The Jew smiled, and with some difficulty restraining an inclination to +laugh outright at the question, gave the Arab a translation of the +words, "For God's sake buy us."</p> + +<p>Bo Muzem was now satisfied that he had been "sold."</p> + +<p>"I shall go no farther," said he, after they had parted with the Jew. "I +shall return to my partners. We will kill the Christian dog who wrote +the letter, and sell the rest for what we can get for them."</p> + +<p>"That is your best plan," rejoined the grazier. "They do not deserve +freedom, and may Allah forbid that hereafter any true believers should +try to help them to it."</p> + +<p>Early the next morning Bo Muzem set out on his return journey, thankful +for the good fortune that had enabled him so early to detect the +imposture that was being practised upon him.</p> + +<p>He was accompanied by the grazier, who chanced to be journeying in the +same direction.</p> + +<p>"The next Christian slaves I see for sale I intend to buy them," +remarked the latter, as they journeyed along.</p> + +<p>"Bismallah!" exclaimed Bo Muzem, "that is strange. I thought you had had +enough of them?"</p> + +<p>"So I have," answered the grazier; "but that's just why I want more of +them. I want revenge on the unbelieving dogs; and will buy them for the +purpose of obtaining it. I work them until they are too old to do +anything and then let them die of hunger."</p> + +<p>"Then buy those we have for sale," proposed Bo Muzem. "We are willing to +sell them cheap, all but one. The one who wrote this letter I shall +kill. I have sworn it by the prophet's beard."</p> + +<p>As both parties appeared anxious for a bargain, they soon came to an +understanding as to the terms; and the grazier promised to give ten +dollars in money, and four head of horses for each of the slaves that +were for sale. He also agreed that one of his herdsmen should assist in +driving the cattle to any Arab settlement where a market might be found +for them.</p> + +<p>The simple Bo Muzem had now in reality been "sold," for the story he had +been told about the escape of the two slaves, Terence and Jim, was +wholly and entirely false.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXIX" id="CHAPTER_LXXIX"></a>CHAPTER LXXIX.</h2> + +<h3>RAIS MOURAD.</h3> + + +<p>Six days passed, during which the white slaves were comparatively well +treated, far better than at any other time since their shipwreck. They +were not allowed to suffer with thirst, and were supplied with nearly as +much food as they required.</p> + +<p>On the sixth day after the departure of Bo Muzem, they were visited by +their masters, accompanied by a stranger, who was a Moor.</p> + +<p>They were commanded to get upon their feet; and were then examined by +the Moor in a manner that awakened suspicion that he was about to buy +them.</p> + +<p>The Moor wore a caftan richly embroidered on the breast and sleeves; and +confined around the waist with a silken vest or girdle.</p> + +<p>A pair of small yellow Morocco-leather boots were seen beneath trowsers +of great width, made of the finest satin, and on his head was worn a +turban of scarlet silk.</p> + +<p>Judging from the respect shown to him by the merchants, he was an +individual of much importance. This was also evident from the number of +his followers, all of whom were mounted on beautiful Arabian horses, the +trappings of which were made from the finest and most delicately shaded +leathers, bestudded beautifully with precious metals and stones.</p> + +<p>The appearance of his whole retinue gave evidence that he was some +personage of wealth and influence.</p> + +<p>After he had examined the slaves, he retired with the two merchants; and +shortly afterwards the Krooman learnt from one of the followers that the +white slaves had become the property of the wealthy Moor.</p> + +<p>The bright anticipations of liberty that had filled their souls for the +last few days, vanished at this intelligence. Each felt a shock of +pain,—of hopeless despair,—that for some moments stunned them almost +to speechlessness.</p> + +<p>Harry Blount was the first to awaken to the necessity of action.</p> + +<p>"Where are our masters the merchants?" he exclaimed. "They cannot—they +shall not sell us. Come, all of you follow me!"</p> + +<p>Reaching forth from the pens that had been allowed them for a residence, +the young Englishman, followed by his companions, started towards the +dwelling of the sheik, to which the merchants and the Moor had retired.</p> + +<p>All were now excited with disappointment and despair; and on reaching +the sheik's house, the two Arab merchants were called out to witness a +scene of anger and grief.</p> + +<p>"Why have you sold us?" asked the Krooman when the merchant came forth. +"Have you not promised that we should be taken to Swearah, and has not +one gone there to obtain the money for our ransom?"</p> + +<p>The merchants were on good terms with themselves and all the world +besides. They had made what they believed to be a good bargain; and were +in a humor for being agreeable.</p> + +<p>Moreover they did not wish to be thought guilty of a wrong, even by +Christian slaves, and they therefore condescended to give some +explanation.</p> + +<p>"Suppose," said one of them, "that our master Bo Muzem should find a man +in Swearah who is willing to ransom you, how much are we to get for +you?"</p> + +<p>"One hundred dollars for me," answered the Krooman, "and one hundred and +fifty for each of the others."</p> + +<p>"True; and for that we should have to take you to Swearah, and be at the +expense of feeding you along the road?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, Rais Mourad, a wealthy Moor, has paid us one hundred and fifty +dollars for each of you; and would we not be fools to take you all the +way to Swearah for less money? Besides we might never get paid at +Swearah,—whereas we have received it in cash from Rais Mourad. You are +no longer our slaves, but his."</p> + +<p>When the Krooman had made this communication to the others, they saw +that all further parley with the Arab merchants was useless; and that +their fate was now in the hands of Rais Mourad.</p> + +<p>At Harry's request, the Krooman endeavored to ascertain in what +direction the Moor was going to take them; but the only information they +received was that Rais Mourad knew his own business, and was not in the +habit of conferring with his slaves as to what he should do with them.</p> + +<p>Some of the followers of the Moor now came forward; and the slaves were +ordered back to their pen, where they found some food awaiting them. +They were commanded to eat it immediately, as they were soon to set +forth upon a long journey.</p> + +<p>Not one of them, after their cruel disappointment, had any appetite for +eating; and Sailor Bill doggedly declared that he would never taste food +again.</p> + +<p>"Don't despair, Bill," said Harry; "there is yet hope for us."</p> + +<p>"Where?—where is it?" exclaimed Colin; "I can't perceive it."</p> + +<p>"If we are constantly changing owners," argued Harry, "we may yet fall +into the hands of some one who will take us to Mogador."</p> + +<p>"Is that your only hope?" asked Colin, in a tone of disappointment.</p> + +<p>"Think of poor Jim," added Bill; "he's 'ad fifty masters,—been ten +years in slavery, and not free yet; and no hope on it neyther."</p> + +<p>"Shall we go quietly with our new master?" asked Colin.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Harry; "I have had quite enough of resistance, and the +beating that is sure to follow it. My back is raw at this moment. The +next time I make any resistance, it shall be when there is a chance of +gaining something by it, besides a sound thrashing."</p> + +<p>Rais Mourad being unprovided with animals for his slaves to ride upon, +and wishing to travel at a greater speed than they could walk, purchased +four small horses from the sheik, and it was during the time these +horses were being caught and made ready for the road, that the slaves +were allowed to eat their dinner.</p> + +<p>Although Harry, as well as the others, had determined on making no +opposition to going away with Rais Mourad, they were very anxious to +learn where he intended to take them.</p> + +<p>All the inquiries made by the Krooman for the purpose of gratifying +their curiosity, only produced the answer, "God knows, and will not tell +you. Why should we do more than Him?"</p> + +<p>Just as the horses were brought out, and all were nearly ready for a +start, there was heard a commotion at the gate of the town; and next +moment Bo Muzem, accompanied by three other Arabs, rode in through the +gateway.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXX" id="CHAPTER_LXXX"></a>CHAPTER LXXX.</h2> + +<h3>BO MUZEM BACK AGAIN.</h3> + + +<p>As soon as the white slaves recognized Bo Muzem, they all rushed forward +to meet him.</p> + +<p>"Speak, Krooman!" exclaimed Harry. "Ask him if the money for our ransom +will be paid? If so, we are free, and they dare not sell us again."</p> + +<p>"Here,—here!" exclaimed Bill, pointing to one of the Arabs who came +with Bo Muzem. "Ax this man where be brother Jim an' Master Terence?"</p> + +<p>Harry and Colin turned towards the man from whom Bill desired this +inquiry to be made, and recognized in him the grazier, to whom Terence +and Jim had been sold.</p> + +<p>The Krooman had no opportunity for putting the question; for Bo Muzem, +on drawing near to the gate of the town, had allowed his passion to +mount into a violent rage; and as he beheld the slaves, shouted out, +"Christian dogs! you have deceived me. Let every man, woman, and child, +in this town assemble, and be witnesses of the fate that this lying +Christian so richly deserves. Let all witness the death of this young +infidel, who has falsely declared he has an uncle in Swearah, named 'For +God's sake buy us.' Let all witness the revenge Bo Muzem will take on +the unbelieving dog who has deceived him."</p> + +<p>As soon as Bo Muzem's tongue was stopped sufficiently to enable him to +hear the voices of those around him, he was informed that the slaves +were all sold,—the nephew of "For God's sake buy us," among the rest, +and on better terms than he and his partners had expected to get at +Swearah.</p> + +<p>Had Harry Blount been rescued, Bo Muzem would have been much pleased at +this news; but he now declared that his partners had no right to sell +without his concurrence,—that he owned an interest in them; and that +the one who had deceived him should not be sold, but should suffer the +penalty incurred, by sending him on his long and fruitless journey.</p> + +<p>Rais Mourad now came upon the ground. The Moor was not long in +comprehending all the circumstances connected with the affair. He +ordered his followers to gather around the white slaves and escort them +outside the walls of the town.</p> + +<p>Bo Muzem attempted to prevent this order from being executed. He was +opposed by everybody, not only by the Moor, but his own partners, as +well as the sheik of the town, who declared that there should be no +blood spilled among those partaking of his hospitality.</p> + +<p>The slaves were mounted on the horses that had been provided for them, +and then conducted through the gateway leaving Bo Muzem half frantic +with impotent rage.</p> + +<p>There was but one man to sympathize with him in his disappointment, the +grazier to whom Terence and Jim had been sold, and who had made +arrangements for the purchase of the others.</p> + +<p>Riding up to the Moor, this man declared that the slaves were his +property; that he had purchased them the day before, and had given four +horses and ten dollars in money for each.</p> + +<p>He loudly protested against being robbed of his property, and declared +that he would bring two hundred men, if necessary, for the purpose of +taking possession of his own.</p> + +<p>Rais Mourad, paying no attention to this threat, gave orders to his +followers to move on; and, although it was now almost night, started off +in the direction of Santa Cruz.</p> + +<p>Before they had proceeded far, they perceived the Arab grazier riding at +full speed in the opposite direction, and towards his own home.</p> + +<p>"I wish that we had made some inquiries of that fellow about Jim and +Terence," said Colin; "but it's too late now."</p> + +<p>"Yes, too late," echoed Harry, "and I wish that he had obtained +possession of us instead of our present master. We should then have all +come together again. But what are we to think of this last turn of +Fortune's wheel?"</p> + +<p>"I am rather pleased at it," answered Colin. "A while ago we were in +despair, because the Moor had bought us. That was a mistake. If he had +not done so, you Harry would have been killed."</p> + +<p>"Bill!" added the young Scotchman, turning to the old sailor, "what are +you dreaming about?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," answered Bill, "I'm no goin to drame or think any mair."</p> + +<p>"We ah gwine straight for Swearah," observed the Krooman as he spoke, +glancing towards the northwest.</p> + +<p>"That is true," exclaimed Harry, looking in the same direction. "Can it +be that we are to be taken into the empire of Morocco? If so, there is +hope for us yet."</p> + +<p>"But Bo Muzem could find no one who would pay the money for our ransom," +interposed Colin.</p> + +<p>"He nebba go thar," said the Krooman. "He nebba had de time."</p> + +<p>"I believe the Krooman is right," said Harry. "We have been told that +Mogador is four days' journey from here, and the Arab was gone but six +days."</p> + +<p>The conversation of the slaves was interrupted by the Moors, who kept +constantly urging them to greater speed.</p> + +<p>The night came on very dark, but Rais Mourad would not allow them to +move at a slower pace.</p> + +<p>Sailor Bill, being as he declared unused to "navigate any sort o' land +craft," could only keep his seat on the animal he bestrode, by allowing +it to follow the others, while he clutched its mane with a firm grasp of +both hands.</p> + +<p>The journey was continued until near midnight, when the old sailor, +unable any longer to endure the fatigue, managed to check the pace of +his horse, and dismount.</p> + +<p>The Moors endeavored to make him proceed, but were unsuccessful.</p> + +<p>Bill declared that should he again be placed on the horse, he should +probably fall off and break his neck.</p> + +<p>This was communicated to Rais Mourad, who had turned back in a rage to +inquire the cause of the delay. It was the Krooman who acted as +interpreter.</p> + +<p>The Moor's anger immediately subsided on learning that one of the slaves +could speak Arabic.</p> + +<p>"Do you and your companions wish for freedom?" asked the Moor, +addressing himself to the Krooman.</p> + +<p>"We pray for it every hour."</p> + +<p>"Then tell that foolish man that freedom is not found here—that to +obtain it he must move on with me."</p> + +<p>The Krooman made the communication as desired.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to hear any more about freedom," answered Bill; "I've +'eard enough ov it. If any on 'em is goin' to give us a chance for +liberty, let 'em do it without so many promises."</p> + +<p>The old sailor remained obstinate.</p> + +<p>Neither entreaties nor threats could induce him to go farther; and Rais +Mourad gave orders to his followers to halt upon the spot, as he +intended to stay there for the remainder of the night. The halt was +accordingly made, and a temporary camp established.</p> + +<p>Although exhausted with their long, rough ride, Harry and Colin could +not sleep. The hope of liberty was glowing too brightly within their +bosoms.</p> + +<p>This hope had not been inspired by anything that had been said or done +by Rais Mourad; for they now placed no trust in the promises of any one.</p> + +<p>Their hopes were simply based upon the belief that they were now going +towards Mogador, that the Moor, their master, was an intelligent man—a +man who might know that he would not lose his money by taking English +subjects to a place where they would be sure of being ransomed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXXI" id="CHAPTER_LXXXI"></a>CHAPTER LXXXI.</h2> + +<h3>A PURSUIT.</h3> + + +<p>At the first appearance of day, Rais Mourad ordered the march to be +resumed, over a long ridge of sand. The sun soon after rising, on a high +hill about four leagues distant were seen the white walls of the city of +Santa Cruz, or, as it is called by the Arabs, Agadez. Descending the +sand ridge, the cavalcade moved over a level plain covered with grain +crops, and dotted here and there with small walled villages surrounded +by plantations of vines and date-trees.</p> + +<p>At one of the villages near the road the cavalcade made a halt, and was +admitted within the walls. Throwing themselves down in the shade of some +date-trees, the white slaves soon fell into a sound slumber.</p> + +<p>Three hours after they were awakened to eat a small compound of hot +barley-cakes and honey.</p> + +<p>Before they had finished their repast, Rais Mourad came up to the spot, +and began a conversation with the Krooman.</p> + +<p>"What does the Moor say?" inquired Harry.</p> + +<p>"He say dat if we be no bad, and we no cheat him, he take us to Sweareh, +to de English Consul."</p> + +<p>"Of course we will promise that, or anything else," assented Harry, "and +keep the promise too, if we can. He will be sure to be well paid for us. +Tell him that!"</p> + +<p>The Krooman obeyed: and the Moor, in reply, said that he was well aware +that he would be paid something by the Consul, but that he required a +written promise from the slaves themselves as to the amount.</p> + +<p>He wanted them to sign an agreement that he should be paid two hundred +dollars for each one of them.</p> + +<p>This they readily assented to, and the Moor then produced a piece of +paper, a reed, and some ink.</p> + +<p>Rais Mourad wrote the agreement himself in Arabic, on one side of the +paper, and then, reading it sentence by sentence, requested the Krooman +to translate it to his companions.</p> + +<p>The translation given by the Krooman was—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"To English Consul,—</p> + +<p>"We be four Christian slave. Rais Mourad buy us of Arab. We promise +to gib him two hundred dollar for one, or eight hundred dollar for +four, if he take us to you. Please pay him quick."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Harry and Colin signed the paper without any hesitation, and it was then +handed with the pen to Sailor Bill.</p> + +<p>The old sailor took the paper; and, after carefully surveying every +object around him, walked up to one of the saddles lying on the ground a +few paces off.</p> + +<p>Spreading the paper on the saddle, he sat down, and very deliberately +set about the task of making his autograph.</p> + +<p>Slowly as the hand of a clock moving over the face of a dial, Bill's +hand passed over the paper, while his head oscillated from side to side +as each letter was formed.</p> + +<p>After Bill had succeeded in painting a few characters which, in his +opinion, expressed the name of William McNeal, Harry was requested to +write a similar agreement on the other side of the paper, which they +were also to sign.</p> + +<p>Rais Mourad was determined on being certain that his slaves had put +their names to such an agreement as he wished, and therefore had written +it himself, so that he might not be deceived.</p> + +<p>About two hours before sunset all were again in the saddle; and, riding +out of the gateway, took a path leading up the mountain on which stands +the city of Santa Cruz.</p> + +<p>When about half-way up, a party of horsemen, between twenty and thirty +in number, was seen coming after them at full speed.</p> + +<p>Rais Mourad remembered the threat made by the grazier who claimed the +slaves as his property, and every exertion was made to reach the city +before his party could be overtaken.</p> + +<p>The horses ridden by the white slaves were small animals, in poor +condition, and were unable to move up the hill with much speed, although +their riders had been reduced by starvation to the very lightest of +weights.</p> + +<p>Before reaching the level plain on the top of the hill, the pursuers +gained on them rapidly, and had lessened the distance between the two +parties by nearly half a mile. The nearest gate of the city was still +more than a mile ahead, and towards it the Moors urged their horses with +all the energy that could be inspired by oaths, kicks, and blows.</p> + +<p>As they neared the gate the herds of their pursuers were seen just +rising over the crest of the hill behind them. But as Rais Mourad saw +that his slaves were now safe, he checked his steed, and the few yards +that remained of the journey were performed at a slow pace, for the Moor +did not wish to enter the gate of a strange city in a hasty or +undignified manner.</p> + +<p>No delay on passing the sentinels, and in five minutes more the weary +slaves dismounted from their nearly exhausted steeds, and were commanded +by Rais Mourad to thank God that they had arrived safe in the Empire of +Morocco.</p> + +<p>In less than a quarter of an hour after Bo Muzem and the grazier rode +through the gateway, accompanied by a troop of fierce-looking Arab +horsemen.</p> + +<p>The wrath of the merchant seemed to have waxed greater in the interval, +and he appeared as if about to make an immediate attack upon Harry +Blount, the chief object of his spiteful vengeance.</p> + +<p>In this he was prevented by Rais Mourad, who appealed to an officer of +the city guard to protect him.</p> + +<p>The officer informed the merchant that while within the walls of the +city he must not molest other people, and Bo Muzem was compelled to give +his word that he would not do so: that is to say, he was bound over to +keep the peace.</p> + +<p>The other Arabs, in whose company they had come, were also given to +understand that they were in a Moorish city; and, as they saw that they +were powerless to do harm without meeting with punishment, their fierce +deportment soon gave way to a demeanor more befitting the streets of a +civilized town.</p> + +<p>Both pursued and pursuers were cautioned against any infringement of the +laws of the place; and as a different quarter was assigned to each +party, all chances of a conflict were, for the time, happily frustrated.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXXII" id="CHAPTER_LXXXII"></a>CHAPTER LXXXII.</h2> + +<h3>MOORISH JUSTICE.</h3> + + +<p>The next morning, Rais Mourad was summoned to appear before the governor +of the city. He was ordered, also, to bring his slaves along with him. +He had no reluctance in obeying these orders, and a soldier conducted +him and his followers to the governor's house.</p> + +<p>Bo Muzem and the grazier were there before them; and the governor soon +after made his appearance in the room where both parties were waiting.</p> + +<p>He was a fine-looking man, of venerable aspect, about sixty-five years +of age, and, from his appearance, Harry and Colin had but little fear of +the result of his decision in an appeal that might be made against them.</p> + +<p>Bo Muzem was the first to speak. He stated that, in partnership with two +other merchants, he had purchased the four slaves then present. He had +never given his consent to the sale made by his partners to the Moor; +and there was one of them whom it had been distinctly understood was not +to be sold at all. That slave he now claimed as his own property. He had +been commissioned by his partners to go to Swearah, and there dispose of +the slaves. He had sold the other two to his friend Mahommed, who was +present. He had no claim on them. Mahommed, the grazier was their +present owner.</p> + +<p>The grazier was now called upon to make his statement.</p> + +<p>This was soon done. All he had to say was, that he had purchased three +Christian slaves from his friend, Bo Muzem, and had given four horses +and ten dollars in money for each of them. They had been taken away by +force by the Moor, Rais Mourad, from whom he now claimed them.</p> + +<p>Rais Mourad was next called upon to answer the accusation. The question +was put, why he retained possession of another man's property.</p> + +<p>In reply, he stated that he had purchased them of two Arab merchants, +and had paid for them on the spot; giving one hundred and fifty silver +dollars for each.</p> + +<p>After the Moor had finished his statement, the governor remained silent +for an interval of two or three minutes.</p> + +<p>Presently, turning to Bo Muzem, he asked, "Did your partners offer you a +share of the money they received for the slaves?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the merchant, "but I would not accept it."</p> + +<p>"Have you, or your partners, received from the man, who claims three of +the slaves, twelve horses and thirty dollars?"</p> + +<p>After some hesitation, Bo Muzem answered in the negative.</p> + +<p>"The slaves belong to the Moor, Rais Mourad, who has paid the money for +them," said the governor, "and they shall not be taken from him here. +Depart from my presence, all of you."</p> + +<p>All retired, and, as they did so, the grazier was heard to mutter that +there was no justice for Arabs in Morocco.</p> + +<p>Rais Mourad gave orders to his followers to prepare for the road; and +just as they were ready to start, he requested Bo Muzem to accompany him +outside the walls of the city.</p> + +<p>The merchant consented, on condition that his friend Mahommed the +grazier should go along with them.</p> + +<p>"My friend," said Rais Mourad, addressing Bo Muzem, "you have been +deceived. Had you taken these Christians to Swearah, as you promised, +you would have certainly been paid for them all that you could +reasonably have asked. I live in Swearah, and was obliged to make a +journey to the south upon urgent business. Fortunately, on my return, I +met with your partners, and bought their slaves from them. The profit I +shall make on them will more than repay me all the expenses of my +journey. The man Mahommed, whom you call your friend, has bought two +other Christians. He has sold them to the English Consul. Having made +two hundred dollars by that transaction, he was anxious to trade you out +of these others, and make a few hundred more. He was deceiving you for +the purpose of obtaining them. There is but one God, Mahomet is his +prophet, and you are a fool!"</p> + +<p>Bo Muzem required no further evidence in confirmation of the truth of +this statement. He could not doubt that the Moor was an intelligent man, +who knew what he was about when buying the slaves. The grazier Mahommed +had certainly purchased the two slaves spoken of, had acknowledged +having carried them to Swearah, and was now anxious to obtain the +others.</p> + +<p>All was clear to him now; and for a moment he stood mute and motionless, +under a sense of shame at his own stupidity.</p> + +<p>This feeling was succeeded by one of wild rage against the man who had +so craftily outwitted him.</p> + +<p>Drawing his scimitar, he rushed towards the grazier, who, having been +attentive to all that was said, was not wholly unprepared for the +attack.</p> + +<p>The Arabs never acquire much skill in the use of the scimitar, and an +affair between them with these weapons is soon decided.</p> + +<p>The contest between the merchant and his antagonist was not an exception +to other affrays between their countrymen. It was a strife for life or +death, witnessed by the slaves who felt no sympathy for either of the +combatants.</p> + +<p>A mussulman in a quarrel generally places more dependence on the justice +of his cause than either on his strength or skill; and when such is not +the case much of his natural prowess is lost to him.</p> + +<p>Confident in the rectitude of his indignation, Bo Muzem, with his +Mohammedan ideas of fatalism, was certain that the hour had not yet +arrived for him to die; nor was he mistaken.</p> + +<p>His impetuous onset could not be resisted by a man unfortified with the +belief that he had acted justly: and Mahommed the grazier was soon sent +to the ground, rolling in the dust in the agonies of death.</p> + +<p>"There's one less on 'em anyhow," exclaimed Sailor Bill, as he saw the +Arab cease to live. "I wish he had brought brother Jem and Master +Terence here. I wonder what he has done wi' 'em?"</p> + +<p>"We should learn, if possible," answered Harry, "and before we get any +farther away from them. Suppose we speak to the Moor about them? He may +be able to obtain them in some way."</p> + +<p>At Harry's request, the Krooman proceeded to make the desired +communication, but was prevented by Rais Mourad ordering the slaves into +their places for the purpose of continuing the journey which this tragic +incident had interrupted.</p> + +<p>After cautioning Bo Muzem to beware of the followers of Mahommed, who +now lay dead at their feet, the Moor, at the head of his kafila, moved +off in the direction of Mogador.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXXIII" id="CHAPTER_LXXXIII"></a>CHAPTER LXXXIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE JEW'S LEAP.</h3> + + +<p>The road followed by Rais Mourad on the day after leaving Santa Cruz was +through a country of very uneven surface.</p> + +<p>Part of the time the kafila would be in a narrow valley by the seashore, +and in the next hour following a zigzag path on the side of some +precipitous mountain.</p> + +<p>In such places the kafila would have to proceed in single file, while +the Moors would be constantly cautioning the slaves against falling from +the backs of their animals.</p> + +<p>While stopping for an hour at noon for the horses to rest, the Krooman +turned over a flat stone, and underneath it found a large scorpion.</p> + +<p>After making a hole in the sand about six inches deep, and five or six +in diameter, he put the reptile into it.</p> + +<p>He then went in search of a few more scorpions to keep the prisoner +company. Under nearly every stone he turned over, one or two of these +reptiles were found, all of which were cast into the hole where he had +placed the first.</p> + +<p>When he had secured about a dozen within the prison from which they +could not escape, he began teasing them with a stick.</p> + +<p>Enraged at this treatment the reptiles commenced a mortal combat among +themselves, a sight which was witnessed by the white slaves with about +the same interest as that between the two Arabs in the morning. In other +words, they did not care which got the worst of it.</p> + +<p>A battle between two scorpions would commence with much active +skirmishing on both sides, each seeking to fasten its claws on the +other.</p> + +<p>When one of the reptiles would succeed in getting a fair grip, its +adversary would exhibit every disposition to surrender, apparently +begging for its life, but all to no purpose, as no quarter would be +given.</p> + +<p>The champion would inflict the fatal sting; and the unfortunate reptile +receiving it would die immediately after.</p> + +<p>After all the scorpions had been killed except one, the Krooman himself +finished the survivor with a blow of his stick.</p> + +<p>When rebuked by Harry for what the latter regarded as an act of wanton +cruelty, he answered that it was the duty of every man to kill +scorpions.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon they reached a place called the Jew's Leap. It was a +narrow path along the side of a mountain, the base of which was washed +by the sea.</p> + +<p>The path was about half a mile long and not more than four or five feet +broad. The right hand side was bounded by a wall of rocks, in some +places perpendicular and rising to a height of several hundred feet.</p> + +<p>On the left hand side was the sea, about four hundred feet below the +level of the path.</p> + +<p>There was no hope for any one who should fall from this path,—no hope +but heaven.</p> + +<p>Not a bush, tree, or any obstacle was seen to offer the slightest +resistance to the downward course of a falling body.</p> + +<p>The Krooman had passed this way before, and informed his companions that +no one ever ventured on the path in wet weather; that it was at all +times considered dangerous; but that, as it saved a tiresome journey of +seven miles around the mountain, it was generally taken in dry weather. +He also told them that the name of "Jew's Leap" was given to the +precipice, from a party of Jews having once been forced over it.</p> + +<p>It was in the night-time. They had met a numerous party of Moors coming +in the opposite direction. Neither party could turn back, a contest +arose, and several on both sides were hurled over the precipice into the +sea.</p> + +<p>On this occasion as many Moors as Jews had been thrown from the path; +but it had pleased the former to give the spot the name of the "Jew's +Leap," which it still bears.</p> + +<p>Before venturing upon this dangerous road, Rais Mourad was careful to +see that no one was coming from the opposite direction.</p> + +<p>After shouting at the top of his voice, and hearing no reply, he led the +way, bidding his followers to trust more to their animals than to +themselves.</p> + +<p>As the white slaves entered on the pass, two Moors were left behind to +follow them, and when all had proceeded a short distance along the +ledge, the horse ridden by Harry Blount became frightened. It was a +young animal, and having been reared on the plains of the desert, was +unused to mountain-road.</p> + +<p>While the other horses were walking along very cautiously, Harry's steed +suddenly stopped, and refused to go any farther.</p> + +<p>In such a place a rider has good cause to be alarmed at any eccentricity +of behavior in the animal he bestrides, and Harry was just preparing to +dismount, when the animal commenced making a retrograde movement, as if +determined to turn about.</p> + +<p>Harry was behind his companions, and closely followed by one of the +Moors. The latter becoming alarmed for his own safety, struck the young +Englishman's horse a blow with his musket to make it move forward.</p> + +<p>The next instant the hind legs of the refractory animal were over the +edge of the precipice, and its body, with the weight of its rider +clinging to his neck, was about evenly balanced as on the brink. The +horse made a violent struggle to avoid going over, with its nose and +fore feet laid close along the path, and vainly striving to regain the +position from which it had so imprudently parted.</p> + +<p>At this moment its rider determined to make a desperate exertion for his +life.</p> + +<p>Seizing the horse by the ears, and drawing himself up, he placed one +foot on the brink of the precipice, and then sprang clear over the +horse's head, just as the animal relinquished its hold! In another +instant the unfortunate quadruped was precipitated into the sea, its +body striking the water with a dull plunge, as if the life had already +gone out of it.</p> + +<p>The remainder of the ledge was traversed without any difficulty; and +after all had got safely over, Harry's companions were loud in +congratulating him upon his narrow escape.</p> + +<p>The youth remained silent.</p> + +<p>His soul was too full of gratitude to God to give any heed to the words +of man.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXXIV" id="CHAPTER_LXXXIV"></a>CHAPTER LXXXIV.</h2> + +<h3>CONCLUSION.</h3> + + +<p>On the evening of the second day after passing the Jew's Leap, Rais +Mourad, with his following, reached the city of Mogador; but too late to +enter its gates, which were closed for the night.</p> + +<p>For a great part of the night, Harry, Colin, and Sailor Bill were unable +to sleep.</p> + +<p>They were kept awake by the memory of the sufferings they had endured in +slavery, but more by the anticipation of liberty, which they believed to +be now near.</p> + +<p>They arose with the sun call, impatient to enter the city, and learn +their fate. Rais Mourad, knowing that no business could be done until +three or four hours later, would not permit them to pass into the gate.</p> + +<p>For three hours they waited with the greatest impatience. So strongly +had their minds been elated with the prospect of getting free, that the +delay was creating the opposite extreme of despair, when they were again +elated at the sight of Rais Mourad returning to them.</p> + +<p>Giving the command to his followers, he led the way into the city.</p> + +<p>After passing through several narrow streets, on turning a corner, they +saw waving over the roof of one of the houses a sight that filled them +with joy inexpressible. It was the flag of Old England!</p> + +<p>It indicated the residence of the English consul. On seeing it all three +gave forth a loud simultaneous cheer, and hastened forward, in the midst +of a crowd of Moorish men, women, and children.</p> + +<p>Rais Mourad knocked at the gate of the consulate, which was opened; and +the white slaves were ushered into the court-yard. At the same instant +two individuals came running forth from the house. They were Terence and +Jim!</p> + +<p>A fine looking man about fifty years of age, now stepped forward; and +taking Harry and Colin by the hand, congratulated them on the certainty +of soon recovering their liberty.</p> + +<p>The presence of Terence and Jim in the consulate at Mogador, was soon +explained. The Arab grazier, after buying them, had started immediately +for Swearah, taking his slaves with him. On bringing them to the English +consul he was paid a ransom, and they were at once set free. At the same +time he had given his promise to purchase the other slaves and bring +them to Mogador.</p> + +<p>The consul made no hesitation in paying the price that had been promised +for Harry, Colin, and Bill; but he did not consider himself justified in +expending the money of his government in the redemption of the Krooman, +who was not an English subject.</p> + +<p>The poor fellow was overwhelmed with despair at the prospect of being +restored to a life of slavery.</p> + +<p>His old companions in misfortune could not remain tranquil spectators of +his grief. They promised he should be free. Each of the middies had +wealthy friends on whom he could draw for money, and they were in hopes +that some English merchant in the city would advance the amount.</p> + +<p>They were not disappointed. On the very next day the Krooman's +difficulty was settled to his satisfaction.</p> + +<p>The consul having mentioned his case to several foreign merchants, a +subscription-list was opened, and the amount necessary to the purchase +of his freedom was easily obtained.</p> + +<p>The three mids were furnished with plenty of everything they required, +and only waited the arrival of some English ship to carry them back to +the shores of their native land.</p> + +<p>They had not long to wait; for shortly after, the tall masts of a +British man-of-war threw their shadows athwart the waters of Mogador +Bay.</p> + +<p>The three middies were once more installed in quarters that befitted +them: while Sailor Bill and his brother, as well as their Krooman +comrade, found a welcome in the forecastle of the man-of-war.</p> + +<p>All three of the young officers rose to rank and distinction in the +naval service of their country. It was their good fortune often to come +in contact with each other, and talk laughingly of that terrible time, +no longer viewed with dread or aversion, when all three of them were +serving their apprenticeship as <span class="smcap">Boy Slaves</span> in the Saära.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Slaves, by Mayne Reid + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SLAVES *** + +***** This file should be named 31410-h.htm or 31410-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/4/1/31410/ + +Produced by Mary Meehan and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +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. 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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 Boy Slaves + +Author: Mayne Reid + +Release Date: February 26, 2010 [EBook #31410] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SLAVES *** + + + + +Produced by Mary Meehan and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE BOY SLAVES. + + BY CAPT. MAYNE REID + + AUTHOR OF "THE DESERT HOME," "THE OCEAN WAIFS," ETC. + + +With Illustrations. + +A NEW EDITION, +WITH A MEMOIR BY R. H. STODDARD. + +NEW YORK: +THOMAS R. KNOX & CO., +Successors to James Miller, +813 Broadway. + +Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1864, by +TICKNOR AND FIELDS, +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District +of Massachusetts. + +Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1884, by +THOMAS R. KNOX & CO., +in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. + + + + New York, January 1st, 1869. + Messrs. Fields, Osgood & Co.:-- + + I accept the terms offered, and hereby concede to you the exclusive + right of publication, in the United States, of all my juvenile Tales + of Adventure, known as Boys' Novels. + + MAYNE REID. + + TROW'S + PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY, + NEW YORK. + + + + +[Illustration: THE DEATH OF GOLAH.] + + + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + + +Captain Mayne Reid is pleased to have had the help of an American Author +in preparing for publication this story of "The Boy Slaves," and takes +the present opportunity of acknowledging that help, which has kindly +extended beyond matters of merely external form, to points of narrative +and composition, which are here embodied with the result of his own +labor. + +The Rancho, December, 1864. + + + + +MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. + + +No one who has written books for the young during the present century +ever had so large a circle of readers as Captain Mayne Reid, or ever was +so well fitted by circumstances to write the books by which he is +chiefly known. His life, which was an adventurous one, was ripened with +the experience of two Continents, and his temperament, which was an +ardent one, reflected the traits of two races. Irish by birth, he was +American in his sympathies with the people of the New World, whose +acquaintance he made at an early period, among whom he lived for years, +and whose battles he helped to win. He was probably more familiar with +the Southern and Western portion of the United States forty years ago +than any native-born American of that time. A curious interest attaches +to the life of Captain Reid, but it is not of the kind that casual +biographers dwell upon. If he had written it himself it would have +charmed thousands of readers, who can now merely imagine what it might +have been from the glimpses of it which they obtain in his writings. It +was not passed in the fierce light of publicity, but in that simple, +silent obscurity which is the lot of most men, and is their happiness, +if they only knew it. + +Briefly related, the life of Captain Reid was as follows: He was born in +1818, in the north of Ireland, the son of a Presbyterian clergyman, who +was a type of the class which Goldsmith has described so freshly in the +"Deserted Village," and was highly thought of for his labors among the +poor of his neighborhood. An earnest, reverent man, to whom his calling +was indeed a sacred one, he designed his son Mayne for the ministry, in +the hope, no doubt, that he would be his successor. But nature had +something to say about that, as well as his good father. He began to +study for the ministry, but it was not long before he was drawn in +another direction. Always a great reader, his favorite books were +descriptions of travel in foreign lands, particularly those which dealt +with the scenery, the people, and the resources of America. The spell +which these exercised over his imagination, joined to a love of +adventure which was inherent in his temperament, and inherited, perhaps +with his race, determined his career. At the age of twenty he closed his +theological tomes, and girding up his loins with a stout heart he sailed +from the shores of the Old World for the New. Following the spirit in +his feet he landed at New Orleans, which was probably a more promising +field for a young man of his talents than any Northern city, and was +speedily engaged in business. The nature of this business is not stated, +further than it was that of a trader; but whatever it was it obliged +this young Irishman to make long journeys into the interior of the +country, which was almost a _terra incognita_. Sparsely settled, where +settled at all, it was still clothed in primeval verdure--here in the +endless reach of savannas, there in the depth of pathless woods, and far +away to the North and the West in those monotonous ocean-like levels of +land for which the speech of England has no name--the Prairies. Its +population was nomadic, not to say barbaric, consisting of tribes of +Indians whose hunting grounds from time immemorial the region was; +hunters and trappers, who had turned their backs upon civilization for +the free, wild life of nature; men of doubtful or dangerous antecedents, +who had found it convenient to leave their country for their country's +good; and scattered about hardy pioneer communities from Eastern States, +advancing waves of the great sea of emigration which is still drawing +the course of empire westward. Travelling in a country like this, and +among people like these, Mayne Reid passed five years of his early +manhood. He was at home wherever he went, and never more so than when +among the Indians of the Red River territory, with whom he spent several +months, learning their language, studying their customs, and enjoying +the wild and beautiful scenery of their camping grounds. Indian for the +time, he lived in their lodges, rode with them, hunted with them, and +night after night sat by their blazing camp-fires listening to the +warlike stories of the braves and the quaint legends of the medicine +men. There was that in the blood of Mayne Reid which fitted him to lead +this life at this time, and whether he knew it or not it educated his +genius as no other life could have done. It familiarized him with a +large extent of country in the South and West; it introduced him to men +and manners which existed nowhere else; and it revealed to him the +secrets of Indian life and character. + +There was another side, however, to Mayne Reid than that we have touched +upon, and this, at the end of five years, drew him back to the average +life of his kind. We find him next in Philadelphia, where he began to +contribute stories and sketches of travel to the newspapers and +magazines. Philadelphia was then the most literate city in the United +States, the one in which a clever writer was at once encouraged and +rewarded. Frank and warm-hearted, he made many friends there among +journalists and authors. One of these friends was Edgar Allan Poe, whom +he often visited at his home in Spring Garden, and concerning whom years +after, when he was dead, he wrote with loving tenderness. + +The next episode in the career of Mayne Reid was not what one would +expect from a man of letters, though it was just what might have been +expected from a man of his temperament and antecedents. It grew out of +the time, which was warlike, and it drove him into the army with which +the United States speedily crushed the forces of the sister +Republic--Mexico. He obtained a commission, and served throughout the +war with great bravery and distinction. This stormy episode ended with a +severe wound, which he received in storming the heights of +Chapultepec--a terrible battle which practically ended the war. + +A second episode of a similar character, but with a more fortunate +conclusion, occurred about four years later. It grew out of another war, +which, happily for us, was not on our borders, but in the heart of +Europe, where the Hungarian race had risen in insurrection against the +hated power of Austria. Their desperate valor in the face of tremendous +odds excited the sympathy of the American people, and fired the heart of +Captain Mayne Reid, who buckled on his sword once more, and sailed from +New York with a body of volunteers to aid the Hungarians in their +struggles for independence. They were too late, for hardly had they +reached Paris before they learned that all was over: Goergey had +surrendered at Arad, and Hungary was crushed. They were at once +dismissed, and Captain Reid betook himself to London. + +The life of the Mayne Reid in whom we are most interested--Mayne Reid, +the author--began at this time, when he was in his thirty-first year, +and ended only on the day of his death, October 21, 1883. It covered +one-third of a century, and was, when compared with that which had +preceded it, uneventful, if not devoid of incident. There is not much +that needs be told--not much, indeed, that can be told--in the life of a +man of letters like Captain Mayne Reid. It is written in his books. +Mayne Reid was one of the best known authors of his time--differing in +this from many authors who are popular without being known--and in the +walk of fiction which he discovered for himself he is an acknowledged +master. His reputation did not depend upon the admiration of the +millions of young people who read his books, but upon the judgment of +mature critics, to whom his delineations of adventurous life were +literature of no common order. His reputation as a story-teller was +widely recognized on the Continent, where he was accepted as an +authority in regard to the customs of the pioneers and the guerilla +warfare of the Indian tribes, and was warmly praised for his freshness, +his novelty, and his hardy originality. The people of France and Germany +delighted in this soldier-writer. "There was not a word in his books +which a school-boy could not safely read aloud to his mother and +sisters." So says a late English critic, to which another adds, that if +he has somewhat gone out of fashion of late years, the more's the pity +for the school-boy of the period. What Defoe is in Robinson +Crusoe--realistic idyl of island solitude--that, in his romantic stories +of wilderness life, is his great scholar, Captain Mayne Reid. + +R. H. Stoddard. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +I The Land of the Slave + +II. Types of the Triple Kingdom + +III. The Serpent's Tongue + +IV. 'Ware the Tide! + +V. A False Guide + +VI. Wade or Swim? + +VII. A Compulsory Parting + +VIII. Safe Ashore + +IX. Uncomfortable Quarters + +XI. 'Ware the Sand! + +XII. A Mysterious Nightmare + +XIII. The Maherry + +XIV. A Liquid Breakfast + +XV. The Sailor among the Shell-fish + +XVI. Keeping under Cover + +XVII. The Trail on the Sand + +XVIII. The "Desert Ship" + +XIX. Homeward Bound + +XX. The Dance Interrupted + +XXI. A Serio-Comical Reception + +XXII. The Two Sheiks + +XXIII. Sailor Bill Beshrewed + +XXIV. Starting on the Track + +XXV. Bill to be Abandoned + +XXVI. A Cautious Retreat + +XXVII. A Queer Quadruped + +XXVIII. The Hue and Cry + +XXIX. A Subaqueous Asylum + +XXX. The Pursuers Nonplussed + +XXXI. A Double Predicament + +XXXII. Once more the mocking Laugh + +XXXIII. A Cunning Sheik + +XXXIV. A Queer Encounter + +XXXV. Holding on to the Hump + +XXXVI. Our Adventures in Undress + +XXXVII. The Captives in Conversation + +XXXVIII. The Douar at Dawn + +XXXIX. An Obstinate Dromedary + +XL. Watering the Camels + +XLI. A Squabble between the Sheiks + +XLII. The Trio Staked + +XLIII. Golah + +XLIV. A Day of Agony + +XLV. Colin in Luck + +XLVI. Sailor Bill's Experiment + +XLVII. An Unjust Reward + +XLVIII. The Waterless Well + +XLIX. The Well + +L. A Momentous Inquiry + +LI. A Living Grave + +LII. The Sheik's Plan of Revenge + +LIII. Captured Again + +LIV. An Unfaithful Wife + +LV. Two Faithful Wives + +LVI. Fatima's Fate + +LVII. Further Defection + +LVIII. A Call for Two More + +LIX. Once More by the Sea + +LX. Golah Calls Again + +LXI. Sailor Bill Standing Sentry + +LXII. Golah Fulfils his Destiny + +LXIII. On the Edge of the Saaera + +LXIV. The Rival Wreckers + +LXV. Another White Slave + +LXVI. Sailor Bill's Brother + +LXVII. A Living Stream + +LXVIII. The Arabs at Home + +LXIX. Work or Die + +LXX. Victory! + +LXXI. Sold Again + +LXXII. Onward Once More + +LXXIII. Another Bargain + +LXXIV. More Torture + +LXXV. En Route + +LXXVI. Hope Deferred + +LXXVII. El Hajji + +LXXVIII. Bo Muzem's Journey + +LXXIX. Rais Mourad + +LXXX. Bo Muzem Back Again + +LXXXI. A Pursuit + +LXXXII. Moorish Justice + +LXXXIII. The Jew's Leap + +LXXXIV. Conclusion + + + + +THE BOY SLAVES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE LAND OF THE SLAVE. + + +Land of Ethiope! whose burning centre seems unapproachable as the frozen +Pole! + +Land of the unicorn and the lion,--of the crouching panther and the +stately elephant,--of the camel, the camelopard, and the camel-bird! +land of the antelopes,--of the wild gemsbok, and the gentle +gazelle,--land of the gigantic crocodile and huge river-horse,--land +teeming with animal life, and last in the list of my apostrophic +appellations,--last, and that which must grieve the heart to pronounce +it,--land of the slave! + +Ah! little do men think while thus hailing thee, how near may be the +dread doom to their own hearths and homes! Little dream they, while +expressing their sympathy,--alas! too often, as of late shown in +England, a hypocritical utterance,--little do they suspect, while glibly +commiserating the lot of thy sable-skinned children, that hundreds--aye, +thousands--of their own color and kindred are held within thy confines, +subject to a lot even lowlier than these,--a fate far more fearful. + +Alas! it is even so. While I write, the proud Caucasian,--despite his +boasted superiority of intellect,--despite the whiteness of his +skin,--may be found by hundreds in the unknown interior, wretchedly +toiling, the slave not only of thy oppressors, but the slave of thy +slaves! + +Let us lift that curtain, which shrouds thy great Saaera, and look upon +some pictures that should teach the son of Shem, while despising his +brothers Ham and Japhet, that he is not yet master of the world. + + * * * * * + +Dread is that shore between Susa and Senegal, on the western edge of +Africa,--by mariners most dreaded of any other in the world. The very +thought of it causes the sailor to shiver with affright. And no wonder: +on that inhospitable seaboard thousands of his fellows have found a +watery grave; and thousands of others a doom far more deplorable than +death! + +There are two great deserts: one of land, the other of water,--the Saaera +and the Atlantic,--their contiguity extending through ten degrees of the +earth's latitude,--an enormous distance. Nothing separates them, save a +line existing only in the imagination. The dreary and dangerous +wilderness of water kisses the wilderness of sand,--not less dreary or +dangerous to those whose misfortune it may be to become castaways on +this dreaded shore. + +Alas! it has been the misfortune of many--not hundreds, but thousands. +Hundreds of ships, rather than hundreds of men, have suffered wreck and +ruin between Susa and Senegal. Perhaps were we to include Roman, +Ph[oe]nician, and Carthaginian, we might say thousands of ships also. + +More noted, however, have been the disasters of modern times, during +what may be termed the epoch of modern navigation. Within the period of +the last three centuries, sailors of almost every maritime nation--at +least all whose errand has led them along the eastern edge of the +Atlantic--have had reason to regret approximation to those shores, known +in ship parlance as the Barbary coast; but which, with a slight +alteration in the orthography, might be appropriately styled +"Barbarian." + +A chapter might be written in explanation of this peculiarity of +expression--a chapter which would comprise many parts of two sciences, +both but little understood--ethnology and meteorology. + +Of the former we may have a good deal to tell before the ending of this +narrative. Of the latter it must suffice to say: that the frequent +wrecks occurring on the Barbary coast--or, more properly, on that of the +Saaera south of it--are the result of an Atlantic current setting +eastwards against that shore. + +The cause of this current is simple enough, though it requires +explanation: since it seems to contradict not only the theory of the +"trade" winds, but of the centrifugal inclination attributed to the +waters of the ocean. + +I have room only for the theory in its simplest form. The heating of the +Saaera under a tropical sun; the absence of those influences--moisture +and verdure--which repel the heat and retain its opposite; the ascension +of the heated air that hangs over this vast tract of desert; the colder +atmosphere rushing in from the Atlantic Ocean; the consequent eastward +tendency of the waters of the sea. + +These facts will account for that current which has proved a deadly +maelstrom to hundreds--aye, thousands--of ships, in all ages, whose +misfortune it has been to sail unsuspectingly along the western shores +of the Ethiopian continent. + +Even at the present day the castaways upon this desert shore are by no +means rare, notwithstanding the warnings that at close intervals have +been proclaimed for a period of three hundred years. + +While I am writing, some stranded brig, barque, or ship may be going to +pieces between Bojador and Blanco; her crew making shorewards in boats +to be swamped among the foaming breakers; or, riding three or four +together upon some severed spar, to be tossed upon a desert strand, that +each may wish, from the bottom of his soul, should prove _uninhabited_! + +I can myself record a scene like this that occurred not ten years ago, +about midway between the two headlands above named--Bojador and Blanco. +The locality may be more particularly designated by saying: that, at +half distance between these noted capes, a narrow strip of sand extends +for several miles out into the Atlantic, parched white under the rays of +a tropical sun--like the tongue of some fiery serpent, well represented +by the Saaera, far stretching to seaward; ever seeking to cool itself in +the crystal waters of the sea. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +TYPES OF THE TRIPLE KINGDOM. + + +Near the tip of this tongue, almost within "licking" distance, on an +evening in the month of June 18--, a group of the kind last alluded +to--three or four castaways upon a spar--might have been seen by any eye +that chanced to be near. + +Fortunately for them, there was none sufficiently approximate to make +out the character of that dark speck, slowly approaching the white +sand-spit, like any other drift carried upon the landward current of the +sea. + +It was just possible for a person standing upon the summit of one of the +sand "dunes" that, like white billows, rolled off into the interior of +the continent--it was just possible for a person thus placed to have +distinguished the aforesaid speck without the aid of a glass; though +with one it would have required a prolonged and careful observation to +have discovered its character. + +The sand-spit was full three miles in length. The hills stood back from +the shore another. Four miles was sufficient to screen the castaways +from the observation of anyone who might be straying along the coast. + +For the individuals themselves it appeared very improbable that there +could be any one observing them. As far as eye could reach--east, north, +and south, there was nothing save white sand. To the west nothing but +the blue water. No eye could be upon them, save that of the Creator. Of +His creatures, tame or wild, savage or civilized, there seemed not one +within a circuit of miles: for within that circuit there was nothing +visible that could afford subsistence either to man or animal, bird or +beast. In the white substratum of sand, gently shelving far under the +sea, there was not a sufficiency of organic matter to have afforded food +for fish--even for the lower organisms of _mollusca_. Undoubtedly were +these castaways alone; as much so, as if their locality had been the +centre of the Atlantic, instead of its coast! + +We are privileged to approach them near enough to comprehend their +character, and learn the cause that has thus isolated them so far from +the regions of animated life. + +There are four of them, astride a spar; which also carries a sail, +partially reefed around it, and partially permitted to drag loosely +through the water. + +At a glance a sailor could have told that the spar on which they are +supported is a topsail-yard, which has been detached from its masts in +such a violent manner as to unloose some of the reefs that had held the +sail, thus partially releasing the canvas. But it needed not a sailor to +tell why this had been done. A ship has foundered somewhere near the +coast. There has been a gale two days before. The spar in question, with +those supported upon it, is but a fragment of the wreck. There might +have been other fragments,--others of the crew escaped, or escaping in +like manner,--but there are no others in sight. The castaways slowly +drifting towards the sand-spit are alone. They have no companions on the +ocean,--no spectators on its shore. + +As already stated, there are four of them. Three are strangely +alike,--at least, in the particulars of size, shape, and costume. In +age, too, there is no great difference. All three are boys: the oldest +not over eighteen, the youngest certainly not a year his junior. + +In the physiognomy of the three there is similitude enough to declare +them of one nation,--though dissimilarity sufficient to prove a distinct +provinciality both in countenance and character. Their dresses of dark +blue cloth, cut pea-jacket shape, and besprinkled with buttons of +burnished yellow,--their cloth caps, of like color, encircled by bands +of gold lace,--their collars, embroidered with the crown and anchor, +declare them, all three, to be officers in the service of that great +maritime government that has so long held undisputed possession of the +sea,--midshipmen of the British navy. Rather should we say, had been. +They have lost this proud position, along with the frigate to which they +had been attached; and they now only share authority upon a dismasted +spar, over which they are exerting some control, since, with their +bodies bent downwards, and their hands beating the water, they are +propelling it in the direction of the sand-spit. + +In the countenances of the three castaways thus introduced, I have +admitted a dissimilitude something more than casual,--something more, +even, than what might be termed provincial. Each presented a type that +could have been referred to that wider distinction known as a +nationality. + +The three "middies" astride of that topsail-yard were of course +castaways from the same ship, in the service of the same government, +though each was of a different nationality from the other two. They were +the respective representatives of Jack, Paddy, and Sandy,--or, to speak +more poetically, of the Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle,--and had the three +kingdoms from which they came been searched throughout their whole +extent, there could scarcely have been discovered purer representative +types of each, than the three reefers on that spar, drifting towards the +sand-spit between Bojador and Blanco. + +Their names were Harry Blount, Terence O'Connor, and Colin Macpherson. + +The fourth individual--who shared with them their frail +embarkation--differed from all three in almost every respect, but more +especially in years. The ages of all three united would not have +numbered his: and their wrinkles, if collected together, would scarce +have made so many as could have been counted in the crowsfeet indelibly +imprinted in the corners of his eyes. + +It would have required a very learned ethnologist to have told to which +of his three companions he was compatriot; though there could be no +doubt about his being either English, Irish, or Scotch. + +Strange to say, his tongue did not aid in the identification of his +nationality. It was not often heard; but even when it was, its utterance +would have defied the most accomplished linguistic ear; and neither from +that, nor other circumstance known to them, could any one of his three +companions lay claim to him as a countryman. When he spoke,--a rare +occurrence already hinted,--it was with a liberal misplacement of "h's" +that should have proclaimed him an Englishman of purest Cockney type. At +the same time his language was freely interspersed with Irish "ochs" and +"shures"; while the "wees" and "bonnys," oft recurring in his speech, +should have proved him a sworn Scotchman. From his countenance you might +have drawn your own inference, and believed him any of the three; but +not from his tongue. Neither in his accent, nor the words that fell from +him, could you have told which of the three kingdoms had the honor of +giving him birth. + +Whichever it was, it had supplied to the Service a true British tar: for +although you might mistake the man in other respects, his appearance +forbade all equivocation upon this point. + +His costume was that of a common sailor, and, as a matter of course, his +name was "Bill." But as he had only been one among many "Bills" rated on +the man-o'-war's books,--now gone to the bottom of the sea,--he carried +a distinctive appellation, no doubt earned by his greater age. Aboard +the frigate he had been known as "Old Bill"; and the soubriquet still +attached to him upon the spar. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE SERPENT'S TONGUE. + + +The presence of a ship's topsail-yard thus bestridden plainly proclaimed +that a ship had been wrecked, although no other evidence of the wreck +was within sight. Not a speck was visible upon the sea to the utmost +verge of the horizon: and if a ship had foundered within that field of +view, her boats and every vestige of the wreck must either have gone to +the bottom, or in some other direction than that taken by the +topsail-yard, which supported the three midshipmen and the sailor Bill. + +A ship _had_ gone to the bottom--a British man-of-war--a corvette on her +way to her cruising ground on the Guinea coast. Beguiled by the +dangerous current that sets towards the seaboard of the Saaera, in a dark +stormy night she had struck upon a sand-bank, got bilged, and sunk +almost instantly among the breakers. Boats had been got out, and men had +been seen crowding hurriedly into them; others had taken to such rafts +or spars as could be detached from the sinking vessel: but whether any +of these, or the overladen boats, had succeeded in reaching the shore, +was a question which none of the four astride the topsail-yard were able +to answer. + +They only knew that the corvette had gone to the bottom,--they saw her +go down, shortly after drifting away from her side, but saw nothing more +until morning, when they perceived themselves alone upon the ocean. They +had been drifting throughout the remainder of that long, dark +night,--often entirely under water, when the sea swelled over them,--and +one and all of them many times on the point of being washed from their +frail embarkation. + +By daybreak the storm had ceased, and was succeeded by a clear, calm +day; but it was not until a late hour that the swell had subsided +sufficiently to enable them to take any measures for propelling the +strange craft that carried them. Then using their hands as oars or +paddles, they commenced making some way through the water. + +There was nothing in sight--neither land nor any other object--save the +sea, the sky, and the sun. It was the east which guided them as to +direction. But for it there could have been no object in making way +through the water; but with the sun now sinking in the west, they could +tell the east, and they knew that in that point alone land might be +expected. + +After the sun had gone down the stars became their compass, and +throughout all the second night of their shipwreck they had continued to +paddle the spar in an easterly direction. + +Day again dawned upon them, but without gratifying their eyes by the +sight of land, or any other object to inspire them with a hope. + +Famished with hunger, tortured with thirst, and wearied with their +continued exertions, they were about to surrender to despair; when, as +the sun once more mounted up to the sky, and his bright beams pierced +the crystal water upon which they were floating, they saw beneath them +the sheen of white sand. It was the bottom of the sea, and at no great +depth,--not more than a few fathoms below their feet. + +Such shallow water could not be far from the shore. Reassured and +encouraged by the thought, they once more renewed their exertions, and +continued to paddle the spar, taking only short intervals of rest +throughout the whole of the morning. + +Long before noon they were compelled to desist. They were close to the +tropic of Cancer, almost under its line. It was the season of midsummer, +and of course at meridian hour the sun was right over their heads. Even +their bodies cast no shadow, except upon the white sand directly +underneath them, at the bottom of the sea. + +The sun could no longer guide them; and as they had no other index, they +were compelled to remain stationary, or drift in whatever direction the +breeze or the currents might carry them. + +There was not much movement any way, and for several hours before and +after noon they lay almost becalmed upon the ocean. This period was +passed in silence and inaction. There was nothing for them to talk about +but their forlorn situation, and this topic had been exhausted. There +was nothing for them to do. Their only occupation was to watch the sun, +until, by its sinking lower in the sky, they might discover its +_westing_. + +Could they at that moment have elevated their eyes only three feet +higher, they would not have needed to wait for the declination of the +orb of day. They would have seen land, such land as it was; but, sunk as +their shoulders were almost to the level of the water, even the summits +of the sand dunes were not visible to their eyes. + +When the sun began to go down towards the horizon, they once more plied +their palms against the liquid wave, and sculled the spar eastward. The +sun's lower limb was just touching the western horizon, when his red +rays, glancing over their shoulders, showed them some white spots that +appeared to rise out of the water. + +Were they clouds? No! Their rounded tops, cutting the sky with a clear +line, forbade this belief. They should be hills, either of snow or of +sand. It was not the region for snow: they could only be sand-hills. + +The cry of "land" pealed simultaneously from the lips of all,--that +cheerful cry that has so oft given gladness to the despairing +castaway,--and redoubling their exertions, the spar was propelled +through the water more rapidly than ever. + +Reinvigorated by the prospect of once more setting foot upon land, they +forgot for the moment thirst, hunger, and weariness, and only occupied +themselves in sculling their craft towards the shore. + +Under the belief that they had still several miles to make before the +beach could be attained, they were one and all working with eyes turned +downward. At that moment old Bill, chancing to look up, gave utterance +to a shout of joy, which was instantly echoed by his youthful +companions: all had at the same time perceived the long sand-spit +projecting far out into the water, and which looked like the hand of +some friend held out to bid them welcome. + +They had scarce made this discovery before another of like pleasant +nature came under their attention. That was, that they were _touching +bottom_! Their legs, bestriding the spar, hung down on each side of it; +and to the joy of all they now felt their feet scraping along the sand. + +As if actuated by one impulse, all four dismounted from the irksome seat +they had been so long compelled to keep; and, bidding adieu to the spar, +they plunged on through the shoal water, without stop or stay, until +they stood high and dry upon the extreme point of the peninsula. + +By this time the sun had gone down; and the four dripping forms, dimly +outlined in the purple twilight, appeared like four strange creatures +who had just emerged from out the depths of the ocean. + +"Where next?" + +This was the mental interrogatory of all four: though by none of them +shaped into words. + +"Nowhere to-night," was the answer suggested by the inclination of each. + +Impelled by hunger, stimulated by thirst, one would have expected them +to proceed onward in search of food and water to alleviate this double +suffering. But there was an inclination stronger than either,--too +strong to be resisted,--sleep: since for fifty hours they had been +without any; since to have fallen asleep on the spar would have been to +subject themselves to the danger, almost the certainty, of dropping off, +and getting drowned; and, notwithstanding their need of sleep, increased +by fatigue, and the necessity of keeping constantly on the alert,--up to +that moment not one of them had obtained any. The thrill of pleasure +that passed through their frames as they felt their feet upon _terra +firma_ for a moment aroused them. But the excitement could not be +sustained. The drowsy god would no longer be deprived of his rights; and +one after another--though without much interval between--sank down upon +the soft sand, and yielded to his balmy embrace. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +'WARE THE TIDE!. + + +Through that freak, or law, of nature by which peninsulas are shaped, +the point of the sand-spit was elevated several feet above the level of +the sea; while its neck, nearer the land, scarce rose above the surface +of the water. + +It was this highest point--where the sand was thrown up in a "wreath," +like snow in a storm--that the castaways had chosen for their couch. But +little pains had been taken in selecting the spot. It was the most +conspicuous, as well as the driest; and, on stepping out of the water, +they had tottered towards it, and half mechanically chosen it for their +place of repose. + +[Illustration: 'WARE THE TIDE] + +Simple as was the couch, they were not allowed to occupy it for long. +They had been scarce two hours asleep, when one and all of them were +awakened by a sensation that chilled, and, at the same time, terrified +them. Their terror arose from a sense of suffocation: as if salt water +was being poured down their throats, which was causing it. In short, +they experienced the sensation of drowning; and fancied they were +struggling amid the waves, from which they had so lately escaped. + +All four sprang to their feet,--if not simultaneously, at least in quick +succession,--and all appeared equally the victims of astonishment, +closely approximating to terror. Instead of the couch of soft, dry sand, +on which they had stretched their tired frames, they now stood up to +their ankles in water,--which was soughing and surging around them. It +was this change in their situation that caused their astonishment; +though the terror quick following sprang from quite another cause. + +The former was short-lived: for it met with a ready explanation. In the +confusion of their ideas, added to their strong desire for sleep, they +had forgotten the tide. The sand, dust-dry under the heat of a burning +sun, had deceived them. They had lain down upon it, without a thought of +its ever being submerged under the sea; but now to their surprise they +perceived their mistake. Not only was their couch completely under +water: but, had they slept a few minutes longer, they would themselves +have been quite covered. Of course the waves had awakened them; and no +doubt would have done so half an hour earlier, but for the profound +slumber into which their long watching and weariness had thrown them. +The contact of the cold water was not likely to have much effect: since +they had been already exposed to it for more than forty hours. Indeed, +it was not that which had aroused them; but the briny fluid getting into +their mouths, and causing them that feeling of suffocation that very +much resembled drowning. + +More than one of the party had sprung to an erect attitude, under the +belief that such was in reality the case; and it is not quite correct to +say that their first feeling was one of mere astonishment. It was +strongly commingled with terror. + +On perceiving how matters stood, their fears subsided almost as rapidly +as they had arisen. It was only the inflow of the tide; and to escape +from it would be easy enough. They would have nothing more to do, than +keep along the narrow strip of sand, which they had observed before +landing. This would conduct them to the true shore. They knew this to be +at some distance; but, once there, they could choose a more elevated +couch, on which they could recline undisturbed till the morning. + +Such was their belief, conceived the instant after they had +got upon their legs. It was soon followed by another,--another +consternation,--which, if not so sudden as the first was, perhaps, ten +times more intense. + +On turning their faces towards what they believed to be the land, there +was no land in sight,--neither sand-hills, nor shore, nor even the +narrow tongue upon whose tip they had been trusting themselves! There +was nothing visible but water; and even this was scarce discernible at +the distance of six paces from where they stood. They could only tell +that water was around them, by hearing it hoarsely swishing on every +side, and seeing through the dim obscurity the strings of white froth +that floated on its broken surface. + +It was not altogether the darkness of the night that obscured their +view; though this was of itself profound. It was a thick mist, or fog, +that had arisen over the surface of the ocean, and which enveloped their +bodies; so that, though standing almost close together, each appeared to +the others like some huge spectral form at a distance! + +To remain where they were, was to be swallowed up by the sea. There +could be no uncertainty about that; and therefore no one thought of +staying a moment longer on the point of the sand-spit, now utterly +submerged. + +But in what direction were they to go? That was the question that +required to be solved before starting; and in the solution of which, +perhaps, depended the safety of their lives. + +We need scarce say perhaps. Rather might we say, for certain. By taking +a wrong direction they would be walking into the sea,--where they would +soon get beyond their depth, and be in danger of drowning. This was all +the more likely, that the wind had been increasing ever since they had +laid down to rest, and was now blowing with considerable violence. +Partly from this, and partly by the tidal influence, big waves had +commenced rolling around them; so that, even in the shoal water where +they stood, each successive swell was rising higher and higher against +their bodies. + +There was no time to be lost. They must find the true direction for the +shore, and follow it,--quickly too; or perish amid the breakers! + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A FALSE GUIDE. + + +Which way to the shore? + +That was the question that arose to the lips of all. + +You may fancy it could have been easily answered. The direction of the +wind and waves was landward. It was the sea-breeze, which at night, as +every navigator is aware, blows habitually towards the land,--at least, +in the region of the tropics, and more especially towards the hot Saaera. + +The tide itself might have told them the direction to take. It was the +in-coming tide, and therefore swelling towards the beach. + +You may fancy that they had nothing to do but follow the waves, keeping +the breeze upon their back. + +So they fancied, at first starting for the shore; but they were not long +in discovering that this guide, apparently so trustworthy was not to be +relied upon; and it was only then they became apprised of the real +danger of their situation. Both wind and waves were certainly proceeding +landward, and in a direct line; but it was just this direct line the +castaways dared not--in fact could not--follow; for they had not gone a +hundred fathoms from the point of the submerged peninsula when they +found the water rapidly deepening before them; and a few fathoms further +on they stood up to their armpits! + +It was evident that, in the direction in which they were proceeding, it +continued to grow deeper; and they turned to try another. + +After floundering about for a while, they found shoal water +again,--reaching up only to their knees; but wherever they attempted to +follow the course of the waves, they perceived that the shoal trended +gradually downward. + +This at first caused them surprise, as well as alarm. The former +affected them only for an instant. The explanation was sought for, and +suggested to the satisfaction of all. The sand-spit did not project +perpendicularly from the line of the coast, but in a diagonal direction. +It was in fact, a sort of natural breakwater--forming one side of a +large cone, or embayment, lying between it and the true beach. This +feature had been observed, on their first setting foot upon it; though +at the time they were so much engrossed with the joyous thought of +having escaped from the sea, that it had made no impression upon their +memory. + +They now remembered the circumstance; though not to their satisfaction; +for they saw at once that the guide in which they had been trusting +could no longer avail them. + +The waves were rolling on over that bay--whose depth they had tried, +only to find it unfordable. + +This was a new dilemma. To escape from it there appeared but one way. +They must keep their course along the combing of the peninsula--if they +could. But their ability to do so had now become a question--each +instant growing more difficult to answer. + +They were no longer certain that they were on the spit; but, whether or +not, they could find no shallower water by trying on either side. Each +way they went it seemed to deepen; and even if they stood still but for +a few moments, as they were compelled to do while hesitating as to their +course--the water rose perceptibly upon their limbs. + +They were now well aware that they had two enemies to contend with--time +and direction. The loss of either one or the other might end in their +destruction. A wrong direction would lead them into deep water; a waste +of time would bring deep water around them. The old adage about time and +tide--which none of them could help having heard--might have been +ringing in their ears at that moment. It was appropriate to the +occasion. + +They thought of it; and the thought filled them with apprehension. From +the observations they had made before sunset, they knew that the shore +could not be near--not nearer than three miles--perhaps four. + +Even with free footing, the true direction, and a clear view of the +path, it might have been a question about time. They all knew enough of +the sea to be aware how rapidly the tide sets in--especially on some +foreign shores--and there was nothing to assure them that the seaboard +of the Saaera was not beset by the most treacherous of tides. On the +contrary, it was just this--a tidal current--that had forced their +vessel among the breakers, causing them to become what they now +were,--castaways! + +They had reason to dread the tides of the Saaera's shore; and dread them +they did,--their fears at each moment becoming stronger as they felt the +dark waters rising higher and higher around them. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +WADE OR SWIM? + + +For a time they floundered on,--the old sailor in the lead, the three +boys strung out in a line after him. Sometimes they departed from this +formation,--one or another trying towards the flank for shallower water. + +Already it clasped them by the thighs; and just in proportion as it rose +upon their bodies, did their spirits become depressed. They knew that +they were following the crest of the sand-spit. They knew it by the +deepening of the sea on each side of them; but they had by this time +discovered another index to their direction. Old Bill had kept his +"weather-eye" upon the waves; until he had discovered the angle at which +they broke over the "bar," and could follow the "combing" of the spit, +as he called it, without much danger of departure from the true path. + +It was not the _direction_ that troubled their thoughts any longer; but +the _time_ and the _tide_. + +Up to their waists in water, their progress could not be otherwise than +slow. The time would not have signified could they have been sure of the +tide,--that is, sure of its not rising higher. + +Alas! they could not be in doubt about this. On the contrary, they were +too well assured that it _was_ rising higher; and with a rapidity that +threatened soon to submerge them under its merciless swells. These came +slowly sweeping along, in the diagonal direction,--one succeeding the +other, and each new one striking higher up upon the bodies of the now +exhausted waders. + +On they floundered despite their exhaustion; on along the subaqueous +ridge, which at every step appeared to sink deeper into the water,--as +if the nearer to the land the peninsula became all the more depressed. +This, however, was but a fancy. They had already passed the neck of the +sand-spit where it was lowest. It was not that, but the fast flowing +tide that was deepening the water around them. + +Deeper and deeper,--deeper and deeper, till the salt sea clasped them +around the armpits, and the tidal waves began to break over their heads! + +There seemed but one way open to their salvation,--but one course by +which they could escape from the engulfment that threatened. This was to +forego any further attempt at wading, to fling themselves boldly upon +the waves, and _swim_ ashore! + +Now that they were submerged to their necks, you may wonder at their not +at once adopting this plan. It is true they were ignorant of the +distance they would have to swim before reaching the shore. Still they +knew it could not be more than a couple of miles; for they had already +traversed quite that distance on the diagonal spit. But two miles need +scarce have made them despair, with both wind and tide in their favor. + +Why, then, did they hesitate to trust themselves to the quick, bold +stroke of the swimmer, instead of the slow, timid, tortoise-like tread +of the wader? + +There are two answers to this question; for there were two reasons for +them not having recourse to the former alternative. The first was +selfish; or rather, should we call it _self-preservative_. There was a +doubt in the minds of all, as to their ability to reach the shore by +swimming. It was a broad bay that had been seen before sundown; and once +launched upon its bosom, it was a question whether any of them would +have strength to cross it. Once launched upon its bosom, there would be +no getting back to the shoal water through which they were wading; the +tidal current would prevent return. + +This consideration was backed by another,--a lingering belief or hope +that the tide might already have reached its highest, and would soon be +on the "turn." This hope, though faint, exerted an influence on the +waders,--as yet sufficient to restrain them from becoming swimmers. But +even after this could no longer have prevailed,--even when the waves +began to surge over, threatening at each fresh "sea" to scatter the +shivering castaways and swallow them one by one,--there was another +thought that kept them together. + +It was a thought neither of self nor self-preservation; but a generous +instinct, that even in that perilous crisis was stirring within their +hearts. + +Instinct! No. It was a thought,--an impulse if you will; but something +higher than an instinct. + +Shall I declare it? Undoubtedly, I shall. Noble emotions should not be +concealed; and the one which at that moment throbbed within the bosoms +of the castaways, was truly noble. + +There were but three of them who felt it. The fourth could not: _he +could not swim!_ + +Surely the reader needs no further explanation? + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A COMPULSORY PARTING. + + +One of the four castaways could not swim. Which one? You will expect to +hear that it was one of the three midshipmen; and will be conjecturing +whether it was Harry Blount, Terence O'Connor, or Colin Macpherson. + +My English boy-readers would scarce believe me, were I to say that it +was Harry who was wanting in this useful accomplishment. Equally +incredulous would be my Irish and Scotch _constituency_, were I to deny +the possession of it to the representatives of their respective +countries,--Terence and Colin. + +Far be it from me to offend the natural _amour propre_ of my young +readers; and in the present case I have no fact to record that would +imply any national superiority or disadvantage. The castaway who could +not swim was that peculiar hybrid, or _tribrid_, already described; who, +for any characteristic he carried about him, might have been born either +upon the banks of the Clyde, the Thames, or the Shannon! + +It was "Old Bill" who was deficient in natatory prowess: Old Bill the +sailor. + +It may be wondered that one who has spent nearly the whole of his life +on the sea should be wanting in an accomplishment, apparently and +really, so essential to such a calling. Cases of the kind, however, are +by no means uncommon; and in a ship's crew there will often be found a +large number of men,--sometimes the very best sailors,--who cannot swim +a stroke. + +Those who have neglected to cultivate this useful art, when boys, rarely +acquire it after they grow up to be men; or, if they do, it is only in +an indifferent manner. On the sea, though it may appear a paradox, there +are far fewer opportunities for practising the art of swimming than upon +its shores. Aboard a ship, on her course, the chances of "bathing" are +but few and far between; and, while in port, the sailor has usually +something else to do than spend his idle hours in disporting himself +upon the waves. The sailor, when ashore, seeks for some sport more +attractive. + +As Old Bill had been at sea ever since he was able to stand upon the +deck of a ship, he had neglected this useful art; and though in every +other respect an accomplished sailor--rated A.B., No. 1--he could not +swim six lengths of his own body. + +It was a noble instinct which prompted his three youthful companions to +remain by him in that critical moment, when, by flinging themselves upon +the waves, they might have gained the shore without difficulty. + +Although the bay might be nearly two miles in width there could not be +more than half that distance beyond their depth,--judging by the shoal +appearance which the coast had exhibited as they were approaching it +before sundown. + +All three felt certain of being able to save themselves; but what would +become of their companion, the sailor? + +"We cannot leave you, Bill!" cried Harry: "we will not!" + +"No, that we can't: we won't!" said Terence. + +"We can't, and won't," asseverated Colin, with like emphasis. + +These generous declarations were in answer to an equally generous +proposal: in which the sailor had urged them to make for the shore, and +leave him to his fate. + +"Ye must, my lads!" he cried out, repeating his proposition. "Don't mind +about me; look to yersels! Och! shure I'm only a weather-washed, +worn-out old salt, 'ardly worth savin'. Go now--off wi' ye at onest! The +water'll be over ye, if ye stand 'eer tin minutes longer." + +The three youths scrutinized each other's faces, as far as the darkness +would allow them. Each tried to read in the countenances of the other +two some sign that might determine him. The water was already washing +around their shoulders; it was with difficulty they could keep their +feet. + +"Let loose, lads!" cried Old Bill; "let loose, I say! and swim richt for +the shore. Don't think o' me; it bean't certain I shan't weather it yet. +I'm the whole av my head taller than the tallest av ye. The tide mayn't +full any higher; an' if it don't I'll get safe out after all. Let loose, +lads--let loose I tell ye!" + +This command of the old sailor for his young comrades to forsake him was +backed by a far more irresistible influence,--one against which even +their noble instincts could no longer contend. + +At that moment, a wave, of greater elevation than any that had preceded +it, came rolling along; and the three midshipmen, lifted upon its swell, +were borne nearly half a cable's length from the spot where they had +been standing. + +In vain did they endeavor to recover their feet. They had been carried +into deep water, where the tallest of them could not touch bottom. + +For some seconds they struggled on the top of the swell, their faces +turned towards the spot from which they had been swept. They were close +together. All three seemed desirous of making back to that dark, +solitary speck, protruding above the surface, and which they knew to be +the head of Old Bill. Still did they hesitate to forsake him. + +Once more his voice sounded in their ears. + +"Och, boys!" cried he, "don't thry to come back. It's no use whatever. +Lave me to my fate, an' save yersels. The tide's 'ard against ye. Turn, +an' follow it, as I tell ye. It'll carry ye safe to the shore; an' if +I'm washed afther ye, bury me on the bache. Farewell, brave +boys,--farewell!" + +To the individuals thus apostrophized, it was a sorrowful adieu; and, +could they have done anything to save the sailor, there was not one of +the three who would not have risked his life over and over again. But +all were impressed with the hopelessness of rendering any succor; and +under the still further discouragement caused by another huge wave, that +came swelling up under their chins, they turned simultaneously in the +water; and, taking the tidal current for their guide, swam with all +their strength towards the shore. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SAFE ASHORE. + + +The swim proved shorter than any of them had anticipated. They had +scarce made half a mile across the bay, when Terence, who was the worst +swimmer of the three, and who had been allowing his legs to droop, +struck his toes against something more substantial than salt water. + +"I' faith!" gasped he, with exhausted breath, "I think I've touched +bottom. Blessed be the Virgin, I have!" he continued, at the same time +standing erect, with head and shoulders above the surface of the water. + +"All right!" cried Harry, imitating the upright attitude of the young +Hibernian. "Bottom it must be, and bottom it is. Thank God for it!" + +Colin, with a similar grateful ejaculation, suspended his stroke, and +stood upon his feet. + +All three instinctively faced seaward--as they did so, exclaiming-- + +"Poor Old Bill!" + +"In troth, we might have brought him along with us!" suggested Terence, +as soon as he had recovered his wind; "might we not?" + +"If we had but known it was so short a swim," said Harry, "it is +possible." + +"How about our trying to swim back? Do you think we could do it?" + +"Impossible!" asserted Colin. + +"What, Colin, you are the best swimmer of us all! Do you say so?" asked +the others, eager to make an effort for saving the old salt, who had +been the favorite of every officer aboard the ship. + +"I say impossible," replied the cautious Colin; "I would risk as much as +any of you, but there is not a reasonable chance of saving him, and +what's the use of trying impossibilities? We'd better make sure that +we're safe ourselves. There may be more deep water between us and the +shore. Let us keep on till we've set our feet on something more like +terra firma." + +The advice of the young Scotchman was too prudent to be rejected; and +all three, once more turning their faces shoreward, continued to advance +in that direction. + +They only knew that they were facing shoreward by the inflow of the +tide, but certain that this would prove a tolerably safe guide, they +kept boldly on, without fear of straying from the track. + +For a while they waded; but, as their progress was both slower and more +toilsome, they once more betook themselves to swimming. Whenever they +felt fatigued by either mode of progression, they changed to the other; +and partly by wading and partly by swimming, they passed through another +mile of the distance that separated them from the shore. The water then +became so shallow, that swimming was no longer possible; and they waded +on, with eyes earnestly piercing the darkness, each moment expecting to +see something of the land. + +They were soon to be gratified by having this expectation realized. The +curving lines that began to glimmer dimly through the obscurity, were +the outlines of rounded objects that could not be ocean waves. They were +too white for these. They could only be the sand-hills, which they had +seen before the going down of the sun. As they were now but knee-deep in +the water, and the night was still misty and dark, these objects could +be at no great distance, and deep water need no longer be dreaded. + +The three castaways considered themselves as having reached the shore. + +Harry and Terence were about to continue on to the beach, when Colin +called to them to come to a stop. + +"Why?" inquired Harry. + +"What for?" asked Terence. + +"Before touching dry land," suggested the thoughtful Colin, "suppose we +decide what has been the fate of poor Old Bill." + +"How can we tell that?" interrogated the other two. + +"Stand still awhile; we shall soon see whether his head is yet above +water." + +Harry and Terence consented to the proposal of their comrade, but +without exactly comprehending its import. + +"What do you mean, Coley?" asked the impatient Hibernian. + +"To see if the tide's still rising," was the explanation given by the +Scotch youth. + +"And what if it be?" demanded Terence. + +"Only, that if it be, we will never more see the old sailor in the land +of the living. We may look for his lifeless corpse after it has been +washed ashore." + +"Ah! I comprehend you," said Terence. + +"You're right," added Harry. "If the tide be still rising, Old Bill is +under it by this time. I dare say his body will drift ashore before +morning." + +They stood still,--all three of them. They watched the water, as it +rippled up against their limbs, taking note of its ebbing and flowing. +They watched with eyes full of anxious solicitude. They continued this +curious vigil for full twenty minutes. They would have patiently +prolonged it still further had it been necessary. But it was not. No +further observation was required to convince them that the tidal current +was still carried towards the shore; and that the water was yet +deepening around them. + +The data thus obtained were sufficient to guide them to the solution of +the sad problem. During that interval, while they were swimming and +wading across the bay, the tide must have been continually on the +increase. It must have risen at least a yard. A foot would be sufficient +to have submerged the sailor: since he could not swim. There was but one +conclusion to which they could come. Their companion must have been +drowned. + +With heavy hearts they turned their faces toward the shore,--thinking +more of the sad fate of the sailor than their own future. + +Scarce had they proceeded a dozen steps, when a shout, heard from +behind, caused them to come to a sudden stop. + +"Avast there!" cried a voice that seemed to rise from out the depths of +the sea. + +"It's Bill!" exclaimed all three in the same breath. + +"'Old on my 'arties, if that's yerselves that I see!" continued the +voice. "Arrah, 'old on there. I'm so tired wadin', I want a short spell +to rest myself. Wait now, and I'll come to yez, as soon as I can take a +reef out of my tops'ls." + +The joy caused by this greeting, great as it was, was scarce equal to +the surprise it inspired. They who heard it were for some seconds +incredulous. The sound of the sailor's voice, well known as it was, with +something like the figure of a human being dimly seen through the +uncertain mist that shadowed the surface of the water was proof that he +still lived; while, but the moment before, there appeared substantial +proof that he must have gone to the bottom. Their incredulity even +continued, till more positive evidence to the contrary came before them, +in the shape of the old man-o'-war's-man himself; who, rapidly splashing +through the more shallow water, in a few seconds stood face to face with +the three brave boys whom he had so lately urged to abandon him. + +"Bill, is it you?" cried all three in a breath. + +"Auch! and who else would yez expect it to be? Did yez take me for 'ould +Neptune risin' hout of the say? Or did yez think I was a mare-maid? Gee +me a grip o' yer wee fists, ye bonny boys. Ole Bill warn't born to be +drowned!" + +"But how did ye come, Bill? The tide's been rising ever since we left +you." + +"Oh!" said Terence, "I see how it is, the bay isn't so deep after all: +you've waded all the way." + +"Avast there, master Terry! not half the way, though I've waded part of +it. There's wather between here and where you left me, deep enough to +dhrown Phil Macool. I didn't crass the bay by wading at all--at all." + +"How then?" + +"I was ferried on a nate little craft--as yez all knows of--the same +that carried us safe to the sand-spit." + +"The spar?" + +"Hexactly as ye say. Just as I was about to gee my last gasp, something +struck me on the back o' the head, making me duck under the wather. What +was that but the tops'l yard. Hech! I was na long in mountin' on to it. +I've left it out there afther I feeled my toes trailin' along the +bottom. Now, my bonny babies, that's how Old Bill's been able to rejoin +ye. Flippers all round once more; and then let's see what sort o' a +shore we've got to make port upon." + +An enthusiastic shake of the hands passed between the old sailor and his +youthful companions; after which the faces of all were turned towards +the shore, still only dimly distinguishable, and uninviting as seen, but +more welcome to the sight than the wilderness of water stretching as if +to infinity behind them. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +UNCOMFORTABLE QUARTERS. + + +The waders had still some distance to go before reaching dry land; but, +after splashing for about twenty minutes longer, they at length stood +upon the shore. As the tide was still flowing in they continued up the +beach; so as to place themselves beyond the reach of the water, in the +event of its rising still higher. + +They had to cross a wide stretch of wet sand before they could find a +spot sufficiently elevated to secure them against the further influx of +the tide. Having, at length, discovered such a spot, they stopped to +deliberate on what was best to be done. + +They would fain have had a fire to dry their dripping garments: for the +night had grown chilly under the influence of the fog. + +The old sailor had his flint, steel, and tinder--the latter still safe +in its water-tight tin box; but there was no fuel to be found near. The +spar, even could they have broken it up, was still floating, or +stranded, in the shoal water--more than a mile to seaward. + +In the absence of a fire they adopted the only other mode they could +think of to get a little of the water out of their clothes. They +stripped themselves to the skin, wrung out each article separately; and +then, giving each a good shake, put them on again--leaving it to the +natural warmth of their bodies to complete the process of drying. + +By the time they had finished this operation, the mist had become +sensibly thinner; and the moon, suddenly emerging from under a cloud, +enabled them to obtain a better view of the shore upon which they had +set foot. + +Landward, as far as they could see, there appeared to be nothing but +white sand--shining like silver under the light of the moon. Up and down +the coast the same landscape could be dimly distinguished. + +It was not a level surface that was thus covered with sand, but a +conglomeration of hillocks and ridges, blending into each other and +forming a labyrinth, that seemed to stretch interminably on all +sides--except towards the sea itself. + +It occurred to them to climb to the highest of the hillocks. From its +summit they would have a better view of the country beyond; and perhaps +discover a place suitable for an encampment--perhaps some timber might +then come into view--from which they would be able to obtain a few +sticks. + +On attempting to scale the "dune," they found that their wading was not +yet at an end. Though no longer in the water, they sank to their knees +at every step, in soft yielding sand. + +The ascent of the hillock, though scarce a hundred feet high, proved +exceedingly toilsome--much more so than wading knee-deep in water--but +they floundered on, and at length reached the summit. + +To the right, to the left, in front of them, far as the eye could reach, +nothing but hills and ridges of sand--that appeared under the moonlight +of a whiteness approaching to that of snow. In fact, it would not have +been difficult to fancy that the country was covered with a heavy coat +of snow--as often seen in Sweden, or the Northern parts of +Scotland--drifted into "wreaths," and spurred hillocks of every +imaginable form. + +It was pretty, but soon became painful from its monotony; and the eyes +of that shipwrecked quartette were even glad to turn once more to the +scarce less monotonous blue of the ocean. + +Inland, they could perceive other sand-hills--higher than that to which +they had climbed--and long crested "combings," with deep valleys +between; but not one object to gladden their sight--nothing that offered +promise of either food, drink, or shelter. + +Had it not been for their fatigue they might have gone farther. Since +the moon had consented to show herself, there was light enough to travel +by; and they might have proceeded on--either through the sand-dunes or +along the shore. But of the four there was not one--not even the tough +old tar himself--who was not regularly done up, both with weariness of +body and spirit. The short slumber upon the spit--from which they had +been so unexpectedly startled--had refreshed them but little; and, as +they stood upon the summit of the sand-hill, all four felt as if they +could drop down, and go to sleep on the instant. + +It was a couch sufficiently inviting, and they would at once have +availed themselves of it, but for a circumstance that suggested to them +the idea of seeking a still better place for repose. + +The land wind was blowing in from the ocean; and, according to the +forecast of Old Bill--a great practical meteorologist,--it promised ere +long to become a gale. It was already sufficiently violent--and chill to +boot--to make the situation on the summit of the dune anything but +comfortable. There was no reason why they should make their couch upon +that exposed prominence. Just on the landward side of the hillock +itself--below, at its base--they perceived a more sheltered situation; +and why not select that spot for their resting place? + +There was no reason why they should not. Old Bill proposed it; there was +no opposition offered by his young companions,--and, without further +parley, the four went floundering down the sloping side of the +sand-hill, into the sheltered convexity at its base. + +On arriving at the bottom, they found themselves in the narrowest of +ravines. The hillock from which they had descended was but the highest +summit of a long ridge, trending in the same direction as the coast. +Another ridge, of about equal height, ran parallel to this on the +landward side. The bases of the two approached so near, that their +sloping sides formed an angle with each other. On account of the abrupt +acclivity of both, this angle was almost acute, and the ravine between +the two resembled a cavity out of which some great wedge had been +cut,--like a section taken from the side of a gigantic melon. + +It was in this re-entrant angle that the castaways found themselves, +after descending the side of the dune, and where they had proposed +spending the remainder of the night. + +They were somewhat disappointed on reaching their sleeping-quarters, and +finding them so limited as to space. In the bottom of the ravine there +was not breadth enough for a bed,--even for the shortest of the +party,--supposing him desirous of sleeping in a horizontal position. + +There were not six feet of surface--nor even three--that could strictly +be called horizontal. Even longitudinally, the bottom of the "gully" had +a sloping inclination: for the ravine itself tended upwards, until it +became extinguished in the convergence of its inclosing ridges. + +On discovering the unexpected "strait" into which they had launched +themselves, our adventurers were for a time nonplussed. They felt +inclined to proceed farther in search of a "better bed," but their +weariness outweighed this inclination; and, after some hesitation, they +resolved to remain in the "ditch," into which they had so unwillingly +descended. They proceeded therefore to encouch themselves. + +Their first attempt was made by placing themselves in a half-standing +position--their backs supported upon the sloping side of one of the +ridges, with their feet resting against the other. So long as they kept +awake, this position was both easy and pleasant; but the moment any one +of them closed his eyes in sleep,--and this was an event almost +instantaneous,--his muscles, relaxed by slumber, would no longer have +the strength to sustain him; and the consequence would be an +uncomfortable collapse to the bottom of the "gully," where anything like +a position of repose was out of the question. + +This vexatious interruption of their slumbers happening repeatedly, at +length roused all four to take fresh counsel as to choosing a fresh +couch. + +Terence had been especially annoyed by these repeated disturbances; and +proclaimed his determination not to submit to them any longer. He would +go in search of more "comfortable quarters." + +He had arisen to his feet, and appeared in the act of starting off. + +"We had better not separate," suggested Harry Blount. "If we do, we may +find it difficult to come together again." + +"There's something in what you say, Hal," said the young Scotchman. "It +will not do for us to lose sight of one another. What does Bill say to +it?" + +"I say, stay here," put in the voice of the sailor. "It won't do to +stray the wan from the t'other. No, it won't. Let us hold fast, thin, +where we're already belayed." + +"But who the deuce can sleep here?" remonstrated the son of Erin. "A +hard-worked horse can sleep standing; and so can an elephant, they say; +but, for me, I'd prefer six feet of the horizontal--even if it were a +hard stone--to this slope of the softest sand." + +"Stay, Terry!" cried Colin. "I've captured an idea." + +"Ah! you Scotch are always capturing something--whether it be an idea, a +flea, or the itch. Let's hear what it is." + +"After that insult to ma kintree," good-humoredly rejoined Colin, "I +dinna know whuther I wull." + +"Come, Colin," interrupted Harry Blount, "if you've any good counsel to +give us, pray don't withhold it. We can't get sleep, standing at an +angle of forty-five degrees. Why should we not try to change our +position by seeking another place?" + +"Well, Harry, as you have made the request, I'll tell you what's just +come into my mind. I only feel astonished it didn't occur to any of us +sooner." + +"Mother av Moses!" cried Terence, jocularly adopting his native brogue; +"and why don't you out with it at wanse?--you Scatch are the thrue +_rid-tape_ of society." + +"Never mind, Colly!" interposed Blount; "there's no time to listen to +Terry's badinage. We're all too sleepy for jesting; tell us what you've +got in your mind." + +"All of ye do as you see me, and, I'll be your bail, ye'll sleep sound +till the dawn o' the day. Good night!" + +As Colin pronounced the salutation he sank down to the bottom of the +ravine, where, stretched longitudinally, he might repose without the +slightest danger of being awakened by slipping from his couch. + +On seeing him thus disposed, the others only wondered they had not +thought of the thing before. + +They were too sleepy to speculate long upon their own thoughtlessness; +and one after the other, imitating the example set them by the young +Scotchman, laid their bodies lengthwise along the bottom of the ravine, +and entered upon the enjoyment of a slumber from which all the +kettle-drums in creation would scarce have awaked them. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +'WARE THE SAND! + + +As the gully in which they had gone to rest was too narrow to permit of +them lying side by side, they were disposed in a sort of lengthened +chain, with their heads all turned in the same direction. The bottom of +the ravine, as already stated, had a slight inclination; and they had, +of course, placed themselves so that their heads should be higher than +their feet. + +The old sailor was at the lower end of this singular series, with the +feet of Harry Blount just above the crown of his head. Above the head of +Harry were the heels of Terence O'Connor; and, at the top of all, +reclined Colin,--in the place where he had first stretched himself. + +On account of the slope of the ground, the four were thus disposed in a +sort of _echelon_ formation, of which Old Bill was the base. They had +dropped into their respective positions, one after the other, as they +lay. + +The sailor had been the last to commit himself to this curious couch; he +was also the last to surrender to sleep. For some time after the others +had become unconscious of outward impressions, he lay listening to the +"sough" of the sea, and the sighing of the breeze, as it blew along the +smooth sides of the sand-hills. + +He did not remain awake for any great length of time. He was wearied, as +well as his young comrades; and soon also yielded his spirit to the +embrace of the god Somnus. + +Before doing so, however, he had made an observation,--one of a +character not likely to escape the notice of an old mariner such as he. +He had become conscious that a storm was brewing in the sky. The sudden +shadowing of the heavens;--the complete disappearance of the moon, +leaving even the white landscape in darkness;--her red color as she went +out of sight;--the increased noise caused by the roaring of the +breakers; and the louder "swishing" of the wind itself, which began to +blow in quick gusty puffs; all these sights and sounds admonished him +that a gale was coming on. + +He instinctively noted these signs; and on board ship would have heeded +them,--so far as to have alarmed the sleeping watch, and counselled +precaution. + +But stretched upon terra firma--not so very firm had he but known +it--between two huge hills, where he and his companions were tolerably +well sheltered from the wind, it never occurred to the old salt, that +they could be in any danger; and simply muttering to himself, "the storm +be blowed!" he laid his weather-beaten face upon the pillow of soft +sand, and delivered himself up to deep slumber. + +The silent prediction of the sailor turned out a true forecast. Sure +enough there came a storm; which, before the castaways had been half an +hour asleep, increased to a tempest. It was one of those sudden +uprisings of the elements common in all tropical countries, but +especially so in the desert tracts of Arabia and Africa,--where the +atmosphere, rarefied by heat, and becoming highly volatile, suddenly +loses its equilibrium, and rushes like a destroying angel over the +surface of the earth. + +The phenomenon that had broken over the arenaceous couch,--upon which +slept the four castaways,--was neither more nor less than a +"sand-storm;" or, to give it its Arab title, a _simoom_. + +The misty vapor that late hung suspended in the atmosphere had been +swept away by the first puff of the wind; and its place was now occupied +by a cloud equally dense, though perhaps not so constant,--a cloud of +white sand lifted from the surface of the earth, and whirled high up +towards heaven,--even far out over the waters of the ocean. + +Had it been daylight, huge volumes, of what might have appeared dust, +might have been seen rolling over the ridges of sand,--here swirling +into rounded pillar-like shapes, that could easily have been mistaken +for solid columns, standing for a time in one place, then stalking over +the summits of the hills, or suddenly breaking into confused and +cumbering masses; while the heavier particles, no longer kept in +suspension by the rotatory whirl, might be seen spilling back towards +the earth, like a sand-shower projected downward through some gigantic +"screen." + +In the midst of this turbulent tempest of wind and sand--with not a +single drop of rain,--the castaways continued to sleep. + +One might suppose--as did the old man-o'-war's-man before going to +sleep--that they were not in any danger; not even as much as if their +couch had been under the roof of a house, or strewn amid the leaves of +the forest. There were no trees to be blown down upon them, no bricks +nor large chimney-pots to come crashing through the ceiling, and crush +them as they lay upon their beds. + +What danger could there be among the "dunes?" + +Not much to a man awake, and with open eyes. In such a situation, there +might be discomfort, but no danger. + +Different however, was it with the slumbering castaways. Over them a +peril was suspended--a real peril--of which perhaps, on that night not +one of them was dreaming--and in which, perhaps, not one of them would +have put belief,--but for the experience of it they were destined to be +taught before the morning. + +Could an eye have looked upon them as they lay, it would have beheld a +picture sufficiently suggestive of danger. It would have seen four human +figures stretched along the bottom of a narrow ravine, longitudinally +aligned with one another--their heads all turned one way, and in point +of elevation slightly _en echelon_--it would have noted that these forms +were asleep, that they were already half buried in sand, which, +apparently descending from the clouds was still settling around them; +and that, unless one or other of them awoke, all four should certainly +become "smoored." + +What does this mean? Merely a slight inconvenience arising from having +the mouth, ears, and nostrils obstructed by sand, which a little +choking, and sneezing, and coughing would soon remove. + +Ask the Highland shepherd who has imprudently gone to sleep under the +"blowin' sna'"; question the Scandinavian, whose calling compels him to +encamp on the open "fjeld"; interrogate Swede or Norwegian, Finn or +Lapp, and you may discover the danger of being "smoored." + +That would be in the snow,--the light, vascular, porous, permeable +snow,--under which a human being may move, and through which he may +breathe,--though tons of it may be superpoised above his body,--the snow +that, while imprisoning its victim, also gives him warmth, and affords +him shelter,--perilous as that shelter may be. + +Ask the Arab what it is to be "smoored" by sand; question the wild +Bedouin of the Bled-el-jereed,--the Tuarick and Tiboo of the Eastern +Desert,--they will tell you it is danger often _death_! + +Little dreamt the four sleepers as they lay unconscious under that swirl +of sand,--little even would they have suspected, if awake,--that there +was danger in the situation. + +There was, for all that, a danger, great as it was imminent,--the +danger, not only of their being "smoored," but stifled, suffocated, +buried fathoms deep under the sands of the Saaera, for fathoms deep will +often be the drift of a single night. + +The Arabs say that, once "submerged" beneath the arenaceous "flood," a +man loses the power to extricate himself. His energies are suspended, +his senses become numbed and torpid--in short, he feels as one who goes +to sleep in a snow-storm. + +It may be true; but, whether or no, it seemed as if the four English +castaways had been stricken with this inexplicable paralysis. Despite +the hoarse roaring of the breakers, despite the shrieking and whistling +of the wind, despite the dust constantly being deposited on their +bodies, and entering ears, mouth, and nostrils,--despite the stifling +sensation one would suppose they must have felt, and which should have +awakened them,--despite all, they continued to sleep. It seemed as if +that sleep was to be eternal! + +If they heard not the storm that raged savagely above them, if they felt +not the sand that pressed heavily upon them, what was there to warn, +what to arouse them from that ill-starred slumber? + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A MYSTERIOUS NIGHTMARE. + + +The four castaways had been asleep for a couple of hours,--that is, from +the time that, following the example of the young Scotchman, they had +stretched themselves along the bottom of the ravine. It was not quite an +hour, however, since the commencement of the sand-storm; and yet in this +short time the arenaceous dust had accumulated to the thickness of +several inches upon their bodies; and a person passing the spot, or even +stepping right over them, could not have told that four human beings +were buried beneath,--that is, upon the supposition that they would have +lain still, and not got startled from their slumbers by the foot thus +treading upon them. + +Perhaps it was a fortunate circumstance for them, that by such a +contingency they might be awakened, and that by such they _were_ +awakened. + +Otherwise their sleep might have been protracted into the still deeper +sleep--from which there is no awaking. + +All four had begun to feel--if any sensation while asleep can be so +called--a sense of suffocation, accompanied by a heaviness of the limbs +and torpidity in the joints,--as if some immense weight was pressing +upon their bodies, that rendered it impossible for them to stir either +toe or finger. It was a sensation similar to that so well known, and so +much dreaded, under the name of _nightmare_. It may have been the very +same; and was, perhaps, brought on as much by the extreme weariness they +all felt, as by the superincumbent weight of the sand. + +Their heads, lying higher than their bodies, were not so deeply buried +under the drift; which, blown lightly over their faces, still permitted +the atmosphere to pass through it. Otherwise their breathing would have +been stopped altogether; and death must have been the necessary +consequence. + +Whether it was a genuine nightmare or no, it was accompanied by all the +horrors of this phenomenon. As they afterwards declared, all four felt +its influence, each in his own way dreaming of some fearful fascination +from which he could make no effort to escape. Strange enough, their +dreams were different. Harry Blount thought he was falling over a +precipice; Colin that a gigantic ogre had got hold of and was going to +eat him up; while the young Hibernian fancied himself in the midst of a +conflagration, a dwelling house on fire, from which he could not get +out! + +Old Bill's delusion was more in keeping with their situation,--or at +least with that out of which they had lately escaped. He simply supposed +that he was submerged in the sea, and as he knew he could not swim, it +was but natural for him to fancy that he was drowning. + +Still, he could make no struggle; and, as he would have done this, +whether able to swim or not, his dream did not exactly resemble the real +thing. + +The sailor was the first to escape from the uncomfortable _incubus_; +though there was but an instant between the awakening of all. They were +startled out of their sleep, one after another, in the order in which +they lay, and inversely to that in which they had lain down. + +Their awakening was as mysterious as the nightmare itself, and scarce +relieved them from the horror which the latter had been occasioning. + +All felt in turn, and in quick succession, a heavy crushing pressure, +either on the limbs or body, which had the effect, not only to startle +them from their sleep, but caused them considerable pain. + +Twice was this pressure applied, almost exactly on the same spot, and +with scarce a second's interval between the applications. It could not +well have been repeated a third time with like exactness, even had such +been the design of whatever creature was causing it; for, after the +second squeeze, each had recovered sufficient consciousness to know he +was in danger of being crushed, and make a desperate effort to withdraw +himself. + +The exclamations, proceeding from four sets of lips, told that all were +still in the land of the living; but the confused questioning that +followed did nothing towards elucidating the cause of that sudden and +almost simultaneous uprising. + +There was too much sneezing and coughing to permit of anything like +clear or coherent speech. The _shumu_ was still blowing. There was sand +in the mouths and nostrils of all four, and dust in their eyes. Their +talk more resembled the jibbering of apes, who had unwisely intruded +into a snuff shop, than the conversation of four rational beings. + +It was some time before any one of them could shape his speech, so as to +be understood by the others; and, after all had at length succeeded in +making themselves intelligible, it was found that each had the same +story to tell. Each had felt two pressures on some part of his person; +and had seen, though very indistinctly, some huge creature passing over +him,--apparently a quadruped, though what sort of quadruped none of them +could tell. All they knew was, that it was a gigantic, uncouth creature, +with a narrow body and neck, and very long legs; and that it had feet +there could be no doubt: since it was these that had pressed so heavily +upon them. + +But for the swirl of the sand-storm, and the dust already in their eyes, +they might have been able to give a better description of the creature +that had so unceremoniously stepped over them. These impediments, +however, had hindered them from obtaining a fair view of it; and some +animal,--grotesquely shaped, with a long neck, body, and legs,--was the +image which remained in the excited minds of the awakened sleepers. + +Whatever it was, they were all sufficiently frightened to stand for some +time trembling. Just awaking from such dreams, it was but natural they +should surrender themselves to strange imaginings; and instead of +endeavoring to identify the odd-looking animal, if animal it was, they +were rather inclined to set it down as some creature of a supernatural +kind. + +The three midshipmen were but boys, not so long from the nursery as to +have altogether escaped from the weird influence which many a nursery +tale had wrapped around them; and as for old Bill, fifty years spent in +"ploughing the ocean" had only confirmed _him_ in the belief, that the +"black art" is not so mythical as philosophers would have us think. + +So frightened were all four, that, after the first ebullition of their +surprise had subsided, they no longer gave utterance to speech, but +stood listening, and trembling as they listened. Perhaps, had they known +the service which the intruder had done for them, they might have felt +gratitude towards it, instead of the suspicion and dread that for some +moments kept them, as if spell-bound, in their places. It did not occur +to any of the party, that that strange summons from sleep--more +effective than the half-whispered invitation of a _valet-de-chambre_, or +the ringing of a breakfast-bell--had in all probability rescued them +from a silent, but certain death. + +They stood, as I have said, listening. There were several distinct +sounds that saluted their ears. There was the "sough" of the sea, as it +came swelling up the gorge; the "whish" of the wind, as it impinged upon +the crests of the ridges; and the "swish" of the sand as it settled +around them. + +All these were the voices of inanimate objects,--phenomena of nature, +easily understood. But, rising above them, were heard sounds of a +different character, which, though they might be equally natural, were +not equally familiar to those who listened to them. + +There was a sort of dull battering,--as if some gigantic creature was +performing a Terpsichorean feat upon the sand-bank above them; but +sharper sounds were heard at intervals,--screams commingled with short +snortings, both proclaiming something of the nature of a struggle. + +Neither in the screams nor the snortings was there anything that the +listeners could identify as sounds they had ever heard before. They were +alike perplexing to the ears of English, Irish, and Scotch. Even old +Bill, who had heard, sometime or other, nearly every sound known to +creation, could not classify them. + +"Divil take thim!" whispered he to his companions, "I dinna know what to +make av it. It be hawful to 'ear 'em!" + +"Hark!" ejaculated Harry Blount. + +"Hish!" exclaimed Terence. + +"Wheesh!" muttered Colin. "It's coming nearer, whatever it may be. +Wheesh!" + +There could be no doubt about the truth of this conjecture; for as the +caution passed from the lips of the young Scotchman, the dull hammering, +the snorts, and the unearthly screams were evidently drawing +nearer,--though the creature that was causing them was unseen through +the thick sand-mist still surrounding the listeners. These, however, +heard enough to know that some heavy body was making a rapid descent +down the sloping gorge, and with an impetuosity that rendered it prudent +for them to get out of its way. + +More by an instinct, than from any correct appreciation of the danger, +all four fell back from the narrow trench in which they had been +standing,--each, as he best could, retreating up the declivity of the +sand-hill. + +Scarce were they able to obtain footing in their new position, when the +sounds they had heard not only became louder and nearer, but the +creature that had been causing them paused close to their feet,--so +close that most of them could have touched it with their toes. + +For all that, not one of the party could tell what it was; and after it +had passed,--on its way down the ravine,--and was once more lost to +their view amid the swirling sand, they were not a bit further advanced +in their knowledge of the strange creature that had come so near +crushing out their existence with its ponderous weight! + +All that they had been able to see was a conglomeration of dark +objects,--resembling the head, neck, body, and limbs of some uncouth +animal,--while the sounds that proceeded from it were like utterances +that might have come from some other world; for certainly they had but +slight resemblance to anything the castaways had ever heard in +this--either upon sea, or land! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE MAHERRY. + + +For some length of time they stood conjecturing,--the boys with clasped +hands,--Old Bill near, but apart. + +During this time, at intervals, they continued to hear the sounds that +had so astonished them--the stamping, the snorts, and the screaming, +though they no longer saw the creature that caused them. + +The sand gully opened towards the sea, in a diagonal direction. It could +not be many yards to the spot, where it debouched upon the level of the +beach; and the creature that had caused them such a surprise--and was +still continuing to occupy their thoughts--must have reached this level +surface: though not to suspend its exertions. Every now and then could +be heard the same repetition of dull noises,--as if some animal was +kicking itself to death,--varied by trumpet-like snorts and agonizing +screams, which could be likened to the cry of no animal upon earth. + +But that the castaways knew they were on the coast of Africa,--that +continent renowned for strange existences,--they might have been even +more disposed to a supernatural belief in what was near them; but as the +minutes passed, and their senses began to return to them, they became +more inclined to think that what they had seen, heard, and _felt_, might +be only some animal--a heavy quadruped--that had trampled over them in +their sleep. + +The chief difficulty in reconciling this belief with the actual +occurrence was the odd behavior of the animal. Why had it gone up the +gorge, apparently _parenti passu_, to come tumbling down again in such a +confused fashion? Why was it still kicking and stumbling about at the +bottom of the ravine,--for such did the sounds proclaim it to be doing? + +No answer could be given to either of these questions; and none was +given, until day dawned over the sand-hills. This was soon after; and +along with the morning light had come the cessation of the simoom. + +Then saw the castaways that creature that had so abruptly awakened them +from their slumbers,--and, by so doing, perhaps, saved their lives. They +saw it recumbent at the bottom of the gorge, where they had so uneasily +passed the night. + +It proved to be--what from the slight glimpse they had got of it, they +were inclined to believe--an animal, and a quadruped; and if it had +presented an uncouth appearance, as it stepped over them in the +darkness, not less so did it appear as they now beheld it, under the +light of day. + +It was an animal of very large size,--in height far exceeding a +horse,--but of such a grotesque shape as to be easily recognizable by +any one who had ever glanced into a picture-book of quadrupeds. The long +craning neck, with an almost earless head and gibbous profile; the great +straggling limbs, callous at the knees, and ending in broad, wide +splitting hooves; the slender hind-quarters, and tiny, tufted +tail,--both ludicrously disproportioned,--the tumid, misshapen trunk; +but, above all, the huge hunch rising above the shoulders, at once +proclaimed the creature to be a dromedary. + +"Och! it's only a kaymal!" cried Old Bill, as soon as the daylight +enabled him to get a fair view of the animal. "What on hearth is it +doin' 'ere?" + +"Sure enough," suggested Terence, "it was this beast that stepped over +us while we were asleep! It almost squeezed the breath out of me, for it +set its hoof right upon the pit of my stomach." + +"The same with me," said Colin. "It sunk me down nearly a foot into the +sand. Ah, we have reason to be thankful there was that drift-sand over +our bodies at the time. If not, the great brute might have crushed us to +death!" + +There was some truth in Colin's observation. But for the covering of +sand,--which acted as a cushion,--and also from that which formed their +couch yielding beneath them, the hoof of the great quadruped might have +caused them a serious injury. As it was, none of them had received any +hurt beyond the fright which the strange intruder had occasioned them. + +The singular incident was yet only half explained. They saw it was a +camel that had disturbed their slumbers; that the animal had been on its +way up the ravine,--perhaps seeking shelter from the sand-storm; but +what had caused it to return so suddenly back down the slope? Above all, +why had it made the downward journey in such a singular manner? Obscure +as had been their view of it, they could see that it did not go on +all-fours, but apparently tumbling and struggling,--its long limbs +kicking about in the air, as if it was performing the descent by a +series of somersaults. + +All this had been mysterious enough; but it was soon explained to the +satisfaction of the four castaways, who, as soon as they saw the camel +by the bottom of the gorge, had rushed down and surrounded it. + +The animal was in a recumbent position,--not as if it had lain down to +rest, but in a constrained attitude, with its long neck drawn in towards +its forelegs, and its head lying low and half-buried in the sand! + +As it was motionless when they first perceived it, they fancied it was +dead,--that something had wounded it above. This would have explained +the fantastic fashion in which it had returned down the slope,--as the +somersaults observed might have been only a series of death struggles. + +On getting around it, however, they perceived that it was not only still +alive, but in perfect health; and its late mysterious movements were +accounted for at a single glance. A strong hair halter, firmly noosed +around its head, had got caught in the bifurcation of one of its +fore-hoofs, where a knot upon the rope had hindered it from slipping +through the deep split. This had first caused it to trip up, and tumble +head over heels,--inaugurating that series of struggles which had ended +in transporting it back to the bottom of the ravine,--where it now lay +with the trailing end of the long halter knotted inextricably around its +legs. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A LIQUID BREAKFAST. + + +Melancholy as was the situation of the self-caught camel, it was a +joyful sight to those who beheld it. Hungry as they were, its flesh +would provide them with food; and thirsting as they were, they knew that +inside its stomach would be found a supply of water! + +Such were their first thoughts as they came around it. + +They soon perceived, however, that to satisfy the latter appetite it +would not be necessary for them to kill the camel. Upon the top of its +hump was a small, flat pad or saddle, firmly held in its place by a +strong leathern band passing under the animal's belly. This proved it to +be a "maherry," or riding camel,--one of those swift creatures used by +the Arabs in their long rapid journeys across the deserts; and which are +common among the tribes inhabiting the Saaera. + +It was not this saddle that gratified the eyes of our adventurers, but a +bag, tightly strapped to it, and resting behind the hump of the maherry. +This bag was of goat-skin, and upon examination was found to be nearly +half-full of water. It was, in fact, the "Gerba," or water-skin, +belonging to whoever had been the owner of the animal,--an article of +camel equipment more essential than the saddle itself. + +The four castaways, suffering the torture of thirst, made no scruple +about appropriating the contents of the bag, and, in the shortest +possible time, it was stripped from the back of the maherry, its stopper +taken out, and the precious fluid extracted from it by all four, in +greedy succession, until its light weight and collapsed sides declared +it to be empty. + +Their thirst being thus opportunely assuaged, a council was next held, +as to what they should do to appease the other appetite. + +Should they kill the camel? + +It appeared to be their only chance; and the impetuous Terence had +already unsheathed his midshipman's dirk, with the design of burying it +in the body of the animal. + +Colin, however, more prudent in counsel, cried to him to hold his +hand,--at least until they should give the subject a more thorough +consideration. + +On this suggestion they proceeded to debate the point between them. They +were of different opinions, and equally divided. Two,--Terence and Harry +Blount,--were for immediately killing the maherry, and making their +breakfast upon its flesh; while the sailor joined Colin in voting that +it should be reprieved. + +"Let us first make use of the animal to help carry us somewhere," urged +the young Scotchman. "We can go without food a day longer. Then, if we +find nothing, we can butcher this beast." + +"But what's to be found in such a country as this?" inquired Harry +Blount. "Look around you! There's nothing green but the sea itself. +There isn't anything eatable within sight,--not so much as would make a +dinner for a dormouse!" + +"Perhaps," rejoined Colin, "when we've travelled a few miles, we may +come upon a different sort of country. We can keep along the coast. Why +shouldn't we find shell-fish,--enough to keep us alive? See,--yonder's a +dark place down upon the beach. I shouldn't wonder if there's some +there." + +The glances of all were instantly directed towards the beach,--excepting +those of Sailor Bill. His were fixed on a different object; and an +exclamation that escaped him--as well as a movement that accompanied +it--arrested the attention of his companions, causing them to turn their +eyes upon him. + +"Shell-fish be blow'd," cried Bill, "here's something better for +breakfast than cowld oysters. Look!" + +The sailor, as he spoke, pointed to an oval-shaped object, something +larger than a cocoa-nut, appearing between the hind legs of the maherry. + +"It's a shemale!" added he, "and's had a calf not long ago. Look at the +'eldher,' and them tits. They're swelled wi' milk. There'll be enough +for the whole of us, I warrant yez." + +As if to make sure of what he said, the sailor dropped down upon his +knees by the hind-quarters of the prostrate camel; and, taking one of +the teats in his mouth, commenced drawing forth the lacteal fluid which +the udder contained. + +The animal made no resistance. It might have wondered at the curious +"calf" that had thus attached himself to its teats; but only at the +oddness of his color and costume; for no doubt it had often before been +similarly served by its African owner. + +"Fust rate!" cried Bill, desisting for a moment to take breath. "Ayqual +to the richest crame; if we'd only a bite av bred to go along wi' it, or +some av your Scotch porritch, Master Colin. But I forgets. My brave +youngsters," continued he, rising up and standing to one side, "yez be +all hungrier than I am. Go it, wan after another: there'll be enough for +yez all." + +Thus invited, and impelled by their hungry cravings, the three, one +after another, knelt down as the sailor had done, and drank copiously +from that sweet "fountain of the desert." + +Taking it in turns, they continued "sucking," until each had swallowed +about a pint and a half of the nutritious fluid when, the udder of the +camel becoming dry, told that her supply of milk was, for the time, +exhausted. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE SAILOR AMONG THE SHELL-FISH. + + +It was no longer a question of slaying the camel. That would be killing +the goose that gave the golden eggs. Though they were still very hungry, +the rich milk had to some extent taken the keen edge off their +appetites; and all declared they could now go several hours without +eating. + +The next question was: where were they to go? + +The reader may wonder that this was a question at all. Having been told +that the camel carried a saddle, and was otherwise caparisoned, it will +naturally be conjectured that the animal had got loose from some owner, +and was simply straying. This was the very hypothesis that passed before +the mind of our adventurers. How could they have conjectured otherwise? + +Indeed it was scarce a guess. The circumstances told them to a certainty +that the camel must have strayed from its owner. The only question was: +where that owner might be found. + +By reading, or otherwise, they possessed enough knowledge of the coast, +on which they had been cast away, to know that the proprietor of the +"stray" would be some kind of an Arab; and that he would be found +living--not in a house or a town--but in a tent; in all likelihood +associated with a number of other Arabs, in an "encampment." + +It required not much reasoning to arrive at these conclusions; and our +adventurers had come to them almost on that instant, when they first set +eyes on the caparisoned camel. + +You may wonder that they did not instantly set forth in search of the +master of the maherry; or of the tent or encampment from which the +latter should have strayed. One might suppose, that this would have been +their first movement. + +On the contrary, it was likely to be their very last; and for sufficient +reasons,--which will be discovered in the conversation that ensued, +after they had swallowed their liquid breakfasts. + +Terence had proposed adopting this course,--that is, to go in search of +the man from whom the maherry must have wandered. The young Irishman had +never been a great reader,--at all events no account of the many +"lamentable shipwrecks on the Barbary coast" had ever fallen into his +hands,--and he knew nothing of the terrible reputation of its people. +Neither had Bill obtained any knowledge of it from books; but, for all +that,--thanks to many a forecastle yarn,--the old sailor was well +informed both about the character of the coast on which they had +suffered shipwreck, and its inhabitants. Bill had the best of reasons +for dreading the denizens of the Saaeran desert. + +"Sure they're not cannibals?" urged Terence. "They won't eat us, any +how?" + +"In troth I'm not so shure av that, Masther Terry," replied Bill. "Even +supposin' they won't ate us, they'll do worse." + +"Worse!" + +"Aye, worse, I tell you. They'd torture us, till death would be a +blissin'." + +"How do you know they would?" + +"Ach, Masther Terry!" sighed the old sailor, assuming an air of +solemnity, such as his young comrades had never before witnessed upon +his usually cheerful countenance; "I could tell yez something that 'ud +convince ye of the truth av what I've been sayin', an' that'll gie ye a +hidear av what we've got to expect if we fall into the 'ands av these +feerocious Ayrabs." + +Bill had already hinted at the prospective peril of an encounter with +the people of the country. + +"Tell us, Bill. What is it?" + +"Well, young masthers, it beant much,--only that my own brother was +wrecked som'ere on this same coast. That was ten years agone. He never +returned to owld Hengland." + +"Perhaps he was drowned?" + +"Betther for 'im, poor boy, if he 'ad. No, he 'adn't that luck. The +crew,--it was a tradin' vessel, and there was tin o' them,--all got safe +ashore. They were taken prisoners as they landed by a lot o' Ayrabs. +Only one av the tin got home to tell the tale; and he wouldn't a 'ad the +chance but for a Jew merchant at Mogador, that found he had rich +relations as 'ud pay well to ransom him. I see him a wee while after he +got back to Hengland; and he tell me what he had to go through, and my +hown brother as well: for Jim,--that be my brother's name,--was with the +tribe as took 'im up the counthry. None o' yez iver heerd o' cruelties +like they 'ad to put up with. Death in any way would be aisy, compared +to what they 'ad to hendure. Poor Jim! I suppose he's dead long ago. +Tough as I be myself, I don't believe I could a stood it a week,--let +alone tin years. Talk o' knockin' about like a Turk's head. They were +knocked about, an' beat, an' bullied, an' kicked, an' starved,--worse +than the laziest lubber as ever skulked about the decks o' a ship. No, +Masther Terry, we mustn't think av thryin' to find the owner av the +beest; but do everythink we can to keep out o' the way av both him and +his." + +"What would you advise us to do, Bill?" + +"I don't know much 'bout where we be," replied the sailor; "but +wheresomever it is, our best plan are to hug by the coast, an' keep +within sight o' the water. If we go innard, we're sure to get lost one +way or t' other. By keepin' south'ard we may come to some thradin' port +av the Portagee." + +"We'd better start at once, then," suggested the impatient Terence. + +"No, Masther Terry," said the sailor; "not afore night. We musn't leave +'eer till it gets dark. We'll 'ave to thravel betwane two days." + +"What!" simultaneously exclaimed the three midshipmen. "Stay here till +night! Impossible!" + +"Aye, lads! an' we must hide, too. Shure as ye are livin' there'll be +somebody afther this sthray kaymal,--in a wee while, too, as ye'll see. +If we ventured out durin' the daylight, they'd be sure to see us from +the 'ills. It's sayed, the thievin' schoundrels always keep watch when +there's been a wreck upon the coast; an' I'll be bound this beest +belongs to some av them same wreckers." + +"But what shall we do for food?" asked one of the party; "we'll be +famished before nightfall! The camel, having nothing to eat or drink, +won't yield any more milk." + +This interrogative conjecture was probably too near the truth. No one +made answer to it. Colin's eyes were again turned towards the beach. +Once more he directed the thoughts of his comrades to the shell-fish. + +"Hold your hands, youngsthers," said the sailor. "Lie close 'eer behind +the 'ill, an' I'll see if there's any shell-fish that we can make a meal +av. Now that the sun's up, it won't do to walk down there. I must make a +crawl av it." + +So saying, the old salt, after skulking some distance farther down the +sand gully, threw himself flat upon his face, and advanced in this +attitude, like some gigantic lizard crawling across the sand. + +The tide was out; but the wet beach, lately covered by the sea, +commenced at a short distance from the base of the "dunes." + +After a ten minutes' struggle, Bill succeeded in reaching the +dark-looking spot where Colin had conjectured there might be shell-fish. + +The old sailor was soon seen busily engaged about something; and from +his movements it was evident, that his errand was not to prove +fruitless. His hands were extended in different directions; and then at +short intervals withdrawn, and plunged into the capacious pockets of his +pea-jacket. + +[Illustration: THE OLD SAILOR SUCCEEDS IN GATHERING SOME SHELL-FISH.] + +After these gestures had been continued for about half an hour, he was +seen to "slew" himself round, and come crawling back towards the +sand-hills. + +His return was effected more slowly than his departure; and it could be +seen that he was heavily weighted. + +On getting back into the gorge, he was at once relieved of his load, +which proved to consist of about three hundred "cockles,"--as he called +the shell-fish he had collected,--and which were found to be a species +of mussel. + +They were not only edible, but delicious,--at least they seemed so to +those who were called upon to swallow them. + +This seasonable supply did a great deal towards allaying the appetites +of all; and even Terence now declared himself contented to remain +concealed, until night should afford them an opportunity of escape from +the monotony of their situation. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +KEEPING UNDER COVER. + + +From the spot, where the camel still lay couched in his "entetherment," +the sea was not visible to one lying along the ground. It was only by +standing erect, and looking over a spur of the sand-ridge, that the +beach could be seen, and the ocean beyond it. + +There would be no danger, therefore, of their being discovered, by any +one coming along the strand--provided they kept in a crouching attitude +behind the ridge, which, sharply crested, like a snow-wreath, formed a +sort of parapet in front of them. They might have been easily seen from +the summit of any of the "dunes" to the rear; but there was not much +likelihood of any one approaching them in that direction. The country +inward appeared to be a labyrinth of sand-hills--with no opening that +would indicate a passage for either man or beast. The camel, in all +probability, had taken to the gorge--guided by its instincts--there to +seek shelter from the sand-storm. The fact of its carrying a saddle +showed that its owner must have been upon the march, at the time it +escaped from him. Had our adventurers been better acquainted with Saaeran +customs, they would have concluded that this had been the case: for they +would have known that, on the approach of a "shuma"--the "forecasts" of +which are well known--the Bedouins at once, and in all haste, break up +their encampments; and put themselves, and their whole personal +property, in motion. Otherwise, they would be in danger of getting +smoored under the settling sand-drift. + +Following the counsels of the sailor--whose desert knowledge appeared as +extensive as if it, and not the sea, had been his habitual home--our +adventurers crouched down in such a way as not to be seen by any one +passing along the beach. + +Scarcely had they placed themselves in this humble attitude, when Old +Bill--who had been keeping watch all the while, with only the upper half +of his head elevated above the combing of the sand-wreath--announced, by +a low exclamation, that something was in sight. + +Two dark forms were seen coming along the shore, from the southward; but +at so great a distance that it was impossible to tell what sort of +creatures they might turn out. + +"Let me have a look," proposed Colin. "By good luck, I've got my glass. +It was in my pocket as we escaped from the ship; and I didn't think of +throwing it away." + +As the young Scotchman spoke, he took from the breast of his dreadnought +jacket, a small telescope,--which, when drawn out to its full extent, +exhibited a series of tubes, _en echelon_, about half a yard in length. +Directing it upon the dark objects,--at the same time taking the +precaution to keep his own head as low down as possible,--he at once +proclaimed their character. + +"They're two bonny bodies," said he, "dressed in all the colors of the +rainbow. I can see bright shawls, and red caps, and striped cloaks. One +is mounted on a horse; the other bestrides a camel,--just such a one as +this by our side. They're coming along slowly; and appear to be staring +about them." + +"Ah, that be hit," said Old Bill. "It be the howners of this 'eer brute. +They be on the sarch for her. Lucky the drift-sand hae covered her +tracks,--else they'd come right on to us. Lie low, Masther Colin. We +mayn't show our heeds over the combin' o' the sand. They'd be sure to +see the size o' a saxpence. We maun keep awthegither oot o' sicht." + +One of the old sailor's peculiarities--or, perhaps, it may have been an +eccentricity--was, that in addressing himself to his companions, he was +almost sure to assume the national _patois_ of the individual spoken to. +In anything like a continued conversation with Harry Blount, his "h's" +were handled in a most unfashionable manner; and while talking with +Terence, the Milesian came from his lips, in a brogue almost as pure as +Tipperary could produce. + +In a _tete-a-tete_ with Colin, the listener might have sworn that Bill +was more Scotch than the young Macpherson himself. + +Colin perceived the justice of the sailor's suggestion; and immediately +ducked his head below the level of the parapet of sand. + +This placed our adventurers in a position at once irksome and uncertain. +Curiosity, if nothing else, rendered them desirous to watch the +movements of the men who were approaching. Without noting these, they +would not be able to tell when they might again raise their heads above +the ridge; and might do so, just at the time when the horseman and the +rider of the maherry were either opposite or within sight of them. + +As the sailor had said, any dark object of the size of a sixpence would +be seen if presented above the smooth combing of snow-white sand; and it +was evident to all that for one of them to look over it might lead to +their being discovered. + +While discussing this point, they knew that some time had elapsed; and, +although the eyes they dreaded might still be distant, they could not +help thinking, that they were near enough to see them if only the hair +of their heads should be shown above the sand. + +They reflected naturally. They knew that these sons of the desert must +be gifted with keen instincts; or, at all events, with an experience +that would enable them to detect the slightest "fault" in the aspect of +a landscape, so well known to them,--in short, that they would notice +anything that might appear "abnormal" in it. + +From that time their situation was one of doubt and anxiety. They dared +not give even as much as a glance over the smooth, snow white sand. They +could only crouch behind it, in anxious expectation, knowing not when +that dubious condition of things could be safely brought to a close. + +Luckily they were relieved from it, and sooner than they had expected. +Colin it was who discovered a way to get out of the difficulty. + +"Ha!" exclaimed he, as an ingenious conception sprang up in his mind. +"I've got an idea that'll do. I'll watch these fellows, without giving +them a chance of seeing me. That will I." + +"How?" asked the others. + +Colin made no verbal reply; but instead, he was seen to insert his +telescope into the sand-parapet, in such a way that its tube passed +clear through to the other side, and of course commanded a view of the +beach, along which the two forms were advancing. + +As soon as he had done so, he placed his eye to the glass, and, in a +cautious whisper, announced that both the horseman and camel-rider were +within his "field of view." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE TRAIL ON THE SAND. + + +The tube of the telescope, firmly imbedded in the sand, kept its place +without the necessity of being held in hand. It only required to be +slightly shifted as the horseman and camel-rider changed place,--so as +to keep them within its field of view. + +By this means our adventurers were able to mark their approach and note +every movement they made, without much risk of being seen themselves. +Each of them took a peep through the glass to satisfy their curiosity, +and then the instrument was wholly intrusted to its owner, who was +thenceforth constantly to keep his eye to it, and observe the movements +of the strangers. This the young Scotchman did, at intervals +communicating with his companions in a low voice. + +"I can make out their faces," muttered he, after a time; "and ugly +enough are they. One is yellow, the other black. He must be a negro,--of +course he is,--he's got woolly hair too. It's he that rides the +camel,--just such another as this that stumbled over us. The yellow man +upon the horse has a pointed beard upon his chin. He has a sharp look, +like those Moors we've seen at Tetuan. He's an Arab, I suppose. He +appears to be the master of the black man. I can see him make gestures, +as if he was directing him to do something. There! they have +stopped,--they are looking this way!" + +"Marcy on us!" muttered old Bill, "if they have speered the glass!" + +"Troth! that's like enough," said Terence. "It'll be flashing in the sun +outside the sand. That sharp-eyed Arab is almost sure to see it." + +"Had you not better draw it in?" suggested Harry Blount. + +"True," answered Colin. "But I fear it would be too late now. If that's +what halted them, it's all over with us, so far as hiding goes." + +"Slip it in, any how. If they don't see it any more, they mayn't come +quite up to the ridge." + +Colin was about to follow the advice thus offered, when on taking what +he intended to be a last squint through the telescope, he perceived that +the travellers were moving on up the beach, as if they had seen nothing +that called upon them to deviate from their course. + +Fortunately for the four "stowaways," it was not the sparkle of the lens +that had caused them to make that stop. A ravine, or opening through the +sand-ridges, much larger than that in which our adventurers were +concealed, _emboucheed_ upon the beach, some distance below. It was the +appearance of this opening that had attracted the attention of the two +mounted men; and from their gestures Colin could tell they were talking +about it, as if undecided whether to go that way or keep on up the +strand. + +It ended by the yellow man putting spurs to his horse, and galloping off +up the ravine, followed by the black man on the camel. + +From the way in which both behaved,--keeping their eyes generally bent +upon the ground, but at intervals gazing about over the country,--it was +evident they were in search of something, and this would be the +she-camel that lay tethered in the bottom of the sand-gorge, close to +the spot occupied by our adventurers. + +"They've gone off on the wrong track," said Colin, taking his eye from +the glass as soon as the switch tail of the maherry disappeared behind +the slope of a sand-dune. "So much the better for us. My heart was at my +mouth just a minute ago. I was sure it was all over with us." + +"You think they haven't seen the shine of the lens?" interrogated Harry. + +"Of course not; or else they'd have come on to examine it. Instead, +they've left the beach altogether. They've gone inland, among the hills. +They're no longer in sight." + +"Good!" ejaculated Terence, raising his head over the ridge, as did also +the others. + +"Och! good yez may well say, Masther Terence. Jist look fwhot fools +we've been all four av us! We never thought av the thracks, nayther wan +nor other av us!" + +As Bill spoke, he pointed down towards the beach, in the direction in +which he had made his late crawling excursion. There, distinctly +traceable in the half-wet sand, were the marks he had made both going +and returning, as if a huge tortoise or crocodile had been dragging +itself over the ground. + +The truth of his words was apparent to all. It was chance and not their +cunning that had saved them from discovery. Had the owner of the camel +but continued another hundred yards along the beach, he could not have +failed to see the double "trail" made by the sailor, and of course would +have followed it to the spot where they were hidden. As it was, the two +mounted men had not come near enough to note the sign made by the old +salt in his laborious flounderings; and perhaps fancying they had +followed the strand far enough, they had struck off into the +interior,--through the opening of the sand-hills, in the belief that the +she-camel might have done the same. + +Whatever may have been their reason, they were now gone out of sight, +and the long stretch of desert shore was once more under the eyes of our +adventurers, unrelieved by the appearance of anything that might be +called a living creature. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE "DESERT SHIP." + + +Though there was now nothing within sight between them, they did not +think it prudent to move out of the gorge, nor even to raise their heads +above the level of the sand-wreath. They did so only at intervals, to +assure themselves that the "coast was clear"; and satisfied on this +score, they would lower their heads again, and remain in this attitude +of concealment. + +One with but slight knowledge of the circumstances--or with the country +in which they were--might consider them over-cautious in acting thus, +and might fancy that in their forlorn, shipwrecked condition they should +have been but too glad to meet men. + +On the contrary, a creature of their own shape was the last thing they +desired either to see or encounter; and for the reasons already given in +their conversation, they could meet no men there who would not be their +enemies,--worse than that, their tyrants, perhaps their torturers. Old +Bill was sure of this from what he had heard. So were Colin and Harry +from what they had read. Terence alone was incredulous as to the cruelty +of which the sailor had given such a graphic picture. + +Terence, however rash he was by nature, allowed himself to be overruled +by his more prudent companions; and therefore, up to the hour when the +twilight began to em-purple the sea, no movement towards stirring from +their place of concealment was made by any of the party. + +The patient camel shared their silent retreat; though they had taken +precautions against its straying from them, had it felt so inclined, by +tying its shanks securely together. Towards evening the animal was again +milked, in the same fashion as in the morning; and, reinvigorated by its +bountiful yield, our adventurers prepared to depart from a spot, of +which, notwithstanding the friendly concealment it had afforded them, +they were all heartily tired. + +Their preparations were easily made, and occupied scarce ten seconds of +time. It was only to untether the camel and take to the road, or, as +Harry jocosely termed it, "unmoor the desert ship and begin their +voyage." + +Just as the last gleam of daylight forsook the white crests of the +sand-hills, and went flickering afar over the blue waters of the ocean, +they stole forth from their hiding-place, and started upon a journey of +which they knew neither the length nor the ending. + +Even of the direction of that undetermined journey they had but a vague +conception. They believed that the coast trended northward and +southward, and that one of these points was the proper one to head for. +It was almost "heads or tails" which of them they should take; and had +they been better acquainted with their true situation, it might as well +have been determined by a toss-up, for any chance they had of ever +arriving at a civilized settlement. But they knew not that. They had a +belief--the old sailor stronger than the rest--that there were +Portuguese forts along the coast, chiefly to the southward, and that by +keeping along shore they might reach one of these. There were such +establishments it is true--still are; and though at that time there were +some nearer to the point where their ship had been wrecked, none were +near enough to be reached by the starving castaway, however +perseveringly he might travel towards them. + +Ignorant of the impracticability of their attempt, our adventurers +entered upon it with a spirit worthy of success,--worthy of the country +from which they had come. + +For some time the maherry was led in hand, old Bill being its conductor. +All four had been well rested during the day, and none of them cared to +ride. + +As the tide, however, was now beginning to creep up into the sundry +inlets, to avoid walking in water, they were compelled to keep well high +up on the beach; and this forced them to make their way through the soft +yielding sand, a course that required considerable exertion. + +Ore after another now began to feel fatigue, and talk about it as well; +and then the proposal was made, that the maherry--who stepped over the +unsure surface with as much apparent lightness as a cat would have +done--should be made to carry at least one of the party. They could ride +in turns, which would give each of them an opportunity of resting. + +No sooner was the proposition made than it was carried into execution. +Terence, who had been the one to advance it, being hoisted in the hump +of the camel. + +But though the young O'Connor had been accustomed to the saddle from +childhood, and had ridden "across country" on many an occasion, it was +not long before he became satisfied with the saddle of a maherry. The +rocking, and jolting, and "pitching," as our adventurers termed it, from +larboard to starboard, fore and aft, and alow and aloft, soon caused +Terence to sing out "enough"; and he descended into the soft sand with a +much greater desire for walking than the moment before he had had for +riding. + +Harry Blount took his place, but although the young Englishman had been +equally accustomed to a hunting-saddle, he found that his experience +went but a little way towards making him easy on the hump of a maherry; +and he was soon in the mood for dismounting. + +The son of Scotia next climbed upon the back of the camel. Whether it +was that natural pride of prowess which oft impels his countrymen to +perseverance and daring deeds,--whether it was that, or whether it arose +from a sterner power of endurance,--certain it is that Colin kept his +seat longer than either of his predecessors. + +But even Scotch sinews could not hold out against such a tension,--such +a bursting and wrenching and tossing,--and it ended by Colin declaring +that upon the whole he would prefer making the journey upon "Shank's +mare." + +Saying this he slid down from the shoulders of the ungainly animal, +resigning the creature once more to the conduct of Old Bill, who had +still kept hold of the halter. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +HOMEWARD BOUND. + + +The experience of his young companions might have deterred the sailor +from imitating their example; more especially as Bill, according to his +own statement, had never been "abroad" a saddle in his life. But they +did not; and for special reasons. Awkward as the old salt might feel in +a saddle, he felt not less awkward _afoot_. That is ashore,--on _terra +firma_. + +Place him on the deck of a ship, or in the rigging of one, and no man in +all England's navy could have been more secure as to his footing, or +more difficult to dispossess of it; but set sailor Bill upon shore, and +expect him to go ahead upon it, you would be disappointed: you might as +well expect a fish to make progress on land; and you would witness a +species of locomotion more resembling that of a manatee or a seal, than +of a human biped. As the old man-o'-war's-man had now being floundering +full five weeks through the soft shore-sand, he was thoroughly convinced +that a mode of progression must be preferable to that; and as soon as +the young Scotchman descended from his seat, he climbed into it. + +He had not much climbing to do,--for the well-trained maherry, when any +one wished to mount him, at once knelt down,--making the ascent to his +"summits" as easy as possible. + +Just as the sailor had got firmly into the saddle, the moon shone out +with a brilliance that almost rivalled the light of day. In the midst of +that desert landscape, against the ground of snow-white sand, the +figures of both camel and rider were piquantly conspicuous; and although +the one was figuratively a ship, and the other really a sailor, their +juxtaposition offered a contrast of the queerest kind. So ludicrous did +it seem, that the three "mids," disregarding all ideas of danger, broke +forth with one accord into a strain of loud and continuous laughter. + +They had all seen camels, or pictures of these animals; but never before +either a camel, or the picture of one, _with a sailor upon his back_. +The very idea of a dromedary carries along with it the cognate spectacle +of an Arab on its back,--a slim, sinewy individual of swarth complexion +and picturesque garb, a bright burnouse steaming around his body, with a +twisted turban on his head. But a tall camel surmounted by a sailor in +dreadnought jacket and sou'-wester, was a picture to make a Solon laugh, +let alone a tier of midshipmen; and it drew from the latter such a +cachinnation as caused the shores of the Saaera to echo with sounds of +joy, perhaps never heard there before. Old Bill was not angry, he was +only gratified to see these young gentlemen in such good spirits; and +calling upon them to keep close after him, he gave the halter to his +maherry and started off over the sand. + +For some time his companions kept pace with him, doing their best; but +it soon became apparent, even to the sailor himself, that unless +something was done to restrain the impetuosity of the camel, he must +soon be separated from those following afoot. + +This something its rider felt himself incapable of accomplishing. It is +true he still held the halter in his hand, but this gave him but slight +control over the camel. It was not a mameluke bitt--not even a +snaffle--and for directing the movements of the animal the old sailor +felt himself as helpless as if standing by the wheel of a seventy-four +that had unshipped her rudder. Just like a ship in such a situation did +the maherry behave. Surging through the ocean of soft sand, now mounting +the spurs that trended down to the beach, now descending headlong into +deep gullies, like troughs between the ocean waves, and gliding +silently, gently forward as a shallop upon a smooth sea. Such was the +course that the sailor was pursuing. Very different, however, were his +reflections to those he would have indulged in on board a man-o'-war; +and if any man ever sneered at that simile which likens a camel to a +ship, it was Sailor Bill upon that occasion. + +"Avast there!" cried he, as soon as the maherry had fairly commenced +moving. "Shiver my old timbers! what do yez mean, you brute? Belay +there! belay! 'Ang it, I must pipe all 'ands, an' take in sail. Where +the deevil are ye steerin' to? Be jabers, yez may laugh, young +gentlemen, but this ain't a fair weather craft, I tell yez. Thunder an' +ouns! it be as much as I can do to keep her to her course. Hulloo! she's +off afore the wind!" + +As the rider of the maherry gave out this declaration, the animal was +seen suddenly to increase its speed, not only in a progressive ratio, +but at once to double quick, as if impelled by some powerful motive. + +At the same time it was heard to utter a strange cry, half scream, half +snort, which could not have been caused by any action on the part of its +rider. + +It was already over a hundred yards in advance of those following on +foot; but after giving out that startling cry, the distance became +quickly increased, and in a few seconds of time the three astonished +"mids" saw only the shadow of a maherry, with a sailor upon its back, +first dissolving into dim outline until it finally disappeared behind +the sand dunes that abutted upon the beach. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE DANCE INTERRUPTED. + + +Leaving the midshipmen to their mirth, which, however, was not of very +long duration, we must follow Sailor Bill and the runaway camel. + +In reality the maherry had made off with him, though for what reason the +sailor could not divine. He only knew that it was going at the rate of +nine or ten knots an hour, and going its own way; for instead of keeping +to the line of the coast,--the direction he would have wished it to +take,--it had suddenly turned tail upon the sea, and headed towards the +interior of the country. + +Its rider had already discovered that he had not the slightest control +over it. He had tugged upon the hair halter and shouted "Avast!" until +both his arms and tongue were tired. All to no purpose. The camel +scorned his commands, lent a deaf ear to his entreaties, and paid not +the slightest heed to his attempt to pull up, except to push on in the +opposite direction, with its snout elevated in the air and its long +ungainly neck stretched forward in the most determined and provoking +fashion. + +There was not much force in the muscular efforts made to check it. It +was just as much as its rider could do to balance himself on its hump, +which, of course, he had to do Arab-fashion, sitting _upon_ the saddle +as on a chair, with his feet resting upon the back of the animal's neck. +It was this position that rendered his seat so insecure, but no other +could have been adopted in the saddle of a maherry, and the sailor was +compelled to keep it as well as he could. + +At the time the animal first started off, it had not gone at so rapid a +pace but that he might have slipped down upon the soft sand without much +danger of being injured. This for an instant he had thought of doing; +but knowing that while "unhorsing" himself the camel might escape, he +had voluntarily remained on its back, in the hope of being able to pull +the animal up. + +On becoming persuaded that this would be impossible, and that the +maherry had actually made off with him, it was too late to dismount +without danger. The camel was now shambling along so swiftly that he +could not slip down without submitting himself to a fall. It would be no +longer a tumble upon soft sand, for the runaway had suddenly swerved +into a deep gorge, the bottom of which was thickly strewed with boulders +of rock, and through these the maherry was making way with the speed of +a fast-trotting horse. + +Had its rider attempted to abandon his high perch upon the hump, his +chances would have been good for getting dashed against one of the big +boulders, or trodden under the huge hoofs of the maherry itself. + +Fully alive to this danger, Old Bill no more thought of throwing himself +to the ground; but on the contrary, held on to the hump with all the +tenacity that lay in his well-tarred digits. + +He had continued to shout for some time after parting with his +companions; but as this availed nothing, he at length desisted, and was +now riding the rest of his race in silence. + +When was it to terminate? Whither was the camel conducting him? These +were the questions that now came before his mind. + +He thought of an answer, and it filled him with apprehension. The animal +was evidently in eager haste. It was snuffing the wind in its progress +forward; something ahead seemed to be attracting it. What could this +something be but its home, the tent from which it had strayed, the +dwelling of its owner? And who could that owner be but one of those +cruel denizens of the desert they had been taking such pains to avoid? + +The sailor was allowed but little time for conjectures; for almost on +the instant of his shaping this, the very first one, the maherry shot +suddenly round the hip of a hill, bringing him in full view of a +spectacle that realized it. + +A small valley, or stretch of level ground enclosed by surrounding +ridges, lay before him; its gray, sandy surface interspersed by a few +patches of darker color, which the moon, shining brightly from a blue +sky, disclosed to be tufts of tussock-grass and mimosa bushes. + +These, however, did not occupy the attention of the involuntary visitor +to that secluded spot; but something else that appeared in their +midst,--something that proclaimed the presence of human beings. + +Near the centre of the little valley half a dozen dark objects stood up +several feet above the level of the ground. Their size, shape, and color +proclaimed their character. They were tents,--the tents of a Bedouin +encampment. The old man-o'-war's-man had never seen such before; but +there was no mistaking them for anything else,--even going as he was at +a speed that prevented him from having a very clear view of them. + +In a few seconds, however, he was near enough to distinguish something +more than the tents. They stood in a sort of circle of about twenty +yards in diameter, and within this could be seen the forms of men, +women, and children. Around were animals of different sorts,--horses, +camels, sheep, goats, and dogs, grouped according to their kind, with +the exception of the dogs, which appeared to be straying everywhere. +This varied tableau was distinctly visible under the light of a full, +mellow moon. + +There were voices,--shouting and singing. There was music, made upon +some rude instrument. The human forms,--both of men and women,--were in +motion, circling and springing about. The sailor saw they were dancing. + +He heard, and saw, all this in a score of seconds, as the maherry +hurried him forward into their midst. The encampment was close to the +bottom of the hill round which the camel had carried him. He had at +length made up his mind to dismount _coute que coute_; but there was no +time. Before he could make a movement to fling himself from the +shoulders of the animal, he saw that he was discovered. A cry coming +from the tents admonished him of this fact. It was too late to attempt a +retreat, and, in a state of desponding stupor, he stuck to the saddle. +Not much longer. The camel, with a snorting scream, responding to the +call of its fellows, rushed on into the encampment,--right into the very +circle of the dancers; and there amidst the shouts of men, the screeches +of women, the yelling of children, the neighing of horses, the bleating +of sheep and goats, and the barking of a score or two of cur dogs,--the +animal stopped, with such abrupt suddenness that its rider, after +performing a somersault through the air, came down on all-fours, in +front of its projecting snout! + +In such fashion was Sailor Bill introduced to the Arab encampment. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A SERIO-COMICAL RECEPTION. + + +It need scarce be said that the advent of the stranger produced some +surprise among the Terpsichorean crowd, into the midst of which he had +been so unceremoniously projected. And yet this surprise was not such as +might have been expected. One might suppose that an English +man-o'-war's-man in pilot-cloth, pea-jacket, glazed hat, and wide duck +trousers, would have been a singular sight to the eyes of the +dark-skinned individuals who now encircled them--dressed as all of them +were in gay colored floating shawl-robes, slipped or sandalled feet, and +with fez caps or turbans on their heads. + +Not a bit of a singular sight: neither the color of his skin, nor his +sailor-costume, had caused surprise to those who surrounded him. Both +were matters with which they were well acquainted--alas! too well. + +The astonishment they had exhibited arose simply from the _sans facons_ +manner of his coming amongst them; and on the instant after it +disappeared, giving place to a feeling of a different kind. + +Succeeding to the shouts of surprise, arose a simultaneous peal of +laughter from men, women, and children; in which even the animals seemed +to join--more especially the maherry, who stood with its uncouth head +craned over its dismounted rider, and looking uncontrollably comic! + +In the midst of this universal exclamation the sailor rose to his feet. +He might have been disconcerted by the reception, had his senses been +clear enough to comprehend what was passing. But they were not. The +effects of that fearful somersault had confused him; and he had only +risen to an erect attitude, under a vague instinct or desire to escape +from that company. + +After staggering some paces over the ground, his thoughts returned to +him; and he more clearly comprehended his situation. Escape was out of +the question. He was prisoner to a party of wandering Bedouins,--the +worst to be found in all the wide expanse of the Saaeran desert,--the +wreckers of the Atlantic coast. + +The sailor might have felt surprised at seeing a collection of familiar +objects into the midst of which he had wandered. By the doorway of a +tent,--one of the largest upon the ground,--there was a pile of +_paraphernalia_, every article of which was tropical, not of the Saaera, +but the sea. There were "belongings" of the cabin and caboose,--the +'tween decks, and the forecastle,--all equally proclaiming themselves +the _debris_ of a castaway ship. + +The sailor could have no conjectures as to the vessel to which they had +belonged. He knew the articles by sight,--one and all of them. They were +the spoils of the corvette, that had been washed ashore, and fallen into +the hands of the wreckers. + +Among them Old Bill saw some things that had appertained to himself. + +On the opposite side of the encampment, by another large tent, was a +second pile of ship's equipments, like the first, guarded by a sentinel +who squatted beside it: the sailor looked around in expectation to see +some of the corvette's crew. Some might have escaped like himself and +his three companions by reaching the shore on cask, hoop, or spar. If +so, they had not fallen into the hands of the wreckers; or if they had, +they were not in the camp--unless, indeed, they might be inside some of +the tents. This was not likely. Most probably they had all been drowned, +or had succumbed to a worse fate than drowning--death at the hands of +the cruel coast robbers, who now surrounded the survivor. + +The circumstances under which the old sailor made these reflections were +such as to render the last hypothesis sufficiently probable. He was +being pushed about and dragged over the ground by two men, armed with +long curved scimitars, contesting some point with one another, +apparently as to which should be first to cut off his head! + +Both of these men appeared to be chiefs; "sheiks" as the sailor heard +them called by their followers, a party of whom--also with arms in their +hands--stood behind each "sheik"--all seemingly alike eager to perform +the act of decapitation. + +So near seemed the old sailor's head to being cut off, that for some +seconds he was not quite sure whether it still remained upon his +shoulders! He could not understand a word that passed between the +contending parties, though there was talk enough to have satisfied a +sitting of parliament, and probably with about the same quantity of +sense in it. + +Before he had proceeded far, the sailor began to comprehend,--not from +the speeches made, but the gestures that accompanied them,--that it was +not the design of either party to cut off his head. The drawn scimitars, +sweeping through the air, were not aimed at his neck, but rather in +mutual menace of one another. + +Old Bill could see that there was some quarrel between the two sheiks, +of which he was himself the cause; that the camp was not a unity +consisting of a single chief, his family, and following; but that there +were too separate leaders, each with his adherents, perhaps temporarily +associated together for purposes of plunder. + +That they had collected the wreck of the corvette, and divided the +spoils between them, was evident from the two heaps being kept carefully +apart, each piled up near the tent of a chief. + +The old man-o'-war's-man made his observations in the midst of great +difficulties: for while noting these particulars, he was pulled about +the place, first by one sheik, then by the other, each retaining his +disputed person in temporary possession. + +From the manner in which they acted, he could tell that it was his +person that was the subject of dispute, and that both wanted to be the +proprietor of it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE TWO SHEIKS. + + +There was a remarkable difference between the two men thus claiming +ownership in the body of Old Bill. One was a little wizen-faced +individual, whose yellow complexion and sharp, angular features +proclaimed him of the Arab stock, while his competitor showed a skin of +almost ebon blackness--a frame of herculean development--a broad face, +with flat nose and thick lubberly lips--a head of enormous +circumference, surmounted by a mop of woolly hair, standing erect +several inches above his occiput. + +Had the sailor been addicted to ethnological speculations, he might have +derived an interesting lesson from that contest, of which he was the +cause. It might have helped him to a knowledge of the geography of the +country in which he had been cast, for he was now upon that neutral +territory where the true Ethiopian--the son of Ham--occasionally +contests possession, both of the soil and the slave, with the wandering +children of Japhet. + +The two men who were thus quarrelling about the possession of the +English tar, though both of African origin, could scarce have been more +unlike had their native country been the antipodes of each other. + +Their object was not so different, though even in this there was a +certain dissimilation. Both designed making the shipwrecked sailor a +slave. But the sheik of Arab aspects wished to possess him, with a view +to his ultimate ransom. He knew that by carrying him northwards there +would be a chance to dispose of him at a good price, either to the Jew +merchants at Wedinoin, or the European consuls at Mogador. It would not +be the first Saaerian castaway he had in this manner restored to his +friends and his country--not from any motives of humanity, but simply +for the profit it produced. + +On the other hand, the black competitor had a different, though somewhat +similar, purpose in view. His thoughts extended towards the south. There +lay the emporium of his commerce,--the great mud-built town of +Timbuctoo. Little as a white man was esteemed among the Arab merchants +when considered as a _mere_ slave, the sable sheik knew that in the +south of the Saaera he would command a price, if only as a curiosity to +figure among the followers of the sultan of some grand interior city. +For this reason, therefore, was the black determined upon the possession +of Bill, and showed as much eagerness to become his owner as did his +tawny competitor. + +After several minutes spent in words and gestures of mutual menace, +which, from the wild shouts and flourishing of scimitars, seemed as if +it could only end in a general lopping off of heads, somewhat to the +astonishment of the sailor, tranquillity became restored without any one +receiving scratch or cut. + +The scimitars were returned to their scabbards; and although the affair +did not appear to be decided, the contest was now carried on in a more +pacific fashion by words. A long argument ensued, in which both sheiks +displayed their oratorial powers. Though the sailor could not understand +a word of what was said, he could tell that the little Arab was urging +his ownership, on the plea that the camel which had carried the captive +into the encampment was his property, and on this account was he +entitled to the "waif." + +The black seemed altogether to dissent from this doctrine; on his side +pointing to the two heaps of plunder; as much as to say that his share +of the spoils--already obtained--was the smaller one. + +At this crisis a third party stepped between the two disputants--a young +fellow, who appeared to have some authority with both. His behavior told +Bill that he was acting as mediator. Whatever was the proposal made by +him, it appeared to satisfy both parties, as both at once desisted from +their wordy warfare--at the same time that they seemed preparing to +settle the dispute in some other way. + +The mode was soon made apparent. A spot of smooth, even sand was +selected by the side of the encampment, to which the two sheiks, +followed by their respective parties, repaired. + +A square figure was traced out, inside of which several rows of little +round holes were scooped in the sand, and then the rival sheiks sat +down, one on each side of the figure. Each had already provided himself +with a number of pellets of camels' dung, which were now placed in the +holes, and the play of "helga" was now commenced. + +Whoever won the game was to become possessed of the single stake, which +was neither more nor less than Sailor Bill. + +The game proceeded by the shifting of the dung pellets in a particular +fashion, from hole to hole, somewhat similar to the moving of draughts +upon the squares of a checker-board. + +During the play not a word was spoken by either party, the two sheiks +squatting opposite each other, and making their moves with as much +gravity as a pair of chess-players engaged in some grand tournament of +this intellectual game. + +It was only when the affair ended, that the noise broke forth again, +which it did in loud, triumphant shouts from the conquering party, with +expressions of chagrin on the side of the conquered. + +By interpreting these shouts, Bill could tell that he had fallen to the +black; and this was soon after placed beyond doubt by the latter coming +up and taking possession of him. + +It appeared, however, that there had been certain subsiding conditions +to the play, and that the sailor had been in some way or another _staked +against his own clothes_; for before being fully appropriated by his +owner he was stripped to his shirt, and his habiliments, shoes and +sou'-wester included, were handed over to the sheik who had played +second-best in the game of "helga." + +In this forlorn condition was the old sailor conducted to the tent of +his sable master, and placed like an additional piece upon the pile of +plunder already apportioned! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +SAILOR BILL BESHREWED. + + +Sailor Bill said not a word. He had no voice in the disposal of the +stakes,--which were himself and his "toggery,"--and, knowing this, he +remained silent. + +He was not allowed to remain undisturbed. During the progress of the +game, he had become the cynosure of a large circle of eyes,--belonging +to the women and children of the united tribes. + +He might have looked for some compassion,--at least, from the female +portion of those who formed his _entourage_. Half famished with +hunger,--a fact which he did not fail to communicate by signs,--he might +have expected them to relieve his wants. The circumstance of his making +them known might argue, that he did expect some sort of kind treatment. + +It was not much, however. His hopes were but slight, and sprang rather +from a knowledge of his own necessities, and of what the women _ought_ +to have done, than what they were likely to do. Old Bill had heard too +much of the character of these hags of the Saaera,--and their mode of +conducting themselves towards any unfortunate castaway who might be +drifted among them,--to expect any great hospitality at their hands. + +His hopes, therefore, were moderate; but, for all that, they were doomed +to disappointment. + +Perhaps in no other part of the world is the "milk of human kindness" so +completely wanting in the female breast, as among the women of the +wandering Arabs of Africa. Slaves to their imperious lords,--even when +enjoying the sacred title of wife,--they are themselves treated worse +than the animals which they have to manage and tend,--even worse at +times than their own bond-slaves, with whom they mingle almost on an +equality. As in all like cases, this harsh usage, instead of producing +sympathy for others who suffer, has the very opposite tendency; as if +they found some alleviation of their cruel lot in imitating the +brutality of their oppressors. + +Instead of receiving kindness, the old sailor became the recipient of +insults, not only from their tongues,--which he could not +understand,--but by acts and gestures which were perfectly +comprehensible to him. + +While his ears were dinned by virulent speeches,--which, could he have +comprehended them, would have told him how much he was despised for +being an infidel, and not a follower of the true prophet,--while his +eyes were well-nigh put out by dust thrown in his face,--accompanied by +spiteful expectorations,--his body was belabored by sticks, his skin +scratched and pricked with sharp thorns, his whiskers lugged almost to +the dislocation of his jaws, and the hair of his head uprooted in +fistfuls from his pericranium. + +All this, too, amid screams and fiendish laughter, that resembled an +orgie of furies. + +These women--she-devils they better deserved to be called--were simply +following out the teachings of their inhuman faith,--among religions, +even that of Rome not excepted, the most inhuman that has ever cursed +mankind. Had old Bill been a believer in their "Prophet," that false +seer of the blood-stained sword, their treatment of him would have been +directly the reverse. Instead of kicks and cuffs, hustlings and +scratchings, he would have been made welcome to a share in such +hospitality as they could have bestowed upon him. It was religion, not +nature, made them act as they did. Their hardness of heart came not from +_God_, but the _Prophet_. They were only carrying out the edicts of +their "priests of a bloody faith." + +In vain did the old man-o'-war's-man cry out "belay" and "avast." In +vain did he "shiver his timbers," and appeal against their scurvy +treatment, by looks, words, and gesture. + +These seemed only to augment the mirth and spitefulness of his +tormentors. + +In this scene of cruelty there was one woman conspicuous among the rest. +By her companions she was called _Fatima_. The old sailor, ignorant of +Arabic feminine names, thought "it a misnomer," for of all his +she-persecutors she was the leanest and scraggiest. Notwithstanding the +poetical notions which the readers of Oriental romance might associate +with her name, there was not much poetry about the personage who so +assiduously assaulted Sailor Bill,--pulling his whiskers, slapping his +cheeks, and every now and then spitting in his face! + +She was something more than middle-aged, short, squat, and meagre; with +the eye-teeth projecting on both sides, so as to hold up the upper lip, +and exhibit all the others in their ivory whiteness, with an expression +resembling that of the hyena. This is considered beauty,--a fashion in +full vogue among her countrywomen, who cultivate it with great +care,--though to the eyes of the old sailor it rendered the hag all the +more hideous. + +But the skinning of eye-teeth was not the only attempt at ornament made +by this belle of the Desert. Strings of black beads hung over her +wrinkled bosom; circlets of white bone were set in her hair; armlets and +bangles adorned her wrists and ankles, and altogether did her costume +and behavior betoken one distinguished among the crowd of his +persecutors,--in short, their sultana or queen. + +And such did she prove; for on the black sheik appropriating the old +sailor as a stake fairly won in the game, and rescuing his +newly-acquired property from the danger of being damaged, Fatima +followed him to his tent with such demonstrations as showed her to be, +if not the "favorite," certainly the head of the harem. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +STARTING ON THE TRACK. + + +As already said, the mirth of the three midshipmen was brought to a +quick termination. It ended on the instant of Sailor Bill's +disappearance behind the spur of the sand-hills. At the same instant all +three came to a stop, and stood regarding one another with looks of +uneasiness and apprehension. + +All agreed that the maherry had made away with the old man-o'-war's-man. +There could be no doubt about it. Bill's shouts, as he was hurried out +of their hearing, proved that he was doing his best to bring to, and +that the "ship of the desert" would not yield obedience to her helm. + +They wondered a little why he had not slipped off, and let the animal +go. They could not see why he should fear to drop down in the soft sand. +He might have had a tumble, but nothing to do him any serious +injury,--nothing to break a bone, or dislocate a joint. They supposed he +had stuck to the saddle, from not wishing to abandon the maherry, and in +hope of soon bringing it to a halt. + +This was just what he had done, for the first three or four hundred +yards. After that he would only have been too well satisfied to separate +from the camel, and let it go its way. But then he was among the rough, +jaggy rocks through which the path led, and then dismounting was no +longer to be thought of, without also thinking of danger, considering +that the camel was nearly ten feet in height, and going at a pitching +pace of ten miles to the hour. To have forsaken his saddle at that +moment would have been to risk the breaking of his neck. + +From where they stood looking after him, the mids could not make out the +character of the ground. Under the light of the moon, the surface seemed +all of a piece,--all a bed of smooth soft sand! For this reason were +they perplexed by his behavior. + +There was that in the incident to make them apprehensive. The maherry +would not have gone off at such a gait, without some powerful motive to +impel it. Up to that moment it had shown no particular _penchant_ for +rapid travelling, but had been going, under their guidance, with a +steady, sober docility. Something must have attracted it towards the +interior. What could that something be, if not the knowledge that its +home, or its companions, were to be found in this direction? + +This was the conjecture that came simultaneously into the minds of all +three,--as is known, the correct one. + +There could be no doubt that their companion had been carried towards an +encampment; for no other kind of settlement could be thought of in such +a place. It was even a wonder that this could exist in the midst of a +dreary, wild expanse of pure sand, like that surrounding them. Perhaps, +thought they, there may be "land" towards the interior of the +country,--a spot of firm soil, with vegetation upon it; in short, an +_oasis_. + +After their first surprise had partially subsided, they took counsel as +to their course. Should they stay where they were, and wait for Bill's +return? Or should they follow, in the hope of overtaking him? + +Perhaps he might _not_ return. If carried into a camp of barbarous +savages, it was not likely that he would. He would be seized and held +captive to a dead certainty. But surely he would not be such a +simpleton, as to allow the maherry to transport him into the midst of +his enemies. + +Again sprang up their surprise at his not having made an effort to +dismount. + +For some ten or fifteen minutes the midshipmen stood hesitating,--their +eyes all the while bent on the moonlit opening, through which the +maherry had disappeared. There were no signs of anything in the +pass,--at least anything like either a camel or a sailor. Only the +bright beams of the moon glittering upon crystals of purest sand. + +They thought they heard sounds,--the cries of quadrupeds mingling with +the voices of men. There were voices, too, of shriller intonation, that +might have proceeded from the throats of women. + +Colin was confident he heard such. He was not contradicted by his +companions, who simply said, they could not be sure that they heard +anything. + +But for the constant roar of the breakers,--rolling up almost to the +spot upon which they stood,--they would have declared themselves +differently; for at that moment there was a chorus being carried on at +no great distance, in a variety of most unmusical sounds,--comprising +the bark of the dog, the neigh of the horse, the snorting scream of the +dromedary, the bleat of the sheep, and the sharper cry of its near +kindred the goat,--along with the equally wild and scarce more +articulate utterances of savage men, women, and children. + +Colin was convinced that he heard all these sounds, and declared that +they could only proceed from some encampment. His companions, knowing +that the young Scotchman was sharp-eared, made no attempt to question +his belief; but, on the contrary, gave ready credence to it. + +Under any circumstances it seemed of no use to remain where they were. +If Bill did not return, they were bound in honor to go after him; and, +if possible, find out what had become of him. If, on the other hand, he +should be coming back, they must meet him somewhere in the +pass,--through which the camel had carried him off--since there was no +other by which he might conveniently get back to them. + +This point determined, the three mids, setting their faces for the +interior of the country, started off towards the break between the +sand-hills. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +BILL TO BE ABANDONED. + + +They proceeded with caution,--Colin even more than his companions. The +young Englishman was not so distrustful of the "natives," whoever they +might be, as the son of Scotia; and as for O'Connor, he still persisted +in the belief that there would be little, if any, danger in meeting with +men, and, in his arguments, still continued to urge seeking such an +encounter as the best course they could pursue. + +"Besides," said Terence, "Coly says he hears the voices of women and +children. Sure no human creature that's got a woman and child in his +company would be such a cruel brute as you make out this desert +Ethiopian to be? Sailors' stories, to gratify the melodramatic ears of +Moll and Poll and Sue! Bah! if there be an encampment, let's go straight +into it, and demand hospitality of them. Sure they must be Arabs; and +sure you've heard enough of Arab hospitality?" + +"More than's true, Terry," rejoined the young Englishman. "More than's +true, I fear." + +"You may well say that," said Colin, confirmingly. "From what I've heard +and read,--ay, and from something I've seen while up the +Mediterranean,--a more beggarly hospitality than that called Arab don't +exist on the face of the earth. It's all well enough, so long as you are +one of themselves, and, like them, a believer in their pretended +prophet. Beyond that, an Arab has got no more hospitality than a hyena. +You're both fond of talking about skin-flint Scotchmen." + +"True," interrupted Terence, who, even in that serious situation, could +not resist such a fine opportunity for displaying his Irish humor. "I +never think of a Scotchman without thinking of his skin. 'God bless the +gude Duke of Argyle!'" + +"Shame, Terence!" interrupted Harry Blount; "our situation is too +serious for jesting." + +"He--all of us--may find it so before long," continued Colin, preserving +his temper unruffled. "If that yelling crowd--that I can now hear +plainer than ever--should come upon us, we'll have something else to +think of than jokes about 'gude Duke o' Argyle.' Hush! Do you hear that? +Does it convince you that men and women are near? There are scores of +both kinds." + +Colin had come to a stop, the others imitating his example. They were +now more distant from the breakers,--whose roar was somewhat deadened by +the intervention of a sand-spur. In consequence, the other sounds were +heard more distinctly. They could no longer be mistaken,--even by the +incredulous O'Connor. + +There were voices of men, women, and children,--cries and calls of +quadrupeds,--each according to its own kind, all mingled together in +what might have been taken for some nocturnal saturnalia of the Desert. + +The crisis was that in which Sailor Bill had become a subject of dispute +between the two sheiks,--in which not only their respective followers of +the biped kind appeared to take part, but also every quadruped in the +camp,--dogs and dromedaries, horses, goats, and sheep,--as if each had +an interest in the ownership of the old man-o'-war's-man. + +The grotesque chorus was succeeded by an interval of silence, +uninterrupted and profound. This was while the two sheiks were playing +their game of "helga,"--the "chequers" of the Saaera, with Sailor Bill as +their stake. + +During this tranquil interlude, the three midshipmen had advanced +through the rock-strewn ravine, had crept cautiously inside the ridges +that encircled the camp, and concealed by the sparse bushes of mimosa, +and favored by the light of a full moon, had approached near enough to +take note of what was passing among the tents. + +What they saw there, and then, was confirmatory of the theory of the +young Scotchman; and convinced not only Harry Blount, but Terence +O'Connor, that the stories of Arab hospitality were not only untrue, but +diametrically opposed to the truth. + +There was old Bill before their faces, stripped to the shirt,--to the +"buff,"--surrounded by a circle of short, squat women, dark-skinned, +with black hair, and eyes sparkling in the moonlight, who were torturing +him with tongue and touch,--who pinched and spat upon him,--who looked +altogether like a band of infernal Furies collected around some innocent +victim that had fallen among them, and giving full play to their +fiendish instincts! + +Although they were witnesses to the subsequent rescue of Bill by the +black sheik,--and the momentary release of the old sailor from his +tormentors,--it did not increase their confidence in the crew who +occupied the encampment. + +From the way in which the old salt appeared to be treated, they could +tell that he was regarded by the hosts into whose hands he had fallen, +not as a guest, but simply as a "piece of goods,"--just like any other +waif of the wreck that had been washed on that inhospitable shore. + +In whispers the three mids made known their thoughts to one another. +Harry Blount no longer doubted the truth of Colin's statements; and +O'Connor had become equally converted from his incredulity. The conduct +of the women towards the unfortunate castaway--which all three +witnessed--told like the tongue of a trumpet. It was cruel beyond +question. What, when exercised, must be that of their men? + +To think of leaving their old comrade in such keeping was not a pleasant +reflection. It was like their abandoning him upon the sand-spit,--to the +threatening engulfment of the tide. Even worse: for the angry breakers +seemed less spiteful than the hags who surrounded him in the Arab camp. + +Still, what could the boys do? Three midshipmen,--armed only with their +tiny dirks,--what chance would they have among so many? There were +scores of these sinewy sons of the Desert,--without counting the +shrewish women,--each armed with gun and scimitar, any one of whom ought +to have been more than a match for a "mid." It would have been sheer +folly to have attempted a rescue. Despair only could have sanctioned +such a course. + +In a whispered consultation it was determined otherwise. The old sailor +must be abandoned to his fate, just as he had been left upon the +sand-spit. His youthful companions could only breathe a prayer in his +behalf, and express a hope that, as upon the latter occasion, some +providential chance should turn up in his favor, and he might again be +permitted to rejoin them. + +After communicating this hope to one another, all three turned their +faces shoreward, determined to put as much space between themselves and +the Arab encampment as night and circumstances would permit. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +A CAUTIOUS RETREAT. + + +The ravine, up which the maherry had carried the old man-o'-war's-man, +ran perpendicularly to the trending of the seashore, and almost in a +direct line from the beach to the valley, in which was the Arab +encampment. It could not, however, be said to debouch into this valley. +Across its mouth the sand-drift had formed a barrier, like a huge +"snow-wreath," uniting the two parallel ridges that formed the sides of +the ravine itself. This "mouth-piece" was not so high as either of the +flanking ridges; though it was nearly a hundred feet above the level of +the beach on one side, and the valley on the other. Its crest, viewed +_en profile_, exhibited a saddle-shaped curve, the concavity turned +upward. + +Through the centre of this saddle of sand, and transversely, the camel +had carried Bill; and over the same track the three midshipmen had gone +in search of him. + +They had seen the Arab tents from the summit of the "pass"; and had it +been daylight, need have gone no nearer to note what was being there +done. Even by the moonlight, they had been able to make out the forms of +the horses, camels, men, and women; but not with sufficient distinctness +to satisfy them as to what was going on. + +For this reason had they descended into the valley,--creeping cautiously +down the slope of the sand-wreath, and with equal caution advancing from +boulder to bush, and bush to boulder. + +On taking the back track to regain the beach, they still observed +caution,--though perhaps not to such a degree as when approaching the +camp. Their desire to put space between themselves and the barbarous +denizens of the Desert,--of whose barbarity they had now obtained both +ocular and auricular proof,--had very naturally deprived them of that +prudent coolness which the occasion required. For all that, they did not +retreat with reckless rashness; and all three arrived at the bottom of +the sloping sand-ridge, without having any reason to think they had been +observed. + +But the most perilous point was yet to be passed. Against the face of +the acclivity, there was not much danger of their being seen. The moon +was shining on the other side. That which they had to ascend was in +shadow,--dark enough to obscure the outlines of their bodies to an eye +looking in that direction, from such a distance as the camp. It was not +while toiling up the slope that they dreaded detection, but at the +moment when they must cross the saddle-shaped summit of the pass. Then, +the moon being low down in the sky, directly in front of their faces, +while the camp, still lower, was right behind their backs, it was not +difficult to tell that their bodies would be exactly aligned between the +luminary of night and the sparkling eyes of the Arabs, and that their +figures would be exhibited in conspicuous outline. + +It had been much the same way on their entrance to the oasis; but then +they were not so well posted up in the peril of their position. They now +wondered at their not having been observed while advancing; but that +could be rationally accounted for, on the supposition that the Bedouins +had been, at the time, too busy over old Bill to take heed of anything +beyond the limits of their encampment. + +It was different now. There was quiet in the camp, though both male and +female figures could be seen stirring among the tents. The _saturnalia_ +that succeeded the castaway had come to a close. A comparative +peacefulness reigned throughout the valley; but in this very +tranquillity lay the danger which our adventurers dreaded. + +With nothing else to attract their attention, the occupants of the +encampments would be turning their eyes in every direction. If any of +them should look westward at a given moment,--that is, while the three +mids should be "in the saddle,"--the latter could not fail to be +discovered. + +What was to be done? There was no other way leading forth from the +valley. It was on all sides encircled by steep ridges of sand,--not so +steep as to hinder them from being scaled; but on every side, except +that on which they had entered, and by which they were about to make +their exit, the moon was shining in resplendent brilliance. A cat could +not have crawled up anywhere, without being seen from the tents,--even +had she been of the hue of the sand itself. + +A hurried consultation, held between the trio of adventurers, convinced +them that there was nothing to be gained by turning back,--nothing by +going to the right or the left. There was no other way--no help for +it--but to scale the ridge in front, and "cut" as quickly as possible +across the hollow of the "saddle." + +There _was_ one other way; or at least a deviation from the course which +had thus recommended itself. It was to wait for the going down of the +moon, before they should attempt the "crossing." This prudent project +originated in the brain of the young Scotchman; and it might have been +well if his companions had adopted the idea. But they would not. What +they had seen of Saaeran civilization had inspired them with a keen +disgust for it; and they were only too eager to escape from its +proximity. The punishment inflicted upon poor Bill had made a painful +impression upon them; and they had no desire to become the victims of a +similar chastisement. + +Colin did not urge his counsels. He had been as much impressed by what +he had seen as his companions, and was quite as desirous as they to give +the Bedouins a "wide berth." Withdrawing his opposition, therefore, he +acceded to the original design; and, without further ado, all three +commenced crawling up the slope. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +A QUEER QUADRUPED. + + +Half way up, they halted, though not to take breath. Strong-limbed, +long-winded lads like them--who could have "swarmed" in two minutes to +the main truck of a man-o'-war--needed no such indulgence as that. +Instead of one hundred feet of sloping sand, any one of them could have +scaled Snowdon without stopping to look back. + +Their halt had been made from a different motive. It was sudden and +simultaneous,--all three having stopped at the same time, and without +any previous interchange of speech. The same cause had brought them to +that abrupt cessation in their climbing; and as they stood side by side, +aligned upon one another, the eyes of all three were turned on the same +object. + +It was an animal,--a quadruped. It could not be anything else if +belonging to a sublunary world; and to this it appeared to belong. A +strange creature notwithstanding; and one which none of the three +remembered to have met before. The remembrance of something like it +flitted across their brains, seen upon the shelves of a museum; but not +enough of resemblance to give a clue for its identification. + +The quadruped in question was not bigger than a "San Bernard," a +"Newfoundland," or a mastiff: but seen as it was, it loomed larger than +any of the three. Like these creatures, it was canine in shape--lupine +we should rather say--but of an exceedingly grotesque and ungainly +figure. A huge square head seemed set without neck upon its shoulders; +while its fore limbs--out of all proportion longer than the hind +ones--gave to the spinal column a sharp downward slant towards the tail. +The latter appendage, short and "bunchy," ended abruptly, as if either +cut or "driven in,"--adding to the uncouth appearance of the animal. A +stiff hedge of hard bristles upon the back continued its _chevaux de +frise_ along the short, thick neck, till it ended between two erect +tufted ears. Such was the shape of the beast that had suddenly presented +itself to the eyes of our adventurers. + +They had a good opportunity of observing its outlines. It was on the +ridge towards the crest of which they were advancing. The moon was +shining beyond. Every turn of its head or body--every motion made by its +limbs--was conspicuously revealed against the luminous background of the +sky. + +It was neither standing, nor at rest in any way. Head, limbs, and body +were all in motion,--constantly changing, not only their relative +attitudes to one another, but their absolute situation in regard to +surrounding objects. + +And yet the change was anything but arbitrary. The relative movements +made by the members of the animal's body, as well as the absolute +alterations of position, were all in obedience to strictly natural +laws,--all repetitions of the same manoeuvre, worked with a monotony +that seemed mechanical. + +The creature was pacing to and fro, like a well-trained sentry,--its +"round" being the curved crest of the sand-ridge, from which it did not +deviate to the licence of an inch. Backward and forward did it traverse +the saddle in a longitudinal direction,--now poised upon the +pommel,--now sinking downward into the seat, and then rising to the +level of the coup,--now turning in the opposite direction, and retracing +in long, uncouth strides, the path over which it appeared to have been +passing since the earliest hour of its existence! + +Independent of the surprise which the presence of this animal had +created, there was something in its aspect calculated to cause terror. +Perhaps, had the mids known what kind of creature it was, or been in any +way apprized of its real character, they would have paid less regard to +its presence. Certainly not so much as they did: for, instead of +advancing upon it, and making their way over the crest of the ridge, +they stopped in their track, and held a whispered consultation as to +what they should do. + +It is not to be denied that the barrier before them presented a +formidable appearance. A brute, it appeared as big as a bull--for +magnified by the moonlight, and perhaps a little by the fears of those +who looked upon it, the quadruped was quite quadrupled in size. +Disputing their passage too; for its movements made it manifest that +such was its design. Backwards and forwards, up and down that curving +crest, did it glide, with a nervous quickness, that hindered any hope of +being able to rush past it--either before or behind--its own crest all +the while erected, like that of the dragon subdued by St. George. + +With all his English "pluck"--even stimulated by this resemblance to the +national knight--Harry Blount felt shy to approach that creature that +challenged the passage of himself and his companions. + +Had there been no danger _en arriere_, perhaps our adventurers would +have turned back into the valley, and left the ugly quadruped master of +the pass. + +As it was, a different resolve was arrived at--necessity being the +dictator. + +The three midshipmen, drawing their dirks, advanced in line of battle up +the slope. The Devil himself could scarce withstand such an assault. +England, Scotland, Ireland, abreast--_tres juncti in uno_--united in +thought, aim, and action--was there aught upon earth--biped, quadruped, +or _mille-pied_--that must not yield to the charge? + +If there was, it was not that animal oscillating along the saddle of +sand, progressing from pommel to cantle, like the pendulum of a clock. + +Whether natural or supernatural, long before our adventurers got near +enough to decide, the creature, to use a phrase of very modern mention, +"skedaddled," leaving them free--so far as it was concerned--to continue +their retreat unmolested. + +It did not depart, however, until after delivering a salute, that left +our adventurers in greater doubt than ever of its true character. They +had been debating among themselves whether it was a thing of the earth, +of time, or something that belonged to eternity. They had seen it under +a fair light, and could not decide. But now that they had heard it,--had +listened to a strain of loud cachinnation,--scarce mocking the laughter +of the maniac,--there was no escaping from the conclusion that what they +had seen was either Satan himself, or one of his Ethiopian satellites! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE HUE AND CRY. + + +As the strange creature that had threatened to dispute their passage was +no longer in sight, and seemed, moreover, to have gone clear away, the +three mids ceased to think any more of it,--their minds being given to +making their way over the ridge without being seen by the occupants of +the encampment. + +Having returned their dirks to the sheath, they continued to advance +towards the crest of the transverse sand-spar, as cautiously as at +starting. + +It is possible they might have succeeded in crossing, without being +perceived, but for a circumstance of which they had taken too little +heed. Only too well pleased at seeing the strange quadruped make its +retreat, they had been less affected by its parting salutation,--weird +and wild as this had sounded in their ears. But they had not thought of +the effects which the same salute had produced upon the people of the +Arab camp, causing all of them, as it did, to turn their eyes in the +direction whence it was heard. To them there was no mystery in that +screaming cachinnation. Unearthly as it had echoed in the ears of the +three mids, it fell with a perfectly natural tone on those of the Arabs: +for it was but one of the well-known voices of their desert home, +recognized by them as the cry of the _laughing hyena_. + +The effect produced upon the encampment was twofold. The children +straying outside the tents,--like young chicks frightened by the +swooping of a hawk,--ran inward; while their mothers, after the manner +of so many old hens, rushed forth to take them under their protection. +The proximity of a hungry hyena,--more especially one of the _laughing_ +species,--was a circumstance to cause alarm. All the fierce creature +required was a chance to close his strong, vice-like jaws upon the limbs +of one of those juvenile Ishmaelites, and that would be the last his +mother should ever see of him. + +Knowing this, the screech of the hyena had produced a momentary +commotion among the women and children of the encampment. Neither had +the men listened to it unmoved. In hopes of procuring its skin for house +or tent furniture, and its flesh for food,--for these hungry wanderers +will eat anything,--several had seized hold of their long guns, and +rushed forth from among the tents. + +The sound had guided them as to the direction in which they should go; +and as they ran forward, they saw, not a hyena, but three human beings +just mounting upon the summit of the sand-ridge, under the full light of +the moon. So conspicuously did the latter appear upon the smooth crest +of the wreath, that there was no longer any chance of concealment. Their +dark blue dresses, the yellow buttons on their jackets, and the bands +around their caps, were all discernible. It was the costume of the sea, +not of the Saaera. The Arab wreckers knew it at a glance; and, without +waiting to give a second, every man of the camp sallied off in +pursuit,--each, as he started, giving utterance to an ejaculation of +surprise or pleasure. + +Some hurried forward afoot, just as they had been going out to hunt the +hyena; others climbed upon their swift camels; while a few, who owned +horses, thinking they might do better with them, quickly caparisoned +them, and came galloping on after the rest; all three sorts of +pursuers,--foot-men, horsemen, and maherrymen,--seemingly as intent upon +a contest of screaming, as upon a trial of speed! + +It is needless to say that the three midshipmen were, by this time, +fully apprised of the "hue and cry" raised after them. It reached their +ears just as they arrived upon the summit of the sand-ridge; and any +doubt they might have had as to its meaning, was at once determined, +when they saw the Arabs brandishing their arms, and rushing out like so +many madmen from among the tents. + +They stayed to see no more. To keep their ground could only end in their +being captured and carried prisoners to the encampment; and after the +spectacle they had just witnessed, in which the old man-o'-war's-man had +played such a melancholy part, any fate appeared preferable to that. + +With some such fear all three were affected; and simultaneously yielding +to it, they turned their backs upon the pursuit, and rushed headlong +down the ravine, up which they had so imprudently ascended. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +A SUBAQUEOUS ASYLUM. + + +As the gorge was of no great length, and the downward incline in their +favor, they were not long in getting to its lower end, and out to the +level plain that formed the sea-beach. + +In their hurried traverse thither, it had not occurred to them to +inquire for what purpose they were running towards the sea? There could +be no chance of their escaping in that direction; nor did there appear +to be much in any other, afoot as they were, and pursued by mounted men. +The night was too clear to offer any opportunity of hiding themselves, +especially in a country where there was neither "brake, brush, nor +scaur" to conceal them. Go which way they would, or crouch wherever they +might, they would be almost certain of being discovered by their +lynx-eyed enemies. + +There was but one way in which they _might_ have stood a chance of +getting clear, at least for a time. This was to have turned aside among +the sand ridges, and by keeping along some of the lateral hollows, +double back upon their pursuers. There were several such side hollows; +for on going up the main ravine they had observed them, and also in +coming down; but in their hurry to put space between themselves and +their pursuers, they had overlooked this chance of concealment. + +At best it was but slim, though it was the only one that offered. It +only presented itself when it was too late for them to take advantage of +it,--only after they had got clear out of the gully and stood upon the +open level of the sea-beach, within less than two hundred yards of the +sea itself. There they halted, partly to recover breath and partly to +hold counsel as to their further course. + +There was not much time for either; and as the three stood in a triangle +with their faces turned towards each other, the moonlight shone upon +lips and cheeks blanched with dismay. + +It now occurred to them for the first time, and simultaneously, that +there was no hope of their escaping, either by flight or concealment. + +They were already some distance out upon the open plain, as conspicuous +upon its surface of white sand as would have been three black crows in +the middle of a field six inches under snow. + +They saw that they had made a mistake. They should have stayed among the +sand-ridges and sought shelter in some of the deep gullies that divided +them. They bethought them of going back; but a moment's deliberation was +sufficient to convince them that this was no longer practicable. There +would not be time, scarce even to re-enter the ravine, before their +pursuers would be upon them. + +It was an instinct that had caused them to rush towards the sea--their +habitual home, for which they had thoughtlessly sped--notwithstanding +their late rude ejection from it. Now that they stood upon its shore, as +if appealing to it for protection, it seemed still desirous of spurning +them from its bosom, and leaving them without mercy to their merciless +enemies! + +A line of breakers trended parallel to the water's edge--scarce a +cable's length from the shore, and not two hundred yards from the spot +where they had come to a pause. + +They were not very formidable breakers--only the tide rolling over a +sand-bar, or a tiny reef of rocks. It was at best but a big surf, +crested with occasional flakes of foam, and sweeping in successive +swells against the smooth beach. + +What was there in all this to fix the attention of the fugitives--for it +had? The seething flood seemed only to hiss at their despair! + +And yet almost on the instant after suspending their flight, they had +turned their faces towards it--as if some object of interest had +suddenly shown itself in the surf. Object there was none--nothing but +the flakes of white froth and the black vitreous waves over which it was +dancing. + +It was not an object, but a purpose that was engaging their attention--a +resolve that had suddenly sprung up within their minds--almost as +suddenly to be carried into execution. After all, their old home was not +to prove so inhospitable. It would provide them with a place of +concealment! + +The thought occurred to all three almost at the same instant of time; +though Terence was the first to give speech to it. + +"By Saint Patrick!" he exclaimed, "let's take to the wather! Them +breakers'll give us a good hiding-place. I've hid before now in that +same way, when taking a moonlight bath on the coast of owld Galway. I +did it to scare my schoolfellows--by making believe I was drowned. What +say ye to our trying it?" + +His companions made no reply. They had scarce even waited for the +wind-up of his harangue. Both had equally perceived the feasibility of +the scheme; and yielding to a like impulse, all three started into a +fresh run, with their faces turned towards the sea. + +In less than a score of seconds, they had crossed the strip of strand; +and in a similarly short space of time were plunging--thigh +deep--through the water; still striding impetuously onward, as if they +intended to wade across the Atlantic! + +A few more strides, however, brought them to a stand--just inside the +line of breakers--where the seething waters, settling down into a state +of comparative tranquillity, presented a surface variegated with large +clouts of floating froth. + +Amidst this mottling of white and black, even under the bright +moonlight, it would have been difficult for the keenest eye to have +detected the head of a human being--supposing the body to have been kept +carefully submerged; and under this confidence, the mids were not slow +in submerging themselves. + +Ducking down, till their chins touched the water, all three were soon as +completely out of sight--to any eye looking from the shore--as if +Neptune, pitying their forlorn condition, had stretched forth his +trident with a bunch of seaweed upon its prongs, to screen and protect +them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE PURSUERS NONPLUSSED. + + +Not a second too soon had they succeeded in making good their entry into +this subaqueous asylum. Scarce had their chins come in contact with the +water, when the voices of men--accompanied by the baying of dogs, the +snorting of maherries, and the neighing of horses--were heard within the +gorge, from which they had just issued; and in a few minutes after a +straggling crowd, composed of these various creatures, came rushing out +of the ravine. Of men, afoot and on horseback, twenty or more were seen +pouring forth; all, apparently, in hot haste, as if eager to be in at +the death of some object pursued,--that could not possibly escape +capture. + +Once outside the jaws of the gully, the irregular cavalcade advanced +scatteringly over the plain. Only for a short distance, however; for, as +if by a common understanding rather than in obedience to any command, +all came to a halt. + +A silence followed this halt,--apparently proceeding from astonishment. +It was general,--it might be said universal,--for even the animals +appeared to partake of it! At all events, some seconds transpired during +which the only sound heard was the sighing of the sea, and the only +motion to be observed was the sinking and swelling of the waves. + +The Saaeran rovers on foot,--as well as those that were mounted,--their +horses, dogs, and camels, as they stood upon that smooth plain, seemed +to have been suddenly transformed into stone, and set like so many +sphinxes in the sand. + +In truth it _was_ surprise that had so transfixed them,--the men, at +least; and their well-trained animals were only acting in obedience to a +habit taught them by their masters, who, in the pursuit of their +predatory life, can cause these creatures to be both silent and still, +whenever the occasion requires it. + +For their surprise,--which this exhibition of it proved to be +extreme,--the Sons of the Desert had sufficient reason. They had seen +the three midshipmen on the crest of the sand-ridge; had even noted the +peculiar garb that bedecked their bodies,--all this beyond doubt. +Notwithstanding the haste with which they had entered on the pursuit, +they had not continued it either in a reckless or improvident manner. +Skilled in the ways of the wilderness,--cautious as cats,--they had +continued the chase; those in the lead from time to time assuring +themselves that the game was still before them. This they had done by +glancing occasionally to the ground, where shoe-tracks in the soft +sand--three sets of them--leading to and fro, were sufficient evidence +that the three mids must have gone back to the _embouchure_ of the +ravine, and thither emerged upon the open sea-beach. + +_Where were they now?_ + +Looking up the smooth strand as far as the eye could reach, and down it +to a like distance, there was no place where a crab could have screened +itself; and these Saaeran wreckers, well acquainted with the coast, knew +that in neither direction was there any other ravine or gully into which +the fugitives could have retreated. + +No wonder, then, that the pursuers wondered, even to speechlessness. + +Their silence was of short duration, though it was succeeded only by +cries expressing their great surprise, among which might have been +distinguished their usual invocations to Allah and the Prophet. It was +evident that a superstitious feeling had arisen in their minds, not +without its usual accompaniment of fear; and although they no longer +kept their places, the movement now observable among them was that they +gathered closer together, and appeared to enter upon a grave +consultation. + +This was terminated by some of them once more proceeding to the +_embouchure_ of the ravine, and betaking themselves to a fresh scrutiny +of the tracks made by the shoes of the midshipmen; while the rest sat +silently upon their horses and maherries awaiting the result. + +The footmarks of the three mids were still easily traceable--even on the +ground already trampled by the Arabs, their horses, and maherries. The +"cloots" of a camel would not have been more conspicuous in the mud of +an English road, than were the shoe-prints of the three young seamen in +the sands of the Saaera. The Arab trackers had no difficulty in making +them out; and in a few minutes had traced them from the mouth of the +gorge, almost in a direct line to the sea. There, however, there was a +breadth of wet sea-beach--where the springy sand instantly obliterated +any foot-mark that might be made upon it--and there the tracts ended. + +But why should they have extended farther? No one could have gone beyond +that point, without either walking straight into the water, or keeping +along the strip of sea beach, upwards or downwards. + +The fugitives could not have escaped in either way--unless they had +taken to the water, and committed suicide by drowning themselves! Up the +coast, or down it, they would have been seen to a certainty. + +Their pursuers, clustering around the place where the tracks terminated, +were no wiser than ever. Some of them were ready to believe that +drowning had been the fate of the castaways upon their coast, and so +stated it to their companions. But they spoke only conjectures, and in +tones that told them, like the rest, to be under the influence of some +superstitious fear. Despite their confidence in the protection of their +boasted Prophet, they felt a natural dread of that wilderness of waters, +less known to them than the wilderness of sand. + +Ere long they withdrew from its presence, and betook themselves back to +their encampment, under a half belief that the three individuals seen +and pursued had either drowned themselves in the great deep, or by some +mysterious means known to these strange men of the sea, had escaped +across its far-reaching waters! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +A DOUBLE PREDICAMENT. + + +Short time as their pursuers had stayed upon the strand, it seemed an +age to the submerged midshipmen. + +On first placing themselves in position, they had chosen a spot where, +with their knees resting upon the bottom, they could just hold their +chins above water. This would enable them to hold their ground without +any great difficulty, and for some time they so maintained it. + +Soon, however, they began to perceive that the water was rising around +them,--a circumstance easily explained by the influx of the tide. The +rise was slow and gradual: but, for all that, they saw that should they +require to remain in their place of concealment for any length of time, +drowning must be their inevitable destiny. + +A means of avoiding this soon presented itself. Inside the line of +breakers, the water shoaled gradually towards the shore. By advancing in +this direction they could still keep to the same depth. This course they +adopted--gliding cautiously forward upon their knees, whenever the tide +admonished them to repeat the manoeuvre. + +This state of affairs would have been satisfactory enough, but for a +circumstance that, every moment, was making itself more apparent. At +each move they were not only approaching nearer to their enemies, +scattered along the strand; but as they receded from the line of the +breakers, the water became comparatively tranquil, and its smooth +surface, less confused by the masses of floating foam, was more likely +to betray them to the spectators on the shore. + +To avoid this catastrophe--which would have been fatal--they moved +shoreward, only when it became absolutely necessary to do so, often +permitting the tidal waves to sweep completely over the crown of their +heads, and several times threaten suffocation. + +Under circumstances so trying, so apparently hopeless, most lads--aye, +most men--would have submitted to despair, and surrendered themselves to +a fate apparently unavoidable. But with that true British +pluck--combining the tenacity of the Scotch terrier, the English +bulldog, and the Irish staghound--the three youthful representatives of +the triple kingdom determined to hold on. + +And they held on, with the waves washing against their cheeks--and at +intervals quite over their heads--with the briny fluid rushing into +their ears and up their nostrils, until one after another began to +believe, that there would be no alternative between surrendering to the +cruel sea, or to the not less cruel sons of the Saaera. + +As they were close together, they could hold council,--conversing all +the time in something louder than a whisper. There was no risk of their +being overheard. Though scarce a cable's length from the shore, the +hoarse soughing of the surf would have drowned the sound of their +voices, even if uttered in a much louder tone; but being skilled in the +acoustics of the ocean, they exchanged their thoughts with due caution; +and while encouraging one another to remain firm, they speculated freely +upon the chances of escaping from their perilous predicament. + +While thus occupied, a _predicament_ of an equally perilous, and still +more singular kind, was in store for them. They had been, hitherto +advancing towards the water's edge,--in regular progression with the +influx of the tide,--all the while upon their knees. This, as already +stated, had enabled them to sustain themselves steadily, without showing +anything more than three quarters of the head above the surface. + +All at once, however, the water appeared to deepen; and by going upon +their knees they could no longer surmount the waves,--even with their +eyes. By moving on towards the beach, they might again get into shallow +water; but just at this point the commotion caused by the breakers came +to a termination, and the flakes of froth, with the surrounding spray of +bubbles, here bursting, one after another, left the surface of the sea +to its restored tranquillity. Anything beyond--a cork, or the tiniest +waif of seaweed--could scarce fail to be seen from the strand,--though +the latter was itself constantly receding as the tide flowed inward. + +The submerged middies were now in a dilemma they had not dreamed of. By +holding their ground, they could not fail to "go under." By advancing +further, they would run the risk of being discovered to the enemy. + +Their first movement was to get up from their knees, and raise their +heads above water by standing in a crouched attitude on their feet. This +they had done before,--more than once,--returning to the posture of +supplication only when too tired to sustain themselves. + +This they attempted again, and determined to continue it to the last +moment,--in view of the danger of approaching nearer to the enemy. + +To their consternation they now found it would no longer avail them. +Scarce had they risen erect before discovering that even in this +position they were immersed to the chin, and after plunging a pace or +two forward, they were still sinking deeper. They could feel that their +feet were not resting on firm bottom, but constantly going down. + +"A quicksand!" was the apprehension that rushed simultaneously into the +minds of all three! + +Fortunately for them, the Arabs at that moment, yielding to their +fatalist fears, had faced away from the shore; else the plunging and +splashing made by them in their violent endeavors to escape from the +quicksand, could not have failed to dissipate these superstitions, and +cause their pursuers to complete the capture they had so childlessly +relinquished. + +As it chanced, the Saaeran wreckers saw nothing of all this; and as the +splashing sounds, which otherwise might have reached them, were drowned +by the louder _sough_ of the sea, they returned toward their encampment +in a state of perplexity bordering upon bewilderment! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +ONCE MORE THE MOCKING LAUGH. + + +After a good deal of scrambling and struggling, our adventurers +succeeded in getting clear of the quicksand, and planting their feet +upon firmer bottom,--a little nearer to the water's edge. Though at this +point more exposed than they wished to be, they concealed themselves as +well as they could, holding their faces under the water up to the eyes. + +Though believing that their enemies were gone for good, they dared not +as yet wade out upon the beach. The retiring pursuers would naturally be +looking back; and as the moon was still shining clearly as ever, they +might be seen from a great distance. + +They feel that they would not be safe in leaving their place of +concealment until the horde had recrossed the ridge, and descended once +more into the oasis that contained their encampment. + +Making a rough calculation as to the time it would take for the return +journey,--and allowing a considerable margin against the eventuality of +any unforeseen delay,--the mids remained in their subaqueous retreat, +without any material change of position. + +When at length it appeared to them that the "coast was clear," they rose +to their feet, and commenced wading towards the strand. + +Though no longer believing themselves observed, they proceeded silently +and with caution,--the only noise made among them being the chattering +of their teeth, which were going like three complete sets of castanets. + +This they could not help. The night breeze playing upon the saturated +garments,--that clung coldly around their bodies,--chilled them to the +very bones; and not only their teeth, but their knees knocked together, +as they staggered towards the beach. + +Just before reaching it, an incident arose that filled them with fresh +forebodings. The strange beast that had threatened to intercept their +retreat over the ridge, once more appeared before their eyes. It was +either the same, or one of the same kind,--equally ugly, and to all +appearance, equally determined to dispute their passage. + +It was now patrolling the strand close by the water's edge,--going +backwards and forwards, precisely as it had done along the saddle-shaped +sand wreath,--all the while keeping its hideous face turned towards +them. With the moon behind their backs, they had a better view of it +than before; but this, though enabling them to perceive that it was some +strange quadruped, did not in any way improve their opinion of it. They +could see that it was covered with a coat of long shaggy hair, of a +brindled brown color; and that from a pair of large orbs, set obliquely +in its head, gleamed forth a fierce, sullen light. + +How it had come there they knew not; but there it was. Judging from the +experience of their former encounter with it they presumed it would +again retreat at their approach; and, once more drawing their dirks, +they advanced boldly towards it. + +They were not deceived. Long before they were near, the uncouth creature +turned tail; and, again giving utterance to its unearthly cry, scampered +off towards the ravine,--in whose shadowy depths it soon disappeared +from their view. + +Supposing they had nothing further to fear, our adventurers stepped out +upon the strand, and commenced consultation as to their future course. + +To keep on down the coast and get as far as possible from the Arab +encampment,--was the thought of all three; and as they were unanimous in +this, scarce a moment was wasted in coming to a determination. Once +resolved, they faced southward; and started off as briskly as their +shivering frames and saturated garments would allow them. + +There was not much to cheer them on their way,--only the thought that +they had so adroitly extricated themselves from a dread danger. But even +this proved only a fanciful consolation; for scarce had they made a +score of steps along the strand, when they were brought to a sudden +halt, by hearing a noise that appeared to proceed from the ravine behind +them. + +It was a slight noise, something like a snort, apparently made by some +animal; and, for the moment, they supposed it to come from the ugly +quadruped that, after saluting them, had retreated up the gorge. + +On turning their eyes in that direction, they at once saw that they were +mistaken. A quadruped had produced the noise; but one of a very +different kind from the hairy brute with which they had parted. Just +emerging from the shadow of the sand-hills, they perceived a huge +creature, whose uncouth shape proclaimed it to be a camel. + +The sight filled them with consternation. Not that it was a camel; but +because, at the same time, they discovered that there was a man upon its +back, who, brandishing a long weapon, was urging the animal towards +them. + +The three midshipmen made no effort to continue the journey thus +unexpectedly interrupted. They saw that any attempt to escape from such +a fast-going creature would be idle. Encumbered as they were with their +wet garments, they could not have distanced a lame duck; and, resigning +themselves to the chances of destiny, they stood awaiting the encounter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +A CUNNING SHEIK. + + +When the camel and its rider first loomed in sight,--indistinctly seen +under the shadow of the sand dunes,--our adventurers had conceived a +faint hope that it might be Sailor Bill. + +It was possible, they thought, that the old man-o-war's-man, left +unguarded in the camp, might have laid hands on the maherry that had +made away with him, and pressed it into service to assist his escape. + +The hope was entertained only for an instant. Bill had encountered no +such golden opportunity; but was still a prisoner in the tent of the +black sheik, surrounded by his shrewish tormentors. + +It was the maherry, however, that was seen coming back, for as it came +near the three middies recognized the creature whose intrusion upon +their slumbers of the preceding night had been the means, perhaps, of +saving their lives. + +Instead of a Jack Tar now surmounting its high hunch, they saw a little +wizen-faced individual with sharp angular features, and a skin of +yellowish hue puckered like parchment. He appeared to be at least sixty +years of age; while his costume, equipments, and above all, a certain +authoritative bearing, bespoke him to be one of the head men of the +horde. + +Such in truth was he,--one of the two sheiks,--the old Arab to whom the +straying camel belonged; and who was now mounted on his own maherry. + +His presence on the strand at this, to our adventurers, most inopportune +moment, requires explanation. + +He had been on the beach before, along with the others; and had gone +away with the rest. But instead of continuing on to the encampment, he +had fallen behind in the ravine; where, under the cover of some rocks, +and favored by the obscure light within the gorge, he had succeeded in +giving his comrades the slip. There he had remained,--permitting the +rest to recross the ridge, and return to the tents. + +He had not taken these steps without an object. Less superstitious than +his black brother sheik, he knew there must be some natural explanation +of the disappearance of the three castaways; and he had determined to +seek, and if possible, to discover it. + +It was not mere curiosity that prompted him to this determination. He +had been all out of sorts, with himself, since losing Sailor Bill in the +game of _helga_; and he was desirous of obtaining some compensation for +his ill-luck, by capturing the three castaways who had so mysteriously +disappeared. + +As to their having either drowned themselves, or walked away over the +waste of waters, the old sheik had seen too many Saaeran summers and +winters to give credence either to one tale or the other. He knew they +would turn up again; and though he was not quite certain of the where, +he more than half suspected it. He had kept his suspicions to +himself,--not imparting them even to his own special followers. By the +laws of the Saaera, a slave taken by any one of the tribe belongs not to +its chief, but to the individual who makes the capture. For this reason, +had the cunning sexagenarian kept his thoughts to himself, and fallen +_solus_ into the rear of the returning horde. + +It might be supposed that he would have made some of his following privy +to his plan,--for the sake of having help to effect such a wholesale +capture. But no. His experience as a "Barbary wrecker" had taught him +that there would be no danger,--no likelihood of resistance,--even +though the castaways numbered thirty instead of three. + +Armed with this confidence, and his long gun, he had returned down the +ravine; and laid in wait near its mouth,--at a point where he commanded +a view of the coast line, to the distance of more than a mile on each +side of him. + +His vigil was soon rewarded: by seeing the three individuals for whom it +had been kept step forth from the sea,--as if emerging from its +profoundest depths,--and stand conspicuously upon the beach. + +He had waited for nothing more; but, giving the word to his maherry, had +ridden out of the ravine, and was now advancing with all speed upon the +tracks of the retreating mids. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +A QUEER ENCOUNTER. + + +In about threescore seconds from the time he was first seen pursuing +them, the old sheik was up to the spot where our adventurers had awaited +him. + +His first salute appeared to be some words of menace or +command,--rendered more emphatic by a series of gestures made with his +long gun; which was successively pointed at the heads of the three. Of +course, none of them understood what was said; but his gesticulations +made it clear enough, that he required their company to the Arab +encampment. + +Their first impulse was to yield obedience to this command; and Terence +had given a sign of assent, which was acquiesced in by Colin. Not so +Master Blount, in whom the British bulldog had become aroused even to +the showing of his teeth. + +"See him hanged first!" cried Harry. "What! yield up to an old monkey +like that, and walk tamely to the camp at the tail of his camel? No such +thing! If I am to become a prisoner, it will be to one who can take me." + +Terence, rather ashamed at having shown such facile submission, now +rushed to the opposite extreme; and drawing his dirk, cried out,-- + +"By Saint Patrick! I'm with you, Harry! Let's die, rather than yield +ourselves prisoners to such a queer old curmudgeon!" + +Colin, before declaring himself, glanced sharply around,--carrying his +eye towards the _embouchure_ of the ravine, to assure himself that the +Arab was alone. + +As there was nobody else in sight,--and no sound heard that would +indicate the proximity of any one,--it was probable enough that the +rider of the maherry was the only enemy opposed to them. + +"The devil take him!" cried Colin, after making his cautious +reconnaissance. "If he take us, he must first fight for it. Come on, old +skin-flint! you'll find we're true British tars,--ready for a score of +such as you." + +The three youths had by this time unsheathed their shining daggers, and +thrown themselves into a sort of triangle, the maherry in their midst. + +The old sheik--unprepared for such a reception--was altogether taken +aback by it; and for some seconds sate upon his high perch seemingly +irresolute how to act. + +Suddenly his rage appeared to rise to such a pitch, that he could no +longer command his actions; and bringing the long gun to his shoulder, +he levelled it at Harry Blount,--who had been foremost in braving him. + +The stream of smoke, pouring forth from its muzzle, for a moment +enveloped the form of the youthful mariner; but from the midst of that +sulphury _nimbus_ came forth a clear manly voice, pronouncing the word +"Missed!" + +"Thank God!" cried Terence and Colin, in a breath; "now we have him in +our power! He can't load again! Let's on him all together! Heave ho!" + +And uttering this nautical phrase of encouragement, the three mids, with +naked dirks, rushed simultaneously towards the maherry. + +The Arab, old as he may have been, showed no signs either of stiffness +or decrepitude. On the contrary he exhibited all the agility of a +tiger-cat; along with a fierce determination to continue the combat he +had initiated,--notwithstanding the odds that were against him. On +discharging his gun, he had flung the useless weapon to the ground; and +instead of it now grasped a long curving scimitar, with which he +commenced cutting around him in every direction. + +Thus armed, he had the advantage of his assailants; for while he might +reach any one of them by a quick cut, they with their short dirks could +not come within thrusting-distance of him, without imminent danger of +having their arms, or perchance their heads, lopped sheer off their +shoulders. + +Defensively, too, had the rider of the maherry an advantage over his +antagonists. While within distance of them, at the point of his curving +blade, seated upon his high perch, he was beyond the reach of their +weapons. Get close to him as they might, and spring as high as they were +able, they could not bring the tips of their daggers in contact with his +skin. + +In truth, there seemed no chance for them to inflict the slightest wound +upon him; while at each fresh "wheel" of the maherry, and each new sweep +of the scimitar, one or other of them was in danger of decapitation! + +On first entering upon the fight, our adventurers had not taken into +account the impregnable position of their antagonist. Soon, however, did +they discover the advantages in his favor, with their own proportionate +drawbacks. To neutralize these was the question that now occupied them. +If something was not done soon, one or other--perhaps all three--would +have to succumb to that keen cutting of the scimitar. + +"Let's kill the camel!" cried Harry Blount, "that'll bring him within +reach; and then--" + +The idea of the English youth was by no means a bad one; and perhaps +would have been carried out. But before he could finish his speech, +another scheme had been conceived by Terence,--who had already taken +steps towards its execution. + +It was this that had interrupted Harry Blount in the utterance of his +counsel. + +At school the young Milesian had been distinguished in the exercise of +vaulting. "Leap-frog" had been his especial delight; and no mountebank +could bound to a greater height than he. At this crisis he remembered +his old accomplishment, and called it to his aid. + +Seeking an opportunity,--when the head of the maherry was turned towards +his comrades, and its tail to himself,--he made an energetic rush; +sprang half a score of feet from the ground; and flinging apart his +feet, while in the air, came down "stride legs" upon the croup of the +camel. + +[Illustration: THE SHEIK CAPTURED] + +It was fortunate for the old Arab that the effort thus made by the +amateur _saltimbanque_ had shaken the dirk from his grasp,--else, in +another instant, the camel would have ceased to "carry double." + +As it was, its two riders continued upon its back; but in such close +juxtaposition, that it would have required sharp eyes and a good light +to tell that more than one individual was mounted upon it. + +Fast enfolded in the arms of the vigorous young Hibernian, could scarce +be distinguished the carcass of the old Arab sheik,--shrunken to half +size by the powerful compression; while the scimitar, so late whistling +with perilous impetuosity through the air, was now seen lying upon the +sand,--its gleam no longer striking terror into the hearts of those +whose heads it had been threatening to lop off! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +HOLDING ON TO THE HUMP. + + +The struggle between Terence and the sheik still continued, upon the +back of the maherry. The object of the young Irishman was to unhorse, or +rather _un-camel_, his antagonist, and get him to the ground. + +This design the old Arab resisted toughly, and with all his strength, +knowing that dismounted he would be no match for the trio of stout lads +whom he had calculated on capturing at his ease. Once _a pied_ he would +be at their mercy, since he was now altogether unarmed. His gun had been +unloaded; and the shining scimitar, of which he had made such a +dangerous display, was no longer in his grasp. As already stated it had +fallen to the ground, and at that precious moment was being picked up by +Colin; who in all probability would have used it upon its owner, had not +the latter contrived to escape beyond its reach. + +The mode of the sheik's escape was singular enough. Still tenaciously +holding on to the hump, from which the young Irishman was using every +effort to detach him, he saw that his only chance of safety lay in +retreating from the spot, and, by this means, separating the antagonist +who clutched him from the two others that threatened upon the ground +below. + +A signal shout to the maherry was sufficient to effect his purpose. On +hearing it, the well-trained quadruped wheeled, as upon a pivot, and in +a shambling, but quick pace, started back towards the ravine, whence it +had late issued. + +To their consternation Colin and Harry beheld this unexpected movement; +and before either of them could lay hold of the halter,--now trailing +along the sand,--the maherry was going at a rate of speed which they +vainly endeavored to surpass. They could only follow in its wake,--as +they did so, shouting to Terence to let go his hold of the sheik, and +take his chance of a tumble to the ground. + +Their admonitions appeared not to be heeded. They were not needed,--at +least after a short interval had elapsed. + +At first the young Irishman had been so intent on his endeavors to +dismount his adversary, that he did not notice the signal given to the +maherry, nor the retrograde movement it had inaugurated. Not until the +camel was re-entering the ravine, and the steep sides of the sand dunes +cast their dark shadows before him, did he observe that he was being +carried away from his companions. + +Up to this time he had been vainly striving to detach the sheik from his +hold upon the hump. On perceiving the danger, however, he desisted from +this design, and at once entered upon a struggle of a very different +kind,--to detach himself. + +In all probability this would have proved equally difficult, for, +struggle as he might, the tough old Arab, no longer troubling himself +about the control of his camel, had twisted his sinewy fingers under the +midshipman's dirk-belt, and held the latter in juxtaposition to his own +body, supported by the hump of the maherry, as if his very life depended +on not letting go. + +A lucky circumstance--and this only--hindered the young Irishman from +being carried to the Arab encampment; a circumstance very similar to +that which on the preceding night had led to the capture of that same +camel. + +Its halter was again trailing. + +Its owner, occupied with the "double" which it had so unexpectedly been +called upon to carry, was conducting it only by his voice, and had +neither thought nor hands for the halter. + +Once again the trailing end got into the split hoof--once again the +maherry was tripped up; and came down neck foremost upon the sand. + +Its load was spilled--Bedouin and Hibernian coming together to the +ground--both, if not dangerously hurt, at least so shaken, as, for some +seconds, to be deprived of their senses. + +Neither had quite recovered from the shock, when Harry Blount and Colin, +coming up in close pursuit, stooped over the prostrate pair; and neither +Arab nor Irishman was very clear in his comprehension, when a crowd of +strange creatures closed around them, and took possession of the whole +party; as they did so yelling like a cohort of fiends. + +In the obfuscation of his "sivin" senses, the young Irishman may have +scarcely understood what was passing around him. It was too clear to his +companions,--clear as a catastrophe could be to those who are its +victims. + +The shot fired by the sheik, if failing in the effects intended, had +produced a result almost equally fatal to the three fugitives,--it had +given warning to the Arabs in their encampment; who, again sallying +forth, had arrived just in time to witness the "decadence" of the camel, +and now surrounded the group that encircled it. + +The courageous representative of England and the cool young Scotchman +were both taken by surprise, too much so to give them a chance of +thinking either of resistance or flight; while the mind of the Irish +middy, from a different cause, was equally in a hopeless "muddle." + +It resulted in all three being captured and conducted up the ravine +towards the camp of the wreckers. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +OUR ADVENTURERS IN UNDRESS. + + +Our adventurers made their approach to the _douar_,--for such is the +title of an Arab encampment,--with as much unwillingness as Sailor Bill +had done but an hour before. Equally _sans ceremonie_, or even with less +ceremony, did they enter among the tents, and certainly in a less +becoming costume,--since all three were stark naked with the exception +of their shirts. + +This was the only article of clothing their captors had left upon their +backs; and so far as comfort was concerned, they would have been as well +without it: for there was not a thread of the striped cotton that was +not saturated with sea-water. + +It was a wonder that even these scanty garments were not taken from +them; considering the eagerness with which they had been divested of +everything else. + +On the instant after being laid hold of, they had been stripped with as +much rapidity, as if their bodies were about to be submitted to some +ignominious chastisement. But they knew it was not that--only a desire +on the part of their captors to obtain possession of their +clothes--every article of which became the subject of a separate +contention, and more than one leading to a dispute that was near +terminating in a contest between two scimitars. + +In this way their jackets and dreadnought trowsers--their caps and +shoes--their dirks, belts, and pocket paraphernalia--were distributed +among nearly as many claimants as there were pieces. + +You may suppose that modesty interfered to reserve to them their shirts? +Such a supposition would be altogether erroneous. There is no such word +in the Bedouin vocabulary--no such feeling in the Bedouin breast. + +In the _douar_ to which they were conducted were lads as old as they, +and lasses too, without the semblance of clothing upon their nude +bodies; not even a shirt,--not even the orientally famed fig-leaf! + +The reason of their being allowed to retain their homely garments had +nothing to do with any sentiment of delicacy. For the favor,--if such it +could be called,--they were simply indebted to the avarice of the old +sheik, who, having recovered from the stunning effects of his tumble, +claimed all three as his captives, _and their shirts along with them_! + +His claim as to their persons was not disputed; they were his by Saaeran +custom. So, too, would their clothing, had his capture been complete; +but as there was a question about this, a distribution of the garments +had been demanded and acceded to. + +The sheik, however, would not agree to giving up the shirts; loudly +declaring that they belonged to the skin; and after some discussion on +this moot point, his claim was allowed; and our adventurers were spared +the shame of entering the Arab encampment _in puris naturalibus_. + +In their shirts did they once more stand face to face with Sailor Bill, +not a bit better clad than they: for though the old man-o'-war's-man was +still "anchored" by the marquee of the black sheik, his "toggery" had +long before been distributed throughout the _douar_; and scarce a tent +but contained some portion of his "belongings." + +His youthful comrades saw, but were not permitted to approach him. They +were the undisputed property of the rival chieftain,--to whose tent they +were taken; but not until they had "run a muck" among the women and +children, very similar to that which Bill had to submit to himself. It +terminated in a similar manner: that is, by their _owner_ taking them +under his protection,--not from any motives of humanity, but simply to +save his property from receiving damage at the hands of the incarnate +female furies, who seemed to take delight in maltreating them! + +The old sheik, after allowing his _fair_ followers, with their juvenile +_neophites_, for some length of time to indulge in their customary mode +of saluting strange captives, withdrew the latter beyond the reach of +persecution, to a place assigned them under the shadow of his tent. +There, with a sinewy Arab standing over them,--though as often squatted +beside them,--they were permitted to pass the remainder of the night, if +not in sleep at least in a state of tranquillity. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +THE CAPTIVES IN CONVERSATION. + + +This tranquillity only related to any disturbance experienced from their +captors. There was none. + +These had been on the eve of striking their tents, and moving off to +some other oasis,--previous to the last incident that had arisen. + +As already stated, the two sheiks, by a mutual understanding, had been +about to shake hands, and separate,--the son of Japhet going north, to +the markets of Morocco, while the descendant of Ham was to face homeward +to his more tropical and appropriate clime,--under the skies of +Timbuctoo. + +The "windfall" that had so unexpectedly dropped into the _douar_; first +in the shape of Sailor Bill,--and afterwards, in more generous guise, by +the capture of the three "young gentlemen" of the gunroom,--had caused +some change in the plans of their captors. + +By mutual understanding between the two sheiks, something was to be done +in the morning; and their design of separating was deferred to another +day. + +The order to strike tents had been countermanded: and both tribes +retired to rest,--as soon as the captives had been disposed of for the +night. + +The douar was silent,--so far as the children of Ham and Japhet were +concerned. Even _their_ children had ceased to clamor and squall. + +At intervals might be heard the neigh of a Barbary horse, the barking of +a dog, the bleating of a goat, or a sound yet more appropriate to the +scene, the snorting of a maherry. + +In addition to these, human voices were heard. But they proceeded from +the throats of the sons of Shem. For the most part they were uttered in +a low tone, as the three midshipmen conversed seriously and earnestly +together; but occasionally they became elevated to a higher pitch, when +Sailor Bill, guarded on the opposite side of the encampment--took part +in the conversation, and louder speech was necessary to the interchange +of thought between him and his fellow-captives. + +The Arab watchers offered no interruption. They understood not a word of +what was being said, and so long as the conversation of their captives +did not disturb the douar, they paid no heed to it. + +"What have they done to you, Bill?" was the first question asked by the +new comers, after they had been left free to make inquiries. + +"Faix!" responded the sailor, for it was Terry who had put the +interrogatory: "iverything they cowld think av--iverything to make an +old salt as uncomfortable as can be. They've not left a sound bone in my +body; nor a spot on my skin that's not ayther pricked or scratched wid +thar cruel thorns. My carcass must be like an old seventy-four after +comin' out av action--as full av holes as a meal sieve." + +"But what did they do to you, Bill?" said Colin, almost literally +repeating the interrogatory of Terence. + +The sailor detailed his experiences since entering the encampment. + +"It's very clear," remarked the young Scotchman, "that we need look for +nothing but ill-treatment at the hands of these worse than savages. I +suppose they intend making slaves of us." + +"That at least," quietly assented Harry. + +"Sartin," said the sailor. "They've let me know as much a'ready. There +be two captains to their crew; one's the smoke-dried old sinner as +brought yer in; the other a big nayger, as black as the ace o' spades. +You saw the swab? He's inside the tent here. He's my master. The two +came nigh quarrelling about which should have me, and settled it by some +sort o' a game they played wi' balls of kaymal's dung. The black won me; +an' that's why I'm kep by his tent. Mother av Moses! Only to think of a +British tar being the slave o' a sooty nayger! I never thought it wud a +come to this." + +"Where do you think they'll take us, Bill?" + +"The Lord only knows, an' whether we're all bound for the same port." + +"What! you think we may be separated?" + +"Be ma sang, Maister Colin, I ha'e ma fears we wull!" + +"What makes you think so?" + +"Why, ye see, as I've telt ye, I'm booked to ship wi' the +black,--'sheik' I've heerd them ca' him. Well: from what I ha'e seed and +heerd, there's nae doot they're gaein' to separate an' tak different +roads. I did na ken muckle o' what they sayed, but I could mak oot two +words I hae often heerd while cruisin' in the Gulf o' Guinea. They are +the names o' two great toons, a lang way up the kintry,--Timbuctoo and +Sockatoo. They are negro toons; an' for that reezun I ha'e a suspeshun +my master's bound to one or other o' the two ports." + +"But why do you think that we are to be taken elsewhere?" demanded Harry +Blount. + +"Why, because, Master 'Arry, you belong to the hold sheik, as is plainly +a Harab, an' oose port of hentry lies in a different direction,--that be +to the northart." + +"It is all likely enough," said Colin; "Bill's prognostication is but +too probable." + +"Why, ye see, Maister Colin, they are only land sharks who ha'e got hold +o' us. They're too poor to keep us; an' wull be sure to sell us +somewhere, an' to somebody that ha'e got the tocher to gie for us. +That's what they'll do wi' us poor bodies." + +"I hope," said Terence, "they'll not part us. No doubt slavery will be +hard enough to bear under any circumstances; but harder if we have to +endure it alone. Together, we might do something to alleviate one +another's lot. I hope we shall not be separated!" + +To this hope all the others made a sincere response; and the +conversation came to an end. They who had been carrying it on, worn out +by fatigue, and watchfulness long protracted,--despite the +unpleasantness of their situation,--soon after, and simultaneously, +yielded their spirits to the soothing oblivion of sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +THE DOUAR AT DAWN. + + +They could have slept for hours,--twenty-four of them,--had they been +permitted such indulgence. + +But they were not. As the first streaks of daylight became visible over +the eastern horizon, the whole douar was up and doing. + +The women and children of both hordes were seen flitting like shadows +among the tents. Some squatted under camels, or kneeling by the sides of +the goats, drew from these animals that lacteal fluid that may be said +to form the staple of their food. Others might be observed emptying the +precious liquid into skin bottles and sacks, and securing it against +spilling in its transport through the deserts. + +The matrons of the tribes--hags they looked--were preparing the true +_dejeuner_, consisting of _Sangleh_,--a sort of gruel, made with millet +meal, boiled over a dull fire of camel's dung. + +The _Sangleh_ was to be eaten, by such of them as could afford it, mixed +with goats' or camels' milk,--unstrained and hairy,--half curdled into a +crab-like acidity, the moment it entered its stinking receptacle. + +Here and there men were seen milking their mares or maherries,--not a +few indulging in the universal beverage by a direct application of their +lips to the teats of the animal; while others, appointed to the task, +were preparing the paraphernalia of the douar, for transportation to +some distant oasis. + +Watching these various movements, were the three mids,--still stripped +to their shirts,--and the old man-o'-war's-man, clad with like +scantiness; since the only garment that clung to his sinewy frame was a +pair of cotton drawers neither very clean nor very sound at the seams. + +All four shivered in the chill air of the morning; for hot as is the +Saaera under its noonday sun, in the night hours its thermometer +frequently falls almost to the point of freezing! + +Their state of discomfort did not hinder them from observing what was +passing around them. They could have slept on; but the discordant noises +of the douar, and a belief that they would not be permitted any longer +to enjoy their interrupted slumbers, hindered them from reclosing their +eyes. Still recumbent, and occasionally exchanging remarks in a low tone +of voice, they noted the customs of their captors. + +The young Scotchman had read many books relating to the _prairies_ of +America, and their savage denizens. He was forcibly reminded of these by +what he now saw in this oasis of the sandy Saaera; the women treated like +dogs, or worse,--doing all the work that might be termed labor,--tending +the cattle, cooking the meals, pitching or striking the tents, loading +the animals,--and themselves bearing such portions of the load as +exceeded the transport strength of the tribal quadrupeds,--aided only by +such wretched helots as misfortune had flung in the way of their common +masters. The men, mostly idle,--ludicrously nonchalant,--reclining on +their saddle-pads, or skins, inhaling the narcotic weed, apparently +proud in the possession of that lordship of wretchedness that surrounded +them. + +Colin was constrained to compare the savage life of two continents, +separated by an ocean. He came to the conclusion, that under similar +circumstances, mankind will ever be the same. In the Comanche of the +_Llano Estacado_, or the Pawnee of the Platte, he would have found an +exact counterpart of the Ishmaelitish wanderer over the sandy plains of +the Saaera. + +He was allowed but scant time to philosophize upon these ethnological +phenomena. As the douar became stirred into general activity, he, along +with his two companions, was rudely started from his attitude of +observation, and ordered to take a share in the toils of the captors. + +At an earlier hour, and still more rudely, had Sailor Bill received the +commands of his master; who, as the first rays of the Aurora began to +dapple the horizon, had ordered the old man-o-war's-man to his feet, at +the same time administering to him a cruel kick, that came very near +shivering some of his stern timbers. + +Had the black sheik been acquainted with the English language,--as +spoken in Ratcliff Highway,--he would have better understood Sailor +Bill's reply to his rude matutinal salutation; which, along with several +not very complimentary wishes, ended by devoting the "nayger's" eyes to +eternal perdition. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +AN OBSTINATE DROMEDARY. + + +The morning meal was eaten as soon as prepared. Its scantiness +surprised our adventurers. Even the more distinguished individuals +of the horde partook of only a very small quantity of milk, or +sangleh. The two sheiks alone got anything like what might have been +deemed an ordinary breakfast; while the more common class, as the +half-breeds--_hassanes_--and the negro slaves had to content themselves +with less than a pint of sour milk to each, half of which was water--the +mixture denominated _cheni_. + +Could this meal be meant for breakfast? Harry Blount and Terence thought +not. But Colin corrected them, by alleging that it was. He had read of +the wonderful abstemiousness of these children of the desert: how they +can live on a single meal a day, and this scarce sufficient to sustain +life in a child of six years old; that is, an English child. Often will +they go for several successive days without eating and when they do eat +regularly, a drink of milk is all they require to satisfy hunger. + +Colin was right. It was their ordinary breakfast. He might have added, +their dinner too, for they would not likely obtain another morsel of +food before sundown. + +But where was the breakfast of Colin and his fellow-captives? This was +the question that interested them far more than the dietary of the +Bedouins. They were all hungering like hyenas, and yet no one seemed to +think of them--no one offered them either bite or sup. Filthy as was the +mess made by the Arab women, and filthily as they prepared it,--boiling +it in pots, and serving it up in wooden dishes, that did not appear to +have had a washing for weeks,--the sight of it increased the hungry +cravings of the captives; and they would fain have been permitted to +share the scanty _dejeuner_. + +They made signs of their desire; piteous appeals for food, by looks and +gestures; but all in vain: not a morsel was bestowed on them. Their +brutal captors only laughed at them, as though they intended that all +four should go without eating. + +It soon became clear that they were not to starve in idleness. As soon +as they had been started to their feet each of them was set to a task; +one to collect camels' dung for the cooking fires; another to fetch +water from the brackish muddy pool which had caused the oasis to become +a place of encampment; while the third was called upon to assist in the +loading of the tent equipage, along with the salvage of the wreck,--an +operation entered upon as soon as the sangleh had been swallowed. + +Sailor Bill, in a different part of the douar, was kept equally upon the +alert: and if he, or any of the other three, showed signs of disliking +their respective tasks, one of the two sheiks made little ado about +striking them with a leathern strap, a knotty stick, or any weapon that +chanced to come readiest to hand. They soon discovered that they were +under the government of taskmasters not to be trifled with, and that +resistance or remonstrance would be alike futile. In short, they saw +_that they were slaves_! + +While packing the tents, and otherwise preparing for the march, they +were witnesses to many customs, curious as new to them. The odd +equipages of the animals,--both those of burden and those intended to be +ridden,--the oval panniers, placed upon the backs of the camels, to +carry the women and younger children; the square pads upon the humps of +the maherries; the tawny little piccaninnies strapped upon the backs of +their mothers; the kneeling of the camels to receive their loads,--as if +consenting to what could not be otherwise than disagreeable to +them,--were all sights that might have greatly interested our +adventurers, had they been viewing them under different circumstances. + +Out of the last mentioned of these sights, an incident arose, +illustrating the craft of their captors in the management of their +domestic animals. + +A refractory camel, that, according to usual habit, had voluntarily +humiliated itself to receive its load, after this had been packed upon +it, refused to rise to its feet. The beast either deemed the burden +inequable and unjust,--for the Arabian camel, like the Peruvian llama, +has a very acute perception of fair play in this respect,--or a fit of +caprice had entered its mulish head. For one reason or another it +exhibited a stern determination _not_ to oblige its owner by rising to +its feet; but continued its genuflexion in spite of every effort to get +it on all-fours. + +Coaxing and cajolery were tried to no purpose. Kicking by sandalled +feet, scourging with whips, and beating with cudgels produced no better +effect; and to all appearance the obstinate brute had made up its mind +to remain in the oasis and let the tribe depart without it. + +At this crisis an ingenious method of making the camel change its mind +suggested itself to its master; or perhaps he had practised it on some +former occasion. Maddened by the obstinacy of the animal, he seized hold +of an old burnouse, and rushing up, threw it over its head. Then drawing +the rag tightly around its snout, he fastened it in such a manner as +completely to stop up the nostrils. + +The camel finding its breathing thus suddenly interrupted, became +terrified; and without further loss of time, scrambled to its feet--to +the great amusement of the women and children who were spectators of the +scene. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +WATERING THE CAMELS. + + +In an incredibly short space of time the tents were down, and the douar +with all its belongings was no longer to be seen; or only in the shape +of sundry packages balanced upon the backs of the animals. + +The last operation before striking out upon the desert track, was the +watering of these; the supply for the journey having been already dipped +up out of the pool, and poured into goat-skin sacks. + +The watering of the camels appeared to be regarded as the most important +matter of all. In this performance every precaution was taken, and every +attention bestowed, to ensure to the animals a full supply of the +precious fluid,--perhaps from a presentiment on the part of their owners +that they themselves might some day stand in need of, and make use of, +the _same_ water! + +Whether this was the motive or not, every camel belonging to the horde +was compelled to drink till its capacious stomach was quite full; and +the quantity consumed by each would be incredible to any other than the +owner of an African dromedary, Only a very large cask could have +contained it. + +At the watering of the animals, our adventurers had an opportunity of +observing another incident of the Saaera,--quite as curious and original +as that already described. + +It chanced that the pool that furnished the precious fluid, and which +contained the only fresh water to be found within fifty miles, was just +then on the eve of being dried up. A long season of drought--that is to +say, _three or four years_--had reigned over this particular portion of +the desert, and the lagoon, formerly somewhat extensive, had shrunk into +the dimensions of a trifling tank, containing little more than two or +three hundred gallons. This, during the stay of the two tribes united as +wreckers, had been daily diminishing; and had the occupants of the douar +not struck tents at the time they did, in another day or so they would +have been in danger of suffering from thirst. This was in reality the +cause of their projected migration. But for the fear of getting short in +the necessary commodity of fresh water, they would have hugged the +seashore a little longer, in hopes of picking up a few more "waifs" from +the wreck of the English ship. + +At the hour of their departure from the encampment, the pool was on the +eve of exhaustion. Only a few score gallons of not very pure water +remained in it--about enough to fill the capacious stomachs of the +camels; whose owners had gauged them too often to be ignorant of the +quantity. + +It would not do to play with this closely calculated supply. Every pint +was precious; and to prove that it was so esteemed, the animals were +constrained to swallow it in a fashion, which certainly nature could +never have intended. + +Instead of taking it in by the mouth the camels of these Saaeran rovers +were compelled to quench their thirst through the nostrils! + +You will wonder in what manner this could be effected? inquiring whether +the quadrupeds voluntarily performed this nasal imbibing? + +Our adventurers, witnesses of the fact, wondered also--while struck with +its quaint peculiarity. + +There is a proverb that "one man may take a horse to the water, but +twenty cannot compel him to drink." Though this proverb may hold good of +an English horse, it has no significance when applied to an African +dromedary. Proof. Our adventurers saw the owner of each camel bring his +animal to the edge of the pool; but instead of permitting the thirsty +creature to step in and drink for itself, its head was held aloft, a +wooden funnel was filled, the narrow end inserted into the nostril, and +by the respiratory canal the water introduced to the throat and stomach! + +You may ask, why this selection of the nostrils instead of the mouth? +Our adventurers so interrogated one another. It was only after becoming +better acquainted with the customs of the Saaera that they acquired a +satisfactory explanation of one they had frequent occasion to observe. + +Though ordinarily of the most docile disposition, and in most of its +movements the most tranquil of creatures, the dromedary, when drinking +from a vessel, has the habit of repeatedly shaking its head, and +spilling large quantities of the water placed before it. Where water is +scarce,--and, as in the Saaera, considered the most momentous matter of +life,--a waste of it after such a fashion could not be tolerated. To +prevent it, therefore, the camel-owner has contrived that this animal, +so essential to his own safe existence, should drink through the +orifices intended by nature for its respiration. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +A SQUABBLE BETWEEN THE SHEIKS. + + +The process of watering the camels was carried on with the utmost +diligence and care. It was too important to be trifled with, or +negligently performed. While filling the capacious stomachs of the +quadrupeds, their owners were but laying in a stock for themselves. + +As Sailor Bill jocularly remarked, "it was like filling the water-casks +of a man-of-war previous to weighing anchor for a voyage." In truth, +very similar was the purpose for which these ships of the desert were +being supplied; for, when filling the capacious stomachs of the +quadrupeds, their owners were not without the reflection that the supply +might yet pass into their own. Such a contingency was not improbable, +neither would it be new. + +For this reason the operation was conducted with diligence and care,--no +camel being led away from the pool until it was supposed to have had a +"surfeit," and this point was settled by seeing the water poured in at +its nostrils running out at its mouth. + +As each in turn got filled, it was taken back to the tribe to which it +belonged; for the united hordes had by this time become separated into +two distinct parties, preparatory to starting off on their respective +routes. + +Our adventurers could now perceive a marked difference between the two +bands of Saaera wanderers into whose hands they had unfortunately fallen. +As already stated, the black sheik was an African of the true negro +type, with thick lips, flattened nostrils, woolly hair, and heels +projecting several inches to the rear of his ankle-joints. Most of his +following were similarly "furnished," though not all of them. There were +a few of mixed color, with straight hair, and features almost Caucasian, +who submitted to his rule, or rather to his ownership, since these last +all appeared to be his slaves. + +Those who trooped after the old Arab were mostly of his own race, mixed +with a remnant of mongrel Portuguese,--descendants of the peninsular +colonists who had fled from the coast settlements after the conquest of +Morocco by the victorious "Sheriffs." + +Of such mixed races are the tribes who thinly people the Saaera,--Arabs, +Berbers, Ethiopians of every hue; all equally Bedoweens,--wanderers of +the pathless deserts. It did not escape the observation of our +adventurers that the slaves of the Arab sheik and his followers were +mostly pure negroes from the south, while those of the black +chieftain,--as proclaimed by the color of their skin,--showed a Shemitic +or Japhetic origin. The philosophic Colin could perceive in this a +silent evidence of the retribution of races. + +The supply of water being at length laid in, not only in the skins +appropriated to the purpose, but also within the stomachs of the camels, +the two tribes seemed prepared to exchange with each other the parting +salute,--to speak the "Peace be with you!" And yet there was something +that caused them to linger in each other's proximity. Their new-made +captives could tell this, though ignorant of what it might be. + +It was something that had yet to be settled between the two sheiks, who +did not appear at this moment of leave-taking to entertain for each +other any very cordial sentiment of friendship. + +Could their thoughts have found expression in English words, they would +have taken shape somewhat as follows:-- + +"That lubberly nigger," (we are pursuing the train of reflections that +passed through the mind of the Arab sheik,) "old Nick burn him!--thinks +I've got more than my share of this lucky windfall. He wants these boys +bad,--I know that. The Sultan of Timbuctoo has given him a commission to +procure _white slaves_,--that's clear; and _boy slaves_ if he +can,--that's equally certain. This lot would suit him to a T. I can tell +that he don't care much for the old salt he has tricked me out of by his +superior skill at that silly game of helga. No; His Majesty of the +mud-walled city don't want such as him. It's boys he's after,--as can +wait smartly at his royal table, and give _eclat_ to his ceremonial +entertainments. Well, he can have these _three at a price_." + +"Ay, but a big price," continued the cunning old trafficker in human +flesh, after a short reflection, "a wopping big price. The togs we've +stripped from them were no common clothing. Good broadcloth in their +jackets, and bullion bands on their caps. They must be the sons of great +sheiks. At Wedmoon the old Jew will redeem them. So, too, the merchants +at Suse; or maybe I had best take them on to Mogador, where the consul +of their country will come down handsomely for such as they. Yes, that's +the trick!" + +At this parting scene the thoughts of Fatima's husband were equally +occupied with trading speculations, in which he was assisted by the +amiable Fatima herself. + +Translated also into English, they would have read as follows:-- + +"The Sultan would give threescore of his best blacks for those three +tripe-colored brats." + +"I know it, Fatty dear; he's told me so himself." + +"Then why not get them, and bring 'em along?" + +"Ah, that's easy to say. How can I? You know they belong to the old Arab +by right,--at least, he claims them, though not very fairly, for if we +hadn't come up in good time they would have taken him instead of his +taking them; no matter for that, they're his now by the laws of the +Saaera." + +"Bother the laws of the Saaera!" exclaimed Fatima, with a disdainful toss +of her head, and a scornful turning up of her two protruding teeth; "all +stuff and nonsense! There's no law in the Saaera; and if there was, you +know we're never coming into it again. The price you'd get for those +three hobbledehoys would keep us comfortable for the balance of our +lives; and we need never track the Devil's Desert again. Take 'em by +force from old Yellow-face, if you can't get 'em otherwise; but you may +'chouse' him out of them at a game of _helga_,--you know you can beat +him at that. If he won't play again, try your hand at bargaining against +your blacks; offer him two to one." + +Thus counselled by the partner of his bosom, the black sheik, instead of +bidding the _saleik aloum_ to his Arab _confrere_, raised his voice +aloud, and demanded from the latter a parley upon business of +importance. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +THE TRIO STAKED. + + +The parley that followed was of course unintelligible to our +adventurers, the _Boy Slaves_. + +But although they did not understand the words that were exchanged +between the two sheiks, they were not without having a conjecture as to +their import. The gestures made by the two men, and their looks cast +frequently towards themselves, led them to believe that the conversation +related to their transference from one to the other. + +There was not much to choose between the two masters. Both appeared to +be unfeeling savages, and so far had treated their captives with much +cruelty. They could only hope, in case of a transfer taking place, that +it would not be partial, but would extend to the trio, and that they +would be kept together. They had been already aware that old Bill was to +be parted from them, and this had caused them a painful feeling; but to +be themselves separated, perhaps never to meet again, was a thought +still more distressing. + +The three youths had long been shipmates,--ever since entering the naval +service of their country. They had become fast friends; and believed +that whatever might be the fate before them, they could better bear it +in each other's company. Companionship would at least enable them to +cheer one another; mutual sympathy would, to some extent, alleviate the +hardest lot; while alone, and under such cruel taskmasters, the prospect +was gloomy in the extreme. + +With feelings of keen anxiety, therefore, did they listen to the +palaver, and watch the countenances of their captors. + +After a full half-hour spent in loud talking and gesticulating, some +arrangement appeared to have been arrived at between the two sheiks. +Those most interested in it could only guess what it was by what +followed. + +Silence having been partially restored, the old Arab was seen to step up +to the spot where the slaves of the black sheik were assembled; and, +after carefully scrutinizing them, pick out three of the stoutest, +plumpest, and healthiest young negroes in the gang. These were separated +from the others, and placed on the plain some distance apart. + +"We're to be exchanged," muttered Terence, "we're to belong to the ugly +black nagur. Well, perhaps it's better. We'll be with old Bill." + +"Stay a wee," said Colin; "there's something more to come yet, I think." + +The black sheik at this moment coming up, interrupted the conversation +of the captives. + +What was he going to do? Take them with him, they supposed. The old Arab +had himself led out the three young "darkies"; and the black sheik was +about to act in like manner with the trio of white captives. + +So reasoned they; and, as it was a matter of indifference to them with +which they went, they would offer no opposition. + +To their chagrin, however, instead of all three, only one of them was +led off; the other two being commanded by gestures to keep their ground. + +It was O'Connor to whom this partiality was shown; the black sheik +having selected him after a short while spent in scrutinizing and +comparing the three. The Irish youth was of stouter build than either of +his shipmates; and this, perhaps, guided the black sheik in making his +choice. By all appearances, the conditions of the exchange were to be +different from what our adventurers had anticipated. It was not to be +man for man, or boy for boy; but three for one,--three blacks to a +white. + +This was, in reality, the terms that had been agreed upon. The +avaricious old Arab, not caring very much to part with his share of the +spoil, would not take less than three to one; and to this the black +sheik, after long and loud bargaining, had consented. + +Terence was led up, and placed alongside the three young darkies, who, +instead of taking things as seriously as he, were exhibiting their +ivories in broad grins of laughter, as if the disposal of their persons +was an affair to be treated only as a joke! + +Our adventurers were now apprehensive that they were to be separated. +Their only hope was that the bargaining would not end there; but would +extend to a further exchange of six blacks for the two remaining whites. + +Their conjectures were interrupted by their seeing that the "swop" was +not yet considered complete. + +What followed, in fact, showed them that it was not a regular trade at +all; but a little bit of gambling between the two sheiks, in which +Terence and the three young blacks were to be the respective stakes. + +Old Bill was able to explain the proceedings, from his experience of the +preceding night; and as he saw the two sheiks repair to the place where +his own proprietorship had been decided, he cried out:-- + +"Yere goin' to be gambled for, Masther Terry! Och! ye'll be along wid +me,--for the black can bate the owld Arab at that game, all hollow." + +The holes in which the _helga_ had been played on the preceding night +were now resorted to. The proper number of dung pellets were procured, +and the game proceeded. + +It ended as the old man-o'-war's-man had prognosticated, by the black +sheik becoming the winner and owner of Terence O'Connor. + +The Arab appeared sadly chagrined, and by the way in which he strutted +and stormed over the ground, it was evident he would not rest satisfied +with his loss. When did gamester ever leave gaming-table so long as a +stake was left him to continue the play? + +Two of the midshipmen still belonged to the old sheik. With these he +might obtain a _revanche_. He made the trial. He was unfortunate, as +before. Either the luck was against him, or he was no match at "desert +draughts" for his sable antagonist. + +It ended in the black sheik becoming the owner of the three midshipmen, +who, restored to the companionship of Sailor Bill, in less than twenty +minutes after the conclusion of the game, were trudging it across the +desert in the direction of Timbuctoo! + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +GOLAH. + + +In their journey over the sea of sand, our four adventurers formed part +of a company of sixteen men and women, along with six or seven children. + +All were the property of one man,--the huge and dusky sheik who had won +Sailor Bill and the three middies at "desert draughts." + +It soon became known to his white captives that his name was Golah, a +name which Terence suggested might probably be an African abbreviation +of the ancient name of Goliah. + +Golah was certainly a great man,--not in bone and flesh alone, but in +intellect as well. + +We do not claim for him the gigantic mind that by arranging a few +figures and symbols, by the light of a lamp in a garret, could discover +a new planet in the solar system, and give its dimensions, weight, and +distance from the dome of St. Paul's. Neither do we claim that the power +of his intellect, if put forth in a storm of eloquence, could move the +masses of his fellow-creatures, as a hurricane stirs up the waters of +the sea; yet for all this Golah had a great intellect. He was born to +rule, and not a particle of all the propensities and sentiments +constituting his mind was ever intended to yield to the will of another. + +The cunning old sheik, who had the first claim to the three mids, had +been anxious to retain them; but they were also wanted by Golah, and the +Arab was compelled to give them up, after having been fairly beaten at +the game; parting with his sable competitor in a mood that was anything +but agreeable. + +The black sheik had three wives, all of whom possessed the gift of +eloquence in a high degree. + +For all this a simple glance from him was enough to stop any one of them +in the middle of a monosyllable. + +Even Fatima, the favorite, owed much of her influence to the ability she +displayed in studying her lord's wishes to the neglect of her own. + +Golah had seven camels, four of which were required for carrying himself +and his wives, with their children, trappings, tent utensils, and tents. + +The three other camels were laden with the spoils which had been +collected from the wreck. + +Twelve of the sixteen adults in the company were compelled to walk, +being forced to keep up with the camels the best way they could. + +One of these was Golah's son, a youth about eighteen years of age. He +was armed with a long Moorish musket, a heavy Spanish sword, and the +dirk that had been taken from Colin. + +He was the principal guard over the slaves, in which duty he was +assisted by another youth, whom our adventurers afterwards learnt was a +brother of one of Golah's wives. + +This second youth was armed with a musket and scimitar, and both he and +Golah's son seemed to think that their lives depended on keeping a +constant watch over the ten slaves; for there were six others besides +Sailor Bill and his young companions. They had all been captured, +purchased, or won at play, during Golah's present expedition, and were +now on the way to some southern market. + +Two of the six were pronounced by Sailor Bill to be Kroomen,--a race of +Africans with whose appearance he was somewhat familiar, having often +seen them acting as sailors in ships coming from the African coast. + +The other slaves were much lighter in complexion, and by the old +man-o'-war's-man were called "Portugee blacks." All had the appearance +of having spent some time in bondage on the great Saaera. + +On the first day of their journey the white captives had learnt the +relations existing between the majority of the company and the chief +Golah; and each of them felt shame as well as indignation at the +humiliating position in which he was placed. + +Those feelings were partly excited and greatly strengthened by hunger +and thirst, as well as by the painful toil they had to undergo in +dragging themselves over the sandy plain beneath a scorching sun. + +"I have had enough of this," said Harry Blount to his companions. "We +might be able to stand it several days longer, but I've no curiosity to +learn whether we can or not." + +"Go on! you are thinking and speaking for me, Harry," said Terence. + +"There are four of us," continued Harry,--"four of that nation whose +people boast they _never will be slaves_; besides, there are six others, +who are our fellow-bondsmen. They're not much to look at, but still they +might count for something in a row. Shall we four British tars, belong +to a party of ten,--all enslaved by three men,--black men at that?" + +"That's just what I've been thinking about for the last hour or two," +said Terence. "If we don't kill old Golah, and ride off with his camels, +we deserve to pass every day of our lives as we're doing this one--in +slavery." + +"Just say the word,--when and how," cried Harry "I'm waiting. There are +seven camels. Let us each take one; but before we go we must eat and +drink the other three. I'm starving." + +"Pitch on a plan, and I'll pitch into it," rejoined Terence. "I'm ready +for anything,--from pitch and toss up to manslaughter." + +"Stay, Master Terence," interrupted the old sailor. "Av coorse ye are +afther wantin' to do somethin', an' thin to think aftherwards why ye did +it. Arry, my lad, yer half out o yer mind. Master Colin be the only yin +o' ye that keeps his seven senses about him. Suppose all av ye, that the +big chief was dead, an' that his son was not alive, and that the other +nager was a ristin' quietly wid his black heels turned from the place +where the daisies hought to grow,--what should we do thin? We 'ave +neyther chart nor compass. We could'ner mak oot our reckonin'. Don't ye +see a voyage here is just like one at sea, only it be just the revarse. +When men are starvin' at sea, they want to find land, but when they are +starvin' in the desert they want to find water. The big nager, our +captain, can navigate this sea in safety,--we can't. We must let him +take us to some port and then do the best we can to escape from him." + +"You are quite right," said Colin, "in thinking that we might be unable +to find our way from one watering-place to another; but it is well for +us to calculate all the chances. After reaching some _port_, as you call +it, may we not find ourselves in a position more difficult to escape +from,--where we will have to contend with a hundred or more of these +negro brutes in place of only three?" + +"That's vary likely," answered the sailor; "but they're only men, and we +'av a chance of beatin' 'em. We may fight with men, and conquer 'em, an' +we may fight with water an' conquer that; but when we fight against no +water that will conquer us. Natur is sure to win." + +"Bill's right there," said Terence, "and I feel that Nature is getting +the best of me already." + +While they were holding this conversation, they noticed that one of the +Kroomen kept near them, and seemed listening to all that was said. His +sparkling eyes betrayed the greatest interest. + +"Do you understand us?" asked old Bill, turning sharply towards the +African, and speaking in an angry tone. + +"Yus, sa,--a lilly bit," answered the Krooman, without seeming to notice +the unpleasant manner in which the question had been put. + +"And what are you listening for?" + +"To hear what you tell um. I like go in Ingleesh ship. You talk good for +me. I go long with you." + +With some difficulty the sailor and his companions could comprehend the +Krooman's gibberish. They managed to learn from him that he had once +been in an English ship, and had made a voyage along the African coast, +trading for palm-oil. While on board he had picked up a smattering of +English. He was afterwards shipwrecked in a Portuguese brig. Cast away +on the shores of the Saaera, just as our adventurers had been, and had +passed four years in the desert,--a slave to its denizens. + +He gratified our adventurers by telling them that they were in no danger +of having to endure a prolonged period of captivity, as they would soon +be sold into liberty, instead of slavery. Golah could not afford to keep +slaves; and was only a kidnapper and dealer in the article. He would +sell them to the highest bidder, and that would be some English consul +on the coast. + +The Krooman said there was no such hope for him and his companions, for +their country did not redeem its subjects from slavery. + +When he saw that Golah had obtained some English prisoners, he had been +cheered with the hope that he might be redeemed along with them, as an +English subject, to which right he had some claim from having served on +an English ship! + +During the day the black slaves--well knowing the duty they were +expected to perform, had been gathering pieces of dried camels' dung +along the way; this was to supply fuel for the fire of the douar at +night. + +Soon after sunset Golah ordered a halt, when the camels were unloaded +and the tents set up. + +About one quarter the quantity of _sangleh_ that each required, was then +served out to the slaves for their dinner, and as they had eaten nothing +since morning, this article of food appeared to have greatly improved, +both in appearance and flavor. To the palate of our adventurers it +seemed delicious. + +Golah, after examining his human property, and evidently satisfied with +the condition of all, retired to his tent; from which soon after issued +sounds that resembled a distant thunder-storm. + +The black sheik was snoring! + +The two young men--his son and brother-in-law--relieved each other +during the night in keeping watch over the slaves. + +Their vigil was altogether unnecessary. Weak, and exhausted with hunger +and fatigue, the thoughts of the captives were not of the future, but of +present repose; which was eagerly sought, and readily found, by all four +of them. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +A DAY OF AGONY. + + +An hour before sunrise the next morning, the slaves were given some +_cheni_ to drink, and then started on their journey. + +The sun, as it soared up into a cloudless sky, shot forth its rays much +warmer than upon the day before, while not a breath of air fanned the +sterile plain. The atmosphere was as hot and motionless as the sands +under their feet. They were no longer hungry. Thirst--raging, burning +thirst--extinguished or deadened every other sensation. + +Streams of perspiration poured from their bodies, as they struggled +through the yielding sand; yet, with all this moisture streaming from +every pore, their throats, tongues, and lips became so parched that any +attempt on their part to hold converse only resulted in producing a +series of sounds that resembled a death-rattle. + +Golah, with his family, rode in the advance, and seemed not to give +himself any concern whether he was followed by others or not. His two +relatives brought up the rear of the _kafila_, and any of the slaves +exhibiting a disposition to lag behind was admonished to move on with +blows administered by a thick stick. + +"Tell them I must have water or die," muttered Harry to the Krooman in a +hoarse whisper. "I am worth money, and if old Golah lets me die for want +of a drop of water, he's a fool." + +The Krooman refused to make the communication--which he declared would +only result in bringing ill treatment upon himself. + +Colin appealed to Golah's son, and by signs gave him to understand that +they must have water. The young black, in answer, simply condescended to +sneer at him. He was not suffering himself, and could have no sympathy +for another. + +The hides of the blacks, besmeared with oil, seemed to repel the +scorching beams of the sun; and years of continual practice had no doubt +inured them to the endurance of hunger and thirst to a surprising +degree. To their white fellow-captives they appeared more like huge +reptiles than human beings. + +The sand along the route on this, the second day, was less compact than +before, and the task of leg-lifting, produced a weariness such as might +have arisen from the hardest work. Added to the agony of their thirst, +the white sufferers dwelt frequently on thoughts of death--that great +antidote to human miseries; yet so constrained were their actions by +force of circumstances, that only by following their leader and owner, +Golah, could they hope to find relief. + +Had he allowed them to turn back to the coast, whence they had started, +or even to repose for a few hours on the way, they could not have done +so. They were compelled to move on, by a power that could not be +resisted. + +That power was Hope,--the hope of obtaining some _sangleh_ and a little +dirty water. + +To turn back, or to linger behind, would bring them nothing but more +suffering,--perhaps death itself. + +A man intent on dying may throw himself into the water to get drowned, +and then find himself involuntarily struggling to escape from the death +he has courted. + +The same irresistible antipathy to death compelled his white captives to +follow the black sheik. + +They were unwilling to die,--not for the sole reason that they had homes +and friends they wished to see again,--not solely for that innate love +of life, implanted by Nature in the breasts of all; but there was a +pleasure which they desired to experience once more,--aye, yearned to +indulge in it: the pleasure of quenching their terrible thirst. To +gratify this pleasure they must follow Golah. + +One of Golah's wives had three children; and, as each wife was obliged +to look after her own offspring, this woman could not pursue her journey +without a little more trouble than her less favored companions. + +The eldest of her children was too young to walk a long distance; and, +most of the time, was carried under her care upon the maherry. Having +her three restless imps, to keep balanced upon the back of the camel, +requiring her constant vigilance to prevent them from falling off, she +found her hands full enough. It was a sort of travelling that did not at +all suit her; and she had been casting about for some way of being +relieved from at least a portion of her trouble. + +The plan she devised was to compel some one of the slaves to carry her +eldest child, a boy about four years of age. + +Colin was the victim selected for this duty. All the attempts made by +the young Scotchman to avoid the responsibilities thus imposed upon him +proved vain. The woman was resolute, and Colin had to yield; although he +resisted until she threatened to call Golah to her assistance. + +This argument was conclusive; and the young darkey was placed upon +Colin's shoulders, with its legs around his neck, and one of its hands +grasping him tightly by the hair. + +When this arrangement was completed, night had drawn near; and the two +young men who acted as guards hastened forward to select a place for the +douar. + +There was no danger of any of the slaves making an attempt to escape; +for all were too anxious to receive the small quantity of food that was +to be allowed them at the night halt. + +Encumbered with the "piccaninny," and wearied with the long, ceaseless +struggle through the sand, Colin lingered behind his companions. The +mother of the child, apparently attentive to the welfare of her +first-born, checked the progress of her maherry, and rode back to him. + +After the camels had been unloaded, and the tents pitched, Golah +superintended the serving out of their suppers, which consisted only of +_sangleh_. The quantity was even less than had been given the evening +before; but it was devoured by the white captives with a pleasure none +of them had hitherto experienced. + +Sailor Bill declared that the brief time in which he was employed in +consuming the few mouthfuls allowed him, was a moment of enjoyment that +repaid him for all the sufferings of the day. + +"Ah, Master Arry!" said he, "it's only now we are larnin' to live, +although I did think, one time to-day, we was just larnin' to die. I +never mean to eat again until I'm hungry Master Terry," he added, +turning to the young Irishman, "isn't this foine livin' intirely? and +are yez not afther bein' happy?" + +"'T is the most delicious food man ever ate," answered Terence, "and the +only fault I can find is that there is not enough of it." + +"Then you may have what is left of mine," said Colin, "for I can't say +that I fancy it." + +Harry, Terence, and the sailor gazed at the young Scotchman with +expressions of mingled alarm and surprise. Small as had been the amount +of _sangleh_ with which Colin had been served, he had not eaten more +than one half of it. + +"Why, puir Maister Colly, what is wrang wi' ye?" exclaimed Bill, in a +tone expressing fear and pity. "If ye dinna eat, mon, ye'll dee." + +"I'm quite well," answered Colin, "but I have had plenty, and any of you +can take what is left." + +Though the hunger of Colin's three companions was not half satisfied, +they all refused to finish the remainder of his supper, hoping that he +might soon find his appetite, and eat it himself. + +The pleasure they had enjoyed in eating the small allowance given them +rendered it difficult for them to account for the conduct of their +companion. His abstemiousness caused them uneasiness, even alarm. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +COLIN IN LUCK. + + +The next morning, when the caravan started, Colin again had the care of +the young black. He did not always have to carry him, as part of the +time the boy trotted along by his side. + +During the fore-part of the day, the young Scotchman with his charge +easily kept up with his companions, and some of the time might be seen a +little in advance of them. His kind attentions to the boy were observed +by Golah, who showed some sign of human feeling, by exhibiting a +contortion of his features intended for a smile. + +Towards noon, Colin appeared to become fatigued with the toil of the +journey, and then fell back to the rear, as he had done the evening +before. Again the anxious mother, ever mindful of the welfare of her +offspring, was seen to check her camel, and wait until Colin and the boy +overtook her. + +Sailor Bill had been much surprised at Colin's conduct the evening +before, especially at the patient manner in which the youth had +submitted to the task of looking after the child. There was a mystery in +the young Scotchman's behavior he could not comprehend,--a mystery that +soon became more profound. It had also attracted the attention of Harry +and Terence, notwithstanding the many unpleasant circumstances of the +journey calculated to abstract their thoughts from him and his charge. + +Shortly after noon, the woman was seen driving Colin up to the _kafila_, +urging him forward with loud screams, and blows administered with the +knotted end of the rope by which she guided her maherry. + +After a time Golah, apparently annoyed by her shrill, scolding voice, +ordered her to desist, and permit the slave to continue his journey in +peace. + +Although unable to understand the meaning of her words, Colin must have +known that the woman was not using terms of endearment. + +The screaming, angry tone, and the blows of the rope might have told him +this; and yet he submitted to her reproaches and chastisements with a +meekness and a philosophic resignation which surprised his companions. + +When his thoughts were not too much absorbed by painful reveries over +the desire for food and water, Harry endeavored to converse with the +Krooman already mentioned. He now applied to the man for an +interpretation of the words so loudly vociferated by the angry negress, +and launched upon the head of the patient young Scotchman. + +The Krooman said that she had called the lad a lazy pig, a Christian +dog, and an unbelieving fool; and that she threatened to kill him unless +he kept up with the _kafila_. + +On the third day of their journeying, it chanced not to be quite so hot +as on the one preceding it; and consequently the sufferings of the +slaves, especially from thirst, were somewhat less severe. + +"I shall never endure such agony again," said Harry, speaking of his +experience of the previous day. "Perhaps I may die for the want of +water, and on this desert; but I can never suffer so much real pain a +second time." + +"'Ow is that, Master Arry?" asked Bill. + +"Because I cannot forget, after my experience of last night, that the +greater the desire for water, the more pleasure there is in gratifying +it; and the anticipation of such happiness will go far to alleviate +anything I may hereafter feel." + +"Well, there be summat in that, for sartin," answered the sailor, "for I +can't 'elp thinkin' about 'ow nice our supper was last night, and only +'ope it will taste as well to-night again." + +"We have learnt something new," said Terence, "new, at least, to me; and +I shall know how to live when I get where there is plenty. Heretofore I +have been like a child--eating and drinking half my time, not because I +required it, but because I knew no better. There is Colly, now, he don't +seem to appreciate the beauty of this Arabian style of living; or he may +understand it better than we. Perhaps he is waiting until he acquires a +better appetite, so that he may have all the more pleasure in gratifying +it. Where is he now?" + +They all looked about. They saw that Colin had once more fallen behind; +and that the mother of the child was again waiting for him. + +Harry and Terence walked on, expecting that they would soon see their +companion rudely driven up by the angry negress. + +Sailor Bill stopped, as though he was interested in being a witness to +the scene thus anticipated. + +In a few minutes after, the young Scotchman, with the child, was hurried +forward by the enraged hag--who once more seemed in a great rage at his +inability or unwillingness to keep up with the others. + +"I ken it 'a noo," said Bill, after he had stood for some time +witnessing the ill-treatment heaped upon Colin. + +"Our freen Colly's in luck. I've no langer any wonder at his taking a' +this tribble wi' the blackey bairn." + +"What is it, Bill? what have you learnt now?" asked Terence and Harry in +a breath. + +"I've larnt why Colly could not eat his dinner yesterday." + +"Well, why was it?" + +"I've larnt that the nager's anger with Colly is all a pretince, an' +that she's an old she schemer." + +"Nonsense, Bill; that is all a fancy of yours," said Colin, who, with +the child on his shoulders, was now walking alongside his companions. + +"It is no fancy of mine, mon," answered Bill, "but a fancy o' the woman +for a bra' fair luddie. What is it that she gives you to eat, Maister +Colly?" + +Seeing that it was idle to conceal his good fortune any longer, Colin +now confessed it,--informing them that the woman, whenever she could do +so without being seen, had given him a handful of dried figs, with a +drink of camel's milk from a leathern bottle which she carried under her +cloak. + +Notwithstanding the opinion they had just expressed, on the enjoyment +attending prolonged thirst and hunger, Colin's companions congratulated +him on his good fortune,--one and all declaring their willingness to +take charge of the little darkey, on the condition of being similarly +rewarded. + +They had no suspicion at that moment that their opinions might soon +undergo a change; and that Colin's supposed good fortune would ere long +become a source of much uneasiness to all of them. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +SAILOR BILL'S EXPERIMENT. + + +The afternoon of this day was very warm, yet Golah rode on at such a +quick pace, that it required the utmost exertion of the slaves to keep +up with him. + +This manner of travelling, under the circumstances in which he was +required to pursue it, proved too severe for Sailor Bill to endure with +any degree of patience. + +He became unable, as he thought, to walk any farther; or, if not wholly +unable, he was certainly unwilling, and he therefore sat down. + +A heavy shower of blows produced no effect in moving him from the spot +where he had seated himself, and the two young men who acted as guards, +not knowing what else to do, and having exhausted all their arguments, +accompanied by a series of kicks, at length appealed to Golah. + +The sheik instantly turned his maherry, and rode back. + +Before he had reached the place, however, the three mids had used all +their influence in an endeavor to get their old companion to move on. In +this they had been joined by the Krooman, who entreated Bill, if he +placed any value on his life, to get up before Golah should arrive, for +he declared the monster would show him no mercy. + +"For God's sake," exclaimed Harry Blount, "if it is possible for you to +get up and go a little way farther, do so." + +"Try to move on, man," said Terence, "and we will help you. Come, Bill, +for the sake of your friends try to get up. Golah is close by." + +While thus speaking, Terence, assisted by Colin, took hold of Bill and +tried to drag him to his feet; but the old sailor obstinately persisted +in remaining upon the ground. + +"Perhaps I could walk on a bit farther," said he, "but I won't. I've 'ad +enough on it. I'm goin' to ride, and let Golah walk awhile. He's better +able to do it than I am. Now don't you boys be so foolish as to get +yersels into trouble on my account. All ye've got to do is to look on, +an' ye'll larn somethin'. If I've no youth an' beauty, like Colly, to +bring me good luck, I've age and experience, and I'll get it by +schamin'." + +On reaching the place where the sailor was sitting, Golah was informed +of what had caused the delay, and that the usual remedy had failed of +effect. + +He did not seem displeased at the communication. On the contrary, his +huge features bore an expression that for him might have been considered +pleasant. + +He quietly ordered the slave to get up, and pursue his journey. + +The weary sailor had blistered feet; and, with his strength almost +exhausted by hunger and thirst, had reached the point of desperation. +Moreover, for the benefit of himself and his young companions, he wished +to try an experiment. + +He told the Krooman to inform the sheik that he would go on, if allowed +to ride one of the camels. + +"You want me to kill you?" exclaimed Golah, when this communication was +made to him; "you want to cheat me out of the price I have paid for you; +but you shall not. You must go on. I, Golah, have said it." + +The sailor, in reply, swore there was no possible chance for them to +take him any farther, without allowing him to ride. + +This answer to the sheik's civil request was communicated by the +Krooman; and, for a moment, Golah seemed puzzled as to how he should +act. + +He would not kill the slave after saying that he must go on; nor would +he have him carried, since the man would then gain his point. + +He stood for a minute meditating on what was to be done. Then a hideous +smile stole over his features. He had mastered the difficulty. + +Taking its halter from the camel, he fastened one end of it to the +saddle, and the other around the wrists of the sailor. Poor old Bill +made resistance to being thus bound, but he was like an infant in the +powerful grasp of the black sheik. + +The son and brother-in-law of Golah stood by with their muskets on full +cock, and the first move any of Bill's companions could have made to +assist him, would have been a signal for them to fire. + +When the fastenings were completed, the sheik ordered his son to lead +the camel forward, and the sailor, suddenly jerked from his attitude of +repose, was rudely dragged onward over the sand. + +"You are going now!" exclaimed Golah, nearly frantic with delight; "and +we are not carrying you, are we? Neither are you riding? _Bismillah!_ I +am your master!" + +The torture of travelling in this manner was too great to be long +endured, and Bill had to take to his feet and walk forward as before. He +was conquered; but as a punishment for the trouble he had caused, the +sheik kept him towing at the tail of the camel for the remainder of that +day's journey. + +Any one of the white slaves would once have thought that he possessed +too much spirit to allow himself or a friend to be subjected to such +treatment as Bill had that day endured. + +None of them was deficient in true courage; yet the proud spirit, of +which each had once thought himself possessed, was now subdued by a +power to which, if it be properly applied, all animate things must +yield. + +That power was the feeling of hunger; and there is no creature so wild +and fierce but will tamely submit to the dominion of the man who +commands it. It is a power that must be used with discretion, or the +victims to it, urged by desperation, may destroy their keeper. Golah had +the wisdom to wield it with effect; for by it, with the assistance of +two striplings, he easily controlled those who, under other +circumstances, would have claimed the right to be free. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +AN UNJUST REWARD. + + +The next morning on resuming the journey Golah condescended to tell his +captives that they should reach a well or spring that afternoon, and +stay by it for two or three days. + +This news was conveyed to Harry by the Krooman; and all were elated at +the prospect of rest, with a plentiful supply of water. + +Harry had a long conversation with the Krooman as they were pursuing +their route. The latter expressed his surprise that the white captives +were so contented to go on in the course in which the sheik was +conducting them. + +This was a subject about which Harry and his companions had given +themselves no concern; partly because that they had no idea that Golah +was intending to make a very long journey, and partly that they supposed +his intentions, whatever they were, could not be changed by anything +they might propose. + +The Krooman thought different. He told Harry that the route they were +following, if continued, would lead them far into the interior of the +country--probably to Timbuctoo; and that Golah should be entreated to +take them to some port on the coast, where they might be ransomed by an +English consul. + +Harry perceived the truth of these suggestions; and, after having a +conversation with his companions, it was determined between them that +they should have a talk with Golah that very night. + +The Krooman promised to act as interpreter, and to do all in his power +to favor their suit. He might persuade the sheik to change his +destination, by telling him that he would find a far better market in +taking them to some place where vessels arrive and depart, than by +carrying them into the interior of the country. + +The man then added, speaking in a mysterious manner, that there was one +more subject on which he wished to give them warning. When pressed to +mention it, he appeared reluctant to do so. + +He was at last prevailed upon to be more communicative; when he +proclaimed his opinion, that their companion, Colin, would never leave +the desert. + +"Why is that?" asked Harry. + +"Bom-by he be kill. De sheik kill um." + +Although partly surmising his reasons for having formed this opinion, +Harry urged him to further explain himself. + +"Ef Golah see de moder ob de piccaninny gib dat lad one lilly fig,--one +drop ob drink, he kill um, sartin-sure. I see, one, two,--seb'ral more +see. Golah no fool. Bom-by he see too, and kill um bof,--de lad an' de +piccaninny moder." + +Harry promised to warn his companion of the danger, and save him before +the suspicions of Golah should be aroused. + +"No good, no good," said the Krooman. + +In explanation of this assertion, Harry was told that, should the young +Scotchman refuse any favor from the woman, her wounded vanity would +change her liking to the most bitter hatred, and she would then contrive +to bring down upon him the anger of Golah,--an anger that would +certainly be fatal to its victim. + +"Then what must I do to save him?" asked Harry. + +"Noting," answered the Krooman. "You noting can do. Ony bid him be good +man, and talk much,--pray to God. Golah wife lub him, and he sure muss +die." + +Harry informed the sailor and Terence of what the Krooman had told him, +and the three took counsel together. + +"I believes as how the darkey be right," said Bill. "Of course, if the +swab Goliarh larns as 'ow one av 'is wives ha' taken a fancy to Master +Colly, 't will be all up wi' the poor lad. He will be killed,--and +mayhap eaten too, for that matter." + +"Like enough," assented Terence. "And should he scorn her very +particular attentions, her resentment might be equally as dangerous as +Golah's. I fear poor Colin has drifted into trouble." + +"What ye be afther sayin' about the woman," said Bill, "'minds me o' a +little story I wunce heeard whin I was a boy. I read it in a book called +the Bible. It was about a young man, somethin' like Master Colly, +barrin' his name was Joseph. A potter's wife tuck a fancy to him; but +Joseph, bein' a dacent an' honest youngster, treted her wid contimpt, +an' came to great grief by doin' that same. You must 'ave read that +story, Master 'Arry," continued Bill, turning from Terence to the young +Englishman, and changing his style of pronunciation. "Did it not 'appen +summers in this part o' the world? Hif I remember rightly, it did. I +know 't was summers in furrin parts." + +"Yes," answered Harry, "that little affair did happen in this part of +the world,--since it was in Africa,--and our comrade has a fair prospect +of being more unfortunate than Joseph. In truth, I don't see how we +shall be able to assist him." + +"There he is, about a hundred cable lengths astern," said Bill, looking +back. "And there's the old 'oman, too, lookin' sharp afther him, while +Colly is atin' the figs and drinkin' the camel's milk; and while I'm +dying for a dhrop of that same, old Goliarh is no doubt proud wid the +great care she's takin' of his child. Bud won't there be a row when he +larns summat more? Won't there, Master 'Arry?" + +"There will, indeed," answered Harry. "Colin will soon be up with us, +and we must talk to him." + +Harry was right, for Colin soon after overtook them,--having been driven +up as usual by the negress, who seemed in great anger at the trouble he +was causing her. + +"Colin," said Harry, when their companion and the child had joined them, +"you must keep that woman away from you. Her partiality for you has +already been noticed by others. The Krooman has just been telling us +that you will not live much longer; that Golah is neither blind nor +foolish; and that, on the slightest suspicion he has of the woman +showing you any favor,--even to giving you a fig,--he will kill you." + +"But what can I do?" asked Colin. "If the woman should come to you and +offer you a handful of figs and a drink of milk, could you refuse them?" + +"No, I certainly could not. I only wish such an alternative would +present itself; but you must manage in some way or other to keep away +from her. You must not linger behind, but remain all the time by us." + +"If you knew," asked Colin, "that you could quench your thirst by +lagging a few paces behind, would you not do so?" + +"That would be a strong temptation, and I should probably yield; but I +tell you that you are in danger." + +Neither of Colin's companions could blame him. Suffering, as he was, +from the ceaseless agony of hunger and thirst, any indiscretion, or even +crime, seemed justifiable, for the sake of obtaining relief. + +The day became hotter and hotter, until in the afternoon the sufferings +of the slaves grew almost unendurable. Sailor Bill appeared to be more +severely affected than any of his companions. He had been knocking about +the world for many long years, injuring his constitution by dissipation +and exposure in many climes; and the siege that thirst and hunger were +now making to destroy his strength became each hour more perceptible in +its effect. + +By the middle of the afternoon it was with the utmost difficulty he +could move along; and his tongue was so parched that in an attempt to +speak he wholly failed. His hands were stretched forth towards Colin; +who, since the warning he had received, had kept up along with the rest. + +Colin understood the signal; and placed the boy on the old man's +shoulders. Bill wished to learn if the mother would reward him for +taking care of her child, as she had his predecessor in the office. To +carry out the experiment he allowed himself to be left in the rear of +the caravan. + +Golah's son and the other guard had noticed the old sailor's suffering +condition, and objected to his being incumbered with the child. They +pointed to Harry and Terence; but Bill was resolute in holding on to his +charge; and cursing him for an unbelieving fool, they allowed him to +have his own way. + +Not long after, the mother of the child was seen to stop her camel, and +the three mids passed by her unnoticed. The old sailor hastened up as +fast as his weary limbs would allow to receive the hoped-for reward; but +the poor fellow was doomed to a cruel disappointment. + +When the woman perceived who had been entrusted with the carrying of her +child, she pronounced two or three phrases in a sharp, angry tone. +Understanding them, the child dismounted from the sailor's back and ran +with all speed towards her. + +Bill's reward was a storm of invectives, accompanied by a shower of +blows with the knotted end of the halter. He strove to avoid the +punishment by increasing his speed; but the camel seemed to understand +the relative distance that should be maintained between its rider and +the sailor, so that the former might deliver and the latter receive the +blows with the most painful effect. This position it kept until Bill had +got up to his companions; his naked shoulders bearing crimson evidence +of the woman's ability in the handling of a rope's end. + +As she rode past Colin, who had again taken charge of the child, she +gave the young Scotchman a look that seemed to say, "You have betrayed +me!" and without waiting for a look in return, she passed on to join her +husband at the head of the caravan. + +The black slaves appeared highly amused at the sailor's misfortunes. The +incident had aroused their expiring energies, and the journey was +pursued by them with more animation than ever. + +Bill's disappointment was not without some beneficial effect upon +himself. He was so much revived by the beating, that he soon after +recovered his tongue; and as he shuffled on alongside his companions, +they could hear him muttering curses, some in good English, some in bad, +some in a rich Irish brogue, and some in the broadest Scotch. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +THE WATERLESS WELL. + + +Golah expected to reach the watering-place early in the evening; and all +the caravan was excited by the anticipation of soon obtaining a +plentiful supply of water. + +It was well they were inspired by this hope. But for that, long before +the sun had set, Sailor Bill and three or four others would have dropped +down in despair, physically unable to have moved any further. But the +prospect of plenty of water, to be found only a few miles ahead, +brought, at the same time, resolution, strength, and life. Faint and +feeble, they struggled on, nearly mad with the agony of nature's fierce +demands; and soon after sunset they succeeded in reaching the well. + +It was dry! + +Not a drop of the much desired element was shining in the cavity where +they had expected to find it. + +Sailor Bill and some of the other slaves sank upon the earth, muttering +prayers for immediate death. + +Golah was in a great rage with everything, and his wives, children, +slaves, and camels, that were most familiar with his moods, rushed here +and there to get out of his way. + +Suddenly he seemed to decide on a course to be taken in this terrible +emergency, and his anger to some extent subsided. + +Unbuckling the last goat-skin of water from one of the camels, he poured +out a small cup for each individual of the _kafila_. Each was then +served with a little _sangleh_ and a couple of dried figs. + +All were now ordered to move on towards the west, Golah leading the way. +The new route was at right angles to the course they had been following +during the earlier part of the day. + +Some of the slaves who declared that they were unable to go further, +found out, after receiving a few ticklings of the stick, that they had +been mistaken. The application of Golah's cudgel awakened dormant +energies of which they had not deemed themselves possessed. + +After proceeding about two miles from the scene of their disappointment, +Golah suddenly stopped,--as he did so, giving to his followers some +orders in a low tone. + +The camels were immediately brought into a circle, forced to kneel down, +while their lading was removed from them. + +While this was going on, the white captives heard voices, and the +trampling of horses' hoofs. + +The black sheik, with his highly educated ear, had detected the approach +of strangers. This had caused him to order the halt. + +When the noises had approached a little nearer Golah called out in +Arabic: "Is it peace?" + +"It is," was the answer; and as the strangers drew nearer, the +salutations of "Peace be with you!"--"Peace be with all here, and with +your friends!" were exchanged. + +The caravan they had met consisted of between fifteen and twenty men, +some horses and camels; and the sheik who commanded it inquired of Golah +from whence he came. + +"From the west," answered Golah, giving them to understand that he was +travelling the same way as themselves. + +"Then why did you not keep on to the well?" was the next inquiry. + +"It is too far away," answered Golah. "We are very weary." + +"It is not far," said the chief, "not more than half a league. You had +better go on." + +"No. I think it is more than two leagues, and we shall wait till +morning." + +"_We_ shall not. I know the well is not far away, and we shall reach it +to-night." + +"Very well," said Golah, "go, and may God be with you. But stay, +masters, have you a camel to sell?" + +"Yes, a good one. It is a little fatigued now, but will be strong in the +morning." + +Golah was aware that any camel they would sell him that night would be +one that could only move with much difficulty,--one that they despaired +of getting any further on the way. The black sheik knew his own business +best; and was willing they should think they had cheated him in the +bargain. + +After wrangling for a few minutes, he succeeded in buying their +camel,--the price being a pair of blankets, a shirt, and the dirk that +had been taken from Terence. The camel had no cargo; and had for some +time been forced onward at considerable trouble to its owner. + +The strangers soon took their departure, going off in the direction of +the dry well. As soon as they were out of sight Golah gave orders to +reload the animals, and resume the interrupted march. To excite the +slaves to a continuance of the journey, he promised that the camel he +had purchased should be slaughtered on the next morning for their +breakfast; and that they should have a long rest in the shade of the +tents during the following day. + +This promise, undoubtedly, had the anticipated effect in revivifying +their failing energies, and they managed to move on until near daybreak, +when the camel lately purchased laid itself down, and philosophically +resisted every attempt at compelling it to continue the journey. + +It was worn out with toil and hunger, and could not recover its feet. + +The other animals were stopped and unladen, the tents were pitched, and +preparations made for resting throughout the day. + +After some dry weeds had been collected for fuel, Golah proceeded to +fulfil his promise of giving them plenty of food. + +A noose was made at the end of a rope, and placed around the camel's +lower jaw. Its head was then screwed about, as far as it would reach, +and the rope was made fast to the root of its tail,--the long neck of +the camel allowing its head to be brought within a few inches of the +place where the rope was tied. + +Fatima, the favorite, stood by holding a copper kettle; while Golah +opened a vein on the side of the animal's neck near the breastbone. The +blood gushed forth in a stream; and before the camel had breathed its +last, the vessel held to catch it had become filled more than half full. + +The kettle was then placed over the fire, and the blood boiled and +stirred with a stick until it had become as thick as porridge. It was +then taken off, and when it had cooled down, it resembled, both in color +and consistency, the liver of a fresh killed bullock. + +This food was divided amongst the slaves, and was greedily devoured by +all. + +The heart and liver of the camel, Golah ordered to be cooked for his own +family; and what little flesh was on the bones, was cut into strips, and +hung up in the sun to dry. + +In one portion of the camel's stomach was about a gallon and a half of +water, thick and dirty with the vegetation it had last consumed; but all +was carefully poured into a goat's skin, and preserved for future use. + +The intestines were also saved, and hung out in the sun to get cured by +drying, to be afterwards eaten by the slaves. + +During the day Harry and Terence asked for an interview with Golah; and, +accompanied by the Krooman, were allowed to sit down by the door of his +tent while they conversed with him. + +Harry instructed the Krooman to inform their master, that if they were +taken to some seaport, a higher ransom would be paid for them than any +price for which they could be sold elsewhere. + +Golah's reply to this information was, that he doubted its truth; that +he did not like seaport towns; that his business lay away from the sea; +and that he was anxious to reach Timbuctoo as soon as possible. He +further stated, that if all his slaves were Christian dogs, who had +reached the country in ships, it might be worth his while to take them +to some port where they would be redeemed; but as the most of them were +of countries that did not pay ransoms for their subjects, there would be +no use in his carrying them to the coast,--where they might escape from +him, and he would then have had all his trouble for nothing. + +He was next asked if he would not try to sell the white captives along +with the two Kroomen, to some slave dealer, who would take them to the +coast for a market. + +Golah would not promise this. He said, that to do so, he should have to +sell them on the desert, where he could not obtain half their value. + +The only information they were able to obtain from him was, that they +were quite certain of seeing that far-famed city, Timbuctoo,--that was +if they should prove strong enough to endure the hardships of the +journey. + +After thanking Golah for his condescension in listening to their appeal, +the Krooman withdrew, followed by the others, who now for the first time +began to realize the horror of their position. A plentiful supply of +food, along with the day's rest, had caused all the white slaves to turn +their thoughts from the present to the future. + +Harry Blount and Terence, after their interview with Golah, found Colin +and Sailor Bill anxiously awaiting their return. + +"Well, what's the news?" asked Bill, as they drew near. + +"Very bad," answered Terence. "There is no hope for us: we are going to +Timbuctoo." + +"No, I'm no going there," said Bill, "if it was in another world I might +see the place soon enough, but in this, niver,--niver!" + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +THE WELL. + + +At an early hour next morning the caravan started on its journey, still +moving westward. This direction Golah was compelled to pursue to obtain +a supply of water, although it was taking him no nearer his destination. + +Two days' journey was before them ere they could reach another well. +While performing it, Golah, vexed at the delay thus occasioned, was in +very ill-humor with things in general. + +Some of his displeasure was vented upon the camel he was riding, and the +animal was usually driven far ahead of the others. + +The sheik's wrath also fell upon his wives for lingering behind, and +then upon the slaves for not following closer upon the heels of his +camel. His son, and brother-in-law, would at intervals be solemnly +cursed in the name of the Prophet for not driving the slaves faster. + +Before the well had been reached, the four white slaves were in a very +wretched condition. Their feet were blistered and roasted by the hot +sand, and as the clothing allowed them was insufficient protection +against the blazing sun, their necks and legs were inflamed and +bleeding. + +The intestines and most of the flesh of the slaughtered camel had been +long ago consumed, as well as the filthy water taken from its stomach. + +Colin had again established himself in the favor of the sheik's wife, +and was allowed to have the care of the child; but the little food and +drink he received for his attention to it were dearly earned. + +The weight of the young negro was a serious incumbrance in a weary +journey through what seemed to be a burning plain; moreover the +"darkey," in keeping its seat on the young Scotchman's shoulders, had +pulled a quantity of hair out of his head, besides rendering his scalp +exceedingly irritable to further treatment of a like kind. + +Hungry, thirsty, weak, lame, and weary, the wretched captives struggled +on until the well was reached. + +On arriving within sight of a small hill on which were growing two or +three sickly bushes, Golah pointed towards it, at the same time turning +his face to those who were following him. All understood the signal, and +seemed suddenly inspired with hope and happiness. The travellers pressed +forward with awakened energy, and after passing over the hill came in +sight of the well at its foot. + +The eagerness exhibited by the slaves to quench their thirst might have +been amusing to any others than those who beheld them; but their master +seemed intent on giving them a further lesson in the virtue of patience. + +He first ordered the camels to be unladen, and the tents to be pitched. +While some were doing this, he directed others to seek for fuel. + +Meanwhile, he amused himself by collecting all the dishes and +drinking-vessels, and placing them contiguous to the well. + +He then attached a rope to a leathern bucket, and, drawing water from +the reservoir, he carefully filled the utensils, with the least possible +waste of the precious fluid his followers were so anxious to obtain. + +When his arrangements were completed, he called his wives and children +around him. Then, serving out to each of them about a pint of the water, +and giving them a few seconds for swallowing it, he ordered them off. + +Each obeyed without a murmur, all apparently satisfied. + +The slaves were next called up, and then there was a rush in real +earnest. The vessels were eagerly seized, and their contents greedily +swallowed. They were presented for more, refilled, and again emptied. + +The quantity of water swallowed by Sailor Bill and his three young +companions, and the rapacity with which it was gulped down, caused Golah +to declare that there was but one God, that Mahomet was his Prophet, and +that four of the slaves about him were Christian swine. + +After all had satisfied the demands of nature, Golah showed them the +quantity of water he deemed sufficient for a thirsty individual by +drinking about a pint himself--not more than a fifth of the amount +consumed by each of his white slaves. + +Long years of short allowance had accustomed the negro sheik to make +shift with a limited allowance of the precious commodity, and yet +continue strong and active. + +About two hours after they had reached the well, and just as they had +finished watering the camels, another caravan arrived. Its leader was +hailed by Golah with the words, "Is it peace?"--the usual salutation +when strangers meet on the desert. + +The answer was, "It is peace"; and the new comers dismounted, and +pitched their camp. + +Next morning Golah had a long talk with their sheik, after which he +returned to his own tents in much apparent uneasiness. + +The caravan newly arrived consisted of eleven men, with eight camels and +three Saaeran horses. The men were all Arabs--none of them being slaves. +They were well armed, and carried no merchandise. They had lately come +from the northwest, for what purpose Golah knew not: since the account +the stranger sheik had given of himself was not satisfactory. + +Though very short of provisions, Golah resolved not to leave the well +that day; and the Krooman learnt that this resolution was caused by his +fear of the strangers. + +"If he is afraid of them," said Harry, "I should suppose that would make +him all the more anxious to get out of their company." + +The Krooman, in explanation, stated that if the Arabs were +robbers--pirates of the desert--they would not molest Golah so long as +he remained at the well. + +In this the Krooman was correct. Highway robbers do not waylay their +victims at an inn, but on the road. Pirates do not plunder ships in a +harbor, but out on the open ocean. Custom, founded on some good purpose, +has established a similar rule on the great sandy ocean of the Saaera. + +"I wish they were robbers, and would take us from Golah!" said Colin. +"We should then perhaps be carried to the north, where we might be +ransomed some time or other. As it is, if we are to be taken to +Timbuctoo, we shall never escape out of Africa." + +"We shall not be taken there," cried Terence. "We shall turn robbers +ourselves first. I will for one; and when I do, Golah shall be robbed of +one of his slaves at least." + +"An' that wan will be Misther Terence O'Connor, ov coorse?" said Bill. + +"Yes." + +"Thin ye will 'ave done no more than Master Colly, who has already +robbed 'im ov twa--the haffections ov 'is wife an' bairn." + +"That will do, Bill," said Colin, who did not like hearing any allusion +made to the woman. "We have something else that should engage our +attention. Since we have learnt that they intend taking us to Timbuctoo, +it is time we began to act. We must not go there." + +"That is understood," said Harry; "but what can we do? Something should +be done immediately. Every day we journey southward carries us farther +from home, or the chance of ever getting there. Perhaps these Arabs may +buy us, and take us north. Suppose we get the Krooman to speak to them?" + +All consented to this course. The Krooman was called, and when informed +of their wishes he said that he must not be seen speaking to the Arabs, +or Golah would be displeased. He also stated--what the white captives +had already observed--that Golah and his son were keeping a sharp watch +over them, as well as over the strangers; and that an opportunity of +talking to the Arab sheik might not be easily obtained. + +While he was still speaking, the latter was observed proceeding towards +the well to draw some water. + +The Krooman instantly arose, and sauntered after. + +He was observed by the quick eye of Golah, who called to him to come +away; which he did, but not before quenching his thirst, that did not +appear to be very great. + +On the Krooman's return from the well, he informed Harry that he had +spoken to the Arab sheik. He had said, "Buy us. You will get plenty of +money for us in Swearah;" and that the reply of the sheik was, "The +white slaves are dogs, and not worth buying." + +"Then we have no hope from that source!" exclaimed Terence. + +The Krooman shook his head; not despondently, but as if he did not agree +in the opinion Terence had expressed. + +"What! do you think there is any hope?" asked Harry. + +The man gave a nod of assent. + +"How? In what way?" + +The Krooman vouchsafed no explanation, but sauntered silently away. + +When the sun was within two or three hours of setting over the Saaera, +the Arabs struck their tents, and started off in the direction of the +dry well--from whence Golah and his caravan had just come. After they +had disappeared behind the hill, Golah's son was sent to its top to +watch them, while his women and slaves were ordered to strike the tents +as quickly as possible. + +Then waiting till the shades of night had descended over the desert, and +the strangers were beyond the reach of vision, Golah gave orders to +resume the march once more in a southeasterly direction--which would +carry them away from the seacoast--and, as the white slaves believed, +from all chances of their ever recovering their freedom. + +The Krooman, on the contrary, appeared to be pleased at their taking +this direction, notwithstanding the objections he had expressed to going +inland. + + + + +CHAPTER L. + +A MOMENTOUS INQUIRY. + + +During the night's journey Golah still seemed to have some fear of the +Arabs; and so great was his desire to place as much ground as possible +between himself and them, that he did not halt, until the sun was more +than two hours above the horizon. + +For some time before a halt had been planned, Fatima, his favorite wife, +had been riding by his side, and making, what seemed, from the excited +movements of both, an important communication. + +After the tents had been pitched, and food was about being served out, +Golah commanded the mother of the boy carried by Colin to produce the +bag of figs that had been intrusted to her keeping. + +Trembling with apprehension, the woman rose to obey. The Krooman glanced +at the white captives with an expression of horror; and although they +had not understood Golah's command, they saw that something was going +wrong. + +The woman produced the bag; which was not quite half full. There were in +it about two quarts of dried figs. + +The figs that had been served out three days before at the dry well had +been taken from another bag kept in the custody of Fatima. + +The one now produced by the second wife should have been full: and Golah +demanded to know why it was not. + +The woman tremblingly asseverated that she and her children had eaten +them. + +At this confession Fatima uttered a scornful laugh, and spoke a few +words that increased the terror of the delinquent mother,--at the same +time causing the boy to commence howling with affright. + +"I tell you so," said the Krooman, who was standing near the white +slaves; "Fatima say to Golah, 'Christian dog eat the figs'; Golah kill +him now; he kill da woman too." + +In the opinion of those who travel the great desert, about the greatest +crime that can be committed is to steal food or drink, and consume +either unknown to their companions of the journey. + +Articles of food intrusted to the care of any one must be guarded and +preserved,--even at the expense of life. + +Under no circumstances may a morsel be consumed, until it is produced in +the presence of all, and a division, either equitable or otherwise, has +been made. + +Even had the story told by the woman been true, her crime would have +been considered sufficiently great to have endangered her life; but her +sin was greater than that. + +She had bestowed favor upon a slave,--a Christian dog,--and had aroused +the jealousy of her Mahometan lord and master. + +Fatima seemed happy; for nothing less than a miracle could, in her +opinion, save the life of her fellow-wife, who chanced to be a hated +rival. + +After drawing his scimitar from its sheath, and cocking his musket, +Golah ordered all the slaves to squat themselves on the ground, and in a +row. + +This order was quickly comprehended and obeyed,--the whites seating +themselves together at one end of the line. + +Golah's son and the other guard--each with his musket loaded and +cocked--were stationed in front of the row: and were ordered by the +sheik to shoot any one who attempted to get up from the ground. + +The monster then stepped up to Colin, and, seizing the young Scotchman +by the auburn locks, dragged him a few paces apart from his companions. +There, for a time, he was left alone. + +Golah then proceeded to serve out some cheni to every individual on the +ground; but none was given to the woman who had aroused his anger, nor +to Colin. + +In the sheik's opinion, to have offered them food would have been an act +as foolish as to have poured it upon the sands. + +Food was intended to sustain life, and it was not designed by him that +they should live much longer. And yet it was evident from his manner +that he had not quite determined as to how they were to die. + +The two guards, with the muskets in their grasp, kept a sharp eye on the +slaves, while Golah became engaged in a close consultation with Fatima. + +"What shall we do?" asked Terence; "the old villain means mischief, and +how can we prevent it? We must not let him kill poor Colly?" + +"We must do something immediately," said Harry. "We have neglected it +too long, and shall now have to act under the disadvantage of their +being prepared for an attack. Bill, what should we do?" + +"I was just thinking," said Bill, "that if we all made a rush at 'em, at +the words _One--two--three!_ not more 'n two or three of us might be +killed afore we grappled with 'em. Now, this might do, if these black +fellows would only jine us." + +The Krooman here expressed himself as one willing to take his chance in +any action they should propose, and believed that his countrymen would +do the same. He feared, however, that the other blacks could not be +trusted, and that any proposal he might make to them would be in a +language the two guards would understand. + +"Well, then," said Harry, "there will be six of us against three. Shall +I give the word?" + +"All right!" said Terence, drawing his feet under his body, by way of +preparation for rising suddenly. + +The scheme was a desperate one, but all seemed willing to undertake it. + +Since leaving the well, they had felt convinced that life and liberty +depended on their making a struggle; though circumstances seemed to have +forced that struggle upon them when there was the least hope of success. + +"Now all make ready," muttered Harry, speaking in a calm voice, so as +not to excite the attention of the guards. "_One!_" + +"Stop!" exclaimed Colin, who had been listening attentively to all that +was said. "I'm not with you. We should all be killed. Two or three would +be shot, and the sheik himself could finish all the rest with his +scimitar. It is better for him to kill me, if he really means to do so, +than to have all four destroyed in the vain hope of trying to save one." + +"It is not for you alone that we are going to act," interposed Harry. +"It is as much for ourselves." + +"Then act when there is a chance of succeeding," pursued Colin. "You +cannot save me, and will only lose your own lives." + +"De big black sheik am going to kill someb'dy, dat berry sure," said the +Krooman, as he sat with his eyes fixed upon Golah. + +The latter was still in consultation with Fatima, his face wearing an +expression that was horrible for all except herself to behold. Murder by +excruciating torture seemed written on every feature of his countenance. + +The woman, upon whose manner of death they were deliberating, was in the +act of caressing her children, apparently conscious that she had but a +few minutes more to remain in their company. Her features wore an +expression of calm and hopeless resignation, as if she had yielded +herself up to the decree of an inevitable fate. + +The third wife had retired a short distance from the others. With her +child in her arms, she sat upon the ground, contemplating the scene +before her with a look of mingled surprise, curiosity, and regret. + +From the appearance of the whole caravan, a stranger could have divined +that some event of thrilling interest was about to transpire. + +"Colin," cried Terence, encouragingly, "we won't sit here quietly, and +see you meet death. We had better do something while yet we have a +chance. Let Harry give the word." + +"I tell you it's madness," expostulated Colin. "Wait till we see what he +intends doing. Perhaps he'll keep me a while for future vengeance, and +ye may have a chance of a rescue when there are not two men standing +over us ready to blow our brains out." + +Colin's companions saw there was truth in this remark, and for a while +they waited in silence, with their eyes fixed upon the tent of the +sheik. + +They had not long to wait, for, soon after, Golah came forth, having +finished his consultation with Fatima. + +On his face appeared a hideous smile,--a smile that made most of those +who beheld it shudder with a sensation of horror. + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + +A LIVING GRAVE. + + +Golah's first act after coming forth was to take some thongs from his +saddle. Having done this, he beckoned to the two who guarded the slaves, +giving them some admonition in an unknown tongue. The effect was to +excite their greater vigilance. The muzzles of their muskets were turned +towards the white captives, and they seemed anxiously waiting the order +to fire. + +Golah then looked towards Terence, and made a sign for the young +Irishman to get up and come towards him. + +Terence hesitated. + +"Go on, Terry," muttered Colin "He don't mean _you_ any harm." + +At this instant Fatima stepped out from the tent, armed with her +husband's scimitar, and apparently anxious for an opportunity of using +it. + +Acting under the advice of the others, Terence sprang to his feet: and +advanced to the spot where the sheik was standing. The Krooman who spoke +English was then called up; and Golah, taking him and the midshipman +each by a hand, led them into his tent,--whither they were followed by +Fatima. + +The sheik now addressed a few words to the Krooman, who then told +Terence that his life depended on perfect obedience to Golah's orders. +His hands were to be tied; and he must not call out so as to be heard by +the others. + +"He say," said the Krooman, "if you no make fight, and no make noise, he +no kill you." + +The man further counselled Terence to submit quietly,--saying that the +least resistance would lead to all the white slaves being killed. + +Though possessing more than average strength and power for a youth of +his age, Terence knew that, in a strife with the gigantic black sheik, +he would not have the slightest chance of being victor. + +Should he shout to his companions, and have them all act in concert,--as +they had already proposed? + +No. Such an act would most likely lead to two of them being shot; to the +third having his brains knocked out with the butt-end of a musket; and +to the fourth,--himself,--being strangled in the powerful grasp of +Golah, if not beheaded with the scimitar in the hands of Fatima. On +reflection, the young Scotchman yielded, and permitted his hands to be +tied behind his back; so, too, did the Krooman. + +Golah now stepped out of the tent: and immediately after returned, +leading Harry Blount along with him. + +On reaching the opening, and seeing Terence and the Krooman lying bound +upon the floor, the young Englishman started back, and struggled to free +himself from the grasp of the hand that had hold of him. His efforts +only resulted in his being instantly flung to the earth, and fast held +by his powerful adversary, who at the same time was also employed in +protecting his victim from the fury of Fatima. + +Terence, Harry, and the Krooman were now conducted back over the ground, +and placed in their former position in the row,--from which they had +been temporarily taken. + +Sailor Bill and Colin were next treated in a similar fashion,--both +being fast bound like their companions. + +"What does the ould divil mane?" asked Bill when Golah was tying his +hands together. "Will he murder us all?" + +"No," answered the Krooman, "He no kill but one of your party." + +His eyes turned upon Colin as he spoke. + +"Colin! Colin!" exclaimed Harry; "see what you have done by opposing our +plan! We are all helpless now." + +"And so much the better for yourselves," answered Colin. "You will now +suffer no further harm." + +"If he means no harm, why has he bound us?" asked Bill. "It's a queer +way of showing friendship." + +"Yes, but a safe one," answered Colin. "You cannot now bring yourselves +into danger by a foolish resistance to his will." + +Terence and Harry understood Colin's meaning; and now, for the first +time, comprehended the reason why they had been bound. + +It was to prevent them from interfering with Golah's plans for the +disposal of his two victims. + +Now that the white slaves were secured, no danger was apprehended from +the others; and the two who had been guarding them, retired to the shade +of a tent to refresh themselves with a drink of cheni. + +While the brief conversation above related was being held, Golah had +become busily engaged in overhauling the lading of one of his camels. + +The object of his search was soon discovered: for, the moment after, he +came towards them carrying a long Moorish spade. + +Two of the black slaves were then called from the line; the spade was +placed in the hands of one, and a wooden dish was given to the other. +They were then ordered to make a large hole in the sand,--to accomplish +which they at once set to work. + +"They are digging a grave for me, or that of the poor woman,--perhaps +for both of us?" suggested Colin, as he calmly gazed on the spectacle. + +His companions had no doubt but that it was as he had said; and sat +contemplating the scene in melancholy silence. + +While the slaves were engaged in scooping up the hole, Golah called the +two guards, and gave them some orders about continuing the journey. + +The blacks set about the work were but a few minutes in making an +excavation in the loose sand of some four feet in depth. They were then +directed to dig another. + +"It's all over with me," said Colin; "he intends to kill two, and of +course I must be one of them." + +"He _should_ kill us all," exclaimed Terence. "We deserve it for leaving +the well last night. We should have made an effort for our lives, while +we had the chance." + +"You are right," replied Harry; "we _are_ fools, cowardly fools! We +deserve neither pity in this world nor happiness in the next. Colly, my +friend, if you meet with any harm, I swear to avenge it, whenever my +hands are free." + +"And I'll be with you," added Terence. + +"Never mind me, old comrades," answered Colin, who seemed less excited +than the others. "Do the best you can for yourselves, and you may some +time escape from this monster." + +The attention of Harry was now attracted to Sailor Bill, who had turned +his back toward one of the black slaves sitting near him, and was by +signs entreating the man to untie his hand. + +The man refused, evidently fearing the anger of Golah should he be +detected. + +The second Krooman, who was unbound, now offered to loose the hands of +his countryman; but the latter seemed satisfied with his want of +freedom, and refused the proffered aid. He also feared death at the +hands of Golah. + +If left to divine the ultimate intentions of the black sheik by the +knowledge of human nature they had acquired before falling into his +hands, the white captives would not have been seriously alarmed for the +welfare of any one of their number. But Golah was a specimen of natural +history new to them; and their apprehensions were excited to the highest +pitch by the conduct of those whom they knew to be better acquainted +with his character. + +The behavior of the woman who had aroused his anger showed that she was +endeavoring to resign herself to some fearful mode of death. The wild +lamentations of her children denoted that they were conscious of some +impending misfortune. + +Fatima seemed about to realize the fulfilment of some long-cherished +hope,--the hope of revenge on a detested rival. + +The care Golah had taken to hinder any interference with his plans,--the +words of the Krooman, the looks and gestures of the guards and of Golah +himself, the digging of two graves in the sand,--all gave warning that +some fearful tragedy was about to be enacted. Our adventurers were +conscious of this, and conscious, also, that they could do nothing to +prevent it. + +Nearly frantic with the helplessness of their position, they could only +wait--"trembling for the birth of Fate." + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + +THE SHEIK'S PLAN OF REVENGE. + + +The second sand-pit was dug a short distance from the first; and when it +had been sunk to the depth of about four and a half feet, Golah +commanded the blacks to leave off their labor,--one of them being sent +back to the line to be seated along with his fellow-slaves. + +By this time the tents had been struck, the camels loaded; and all but +Golah and Fatima appeared willing and anxious to depart from the spot. +These were not: for their business at that camping-place had not yet +been completed. + +When the two guards had again resumed their former stations in front of +the line,--as before with their muskets at full cock,--Golah advanced +towards the woman, who, disengaging herself from her children, stood up +at his approach. + +Then succeeded a moment of intense interest. + +Was he going to kill her? + +If so, in what manner? + +All looked on with painful anticipation of some dire event. + +It soon transpired. The woman was seized by Golah himself; dragged +towards the pits that had been dug; and thrust into one of them. The +slave who wielded the spade was then commanded to fill up the excavation +around her. + +Terence was the first to speak. + +"God help her!" he exclaimed; "the monster is going to bury her alive! +Can't we save her?" + +"We are not men if we do not try!" exclaimed Harry, as he suddenly +sprang to his feet. + +His example was immediately followed by his white companions. + +The two muskets were instantly directed towards them; but at a shout +from Golah their muzzles were as quickly dropped. + +The sheik's son then, at his father's command, ran to the pit to secure +the woman, while Golah himself rushed forward to meet the helpless men +who were advancing towards him. + +In an instant the four were thrown prostrate to the earth. + +With their hands tied, the powerful sheik upset them as easily as though +they had been bags of sand. + +Raising Harry by the hair of his head with one hand and Terence with the +other, he dragged them back to their places in the line where they had +been already seated. + +Sailor Bill saved himself from like treatment by rolling over and over +until he had regained his former place. Colin was allowed to lie on the +ground where the sheik had knocked him over. + +Golah now returned to the pit where the woman stood half buried. + +She made no resistance--she uttered no complaint--but seemed calmly to +resign herself to a fate that could not be averted. Golah apparently did +not intend to behold her die, for, when the earth was filled in around +her body, her head still remained above ground. She was to be starved to +death! As the sheik was turning away to attend to other matters, the +woman spoke. Her words were few, and produced no effect upon him. They +did, however, upon the Krooman, whose eyes were seen to fill with tears +that rapidly chased each other down his mahogany-colored cheeks. + +Colin, who seemed to notice everything except the fate threatening +himself, observed the Krooman's excitement, and inquired its cause. + +"She ask him to be kind to her little boy," said the man, in a voice +trembling with emotion. + +Are tears unmanly?--No. + +The shining drops that rolled from that man's eyes, and sparkled adown +his dusky cheeks, on hearing the unfortunate woman's prayer for her +children, proved that he was not a brute, but a man,--a man with a soul +that millions might envy. + +After leaving the place where the woman was buried, Golah walked up to +Colin; and, dragging him to his feet, led him away to the other pit. + +His intentions were now evident to all. The two individuals, who had +aroused his anger and jealousy, were to be left near each other, buried +alive, to perish in this fearful fashion. + +"Colin! Colin! what can we do to save you?" exclaimed Harry, in a tone +expressing despair and anguish. + +"Nothing," answered Colin; "don't attempt it, or you will only bring +trouble on yourselves. Leave me to my fate." + +At this moment the speaker was thrown into the pit, and held in an +upright attitude by Golah, while the black slave proceeded to fill in +the earth around him. + +Following the philosophical example set by the woman, Colin made no +useless resistance; and was soon submerged under the sand piled up to +his shoulders. His companions sat gazing with speechless horror, all +suffering the combined anguish of shame, regret, and despair. + +The sheik was now ready to depart; and ordered the slave who had been +assisting him in his diabolical work to mount the camel formerly ridden +by the woman who was thus entombed. The black obeyed, pleased to think +that his late task was to be so agreeably rewarded; but a sudden change +came over his features when Golah and Fatima passed up the three +children, and placed them under his care. + +Golah had but one more act to perform before leaving the spot. It was an +act worthy of himself, although suggested by Fatima. + +After filling a bowl about half full of water, he placed it midway +between Colin and the woman, but so distant from each that neither could +possibly reach it! + +This Satanic idea was executed with the design of tantalizing the +sufferers in their dying hours with the sight of that element the want +of which would soon cause them the most acute anguish. By the side of +the bowl he also placed a handful of figs. + +"There," he tauntingly exclaimed; "I leave you two together, and with +more food and drink than you will ever consume. Am I not kind? What more +can you ask? _Bismillah!_ God is great, and Mahomet is his prophet; and +I am Golah, the kind, the just!" + +Saying this, he gave orders to resume the march. + +"Don't move!" exclaimed Terence; "we will give him some trouble yet." + +"Of course we'll not go, and leave Colin there," said Harry. "The sheik +is too avaricious to kill all his slaves. Don't move a step, Bill, and +we may have Colly liberated yet." + +"I shall do as you say, ov coorse," said Bill; "but I expect we shall +'ave to go. Golah has got a way of making a man travel, whether he be +willing or not." + +All started forward from the place but the three white slaves and the +two whom Golah intended to remain. + +"Cheer up, lad," said Bill to Colin; "we'll never go, and leave you +there." + +"Go on, go on!" exclaimed Colin. "You can do me no good, and will only +injure yourselves." + +Golah had mounted his camel and ridden forward, leaving to his two +guards the task of driving on the slaves; and, as if apprehensive of +trouble from them, he had directed Terence, Harry, Bill, and the Krooman +to be brought on with their hands tied behind them. + +The three refused to move; and when all efforts to get them on had been +tried in vain, the guards made a loud appeal to their sheik. + +Golah came riding back in a great rage. + +Dismounting from his camel he drew the ramrod from his musket; then, +rushing up to Terence, who was the nearest to him, administered to him a +shower of blows that changed the color of his shirt from an untidy white +to the darker hue of blood. + +The two guards, following the example of their lord and master, +commenced beating Harry and Bill, who, unable to make any resistance, +had to endure the torture in silence. + +"Go on, my friends!" exclaimed Colin; "for God's sake, go, and leave me! +You cannot do anything to avert my fate!" + +Colin's entreaties, as well as the torture from the blows they received, +were alike without effect. His shipmates could not bring themselves to +desert their old comrade, and leave him to the terrible death that +threatened him. + +Rushing up to Bill and Harry, Golah caught hold of each, and hurled them +to the ground by the side of Terence. Keeping all three together, he now +ordered a camel to be led up; and the order was instantly obeyed by one +of the guards. The halter was then taken from the head of the animal. + +"We 'ave got to go now," said Bill. "He's going to try the same dodge as +beat me the other day. I shall save him the trouble." + +Bill tried to rise, but was prevented. He had refused to walk when +earnestly urged to do so; and now, when he was willing to go on, he had +to wait the pleasure of his owner as to the manner in which his journey +should be continued. + +While Golah was fastening the rope to Harry's hands, the sharp shrill +voice of Fatima called his attention to some of the people who had gone +on before. + +The two women, who led the camels loaded with articles taken from the +wreck, had advanced about three hundred yards from the place; and were +now, along with the black slaves, surrounded by a party of men mounted +on maherries and horses. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. + +CAPTURED AGAIN. + + +Golah's fear of the Arabs met by the well had not been without a cause. +His forced night march, to avoid meeting them again, had not secured the +object for which it had been made. + +Approaching from the direction of the rising sun, the Arabs had not been +discovered in the distance; and Golah, occupied in overcoming the +obstinate resistance of the white slaves, had allowed them to come quite +near before they had been observed by him. + +Leaving his captives, the sheik seized his musket; and, followed by his +son and brother-in-law, rushed forward to protect his wives and +property. + +He was too late. Before he could reach them they were in the possession +of others; and as he drew near the spot where they had been captured, he +saw a dozen muskets presented towards himself, and heard some one loudly +commanding him, in the name of the Prophet, to approach in peace! + +Golah had the discretion to yield to a destiny that could not be +averted,--the misfortune of being made a prisoner and plundered at the +same time. + +Calmly saying, "It is the will of God," he sat down, and invited his +captors to a conference on the terms of capitulation. + +As soon as the caravan had fallen into the possession of the robbers, +the Krooman's hands were unbound by his companion, and he hastened to +the relief of the white slaves. + +"Golah no our massa now," said he, while untying Harry's wrists; "our +massa is Arab dat take us norf. We get free. Dat why dis Arab no buy +us,--he know us he hab for noting." + +The cords were quickly untied, and the attention of the others was now +turned to disinterring Colin and the woman from their living graves. + +To do this, Harry wanted to use the water-bowl the sheik had left for +the purpose of tantalizing his victims with the sight of its contents. + +"Here, drink this water," said he, holding the vessel to Colin's lips. +"I want to make use of the dish." + +"No, no; dig me out without that," answered Colin. "Leave the water as +it is; I have a particular use for it when I get free. I wish the old +sheik to see me drink it." + +Bill, Harry, and the Krooman set to work: and Colin and the woman were +soon uncovered and dragged out. Terence was then awakened to +consciousness by a few drops of the water poured over his face. + +Owing to the cramped position in which he had been placed and so long +held, Colin was for a few minutes unable to walk. They waited, to give +him time to recover the use of his limbs. The slave who had the care of +the woman's children was now seen coming back with them, and the woman +ran to meet him. + +The delight of the wretched mother at again embracing her offspring was +so great, that the gentle-souled Krooman was once more affected to +tears. + +In the conference with the Arab robbers, Golah was unable to obtain the +terms he fancied a sheik should be entitled to. + +They offered him two camels and the choice of one wife out of the three, +on condition he should go back to his own country, and return to the +desert no more. + +These terms Golah indignantly refused, and declared that he would rather +die in defence of his rights. + +Golah was a pure negro, and one of a class of traders much disliked by +the Arabs. He was a lawless intruder on their grounds,--a trespasser +upon their special domain, the Great Desert. He had just acquired a +large amount of wealth in goods and slaves, that had been cast on their +coast; and these they were determined he should not carry back with him +to his own country. + +Though he was as much a robber as themselves, they had no sympathies +with him, and would not be satisfied with merely a share of his plunder. +They professed to understand all his doings in the past; and accused him +of not being a _fair trader_! + +They told him that he never came upon the desert with merchandise to +exchange, but only with camels, to be driven away, laden with property +justly belonging to them, the real owners of the land. + +They denied his being a true believer in the Prophet; and concluded +their talk by declaring that he should be thankful for the liberal terms +they had offered him. + +Golah's opposition to their proposal became so demonstrative, that the +Arabs were obliged to disarm and bind him; though this was not +accomplished without a fierce struggle, in which several of his +adversaries were overthrown. + +A blow on the head with the stock of a musket at length reduced him to +subjection, after which his hands were fast tied behind his back. + +During the struggle, Golah's son was prevented from interfering in +behalf of his father, by the black slaves who had been so long the +victims of his cruel care; while the brother-in-law, as well as Fatima +and the third wife, remained passive spectators of the scene. + +On Golah being secured, the white slaves, with old Bill at their head, +came up and voluntarily surrendered themselves to their new masters. + +Colin had in his hands the bowl of water, and the dried figs that had +been placed beside it. + +Advancing towards Golah, he held the figs up before his eyes, and then, +with a nod and an expression that seemed to say, "Thank you for this," +he raised the bowl to his lips with the intention of drinking. + +The expression on the sheik's features became Satanic, but suddenly +changed into a glance of pleasure, as one of the Arabs snatched the +vessel out of Colin's hands, and instantly drank off its contents. + +Colin received the lesson meekly, and said not a word. + +The Arabs speedily commenced making arrangements for leaving the place. +The first move was to establish a communication between Golah and the +saddle of one of his camels. + +This was accomplished by using a rope as a medium; and the black giant +was compelled to walk after the animal with his hands tied behind +him,--in the same fashion as he had lately set for Sailor Bill. + +His wives and slaves seemed to comprehend the change in their fortunes, +and readily adapted their conduct to the circumstances. + +The greatest transformation of all was observable in the behavior of the +favorite Fatima. + +Since his capture she had kept altogether aloof from her late lord, and +showed not the slightest sympathy for his misfortunes. + +By her actions she seemed to say: "The mighty Golah has fallen, and is +no longer worthy of my distinguished regard." + +Very different was the behavior of the woman whom the cruel sheik would +have left to die a lingering death. Her husband's misfortune seemed to +have awakened within her a love for the father of her children: and her +features, as she gazed upon the captive,--who, although defeated, was +unsubdued in spirit,--wore a mingled expression of pity and grief. + +Hungry, thirsty, weary and bleeding--enslaved on the Great Desert, still +uncertain of what was to be their fate, and doubtful of surviving much +longer the hardships they might be forced to endure--our adventurers +were far from being happy; but, with all their misery, they felt joyful +when comparing their present prospects with those before them but an +hour ago. + +With the exception of Golah, the Arabs had no trouble with their +captives. The white and black slaves knew they were travelling towards +the well; and the prospect of again having plenty of water was +sufficient inducement to make them put forth all their strength in +following the camels. + +Early in the evening a short halt was made; when each of the company was +served with about half a pint of water from the skins. The Arabs, +expecting to reach the well soon after, could afford to be thus liberal; +but the favor so granted, though thankfully received by the slaves was +scornfully refused by their late master--the giant bodied and +strong-minded Golah. + +To accept of food and drink from his enemies in his present humiliating +position--bound and dragged along like a slave--was a degradation to +which he scorned to submit. + +On Golah contemptuously refusing the proffered cup of water, the Arab +who offered it simply ejaculated, "Thank God!" and then drank it +himself. + +The well was reached about an hour after midnight; and after quenching +their thirst, the slaves were allowed to go to rest and sleep,--a +privilege they stood sorely in need of having been over thirty hours +afoot, upon their cheerless and arduous journey. + + + + +CHAPTER LIV. + +AN UNFAITHFUL WIFE. + + +On waking up the next morning, our adventurers were gratified with a bit +of intelligence communicated by the Krooman: that they were to have a +day of rest. A camel was also to be killed for food. + +The Arabs were going to divide amongst themselves the slaves taken from +Golah; and the opportunity was not to be lost of recruiting their +strength for a long journey. + +As Sailor Bill reflected upon their sufferings since leaving that same +place two days before, he expressed regret that they had not been +captured before leaving the well, and thus spared the horrors they had +endured. + +Stimulated by the remembrance of so much suffering needlessly incurred, +he asked the Krooman to explain the conduct of their new masters. + +The Krooman's first attempt at satisfying his curiosity was to state, +that the Arabs had acted after a manner peculiar to themselves,--in +other words, that it was "a way they had." + +The old sailor was not satisfied with this answer; and pressed for a +further explanation. + +He was then told that the robbers on the desert were always in danger of +meeting several caravans at a watering-place; and that any act of +violence committed there would bring upon the perpetrators everlasting +disgrace, as well as the enmity of all desert travellers. The Krooman +explained himself by saying, that should a caravan of a hundred men +arrive at the well, they would not now interfere in behalf of Golah, but +would only recognize him as a slave. On the contrary, had they found him +engaged in actual strife with the robbers they would have assisted him. + +This was satisfactory to all but Bill. Even Colin, who had been buried +alive, and Terence, who had been so unmercifully beaten, were pleased at +their change of masters on any terms; but the old sailor, sailor-like, +would not have been himself without some cause of complaint. + +Before their newly acquired wealth could be divided, the Arabs had to +come to some resolution as to the disposal of the black sheik; who still +remained so unmanageable that he had to be kept bound, with a guard +placed over him. + +The Arabs could not agree amongst themselves as to what should be done +with him. Some of them urged that, despite the color of his skin, he +might be a true believer in the Prophet; and that, notwithstanding his +manner of trading and acquiring wealth--a system nearly as dishonest as +their own--he was entitled to his liberty, with a certain portion of his +property. + +Others claimed that they had a perfect right to add him and his large +family to the number of their slaves. + +He was not an Arab, but an Ethiopian, like most of his following; and, +as a slave, would bring a high price in any of the markets where men +were bought and sold. + +Those who argued thus were in the minority; and Golah was at length +offered his wives and their children, with a couple of camels and his +scimitar. + +This offer the black sheik indignantly refused,--much to the +astonishment of those who had been so eloquent in his behalf. + +His decision produced another debate; in which the opinions of several +of his captors underwent such a change, that it was finally determined +to consider him as one of the slaves. + +Every article that had been obtained from the wreck was now exposed to +view, and a fixed price set upon it. + +The slaves were carefully examined and valued,--as well as the camels, +muskets, and everything that had belonged to Golah or his dependants. + +When these preliminary arrangements had been completed, the Arabs +proceeded to an equitable partition of the property. + +This proved a very difficult matter to manage, and occupied their time +for the rest of the day. Three or four would covet the same article; and +long and noisy discussions would take place before the dispute could be +settled to their mutual satisfaction. + +The Krooman, who understood the desert language, was attentive to all +that transpired; and from time to time informed the white slaves of what +was being done. + +At an early period in the discussions, he discovered that each of the +four was to fall to different masters. + +"You and me," said he to Harry, "we no got two massas--only one." + +His words were soon after proved to be true. They were carried apart +from each other, evidently with the designs of being appropriated by +different owners; and the fear that they might also be separated again +came over them. + +When the slaves, camels, tents, and articles that had been gathered from +the wreck were distributed amongst the eleven Arabs, each one took the +charge of his own; but there still remained Golah, his wives and their +children, to be disposed of. + +No one seemed desirous of becoming the owner of the black sheik and his +wives. Even those who had said that he would make a valuable slave, +appeared unwilling to take him, although induced to do so by the taunts +of their companions. + +The fact was, that they were afraid of him. He would be too difficult to +manage; and none of them wished to be the master of one who obstinately +refused both food and drink, and who so defiantly invoked upon the heads +of his captors the curse of Mahomet, and swore by the beard of the +Prophet that the moment his hands were free, he would kill the man who +should dare to own or claim him as a slave. + +Golah, with all his faults, was neither cunning nor deceitful, and, +having a spirit too great to affect submission, he did not intend to +yield. + +He was arrogant, cruel, avaricious, and vindictive; but the wrongs he +did were always accomplished in a plain, open-handed way, and never by +stratagem or treachery. + +By accepting the terms the Arabs had offered him, his strength, courage, +and unconquerable will might afterwards have enabled him to obtain +revenge upon his captors, and regain a portion of his property; but it +was not in his nature to sham submission, even for the sake of gaining a +future advantage. + +As not one of the Arabs was willing to accept of him, at the value at +which he had been appraised, or to allow another to have him for less, +it was finally decided that he should be retained as the common property +of all, until he could be sold to some other tribe, when a distribution +might be made of the proceeds of the sale. His wives and children were +to be disposed of in like manner. + +This arrangement was satisfactory to all but Golah himself, who +expressed himself greatly displeased with it. Nevertheless, he seemed a +little disposed to yield to circumstances; for, soon after the decision +of his captors was made known to him, he called to Fatima, and commanded +her to bring him a bowl of water. + +The favorite refused, under the plea that she had been forbidden to give +him anything. + +This was true; for, as he had declined to accept of anything at the +hands of those claiming to be his masters, they had determined to starve +him into submission. + +Fatima's refusal to obey him caused Golah his greatest chagrin. Ever +accustomed to prompt and slavish obedience from others, the idea of his +own wife--his favorite too--denying his modest request, almost drove him +frantic. + +"I am your husband," he cried, "and whom should you obey but me? Fatima! +I command you to bring me some water!" + +"And I command you not to do it," said the Arab sheik, who, standing +near by, had heard the order. + +Fatima was an artful, selfish woman, who had gained some influence over +her husband by flattering his vanity, and professing a love she had +never felt. + +She had acted with slavish obedience to him when he was all-powerful; +but now that he was himself a slave, her submission had been transferred +with perfect facility to the chief of the band who had captured him. + +It was now that Golah began to realize the fact that he was a conquered +man. + +His heart was nearly bursting with rage, shame, and disappointment; for +nothing could so plainly awaken him to the comprehension of his real +position, as the fact that Fatima, his favorite, she who had ever +professed for him so much love and obedience, now refused to attend to +his simplest request. + +After making one more violent and ineffectual effort at breaking his +bonds, he sank down upon the earth and remained silent--bitterly +contemplating the degraded condition into which he had fallen. + +The Krooman, who was a very sharp observer of passing events, and had an +extensive knowledge of peculiar specimens of human nature, closely +watched the behavior of the black sheik. + +"He no like us," he remarked to the whites. "He nebba be slave. Bom-by +you see him go dead." + + + + +CHAPTER LV. + +TWO FAITHFUL WIVES. + + +While Golah's mind appeared to be stunned almost to unconsciousness by +the refusal of Fatima to obey his orders, his other two wives were +moving about, as if engaged in some domestic duty. + +Presently the woman he had buried in the sand was seen going towards him +with a calabash of water, followed by the other who carried a dish of +_sangleh_. + +One of the Arabs perceiving their intention, ran up, and, in an angry +tone, commanded them to retire to their tents. The two women persisted +in their design, and in order to prevent them, without using violence, +the Arab offered to serve the food and drink himself. + +This they permitted him to do; but when the water was offered to Golah +it was again refused. + +The black sheik would not receive either food or drink from the hand of +a master. + +The _sangleh_ was then consumed by the Arab with a real or sham +profession of gratitude; the water was poured into a bucket, and given +to one of the camels; and the two calabashes were returned to the women. + +Neither a keen longing for food, nor a burning thirst for water, could +divert Golah's thoughts from the contemplation of something that was +causing his soul extreme anguish. + +His physical tortures seemed, for the time, extinguished by some deep +mental agony. + +Again the wives--the unloved ones--advanced towards him, bearing water +and food; and again the Arab stepped forward to intercept them. The two +women persisted in their design, and, while opposing the efforts of the +Arab to turn them back, they called on the two youths, the relatives of +the black sheik, as also on Fatima, to assist them. + +Of the three persons thus appealed to, only Golah's son obeyed their +summons; but his attempt to aid the women was immediately frustrated by +the Arab, who claimed him as a slave, and who now commanded him to stand +aside. His command having no effect, the Arab proceeded to use force. At +the risk of his life the youth resisted. He dared to use violence +against a master--a crime that on the desert demands the punishment of +death. + +Aroused from his painful reverie by the commotion going on around him, +Golah, seeing the folly of the act, shouted to his son to be calm, and +yield obedience; but the youth, not heeding the command of his father, +continued his resistance. He was just on the point of being cut down, +when the Krooman ran forward, and pronouncing in Arabic two words +signifying "father and son," saved the youth's life. The Arab robber had +sufficient respect for the relationship to stay his hand from committing +murder; but to prevent any further trouble with the young fellow, he was +seized by several others, fast bound, and flung to the ground by the +side of his father. + +The two women, still persisting in their design to relieve the wants of +their unfortunate husband, were then knocked down, kicked, beaten, and +finally dragged inside the tents. + +This scene was witnessed by Fatima; who, instead of showing sympathy, +appeared highly amused by it,--so much so as even to give way to +laughter! Her unnatural behavior once more roused the indignation of her +husband. + +The wrong of being robbed--the humiliation of being bound--the knowledge +that he himself, along with his children, would be sold into +slavery--the torture of hunger and thirst--were sources of misery no +longer heeded by him; all were forgotten in the contemplation of a far +greater anguish. + +Fatima, the favorite, the woman to whom his word should have been +law,--the woman who had always pretended to think him something more +than mortal,--now not only shunning but despising him in the midst of +his misfortunes! + +This knowledge did more towards subduing the giant than all his other +sufferings combined. + +"Old Golah looks very down in the mouth," remarked Terence to his +companions. "If it was not for the beating he gave me yesterday, I could +almost pity him. I made an oath, at the time he was thwacking me with +the ramrod, that if my hands were ever again at liberty, I'd see if it +was possible to kill him; but now that they are free, and his are bound, +I've not the heart to touch him, bad as he is." + +"That is right, Terry," said Bill; "it's only wimin an' bits o' boys as +throws wather on a drowned rat,--not as I mane to say the owld rascal is +past mischief yet. I believe he'll do some more afore the Devil takes +'im intirely; but I mane that Him as sits up aloft is able to do His own +work without your helping Him." + +"You speak truth, Bill," said Harry; "I don't think there is any +necessity for seeking revenge of Golah for his cruel treatment of us; he +is now as ill off as the rest of us." + +"What is that you say?" inquired Colin. "Golah like one of us? Nothing +of the kind. He has more pluck, endurance, obstinacy, and true manly +spirit about him than there is in the four of us combined." + +"Was his attempt to starve you dictated by a manly spirit?" asked Harry. + +"Perhaps not, but it was the fault of the circumstances under which he +has been educated. I don't think of that now; my admiration of the man +is too strong. Look at his refusing that drink of water when it had been +several times offered him!" + +"There is something wonderful about him, certainly," assented Harry; +"but I don't see anything in him to admire." + +"No more do I," said Bill. "He might be as comfortable now as we are; +and I say a man's a fool as won't be 'appy when he can." + +"What you call his folly," rejoined Colin, "is but a noble pride that +makes him superior to any of us. He has a spirit that will not submit to +slavery, and we have not." + +"That be truth," remarked the Krooman; "Golah nebbar be slave." + +Colin was right. By accepting food and drink from his captors, the black +sheik might have satisfied the demands of mere animal nature, but only +at the sacrifice of all that was noble in his nature. His self-respect, +along with the proud, unyielding spirit by which everything good and +great is accomplished, would have been gone from him for ever. + +Sailor Bill and his companions, the boy slaves, had been taught from +childhood to yield to circumstances, and still retain some moral +feeling; but Golah had not. + +The only thing he could yield to adverse fate was _his life_. + +At this moment the Krooman, by a gesture, called their attention towards +the captive sheik, at the same time giving utterance to a sharp +ejaculation. + +"Look!" exclaimed he, "Golah no stay longer on de Saaera. You him see +soon die now--look at him!" + +At the same instant Golah had risen to his feet, inviting his Arab +master to a conference. + +"There is but one God," said he, "Mahomet is his prophet; and I am his +servant. I will never be a slave. Give me one wife, a camel, and my +scimitar, and I will go. I have been robbed; but God is great, and it is +his will, and my destiny." + +Golah had at length yielded, though not because that he suffered for +food and water; not that he feared slavery or death; not that his proud +spirit had become weak or given way; but rather that it had grown +stronger under the prompting of _Revenge_. + +The Arab sheik conferred with his followers; and there arose a brief +controversy among them. + +The trouble they had with their gigantic captive, the difficulty they +anticipated in disposing of him, and their belief that he was a good +Mussulman, were arguments in favor of granting his request, and setting +him at liberty. + +It was therefore decided to let him go--on the condition of his taking +his departure at once. + +Golah consented; and they proceeded to untie his hands. While this was +being done, the Krooman ran up to Colin's master, and cautioned him to +protect his slave, until the sheik had departed. + +This warning was unnecessary, for Golah had other and more serious +thoughts to engage his mind than that of any animosity he might once +have felt against the young Scotchman. + +"I am free," said Golah, when his hands were untied. "We are equals, and +Mussulmen. I claim your hospitality. Give me some food and drink." + +He then stepped forward to the well, and quenched his thirst, after +which some boiled camel meat was placed before him. + +While he was appeasing an appetite that had been two days in gaining +strength, Fatima, who had observed a strange expression in his eyes, +appeared to be in great consternation. She had believed him doomed to a +life of slavery, if not to death; and this belief had influenced her in +her late actions. + +Gliding up to the Arab sheik, she entreated to be separated from her +husband; but the only answer she received was, that Golah should have +either of the three wives he chose to take; that he (the sheik) and his +companions were men of honor, who would not break the promise they had +given. + +A goat-skin of water, some barley meal, for making _sangleh_, and a few +other necessary articles, were placed on a camel, which was delivered +over to Golah. + +The black sheik then addressed a few words in some African language to +his son; and, calling Fatima to follow him, he started off across the +desert. + + + + +CHAPTER LVI. + +FATIMA'S FATE. + + +A complete change had come over the fortunes of Fatima. Vain, cruel, and +tyrannical but the moment before, she was now humbled to the dust of the +desert. In place of commanding her fellow wives, she now approached them +with entreaties, begging them to take charge of her child, which she +seemed determined to leave behind her. Both willingly assented to her +wishes. + +Our adventurers were puzzled by this circumstance, for there appeared to +be no reason that Fatima should leave her offspring behind her. Even the +Krooman could not explain it; and as the shades of night descended over +the desert, the mother separated from her child, perhaps never more to +embrace it in this world of wickedness and woe. + +About two hours before daybreak, on the morning after the departure of +Golah, there was an alarm in the douar, which created amongst the Arabs +a wonderful excitement. + +The man who had been keeping guard over the camp was not to be seen; and +one of the fleetest camels, as well as a swift desert horse, was also +gone. + +The slaves were instantly mustered, when it was found that one of them +was likewise missing. It was Golah's son. + +His absence accounted for the loss of the camel, and perhaps the horse, +but what had become of the Arab guard? + +He certainly would not have absconded with the slave, for he had left +valuable property behind him. + +There was no time for exchanging surmises over this mystery. Pursuit +must be instantly made for the recovery of slave, camel, and horse. + +The Arab sheik detailed four of his followers to this duty, and they +hastened to make ready for their departure. They would start as soon as +the light of day should enable them to see the course the missing +animals had taken. + +All believed that the fugitives would have to be sought for in a +southerly direction; and therefore the caravan would have to be further +delayed in its journey. + +While making preparations for the pursuit, another unpleasant discovery +was made. Two ship's muskets, that had been taken from Golah's party +were also missing. + +They had been extracted from a tent in which two of the Arabs had +slept,--two of the four who were now preparing to search for the missing +property. + +The sheik became alarmed. The camp seemed full of traitors; and yet, as +the guns were the private property of the two men who slept in the tent, +they could not, for losing them, reasonably be accused of anything more +than stupidity. + +Contrary to the anticipations of all, the tracks of the lost animals +were found to lead off in a north-westerly direction; and at about two +hundred yards from the camp a dark object was seen lying upon the +ground. On examination it proved to be the Arab who had been appointed +night-guard over the douar. + +He was stone dead; and by his side lay one of the missing muskets, with +the stock broken, and covered with his own brains. + +The tragedy was not difficult to be explained. The man had seen one or +two of the hoppled animals straying from the camp. Not thinking that +they were being led gently away, he had, without giving any alarm, gone +out to bring them back. Golah's son, who was leading them off, by +keeping concealed behind one of the animals, had found an opportunity of +giving the guard his death-blow, without any noise to disturb the +slumbering denizens of the douar. + +No doubt he had gone to rejoin his father, and the adroit manner in +which he had made his departure, taking with him a musket, a camel, and +a horse, not only excited the wonder, but the admiration of those from +whom he had stolen them. + +In the division of the slaves, young Harry Blount and the Krooman had +become the property of the Arab sheik. The Krooman having some knowledge +of the Arabic language, soon established himself in the good opinion of +his new master. While the Arabs were discussing the most available mode +to obtain revenge for the murder of their companion, as well as to +regain possession of the property they had lost, the Krooman, skilled in +Golah's character, volunteered to assist them by a little advice. + +Pointing to the south, he suggested to them that, by going in that +direction, they would certainly see or hear something of Golah and his +son. + +The sheik could the more readily believe this, since the country of the +black chief lay to the southward, and Golah, on leaving the douar, had +gone in that direction. + +"But why did his dog of a son not go south?" inquired the Arabs, +pointing to the tracks of the stolen horse, which still appeared to lead +towards the northwest. + +"If you go north," replied the Krooman, "you will be sure to see Golah; +or if you stay here, you will learn something of him?" + +"What! will he be in both directions at the same time, and here +likewise?" + +"No, not that; but he will follow you." + +The Arabs were willing to believe that there was a chance of recovering +their property on the road they had been intending to follow, especially +as the stolen horse and camel had been taken in that direction. + +They determined, therefore, to continue their journey. + +Too late they perceived their folly in treating Golah as they had done. +He was now beyond their reach, and, in all likelihood, had been rejoined +by his son. He was an enemy against whom they would have to keep a +constant watch; and the thought of this caused the old Arab sheik to +swear by the Prophet's beard that he would never again show mercy to a +man whom he had plundered. + +For about an hour after resuming their march, the footprints of the +camel could be traced in the direction they wished to go; but gradually +they became less perceptible, until at length they were lost altogether. +A smart breeze had been blowing, which had filled the tracks with sand, +which was light and easily disturbed. + +Trusting to chance, and still with some hope of recovering the stolen +property, they continued on in the same direction, and, not long after +losing the tracks, they found some fresh evidence that they were going +the right way. + +The old sheik, who was riding in advance of the others, on looking to +the right, perceived an object on the sand that demanded a closer +inspection. He turned and rode towards it, closely followed by the +people of his party. + +On drawing near to the object it proved to be the body of a human being, +lying back upwards, and yet with the face turned full towards the +heavens. The features were at once recognized as those of Fatima, the +favorite! + +The head of the unfortunate woman had been severed from her body, and +then placed contiguous to it, with the face in an inverted position. + +The ghastly spectacle was instructive. It proved that Golah, although +going off southward, must have turned back again, and was now not far +off, hovering about the track he believed his enemies would be likely to +take. His son, moreover, was, in all likelihood, along with him. + +When departing along with her husband, Fatima had probably anticipated +the terrible fate that awaited her; and, for that reason, had left her +child in the care of the other wives. + +Neither of these seemed in the least surprised on discovering the body. +Both had surmised that such would be Fatima's fate; and it was for that +reason they had so willingly taken charge of her child. + +The caravan made a short halt, which was taken advantage of by the two +women to cover the body with sand. + +The journey was then resumed. + + + + +CHAPTER LVII. + +FURTHER DEFECTION. + + +Notwithstanding that Golah's brother-in-law, who had formerly been a +freeman, was now a slave, he seemed well satisfied with the change in +his circumstances. + +He made himself very useful to his new masters in looking after the +camel, and doing all the other necessary work which his knowledge of +Saaeran life enabled him effectually to execute. + +When the Arab caravan came to a halt on the evening of his first day's +journey along with it, he assisted in unloading the camels, putting the +hopples on them, pitching the tents, and doing anything else which was +required to be done. + +While the other slaves were eating the small portion of food allowed +them, one of the camels formerly belonging to Golah--a young and fleet +maherry that had been ridden by Fatima, strayed a short distance from +the douar. Seeing it the black sheik's brother-in-law, who had been +making himself so useful, ran after the animal as if to fetch it back. +He was seen passing beyond the camel, as though he intended turning it +toward the camp; but in another instant it was discovered that he had no +such design. The youth was seen to spring to the back of the maherry, +lay hold of its hump, and ride rapidly away. Accustomed to hearing the +sound of his voice, the faithful and intelligent animal obeyed his words +of command. Its neck was suddenly craned out towards the north; and its +feet were flung forward in long strides that bore its rider rapidly away +from the rest. The incident caused a tremendous commotion in the +caravan. It was so wholly unexpected, that none of the Arabs were +prepared to intercept the fugitive. The guard for the night had not been +appointed. They were all seated on the ground, engaged in devouring +their evening repast, and before a musket could be discharged at the +runaway, he had got so far into the glimmering twilight that the only +effect of two or three shots fired after him was to quicken the pace of +the maherry on which he was fleeing. + +Two fleet horses were instantly saddled and mounted, one by the owner of +the camel that had been stolen, and the other by the owner of the slave +who had stolen it. + +Each, arming himself with musket and scimitar, felt sure of recapturing +the runaway. Their only doubt arose from the knowledge of the swiftness +of the maherry, and that its rider was favored by the approaching +darkness. + +The whole encampment was by this time under arms and after the departure +of the pursuers, the sheik gathered all the slaves together, and swore +by the beard of the Prophet that they should all be killed, and that he +would set the example by killing the two belonging to himself, which +were Harry Blount and the Krooman. Several of his followers proceeded to +relieve their excitement by each beating the slave or slaves that were +his own property, and amongst these irate slave-owners was the master of +Sailor Bill. The old man-o-war's-man was cudgelled till his objections +to involuntary servitude were loudly expressed, and in the strongest +terms that English, Scotch, and Irish could furnish for the purpose. + +When the rage of the old sheik had to some extent subsided, he procured +a leathern thong, and declared that his two slaves should be fast bound, +and never released as long as they remained in his possession. + +"Talk to him," exclaimed Harry to the Krooman; "tell him, in his own +language, that God is great, and that he is a fool! We don't wish to +escape,--certainly not at present." + +Thus counselled, the Krooman explained to the sheik that the white +slaves, as well as himself, who had sailed in English ships, had no +intention of running away, but wished to be taken north, where they +might be ransomed; and that they were not such fools as to part from him +in a place where they would certainly starve. The Krooman also informed +the sheik that they were all very glad at being taken out of the hands +of Golah, who would have carried them to Timbuctoo, whence they never +could have returned, but must have ended their days in slavery. + +While the Krooman was talking to the sheik, several of the others came +up and listened. The black further informed them that the white slaves +had friends living in Agadeer and Swearah (Santa Cruz and +Mogador),--friends who would pay a large price to ransom them. Why, +then, should they try to escape while journeying towards the place where +those friends were living? + +The Krooman went on to say that the young man who had just made off was +Golah's brother-in-law; that, unlike themselves, in going north he would +not be seeking freedom but perpetual slavery, and for that reason he had +gone to rejoin Golah and his son. + +This explanation seemed so reasonable to the Arabs, that their fears for +the safety of their slaves soon subsided, and the latter were permitted +to repose in peace. + +As a precautionary measure, however, two men were kept moving in a +circle around the douar throughout the whole of the night; but no +disturbance arose, and morning returned without bringing back the two +men who had gone in pursuit of the cunning runaway. + +The distance to the next watering-place was too great to admit of any +delay being made; and the journey was resumed, in the hope that the two +missing men would be met on the way. + +This hope was realized. + +All along the route the old sheik, who rode in advance, kept scanning +the horizon, not only ahead, but to the right and left of their course. +About ten miles from their night's halting-place he was seen to swerve +suddenly from his course, and advance towards something that had +attracted his attention. His followers hastened after him,--all except +the two women and their children, who lingered a long way behind. + +Lying on the ground, their bodies contiguous to each other, were the two +Arabs who had gone in pursuit of the runaway. + +They were both dead. + +One of them had been shot with a musket ball that had penetrated his +skull, entering directly between his temples. The other had been cut +down with a scimitar, his body being almost severed in twain. + +The youth who had fled the night before, had evidently come up with +Golah and his son; and the two men who had pursued him had lost their +lives, their animals, muskets, and scimitars. + +Golah now had two accomplices, and the three were well mounted and well +armed. + +The anger of the Arabs was frightful to behold. They turned towards the +two women whom they knew to be Golah's wives. The latter had thrown +themselves on their knees and were screaming and supplicating for mercy. + +Some of the Arabs would have killed them on the instant; but were +prevented by the old sheik, who, although himself wild with rage, had +still sufficient reason left to tell him that the unfortunate women were +not answerable for the acts of their husband. Our adventurers found +reason to regret the misfortune that had befallen their new masters; for +they could not but regard with alarm the returning power of Golah. + +"We shall fall into his hands again," exclaimed Terence. "He will kill +all these Arabs one after another, and obtain all he has lost, ourselves +included. We shall yet be driven to Timbuctoo." + +"Then we should deserve it," cried Harry, "for it will partly be our own +fault, if ever we fall into Golah's power again." + +"I don't think so," said Bill, "Golah is a wondersome man, and as got +somethin' more nor human natur' to 'elp 'im. I think as 'ow if we should +see 'im 'alf a mile off, signalizin' for us to follow 'im, we should +'ave to go. I've tried my hand at disobeyin' his orders, and don't do it +again,--not if I knows it." + +The expressions of anger hitherto portrayed on the countenances of the +Arabs, had given place to those of anxiety. They knew that an enemy was +hovering around them,--an enemy whom they had wronged,--whose power they +had undervalued, and whom they had foolishly restored to liberty. + +The bodies of their companions were hastily interred in the sand, and +their journey northward was once more resumed. + + + + +CHAPTER LVIII. + +A CALL FOR TWO MORE. + + +The sufferings of the slaves for water and food again commenced, while +the pace at which they were compelled to travel, to keep up with the +camels, soon exhausted the little strength they had acquired from the +rest by the well. + +During the long afternoon following the burial of the two Arabs, each of +the boy slaves at different times declared his utter inability to +proceed any farther. + +They were mistaken; and had yet to learn something of the power which +love of life exerts over the body. + +They knew that to linger behind would be death. They did not desire to +die, and therefore struggled on. + +Like men upon a treadmill, they were compelled to keep on moving, +although neither able nor willing. + +The hour of sunset found them wading through sand that had lately been +stirred by a storm. It was nearly as light and loose as snow; and the +toil of moving through it was so wearisome, that the mounted Arabs, +having some pity on those who had walked, halted early for the night. +Two men were appointed to guard the camp in the same manner as upon the +night before; and with the feelings of hunger and thirst partly +appeased, weary with the toils of day, our adventurers were soon in a +sound slumber. Around them, and half-buried in the soft sand, lay +stretched the other denizens of the douar, all slumbering likewise. + +Their rest remained undisturbed until that darkest hour of the night, +just before the dawning of day. They were then startled from sleep by +the report of a musket,--a report that was immediately followed by +another in the opposite direction. The douar was instantly in wild +confusion. + +The Arabs seized their weapons, and rushed forth from among the tents. + +One of the party that ran in the direction in which the first shot was +heard, seeing a man coming towards them, in the excitement of the moment +fired his musket, and shot the individual who was advancing, who proved +to be one of those entrusted with the guard of the camp. + +No enemies could be discovered. They had fled, leaving the two +camp-guards in the agonies of death. + +Some of the Arabs would have rushed wildly hither and thither, in search +of the unseen foe, but were prevented by the sheik, who, fearing that +all would be lost, should the douar be deserted by the armed men, +shouted the signal for all his followers to gather around him. + +The two wounded men were brought into a tent, where, in a few +minutes, one of them--the man who had been shot by one of his +companions--breathed his last. He had also received a wound from the +first shot that had been heard, his right arm having been shattered by a +musket-ball. + +The spine of the other guard had been broken by a bullet, so that +recovery was clearly impossible. + +He had evidently heard the first shot fired at his companion from the +opposite side of the camp: and was turning his back upon the foe that +had attacked himself. + +The light of day soon shone upon the scene, and they were able to +perceive how their enemies had approached so near the camp without being +observed. + +About a hundred paces from where the guards had been standing at the +time the first two shots were fired, was a furrow or ravine running +through the soft sand. + +This ravine branched into two lesser ones, including within their angle +the Arab camp, as also the sentinels stationed to guard it. + +Up the branches the midnight murderers had silently stolen, each taking +a side; and in this way had got within easy distance of the unsuspecting +sentries. + +In the bottom of one of the furrows, where the sand was more firmly +compacted, was found the impression of human footsteps. + +The tracks had been made by some person hurriedly leaving the spot. + +"Dis be de track ob Golah," said the Krooman to Harry, after he had +examined it. "He made um when runnin' 'way after he fire da musket." + +"Very likely," said Harry; "but how do you know it is Golah's track?" + +"'Cause Golah hab largess feet in all de world, and no feet but his make +dat mark." + +"I tell you again," said Terence, who overheard the Krooman's remark, +"we shall have to go with Golah to Timbuctoo. We belong to him. These +Arabs are only keeping us for a few days, but they will all be killed +yet, and we shall have to follow the black sheik in the opposite +direction." + +Harry made no reply to this prophetic speech. Certainly, there was a +prospect of its proving true. + +Four Arabs out of the eleven of which their party was originally +composed, were already dead, while still another was dying! + +Sailor Bill pronounced Golah, with his son and brother-in-law, quite a +match for the six who were left. The black sheik, he thought, was equal +to any four of their present masters in strength, cunning, and +determination. + +"But the Arabs have us to help them," remarked Colin. "We should count +for something." + +"So we do,--as merchandise," replied Harry; "we have hitherto been +helpless as children in protecting ourselves. What can we do? The +boasted superiority of our race or country cannot be true here in the +desert. We are out of our element." + +"Yes, that's sartain!" exclaimed Bill; "but we're not far from it. +Shiver my timbers if I don't smell salt water. Be Jabers! if we go on +towards the west we shall see the say afore night." + +During this dialogue the Arabs were holding a consultation as to what +they should do. + +To divide the camp, and send some after their enemies, was pronounced +impolitic: the party sent in pursuit, and that left to guard the +caravan,--either would be too weak if attacked by their truculent enemy. + +In union alone was strength, and they resolved to remain together, +believing that they should have a visit from Golah again, while better +prepared to receive him. + +The footprints leading out from the two ravines were traced for about a +mile in the direction they wished to follow. + +The tracks of camels and horses were there found; and they could tell by +the signs that their enemies had mounted and ridden off towards the +west. + +They possibly might have avoided meeting Golah again by going eastward; +but, from their knowledge of the desert, no water was to be found in +that direction in less than five days' journey. + +Moreover, they did not yet wish to avoid him. They thirsted for revenge, +and were impatient to move on; for a journey of two days was still +before them before they could hope to arrive at the nearest water. + +When every preparation had been made to resume their route, there was +one obstacle in the way of their taking an immediate departure. + +Their wounded companion was not yet defunct. They saw it would be +impossible for him to live much longer; for the lower part of his +body,--all below the shattered portion of the spine,--appeared already +without life. A few hours at most would terminate his sufferings; but +for the expiration of those few hours,--or minutes, as fate should +decide,--his companions seemed unwilling to wait! + +They dug a hole in the sand near where the wounded man was lying. This +was but the work of a few minutes. As soon as the grave was completed, +the eyes of all were once more turned upon the wretched sufferer. + +He was still alive, and by piteous moans expressing the agony he was +enduring. + +"Bismillah!" exclaimed the old sheik, "why do you not die, my friend? We +are waiting for the fulfilment of your destiny." + +"I am dead," ejaculated the sufferer, speaking in a faint voice, and +apparently with great difficulty. + +Having said this, he relapsed into silence, and remained motionless as a +corpse. + +The sheik then placed one hand upon his temples. "Yes!" he exclaimed, +"the words of our friend are those of truth and wisdom. He is dead." + +The wounded man was then rolled into the cavity which had been scooped +out, and they hastily proceeded to cover him with sand. + +As they did so, his hands were repeatedly uplifted, while a low moaning +came from his lips; but his movements were apparently unseen, and his +cries of agony unnoticed! + +His companions remained both deaf and blind to any evidence that might +refute his own assertion that he was dead. + +The sand was at length heaped up, so as completely to cover his body, +when, by an order from the old sheik, his followers turned away from the +spot and the Kafila moved on. + + + + +CHAPTER LIX. + +ONCE MORE BY THE SEA. + + +Sailor Bill's conjecture that they were not far from the sea proved +correct. + +On the evening of that same day they saw the sun sink down into a +shining horizon, which they knew was not that of the burning sand-plain +over which they had been so long moving. + +That faint and distant view of his favorite element was a joyful moment +for the old sailor. + +"We are in sight of home!" he exclaimed. "Shiver my timbers if I ever +lose sight of it again! I shan't be buried in the sand. If I must go +under alive, it shall be under water, like a Christyun. If I could swim, +I'd start right off for Hold Hingland as soon as we get to yonder +shore." + +The boy slaves were alike inspired with hope and joy at the distant +view. + +The sea was still too far off to be reached that night, and the douar +was pitched about five miles from the shore. + +During this night, three of the Arabs were kept constantly on guard; but +the camp was not disturbed, and next morning they resumed their journey, +some with the hope, and others with the fear, that Golah would trouble +them no more. + +The Arabs wished to meet him during the hours of daylight, and secure +the property they had lost; and from their knowledge of the part of the +desert they were now traversing, they were in hopes of doing this. They +knew there was but one place within two days' journey where fresh water +could be obtained; and should they succeed in reaching this place before +Golah, they could lie in wait for his arrival. They were certain he must +visit this watering-place to save his animals from perishing with +thirst. + +At noonday a halt was made not far from the beach. It was only for a +short while; for they were anxious to reach the well as soon as +possible. The few minutes spent at the halting-place were well employed +by the boy slaves in gathering shell-fish and bathing their bodies in +the surf. + +Refreshed by this luxurious food, as well as by the washing, of which +they were greatly in need, they were able to proceed at a better pace; +so that about an hour before sunset the caravan arrived at the well. + +Just before reaching it, the old sheik and one of his companions had +dismounted and walked forward to examine such tracks as might be found +about the place. They were chagrined to find that Golah had been before. +He had been to the well, and obtained a supply of water. His footmarks +were easily identified. They were fresh, having been made but an hour or +two before the arrival of the caravan; and in place of their having to +wait for Golah, he was undoubtedly waiting for them. They felt sure that +the black sheik was not far off, watching for a favorable opportunity of +again paying them a nocturnal visit. They could now understand why he +had not attempted to molest them on the preceding night. He had been +hastening forward, in order to reach the well in advance of them. + +The apprehensions of the Arabs became keener and keener after this +discovery. They were also much puzzled as to what they should do; and a +diversity of opinion arose as to the best plan for guarding the camp +against their implacable foe. Some were in favor of staying by the well +for several days, until the supply of water which their enemy had taken +with him should be exhausted. Golah would then have to revisit the well, +or perish of thirst upon the desert. The idea was an ingenious one, but +unfortunately their stock of provisions would not admit of any delay, +and it was resolved that the journey should be resumed at once. + +Just as they were preparing to move away from the well, a caravan of +traders arrived from the south, and the old sheik made anxious inquiries +as to whether the new-comers had seen any one on their route. The +traders, to whom the caravan belonged, had that morning met three men +who answered to the description of Golah and his companions. They were +journeying south, and had purchased a small supply of food from the +caravan. + +Could it be that Golah had given up the hope of recovering his lost +property? relinquished his deadly purpose of revenge? The Arabs +professed much unwillingness to believe it. Some of them loudly proposed +starting southward in pursuit. But this proposition was overruled, and +it was evident that the old sheik, as well as most of his followers, +were in reality pleased to think that Golah would trouble them no more. + +The sheik decreed that the property of those who had perished should be +divided amongst those who survived. This giving universal satisfaction, +the Arab Kafila took its departure, leaving the caravan of the traders +by the well, where they were intending to remain for some time longer. + +Shortly after leaving the well, the old sheik ordered a halt by the +seashore, where he stopped long enough for his slaves to gather some +shell-fish, enough to satisfy the hunger of all his followers. + +A majority of the Arabs were under the belief that the black sheik had +started at last for his own country--satisfied with the revenge he had +already taken. They seemed to think that keeping watch over the camp +would no longer be necessary. + +With this opinion their Krooman captive did not agree; and, fearing to +fall again into the possession of Golah, he labored to convince his new +master that they were as likely that night to receive a visit from the +black sheik as they had ever been before. + +He argued that, if Golah had entertained a hope of defeating his +foes--eleven in number--when alone, and armed only with a scimitar, he +certainly would not be likely to relinquish that hope after having +succeeded in killing nearly half of them, and being strengthened by a +couple of able assistants. + +The Krooman believed that Golah's going south,--as reported by the party +met at the well,--was proof that he really intended proceeding north; +and he urged the Arab sheik to set a good guard over the douar through +the night. + +"Tell him," said Harry, "if they are not inclined to keep guard for +themselves, that we will stand it, if they will only allow us to have +weapons of some kind or other." + +The Krooman made this communication to the Arab sheik, who smiled only +in reply. + +The idea of allowing slaves to guard an Arab douar, especially to +furnish them with fire-arms, was very amusing to the old chieftain of +the Saaera. + +Harry understood the meaning of his smile. It meant refusal; but the +young Englishman had also become impressed with the danger suggested by +Terence, that Golah would yet kill the Arabs, and take the boy slaves +back to Timbuctoo. + +"Tell the sheik that he is an old fool," said he to the interpreter; +"tell him that we have a greater objection to falling into the hands of +Golah than he has of losing either us or his own life. Tell him that we +wish to go north, where we can be redeemed; and that for this reason +alone we should be far more careful than any of his own people in +guarding the camp against surprise." + +When this communication was made to the old sheik it seemed to strike +him as having some reason in it; and, convinced by the Krooman's +arguments that there was still danger to be apprehended from Golah's +vengeance, he directed that the douar should be strictly guarded, and +that the white slaves might take part in the duty. + +"You shall be taken north, and sold to your countrymen," promised he, +"if you give us no trouble in the transit. There are but few of my +people left now, and it is hard for us to travel all day and keep watch +all night. If you are really afraid of falling into the hands of this +Prophet-accursed negro, and will help us in guarding against his +murderous attacks, you are welcome to do so; but if any one of you +attempt to play traitor, the whole four of you shall lose your heads. I +swear it by the beard of the Prophet!" + +The Krooman assured him that none of the white slaves had any desire to +deceive him, adding that self-interest, if nothing else, would cause +them to be true to those who would take them to a place where they would +have a chance of being ransomed out of slavery. + +Darkness having by this time descended over the desert, the sheik set +about appointing the guard for the night. He was too suspicious of his +white slaves to allow all the four of them to act as guards at the same +time, while he and his companions were asleep. He was willing, however, +that one of them should be allowed to keep watch in company with one of +his own followers. + +In choosing the individual for this duty, he inquired from the Krooman +which of the four had been most ill-used by the black sheik. Sailor Bill +was pointed out as the man, and the interpreter gave some details of the +cruel treatment to which the old man-o'-war's-man had been subjected at +the hands of Golah. + +"Bismillah! that is well," said the sheik. "Let him keep the watch. +After what you say, revenge should hinder him from closing his eyes in +sleep for a whole moon. There's no fear that he will betray us." + + + + +CHAPTER LX. + +GOLAH CALLS AGAIN. + + +In setting the watch for the night one of the sentinels was stationed on +the shore about a hundred yards north of the douar. His instructions +were to walk a round of about two hundred paces, extending inward from +the beach. + +Another was placed about the same distance south of the camp, and was to +pace backwards and forwards after a similar fashion. + +Sailor Bill was stationed on the land side of the camp, where he was to +move to and fro between the beats of the two Arab guards, each of whom, +on discovering him at the termination of his round, was to utter the +word "_Akka_," so that the sailor should distinguish them from an enemy. + +The Arabs themselves were supposed to be sufficiently intelligent to +tell a friend from a foe without requiring any countersign. + +Before Bill was sent upon his beat, the old sheik went into a tent, and +soon after reappeared with a large pistol, bearing a strong likeness to +a blunderbuss. This weapon he placed in the sailor's hand, with the +injunction--translated to him by the interpreter--not to discharge it +until he should be certain of killing either Golah or one of his +companions. + +The old sailor, although sorely fatigued with the toil of the day's +journey, had so great a horror of again becoming the property of the +black sheik, that he cheerfully promised to "walk the deck all night, +and keep a good lookout for breakers," and his young companions sought +repose in full confidence that the promise would be faithfully kept. + +Any one of the boy slaves would willingly have taken his place, and +allowed their old comrade to rest for the night; but Bill had been +selected by the old sheik, and from his decree there was no appeal. + +The two Arabs doing duty as sentinels knew, from past experience, that +if the Kafila was still followed by Golah, they would be the individuals +most exposed to danger; and this knowledge was sufficient to stimulate +them to the most faithful discharge of their trust. + +Neither of them wished to become victims to the fate which had befallen +their predecessors in office. + +For two or three hours both paced slowly to and fro; and Bill, each time +he approached the end of his beat, could hear distinctly pronounced the +word "_Akka_" which proved that his co-sentinels were fully on the +alert. + +It so chanced that one of them had no faith in the general belief that +the enemy had relinquished his purposes sanguinary of vengeance. + +He drew his deductions from Golah's conduct in the past, and during the +long silent hours of the night his fancy was constantly dwelling on the +manner in which the dreaded enemy had approached the douar on former +occasions. + +This sentry was the one stationed to the south of the douar; and with +eyes constantly striving to pierce the darkness that shrouded the sand +plain, the water, on which a better light was reflected, received no +attention from him. He believed the douar well protected on the side of +the sea, for he had no idea that danger could come from that direction. + +He was mistaken. + +Had their enemies been, like himself and his companions, true children +of the Saaera, his plan of watching for their approach might have +answered well enough; but the latter chanced to be the offspring of a +different country and race. + +About three hours after the watch had been established, the sentinel +placed on the southern side of the douar was being closely observed by +the black sheik, yet knew it not. + +Golah had chosen a singular plan to secure himself against being +observed, similar to that selected by the three mids for the like +purpose soon after their being cast away upon the coast. + +He had stolen into the water, and with only his woolly occiput above the +surface, had approached within a few yards of the spot where the Arab +sentry turned upon his round. + +In the darkness of the night, at the distance of twelve or fifteen +paces, he might have been discovered, had a close survey been made of +the shining surface. But there was no such survey, and Golah watched the +sentinel, himself unseen. + +The attention of the Arab was wholly occupied in looking for the +approach of a foe from the land side; and while he was in continual fear +of hearing the report of a musket, or feeling the stroke of its bullet. + +This disagreeable surprise he never expected could come from the sea, +but was so fully anticipated from the land, that he paid but little or +no attention to the restless waves that were breaking with low moans +against the beach. + +As he turned his back upon the water for the hundredth time, with the +intention of walking to the other end of his beat, Golah crept gently +out of the water and hastened after him. + +The deep sighing of the waves against the shingly shore hindered the +sound of footsteps from being heard. + +Golah was only armed with a scimitar; but it was a weapon that, in his +hands, was sure to fall with deadly effect. It was a weapon of great +size and weight, having been made expressly for himself; and with this +upraised, he silently but swiftly glided after the unconscious Arab. + +Adding the whole strength of his powerful arm to the weight of the +weapon, the black sheik brought its sharp edge slantingly down upon the +neck of the unsuspecting sentinel. + +With a low moan, that sounded in perfect harmony with the sighing of the +waves, the Arab fell to the earth, leaving his musket in the huge hand +his assassin had stretched forth to grasp it. Putting the gun to full +cock, Golah walked on in the direction in which the sentry had been +going. He intended next to encounter the man who was guarding the +eastern side of the douar. Walking boldly on, he took no trouble to +avoid the sound of his footsteps being heard, believing that he would be +taken for the sentry he had just slain. After going about a hundred +paces without seeing any one, he paused, and with his large fiercely +gleaming eyes strove to penetrate the surrounding gloom. Still no one +was to be seen, and he laid himself along the earth to listen for +footfalls. + +Nothing could be heard; but after glancing for some moments along the +ground, he saw a dark object outlined above the surface. Unable, from +the distance, to form a correct idea of what it was, he cautiously +advanced towards it, keeping on all fours, till he could see that the +object was a human being, prostrate on the ground, and apparently +listening, like himself. Why should the man be listening? Not to note +the approach of his companion, for that should be expected without +suspicion, as his attitude would indicate. He might be asleep, reasoned +Golah. If so, Fortune seemed to favor him, and with this reflection he +steadily moved on towards the prostrate form. + +Though the latter moved not, still Golah was not quite sure that the +sentry was asleep. Again he paused, and for a moment fixed his eyes on +the body with a piercing gaze. If the man was not sleeping, why should +he allow an enemy to approach so near? Why lie so quietly, without +showing any sign or giving an alarm? If Golah could despatch this +sentinel as he had done the other, without making any noise, he would, +along with his two relatives (who were waiting the result of his +adventure), afterwards steal into the douar, and all he had lost might +be again recovered. + +The chance was worth the risk, so thought Golah, and silently moved on. + +As he drew nearer, he saw that the man was lying on his side, with his +face turned towards him, and partly concealed by one arm. + +The black sheik could see no gun in his hands, and consequently there +would be but little danger in an encounter with him, if such should +chance to arise. + +Golah grasped the heavy scimitar in his right hand, evidently intending +to despatch his victim as he had done the other, with a single blow. + +The head could be severed from the body at one stroke, and no alarm +would be given to the slumbering camp. + +The heavy blade of shining steel was raised aloft; and the gripe of the +powerful hand clutching its hilt became more firm and determined. + +Sailor Bill! has your promise to keep a sharp lookout been broken so +soon? + +Beware! Golah is near with strength in his arm, and murder in his mind! + + + + +CHAPTER LXI. + +SAILOR BILL STANDING SENTRY. + + +After two hours had been passed in moving slowly to and fro, hearing the +word "_Akka_" and seeing nothing but gray sand, Sailor Bill began to +feel weary, and now regretted that the old sheik had honored him with +his confidence. + +For the first hour of his watch he had kept a good lookout to the +eastward, and had given the whole of his attention to his sentinel's +duty. + +Gradually his intense alertness forsook him, and he began to think of +the past and future. + +Themes connected with these subjects seldom troubled Bill,--his thoughts +generally dwelling upon the present; but, in the darkness and solitude +in which he was now placed, there was but little of the present to +arrest his attention. For the want of something else to amuse his mind, +it was turned to the small cannon he was carrying in his hand. + +"This 'ere thing," thought he, "aint o' much use as a pistol, though it +might be used as a war-club at close quarters. I hope I shan't 'ave to +fire it hoff. The barrel is thin, and the bullet hinside it must be +a'most as large as an 'en's heg. It ud be like enough to bust. Preaps 't +aint loaded, and may 'ave been given to me for amusement. I may as well +make sure about that." + +After groping about for some time, the sailor succeeded in finding a +small piece of stick, with which he measured the length of the barrel on +the outside; then, by inserting the stick into the muzzle, he found that +the depth of the barrel was not quite equal to its length. + +There must be something inside therefore, but he was positive there was +no ball. He next examined the pan, and found the priming all right. + +"I see 'ow 'tis," muttered he, "the old sheik only wants me to make a +row with it, in case I sees anything as is suspicious. He was afeard to +put a ball in it lest I should be killin' one of themselves. That's his +confidence. He on'y wants me to bark without being able to bite. But +this don't suit me at all, at all. Faix, I'll find a bit of a stone and +ram it into the barrel." + +Saying this he groped about the ground in search of a pebble of the +proper size; but for some time could find none to his liking. He could +lay his hand on nothing but the finest sand. + +While engaged in this search he fancied he heard some one approaching +from the side opposite to that in which he was expecting to hear the +word "_Akka_." + +He looked in that direction, but could see nothing save the gray surface +of the sea-beach. + +Since being on the desert Bill had several times observed the Arabs lay +themselves along the earth to listen for the sound of footsteps. This +plan he now tried himself. + +With his eyes close to the ground, the old sailor fancied he was able to +see to a greater distance than when standing upright. There seemed to be +more light on the surface of the earth than at four or five feet above +it; and objects in the distance were placed more directly between his +eyes and the horizon. + +While thus lying extended along the sand, he heard footsteps approaching +from the shore; but, believing they were those of the sentinel, he paid +no attention to them. He only listened for a repetition of those sounds +he fancied to have come from the opposite direction. + +But nothing was now heard to the eastward; and he came to the conclusion +that he had been deceived by an excited fancy. + +Of one thing, however, he soon became certain. It was, that the +footsteps which he supposed to be those of the Arab who kept, what Bill +called, the "larboard watch," were drawing nearer than usual, and that +the word "_Akka_" was not pronounced as before. + +The old sailor slewed himself around, and directed his gaze towards the +shore. + +The sound of footsteps was no longer heard, but the figure of a man was +perceived at no great distance from the spot. + +He was not advancing nearer, but standing erect, and apparently gazing +sharply about him. + +Could this man be the Arab sentinel? + +The latter was known to be short and of slight frame, while the man now +seen appeared tall and of stout build. Instead of remaining in his +upright attitude, and uttering, as the sentry should have done, the word +"_Akka_," the stranger was seen to stoop down, and place his ear close +to the earth as if to listen. + +During a moment or two while the man's eyes appeared to be turned away +from him, the sailor took the precaution to fill the barrel of his +pistol with sand. + +Should he give the alarm by firing off the pistol, and then run towards +the camp? + +No! he might have been deceived by an excited imagination. The +individual before him might possibly be the Arab guard trying to +discover his presence before giving the sign. + +While the sailor was thus undecided, the huge form drew nearer, +approaching on all fours. It came within eight or ten paces of the spot, +and then slowly assumed an upright position. Bill now saw it was not the +sentinel but the black sheik! + +The old man-o'-war's-man was never more frightened in his life. He +thought of discharging the pistol, and running back to the douar; but +then came the thought that he would certainly be shot down the instant +he should rise to his feet; and fear held him motionless. + +Golah drew nearer and nearer, and the sailor seeing the scimitar +uplifted suddenly formed the resolution to act. + +Projecting the muzzle of his huge pistol towards the black, he pulled +the trigger, and at the same instant sprang to his feet. + +There was a loud deafening report, followed by a yell of wild agony. + +Bill stayed not to note the effect of his fire: but ran as fast as his +legs would carry him towards the camp,--already alarmed by the report of +the pistol. + +The Arabs were running to and fro in terrible fear and confusion, +shouting as they ran. + +Amidst these shouts was heard,--in the direction from which the sailor +had fled,--a loud voice frantically calling, "Muley! Muley!" + +"'Tis the voice of Golah!" exclaimed the Krooman in Arabic. "He is +calling for his son,--Muley is his son's name!" + +"They are going to attack the douar," shouted the Arab sheik, and his +words were followed by a scene of the wildest terror. + +The Arabs rushed here and there, mingling their cries with those of the +slaves; while women shrieked, children screamed, dogs barked, horses +neighed, and even the quiet camels gave voice to their alarm. + +In the confusion the two wives of Golah, taking their children along +with them, hurried away from the camp, and escaped undiscovered in the +darkness. + +They had heard the voice of the father of their children, and understood +that accent of anguish in which he had called out the name of his son. + +They were women,--women who, although dreading their tyrant husband in +his day of power, now pitied him in his hour of misfortune. + +The Arabs, anxiously expecting the appearance of their enemy, in great +haste made ready to meet him; but they were left unmolested. + +In a few minutes all was quiet: not a sound was heard in the vicinity of +the douar; and the late alarm might have appeared only a panic of +groundless fear. + +The light of day was gradually gathering in the east when the Arab +sheik, recovering from his excitement, ventured to make an examination +of the douar and its denizens. + +Two important facts presented themselves as evidence, that the fright +they had experienced was not without a cause. The sentry who had been +stationed to guard the camp on its southern side was not present, and +Golah's two wives and their children were also absent! + +There could be no mystery about the disappearance of the women. They had +gone to rejoin the man whose voice had been heard calling "Muley." + +But where was the Arab sentry? Had another of the party fallen a victim +to the vengeance of Golah? + + + + +CHAPTER LXII. + +GOLAH FULFILS HIS DESTINY. + + +Taking the Krooman by one arm, the Arab sheik led him up to the old +man-o'-war's-man, who, sailor-like having finished his watch, had gone +to sleep. + +After being awakened by the sheik, the Krooman was told to ask the white +man why he fired his pistol. + +"Why, to kill Golah,--the big nager!" answered Bill; "an' I'm mighty +desaved if I 'ave not done it." + +This answer was communicated to the sheik, who had the art of expressing +unbelief with a peculiar smile, which he now practised. + +Bill was asked if he had seen the black sheik. + +"Seen him! sartinly I did," answered the sailor. "He was not more nor +four paces from me at the time I peppered 'im. I tell you he is gone and +done for." + +The sheik shook his head, and again smiled incredulously. + +Further inquiries were interrupted by the discovery of the body of the +Arab sentinel whom Golah had killed, and all clustered around it. + +The man's head was nearly severed from his body; and the blow--which +must have caused instant death--had evidently been given by the black +sheik. Near the corpse, tracks were observed in the sand such as no +other human being but Golah could have made. + +It was now broad daylight; and the Arabs, glancing along the shore to +southward, made another discovery. + +Two camels with a horse were seen upon the beach about half a mile off; +and, leaving one of their number to guard the douar, the old sheik with +his followers started off in the hope of recovering some of the property +they had lost. + +They were followed by most of the slaves; who, by the misfortunes of +their master, were under less restraint. + +On arriving near the place where the camels were, the young man we have +described as Golah's brother-in-law, was found to be in charge of them. +He was lying on the ground; but on the approach of the Arabs, he sprang +to his feet, at the same time holding up both his hands. + +He carried no weapon; and the gesture signified, "It is peace." + +The two women, surrounded by their children, were near by, sitting +silent and sorrowful on the sea-beach. They took no heed of the approach +of the Arabs; and did not even look up as the latter drew near. + +The muskets and other weapons were lying about. One of the camels was +down upon the sand. It was dead; and the young negro was in the act of +eating a large piece of raw flesh he had severed from its hump. + +The Arab sheik inquired after Golah. He to whom the inquiry was directed +pointed to the sea, where two dark bodies were seen tumbling about in +the surf as it broke against the shingle of the beach. + +The three midshipmen, at the command of the sheik, waded in, and dragged +the bodies out of the water. + +They were recognized as those of Golah and his son, Muley. + +Golah's face appeared to have been frightfully lacerated; and his once +large fierce eyes were altogether gone. + +The brother-in-law was called on to explain the mysterious death of the +black sheik and his son. + +His explanation was as follows:-- + +"I heard Golah calling for Muley after hearing the report of a gun. From +that I knew that he was wounded. Muley ran to assist him, while I stayed +behind with the horse and camels. I am starving! Very soon Muley came +running back, followed by his father, who seemed possessed of an evil +spirit. He ran this way and that way, swinging his scimitar about, and +trying to kill us both as well as the camels. He could not see, and we +managed to keep out of his way. I am starving!" + +The young negro here paused, and, once more picking up the piece of +camel's flesh, proceeded to devour it with an alacrity that proved the +truth of his assertion. + +"Pig!" exclaimed the sheik, "tell your story first, and eat afterwards." + +"Praise be to Allah!" said the youth, as he resumed his narrative, +"Golah ran against one of the camels and killed it." + +His listeners looked towards the dead camel. They saw that the body bore +the marks of Golah's great scimitar. + +"After killing the camel," continued the young man, "the sheik became +quiet. The evil spirit had passed out of him; and he sat down upon the +sand. Then his wives came up to him; and he talked to them kindly, and +put his hands on each of the children, and called them by name. They +screamed when they looked at him, and Golah told them not to be +frightened; that he would wash his face and frighten them no more. The +little boy led him to the water and he rushed into the sea as far as he +could wade. He went there to die. Muley ran after to bring him out, and +they were both drowned. I could not help them, for I was starving!" + +The emaciated appearance of the narrator gave strong evidence of the +truth of the concluding words of his story. For nearly a week he had +been travelling night and day, and the want of sleep and food could not +have been much longer endured. + +At the command of the Arab chief, the slaves now buried the bodies of +Golah and his son. + +Gratified at his good fortune, in being relieved from all further +trouble with his implacable foeman, the sheik determined to have a day +of rest, which to his slaves was very welcome, as was also the flesh of +the dead camel, now given them to eat. + +About the death of Golah there was still a mystery the Arabs could not +comprehend; and the services of the Krooman as interpreter were again +called into requisition. + +When the sheik learnt what the sailor had done,--how the pistol had been +made an effective weapon by filling the barrel with sand,--he expressed +much satisfaction at the manner in which the old man-o'-war's-man had +performed his duty. + +Full of gratitude for the service thus rendered him, he promised that +not only the sailor himself, but the boy slaves, his companions, should +be taken to Mogador, and restored to their friends. + + + + +CHAPTER LXIII. + +ON THE EDGE OF THE SAAeRA. + + +After a journey of two long dreary days--days that were to the boy +slaves periods of agonizing torture, from fatigue, hunger, thirst, and +exposure to a burning sun--the kafila arrived at another watering-place. + +As they drew near the place, our adventurers perceived that it was the +same where they had first fallen into the hands of Golah. + +"May God help us!" exclaimed Harry Blount, as they approached the place. +"We have been here before. We shall find no water, I fear. We did not +leave more than two bucketfuls in the hole; and as there has been no +rain since, that must be dried up, long ago." + +An expression of hopeless despair came over the countenances of his +companions. They had seen, but a few days before, nearly all the water +drawn out of the pool, and given to the camels. + +Their fears were soon removed, and followed by the real gratification of +a desire they had long been indulging--the desire to quench their +thirst. There was plenty of water in the pool--a heavy deluge of rain +having fallen over the little valley since they had left it. + +The small supply of food possessed by the travellers would not admit of +their making any delay at this watering-place; and the next morning the +journey was resumed. + +The Arabs appeared to bear no animosity towards the young man who had +assisted Golah in killing their companions; and now that the black sheik +was dead, they had no fear that the former would try to escape. The +negro was one of those human beings who cannot own themselves, and who +never feel at home unless with some one to control them. He quietly took +his place along with the other slaves,--apparently resigned to his +fate,--a fate that doomed him to perpetual slavery, though a condition +but little lower than that he had occupied with his brother-in-law. + +Eight days were now passed in journeying in a direction that led a +little to the east of north. + +To the white slaves they were days of indescribable agony, from those +two terrible evils that assail all travellers through the Saaera,--hunger +and thirst. Within the distance passed during these eight days they +found but one watering-place, where the supply was not only small in +quantity but bad in quality. + +It was a well, nearly dried up, containing a little water, offensive to +sight and smell, and only rendered endurable to taste by the +irresistible power of thirst. + +The surface of the pool was covered nearly an inch thick with dead +insects, which had to be removed to reach the discolored element +beneath. They were not only compelled to use, but were even thankful to +obtain, this impure beverage. + +The route followed during these eight days was not along the seashore; +and they were therefore deprived of the opportunity of satisfying their +hunger with shell-fish. The Arabs were in haste to reach some place +where they could procure food for their animals, and at the pace at +which they rode forward, it required the utmost exertion on the part of +their slaves to keep up with them. + +The old man-o'-war's-man, unused to land travelling, could never have +held out, had not the Arabs allowed him, part of the time, to ride on a +camel. The feat he had performed, in ridding them of that enemy who had +troubled them so much--and who, had he not been thwarted in his attack +upon the camp, would probably have killed them all--had inspired his +masters with some slight gratitude. The sailor, therefore, was permitted +to ride, when they saw that otherwise they would have to leave him +behind to die upon the desert. + +During the last two days of the eight, our adventurers noticed something +in the appearance of the country, over which they were moving, that +inspired them with hope. The face of the landscape became more uneven; +while here and there stunted bushes and weeds were seen, as if +struggling between life and death. + +The kafila had arrived on the northern border of the great Saaera; and a +few days more would bring them to green fields, shady groves, and +streams of sparkling water. + +Something resembling the latter was soon after discovered. At the close +of the eighth day they reached the bed of what appeared to be a river +recently dried up. Although there was no current they found some pools +of stagnant water: and beside one of these the douar was established. + +On a hill to the north were growing some green shrubs to which the +camels were driven; and upon these they immediately commenced browsing. +Not only the leaves, but the twigs and branches were rapidly twisted off +by the long prehensile lips of the animals, and as greedily devoured. + +It was twilight as the camp had been fairly pitched; and just then two +men were seen coming towards them leading a camel. They were making for +the pools of water, for the purpose of filling some goat skins which +were carried on their camel. They appeared both surprised and annoyed to +find the pools in possession of strangers. + +Seeing they could not escape observation, the men came boldly forward, +and commenced filling their goat-skins. While thus engaged they told the +Arab sheik that they belonged to a caravan near at hand that was +journeying southward; and that they should continue their journey early +the next morning. + +After the departure of the two men the Arabs held a consultation. + +"They have told us a lie," remarked the old sheik, "they are not on a +journey, or they would have halted here by the water. By the beard of +our Prophet they have spoken falsely!" + +With this opinion his followers agreed; and it was suggested that the +two men they had seen were of some party encamped by the seashore, and +undoubtedly amusing themselves with a wreck, or gathering wealth in some +other unusual way. + +Here was an opportunity not to be lost; and the Arabs determined to have +a share in whatever good fortune Providence might have thrown in the way +of those already upon the ground. If it should prove to be a wreck there +might be serious difficulty with those already in possession; it was +resolved, therefore, to wait for the morning, when they could form a +better opinion of their chances of success, should a conflict be +necessary to secure it. + + + + +CHAPTER LXIV. + +THE RIVAL WRECKERS. + + +Early next morning the kafila was _en route_ for the seashore, which was +discovered not far distant. On coming near a douar of seven tents was +seen standing upon the beach: and several men stepped forward to receive +them. + +The usual salutations were exchanged, and the new comers began to look +about them. Several pieces of timber lying along the shore gave evidence +that their conjecture, as to a wreck having taken place, had been a +correct one. + +"There is but one God, and He is kind to us all," said the old sheik; +"He casts the ships of unbelievers on our shores, and we have come to +claim a share of His favors." + +"You are welcome to all you can justly claim," answered a tall man, who +appeared to be the leader of the party of wreckers. "Mahomet is the +prophet of Him who sends favors to all, both good and bad. If he has +sent anything for you, look along the sea-beach and find it." + +On this invitation the camels of the kafila were unloaded, and the tents +pitched. The new-comers then set about searching for the _debris_ of the +wrecked vessel. + +They discovered only some spars, and other pieces of ship-timbers, which +were of no value to either party. + +A consultation now took place between the old sheik and his followers. +They were unanimous in the belief that a sunken ship was near them, and +that they had only to watch the rival wreckers, and learn where she was +submerged. + +Desisting from their search, they resolved to keep a lookout. + +When this determination became known to the other party, its chief, +after conferring with his companions, came forward, and, announcing +himself as the representative of his people, proposed a conference. + +"I am Sidi Hamet," said he, "and the others you see here are my friends +and relatives. We are all members of the same family, and faithful +followers of the Prophet. God is great, and has been kind to us. He has +sent us a prize. We are about to gather the gifts of His mercy. Go your +way, and leave us in peace." + +"I am Rais Abdallah Yezzed," answered the old sheik, "and neither my +companions nor myself are so bad but that we, too, may be numbered among +those who are entitled to God's favor, when it pleases Him to cast on +our shores the ships of the infidel." + +In rejoinder Sidi Hamet entered upon a long harangue; in which he +informed the old sheik that in the event of a vessel having gone to +pieces, and the coast having been strown with merchandise, each party +would have been entitled to all it could gather; but unfortunately for +both, those pleasant circumstances did not now exist; although it was +true, that the hulk of a vessel, containing a cargo that could not wash +ashore was lying under water near by. They had discovered it, and +therefore laid claim to all that it contained. + +Sidi Hamet's party was a strong one, consisting of seventeen men; and +therefore could afford to be communicative without the least danger of +being disturbed in their plans and prospects. + +They acknowledged that they had been working ten days in clearing the +cargo out of the sunken vessel, and that their work was not yet half +done--the goods being very difficult to get at. + +The old sheik inquired of what the cargo consisted; but could obtain no +satisfactory answer. + +Here was a mystery. Seventeen men had been fourteen days unloading the +hulk of a wrecked ship, and yet no articles of merchandise were to be +seen near the spot! + +A few casks, some pieces of old sail, with a number of cooking utensils +that had belonged to a ship's galley, lay upon the beach; but these +could not be regarded as forming any portion of the cargo of a ship. + +The old sheik and his followers were in a quandary. + +They had often heard of boxes full of money having been obtained from +wrecked ships. + +Sailors cast away upon their coast had been known to bury such +commodities, and afterwards under torture to reveal the spot where the +interment had been made. + +Had this vessel, on which the wreckers were engaged, been freighted with +money, and had the boxes been buried as soon as brought ashore? + +It was possible, thought the new comers. They must wait and learn; and +if there was any means by which they could claim a share in the good +fortune of those who had first discovered the wreck, those means must be +adopted. + +The original discoverers were too impatient to stay proceedings till +their departure; and feeling secure in the superiority of numbers, they +recommenced their task of discharging the submerged hulk. + +They advanced to the water's edge, taking along with them a long rope +that had been found attached to the spars. At one end of this rope they +had made a running noose, which was made fast to a man, who swam out +with it to the distance of about a hundred yards. + +The swimmer then dived out of sight. He had gone below to visit the +wreck, and attach the rope to a portion of the cargo. + +A minute after his head was seen above the surface, and a shout was sent +forth. Some of his companions on the beach now commenced hauling in the +rope, the other end of which had been left in their hands. + +When the noose was pulled ashore, it was found to embrace a large block +of sandstone, weighing about twenty-five or thirty pounds! + +The Krooman had already informed Harry Blount and his companions of +something he had learnt from the conversation of the wreckers; and the +three mids had been watching with considerable interest the movements of +the diver and his assistants. + +When the block of sandstone was dragged up on the beach, they stared at +each other with expressions of profound astonishment. + +No wonder: the wreckers were employed in clearing the ballast out of a +sunken ship! + +What could be their object? Our adventurers could not guess. Nor, +indeed, could the wreckers themselves have given a good reason for +undergoing such an amount of ludicrous labor. + +Why they had not told the old sheik what sort of cargo they were saving +from the wreck, was because they had no certain knowledge of its value, +or what in reality it was they were taking so much time and trouble to +get safely ashore. + +As they believed that the white slaves must have a perfect knowledge of +the subject upon which they were themselves so ignorant, they closely +scanned the countenances of the latter, as the block of ballast was +drawn out upon the dry sand. + +They were rewarded for their scrutiny. + +The surprise exhibited by Sailor Bill and the three mids confirmed the +wreckers in their belief that they were saving something of grand value; +for, in fact, had the block of sandstone been a monstrous nugget of +gold, the boy slaves could not have been more astonished at beholding +it. + +Their behavior increased the ardor of the salvors in the pursuit in +which they were engaged, along with the envy of the rival party, who, by +the laws of the Saaeran coast, were not allowed to participate in their +toil. + +The Krooman now endeavored to undeceive his master as to the value of +the "salvage,"--telling him that what their rivals were taking out of +the sunken ship was nothing but worthless stone. + +But his statement was met with a smile of incredulity. Those engaged in +getting the ballast ashore regarded the Krooman's statements with equal +contempt. He was either a liar or a fool, and therefore unworthy of the +least attention. With this reflection they went on with their work. + +After some time spent in reconsidering the subject, the old sheik called +the Krooman aside; and when out of hearing of the wreckers, asked him to +give an explanation of the real nature of what he himself persisted in +calling the "cargo" of the wreck,--as well as a true statement of its +value. + +The slave did as he was desired; but the old sheik only shook his head, +once more declaring his incredulity. + +He had never heard of a ship that did not carry a cargo of something +valuable. He thought that no men would be so stupid and foolish as to go +from one country to another in ships loaded only with worthless stones. + +As nothing else in the shape of cargo was found aboard the wreck, the +stones must be of some value. So argued the Arab. + +While the Krooman was trying to explain the real purpose for which the +stones had been placed in the hold of the vessel, one of the wreckers +came up and informed him that a white man was in one of their tents, +that he was ill, and wished to see and converse with the infidel slaves, +of whose arrival he had just heard. + +The Krooman communicated this piece of intelligence to our adventurers; +and the tent that contained the sick white man having been pointed out +to them, they at once started towards it, expecting to see some +unfortunate countryman, who, like themselves, had been cast away on the +inhospitable shores of the Saaera. + + + + +CHAPTER LXV. + +ANOTHER WHITE SLAVE. + + +On entering within the tent to which they had been directed, they found, +lying upon the ground, a man about forty years of age. Although he +appeared a mere skeleton, consisting of little more than skin and bones, +he did not present the general aspect of a man suffering from ill +health; nor yet would he have passed for a _white_ man anywhere out of +Africa. + +"You are the first English people I've seen for over thirty years," said +he, as they entered the tent: "for I can tell by your looks that every +one of you are English. You are my countrymen. I was white once myself; +and you will be as black as I am when you have been sun-scorched here +for forty-three years, as I have been." + +"What!" exclaimed Terence; "have you been a slave in the Saaera so long +as that? If so, God help us! What hope is there of our ever getting +free?" + +The young Irishman spoke in a tone of despair. + +"Very little chance of your ever seeing home again, my lad," answered +the invalid; "but _I_ have a chance now, if you and your comrades don't +spoil it. For God's sake don't tell these Arabs that they are the fools +they are for making salvage of the ballast. If you do, they'll be sure +to make an end of me. It's all my doing. I've made them believe the +stones are valuable, so that they may take them to some place where I +can escape. It is the only chance I have had for years,--don't destroy +it, as you value the life of a fellow-countryman." + +From further conversation with the man, our adventurers learned that he +had been shipwrecked on the coast many years before, and had ever since +been trying to get transported to some place where he might be ransomed. +He declared that he had been backward and forward across the desert +forty or fifty times; and that he had belonged to not less than fifty +masters! + +"I have only been with these fellows a few weeks," said he, "and +fortunately when we came this way we were able to tell where the sunken +ship was by seeing her foremast then sticking out of the water. The +vessel was in ballast; and the crew probably put out to sea in their +boats, without being discovered. It was the first ship my masters had +ever heard of without a cargo; and they would not believe but what the +stones were such, and must be worth something--else why should they be +carried about the world in a ship. I told them it was a kind of stone +from which gold was obtained; but that it must be taken to some place +where there was plenty of coal or wood, before the gold could be melted +out of it, and then intrusted to white men who understood the art of +extracting the precious metal from the rocks. + +"They believe all this; for they can see shining particles in the +sandstone which they think is really gold, or something that can be +converted into it. For four days they forced me to toil, at diving and +assisting them; but that didn't suit my purpose; and I've at length +succeeded in making them believe that I am not able to work any longer." + +"But do you really think," asked Harry Blount, "that they will carry the +ballast any distance without learning its real value?" + +"Yes; I did think that they might take it to Mogador, and that they +would let me go along with them." + +"But some one will meet them, and tell them that their lading is +worthless?" suggested Colin. + +"No, I think that fear of losing their valuable freight will keep them +from letting any one know what they've got. They are hiding it in the +sand now, as fast as they get it ashore, for fear some party stronger +than themselves should come along and take it away from them. I intend +to tell them after they have started on their journey, not to let any +one see or know what they have, until they are safe within the walls of +Mogador, where they will be under the protection of the governor. They +have promised to take me along with them, and if I once get within sight +of a seaport, not all the Arabs in Africa will hinder me from recovering +my liberty." + +While the pretended invalid was talking to them, Sailor Bill had been +watching him, apparently with eager interest. + +"Beg pardon for 'aving a small taste o' difference wid you in the mather +ov your age," said the sailor, as soon as the man had ceased speaking; +"but I'll never belave you've been about 'ere for forty years. It can't +be so long as that." + +The two men, after staring at each other for a moment, uttered the words +"Jim!" "Bill!" and then, springing forward, each grasped the hand of the +other. Two brothers had met! + +The three mids remembered that Bill had told them of a brother, who, +when last heard from, was a slave somewhere in the Saaera, and they +needed no explanation of the scene now presented to them. + +The two brothers were left alone; and after the others had gone out of +the tent they returned to the Krooman--who had just succeeded in +convincing the sheik, that the stones being fished out of the sunken +ship were, at that time and place, of no value whatever. + +All attempts on the part of the old sheik to convince the wreckers, as +he had been convinced himself, proved fruitless. + +The arguments he used to them were repeated to the sailor, Bill's +brother; and by him were easily upset with a few words. + +"Of course they will try to make you believe the cargo is no good," +retorted Jim. "They wish you to leave it, so that they can have it all +to themselves. Does not common sense tell you that they are liars?" + +This was conclusive; and the wreckers continued their toil, extracting +stone after stone out of the hold of the submerged ship. + +Sailor Bill, at his brother's request, then summoned his companions to +the tent. + +"Which of you have been trying to do me an injury?" inquired Jim. "I +told you not to say that the stones were worthless." + +It was explained to him how the Krooman had been enlightening his +master. + +"Call the Krooman," said Jim, "and I'll enlighten him. If these Arabs +find out that they have been deceived, I shall be killed, and your +master--the old sheik--will certainly lose all his property. Tell him to +come here also. I must talk to him. Something must be done immediately, +or I shall be killed." + +The Krooman and the old sheik were conducted into the tent; and Jim +talked to them in the Arabic language. + +"Leave my masters alone to their folly," said he to the sheik; "and they +will be so busy that you can depart in peace. If not, and you convince +them that they have been deceived, they will rob you of all you have +got. You have already said enough to excite their suspicions, and they +will in time learn that I have been humbugging them. My life is no +longer safe in their company. You buy me, then; and let us all take our +departure immediately." + +"Are the stones in the wreck really worth nothing?" asked the sheik. + +"No more than the sand on the shore; and when they find out that such is +the case, some one will be robbed. They have come to the seacoast to +seek wealth, and they will have it one way or the other. They are a +tribe of bad men. Buy me, and leave them to continue the task they have +so ignorantly undertaken." + +"You are not well," replied the sheik; "and if I buy you, you cannot +walk." + +"Let me ride on a camel until I get out of sight of these my masters," +answered Jim; "you will then see whether I can walk or not. They will +sell me cheap; for they think I am done up. But I am not; I was only +weary of diving after worthless stones." + +The old sheik promised to follow Jim's advice; and ordered his +companions to prepare immediately for the continuance of their journey. + +Sidi Hamet was called, and asked by Rais Abdallah if he would sell some +of the stones they had saved from the infidel ship. + +"Bismillah! No!" exclaimed the wrecker. "You say they are of no value, +and I do not wish to cheat any true believer of the prophet." + +"Will you _give_ me some of them, then?" + +"No! Allah forbid that Sidi Hamet should ever make a worthless present +to a friend!" + +"I am a merchant," rejoined the old sheik; "and wish to do business. +Have you any slaves, or other property you can sell me?" + +"Yes! You see that Christian dog," replied the wrecker, pointing to +Sailor Bill's brother; "I will sell him." + +"You have promised to take me to Swearah," interrupted Jim. "Do not sell +me, master; I think I shall get well some time, and will then work for +you as hard as I can." + +Sidi Hamet cast upon his infidel slave a look of contempt at this +allusion to his illness; but Jim's remark, and the angry glance, were +both unheeded by the Arab sheik. + +The slave's pretended wishes not to be sold were disregarded; and for +the consideration of an old shirt and a small camel-hair tent, he became +the property of Rais Abdallah Yezzed. + +The old sheik and his followers then betook themselves to their camels; +and the kafila was hurried up the dry bed of the river,--leaving the +wreckers to continue their toilsome and unprofitable task. + + + + +CHAPTER LXVI. + +SAILOR BILL'S BROTHER. + + +After leaving the coast, the travellers kept at a quick pace, and Sailor +Bill and his brother had but little opportunity of holding converse +together. When the douar had been pitched for the night, the old salt +and the "young gentlemen," his companions, gathered around the man whose +experience in the miseries of Saaeran slavery so far exceeded their own. + +"Now, Jim," began the old man-o'-war's-man, "you must spin us the yarn +of all your cruising since you've been here. We've seen somethin' o' the +elephant since we've been cast ashore, and that's not long. I don't +wonder at you sayin' you 'ave been aboard this craft forty-three years." + +"Yes, that is the correct time according to my reckoning," interrupted +Jim; "but, Bill, you don't look much older than when I saw you last. How +long ago was it?" + +"About eleven years." + +"Eleven years! I tell you that I've been here over forty." + +"'Ow can that be?" asked Bill. "Daze it, man, you'll not be forty years +old till the fourteenth o' the next month. You 'ave lost yer senses, an' +in troth, it an't no wonder!" + +"That is true, for there is nothing in the Saaera to help a man keep his +reckoning. There are no seasons; and every day is as like another as two +seconds in the same minute. But surely I must have been here for more +than eleven years." + +"No," answered Bill, "ye 'ave no been here only a wee bit langer than +tin; but afther all ye must 'ave suffered in that time, it is quare that +ye should a know'd me at all, at all." + +"I did not know you until you spoke," rejoined Jim "Then I couldn't +doubt that it was you who stood before me, when I heard our father's +broad Scotch, our mother's Irish brogue, and the talk of the cockneys +amongst whom your earliest days were passed, all mingled together." + +"You see, Master Colly," said Bill, turning to the young Scotchman. "My +brother Jim has had the advantage of being twelve years younger than I; +and when he was old enough to go to school, I was doing something to +help kape 'im there, and for all that I believe he is plased to see me." + +"Pleased to see you!" exclaimed Jim. "Of course I am." + +"I'm sure av it," said Bill. + +"Well, then, brother, go ahead, an' spin us your yarn." + +"I have no one yarn to spin," replied Jim, "for a narrative of my +adventures in the desert would consist of a thousand yarns, each giving +a description of some severe suffering or disappointment. I can only +tell you that it seems to me that I have passed many years in travelling +through the sands of the Saaera, years in cultivating barley on its +borders, years in digging wells, and years in attending flocks of goats, +sheep, and other animals. I have had many masters,--all bad, and some +worse,--and I have had many cruel disappointments about regaining my +liberty. I was once within a single day's journey of Mogador, and was +then sold again and carried back into the very heart of the desert. I +have attempted two or three times to escape; but was recaptured each +time, and nearly killed for the unpardonable dishonesty of trying to rob +my master of my own person. I have often been tempted to commit suicide; +but a sort of womanly curiosity and stubbornness has prevented me. I +wished to see how long Fortune would persecute me, and I was determined +not to thwart her plans by putting myself beyond their reach. I did not +like to give in, for any one who tries to escape from trouble by killing +himself, shows that he has come off sadly worsted in the war of life." + +"You are quite right," said Harry Blount; "but I hope that your hardest +battles in that war are now over. Our masters have promised to carry us +to some place where we may be ransomed by our countrymen, and you of +course will be taken along with us." + +"Do not flatter yourselves with that hope," said Jim. "_I_ was amused +with it for several years. Every master I have had gave me the same +promise, and here I am yet. I did think when my late owners were saving +the stones from the wreck, that I could get them to enter the walls of +some seaport town, and that possibly they might take me along with them. +But that hope has proved as delusive as all others I have entertained +since shipwrecked on the shore of this accursed country. I believe there +are a few who are fortunate enough to regain their liberty; but the +majority of sailors cast away on the Saaeran coast never have the good +fortune to get away from it. They die under the hardships and +ill-treatment to which they are exposed upon the desert--without leaving +a trace of their existence any more than the dogs or camels belonging to +their common masters. + +"You have asked me to give an account of my life since I have been +shipwrecked. I cannot do that; but I shall give you an easy rule by +which you may know all about it. We will suppose you have all been three +months in the Saaera, and Bill here says that I have been here ten years; +therefore I have experienced about forty times as long a period of +slavery as one of yourselves. Now, multiply the sum total of your +sufferings by forty, and you will have some idea of what I have +undergone. + +"You have probably witnessed some scenes of heartless cruelty--scenes +that shocked and wounded the most sensitive feelings of your nature. I +have witnessed forty times as many. While suffering the agonies of +thirst and hunger, you may have prayed for death as a relief to your +anguish. Where such have been your circumstances once, they have been +mine for forty times. + +"You may have had some bright hopes of escaping, and once more +revisiting your native land; and then have experienced the bitterness of +disappointment. In this way I have suffered forty times as much as any +one of you." + +Sailor Bill and the young gentlemen,--who had been for several days +under the pleasant hallucination that they were on the high road to +freedom,--were again awakened to a true sense of their situation by the +words of a man far more experienced than they in the deceitful ways of +the desert. + +Before separating for the night, the three mids learnt from Bill and his +brother that the latter had been first officer of the ship that had +brought him to the coast. They could perceive by his conversation that +he was an intelligent man,--one whose natural abilities and artificial +acquirements were far superior to those of their shipmate,--the old +man-of-war's-man. + +"If such an accomplished individual," reasoned they, "has been for ten +years a slave in the Saaera, unable to escape or reach any place where +his liberty might be restored, what hope is there for us?" + + + + +CHAPTER LXVII. + + +A LIVING STREAM. + + +Every hour of the journey presented some additional evidence that the +kafila was leaving the great desert behind, and drawing near a land that +might be considered fertile. + +On the day after parting from the wreckers a walled town was reached, +and near it, on the sides of some of the hills, were seen growing a few +patches of barley. + +At this place the caravan rested for the remainder of the day. The +camels and horses were furnished with a good supply of food, and water +drawn from deep wells. It was the best our adventurers had drunk since +being cast away on the African coast. + +Next morning the journey was continued. + +After they had been on the road about two hours, the old sheik and a +companion, riding in advance of the others, stopped before what seemed, +in the distance, a broad stream of water. + +All hastened forward, and the Boy Slaves beheld a sight that filled them +with much surprise and considerable alarm. It was a stream,--a stream of +living creatures moving over the plain. + +It was a migration of insects,--the famed locusts of Africa. + +They were young ones,--not yet able to fly; and for some reason, unknown +perhaps even to themselves, they were taking this grand journey. + +Their march seemed conducted in regular order, and under strict +discipline. + +They formed a living moving belt of considerable breadth, the sides of +which appeared as straight as any line mathematical science could have +drawn. + +Not one could be seen straggling from the main body, which was moving +along a track too narrow for their numbers,--scarce half of them having +room on the sand, while the other half were crawling along on the backs +of their _compagnons du voyage_. + +Even the Arabs appeared interested in this African mystery, and paused +for a few minutes to watch the progress of the glittering stream +presented by these singular insects. + +The old sheik dismounted from his camel; and with his scimitar broke the +straight line formed by the border of the moving mass--sweeping them off +to one side. + +The space was instantly filled up again by those advancing from behind, +and the straight edge restored, the insects crawling onward without the +slightest deviation. + +The sight was not new to Sailor Bill's brother. He informed his +companions that should a fire be kindled on their line of march, the +insects, instead of attempting to pass around it, would move right into +its midst until it should become extinguished with their dead bodies. + +After amusing himself for a few moments in observing these insects, the +sheik mounted his camel, and, followed by the kafila, commenced moving +through the living stream. + +A hoof could not be put down without crushing a score of the creatures; +but immediately on the hoof being lifted, the space was filled with as +many as had been destroyed! + +Some of the slaves, with their naked feet, did not like wading through +this living crawling stream. It was necessary to use force to compel +them to pass over it. + +After looking right and left, and seeing no end to the column of +insects, our adventurers made a rush, and ran clear across it. + +At every step their feet fell with a crunching sound, and were raised +again, streaming with the blood of the mangled locusts. + +The belt of the migratory insects was about sixty yards in breadth; yet, +short as was the distance, the Boy Slaves declared that it was more +disagreeable to pass over than any ten miles of the desert they had +previously traversed. + +One of the blacks, determined to make the crossing as brief as possible, +started in a rapid run. When about half way through, his foot slipped, +and he fell full length amidst the crowd of creepers. + +Before he could regain his feet, hundreds of the disgusting insects had +mounted upon him, clinging to his clothes, and almost smothering him by +their numbers. + +Overcome by disgust, horror, and fear, he was unable to rise; and two of +his black companions were ordered to drag him out of the disagreeable +company into which he had stumbled. + +After being rescued and delivered from the clutch of the locusts, it was +many minutes before he recovered his composure of mind, along with +sufficient nerve to resume his journey. + +Sailor Bill had not made the crossing along with the others; and for +some time resisted all the attempts of the Arabs to force him over the +insect stream. + +Two of them at length laid hold of him; and, after dragging him some +paces into the crawling crowd, left him to himself. + +Being thus brought in actual contact with the insects, the old sailor +saw that the quickest way of getting out of the scrape was to cross over +to the other side. + +This he proceeded to do in the least time, and with the greatest +possible noise. His paces were long, and made with wonderful rapidity; +and each time his foot came to the ground, he uttered a horrible yell, +as though it had been planted upon a sheet of red-hot iron. + +Bill's brother had now so far recovered from his feigned illness, that +he was able to walk along with the Boy Slaves. + +Naturally conversing about the locusts, he informed his companions, that +the year before he had been upon a part of the Saaeran coast where a +cloud of these insects had been driven out to sea by a storm, and +drowned. They were afterwards washed ashore in heaps; the effluvia from +which became so offensive that the fields of barley near the shore could +not be harvested, and many hundred acres of the crop were wholly lost to +the owners. + + + + +CHAPTER LXVIII. + +THE ARABS AT HOME. + + +Soon after encountering the locusts, the kafila came upon a well-beaten +road, running through a fertile country, where hundreds of acres of +barley could be seen growing on both sides. + +That evening, for some reason unknown to the slaves, their masters did +not halt at the usual hour. They saw many walled villages, where dwelt +the proprietors of the barley fields; but hurried past them without +stopping either for water or food--although their slaves were sadly in +need of both. + +In vain the latter complained of thirst, and begged for water. The only +reply to their entreaties was a harsh command to move on faster, +frequently followed by a blow. + +Towards midnight, when the hopes and strength of all were nearly +exhausted, the kafila arrived at a walled village, where a gate was +opened to admit his slaves. The old sheik then informed them that they +should have plenty of food and drink, and would be allowed to rest for +two or three days in the village. + +A quantity of water was then thickened with barley meal; and of this +diet they were permitted to have as much as they could consume. + +It was after night when they entered the gate of the village, and +nothing could be seen. Next morning they found themselves in the centre +of a square enclosure surrounded by about twenty houses, standing within +a high wall. Flocks of sheep and goats, with a number of horses, camels, +and donkeys, were also within the inclosure. + +Jim informed his companions that most of the Saaeran Arabs have fixed +habitations, where they dwell the greater part of the year,--generally +walled towns, such as the one they had now entered. + +The wall is intended for a protection against robbers, at the same time +that it serves as a pen to keep their flocks from straying or +trespassing on the cultivated fields during the night time. + +It was soon discovered that the Arabs had arrived at their home; for as +soon as day broke, they were seen in company with their wives and +families. This accounted for their not making halt at any of the other +villages. Being so near their own, they had made an effort to reach it +without extending their journey into another day. + +"I fear we are in the hands of the wrong masters for obtaining our +freedom," said Jim to his companions. "If they were traders, they might +take us farther north and sell us; but it's clear they are not! They are +graziers, farmers, and robbers, when the chance arises,--that's what +they be! While waiting for their barley to ripen, they have been on a +raiding expedition to the desert, in the hope of capturing a few slaves, +to assist them in reaping their harvest." + +Jim's conjecture was soon after found to be correct. On the old sheik +being asked when he intended taking his slaves on to Swearah, he +answered:-- + +"Our barley is now ripe, and we must not leave it to spoil. You must +help us in the harvest, and that will enable us to go to Swearah all the +sooner." + +"Do you really intend to take your slaves to Swearah?" asked the +Krooman. + +"Certainly!" replied the sheik. "Have we not promised? But we cannot +leave our fields now. Bismillah! our grain must be gathered." + +"It is just as I supposed," said Jim. "They will promise anything. They +do not intend taking us to Mogador at all. The same promise has been +made to me by the same sort of people a score of times." + +"What shall we do?" asked Terence. + +"We must do nothing," answered Jim. "We must not assist them in any way, +for the more useful we are to them the more reluctant they will be to +part with us. I should have obtained my liberty years ago, had I not +tried to gain the good-will of my Arab masters, by trying to make myself +useful to them. That was a mistake, and I can see it now. We must not +give them the slightest assistance in their barley-cutting." + +"But they will compel us to help them?" suggested Colin. + +"They cannot do that if we remain resolute; and I tell you all that you +had better be killed at once than submit. If we assist in their harvest, +they will find something else for us to do, and your best days, as mine +have been, will be passed in slavery! Each of you must make himself a +burden and expense to whoever owns him, and then we may be passed over +to some trader who has been to Mogador, and knows that he can make money +by taking us there to be redeemed. That is our only chance. These Arabs +don't know that we are sure to be purchased for a good price in any +large seaport town, and they will not run any risk in taking us there. +Furthermore, these men are outlaws, desert robbers, and I don't believe +that they dare enter the Moorish dominions. We must get transferred to +other hands, and the only way to do that is to refuse work." + +Our adventurers agreed to be guided by Jim's counsels, although +confident that they would experience much difficulty in following them. + +Early on the morning of the second day after the Arabs reached their +home, all the slaves, both white and black, were roused from their +slumbers; and after a spare breakfast of barley-gruel, were commanded to +follow their masters to the grain fields, outside the walls of the town. + +"Do you want us to work?" asked Jim, addressing himself directly to the +old sheik. + +"Bismillah! Yes!" exclaimed the Arab. "We have kept you too long in +idleness. What have you done, or who are you, that we should maintain +you? You must work for your living, as we do ourselves!" + +"We cannot do anything on land," said Jim. "We are sailors, and have +only learnt to work on board a ship." + +"By Allah, you will soon learn! Come, follow us to the barley fields!" + +"No; we have all agreed to die rather than work for you! You promised to +take us to Swearah; and we will go there or die. We will not be slaves +any longer!" + +Most of the Arabs, with their wives and children, had now assembled +around the white men, who were ordered instantly to move on. + +"It will not do for us to say we will not or can't move on," said Jim, +speaking to his companions in English. "We must go to the field. They +can make us do that; but they can't make us work. Go quietly to the +field; but don't make yourselves useful when you get there." + +This advice was followed; and the Boy Slaves soon found themselves by +the side of a large patch of barley, ready for the reaping-hook. A +sickle of French manufacture was then placed in the hands of each, and +they were instructed how to use them. + +"Never mind," said Jim. "Go to work with a will, mates! We'll show them +a specimen of how reaping is done aboard ship!" + +Jim proceeded to set an example by cutting the grain in a careless +manner--letting the heads fall in every direction, and then trampling +them under foot as he moved on. + +The same plan was pursued by his brother Bill, the Krooman, and Harry +Blount. + +In the first attempt to use the sickle, Terence was so awkward as to +fall forward and break the implement into two pieces. + +Colin behaved no better: since he managed to cut one of his fingers, and +then apparently fainted away at the sight of the blood. + +The forenoon was passed by the Arabs in trying to train their slaves to +the work, but in this they were sadly unsuccessful. + +Curses, threats, and blows were expended upon them to no purpose, for +the Christian dogs seemed only capable of doing much harm and no good. +During the afternoon they were allowed to lie idle upon the ground, and +watch their masters cutting the barley; although this indulgence was +purchased at the expense of lacerated skins and aching bones. Nor was +this triumph without the cost of further suffering: for they were not +allowed a mouthful of food or a drop of water, although an abundance of +both had been distributed to the other laborers in the field. + +All five, however, remained obstinate; withstanding hunger and thirst, +threats, cursings, and stripes,--each one disdaining to be the first to +yield to the wishes of their Arab masters. + + + + +CHAPTER LXIX. + +WORK OR DIE. + + +That night, after being driven within the walls of the town, the white +slaves, along with their guard and the Krooman, were fastened in a large +stone building partly in ruins, that had been recently used as a +goat-pen. + +They were not allowed a mouthful of food nor a drop of water, and +sentinels walked around all night to prevent them from breaking out of +their prison. + +No longer targets for the beams of a blazing sun, they were partly +relieved from their sufferings; but a few handfuls of barley they had +managed to secrete and bring in from the field, proved only sufficient +to sharpen an appetite which they could devise no means of appeasing. + +A raging thirst prevented them from having much sleep; and, on being +turned out next morning, and ordered back to the barley fields, weak +with hunger and want of sleep, they were strongly tempted to yield +obedience to their masters. + +The black slaves had worked well the day before; and, having satisfied +their masters, had received plenty of food and drink. + +Their white companions in misery saw them eating their breakfast before +being ordered to the field. + +"Jim," said Sailor Bill, "I've 'alf a mind to give in. I must 'ave +somethin' to heat an' drink. I'm starvin' all over." + +"Don't think of it, William," said his brother. "Unless you wish to +remain for years in slavery, as I have done, you must not yield. Our +only hope of obtaining liberty is to give the Arabs but one chance of +making anything by us,--the chance of selling us to our countrymen. They +won't let us die,--don't think it! We are worth too much for that. They +will try to make us work if they can; but we are fools if we let them +succeed." + +Again being driven to the field, another attempt was made by the Arabs +to get some service out of them. + +"We can do nothing now," said Jim to the old sheik; "we are dying with +hunger and thirst. Our life has always been on the sea, and we can do +nothing on land." + +"There is plenty of food for those who earn it," rejoined the sheik; +"and we cannot give those food who do not deserve it." + +"Then give us some water." + +"Allah forbid! We are not your servants to carry water for you." + +All attempts to make the white slaves perform their task having failed, +they were ordered to sit down in the hot sun; where they were tantalized +with the sight of the food and water of which they were not permitted to +taste. + +During the forenoon of the day, all the eloquence Jim could command was +required to prevent his brother from yielding. The old man-o'-war's-man +was tortured by extreme thirst, and was once or twice on the eve of +selling himself in exchange for a cooling draught. + +Long years of suffering on the desert had inured Jim to its hardships; +and not so strongly tempted as the others, it was easier for him to +remain firm. + +Since falling into the company of his countrymen, his hope of freedom +had revived, and he was determined to make a grand effort to regain it. + +He knew that five white captives were worth the trouble of taking to +some seaport frequented by English ships; and he believed, if they +refrained from making themselves useful, there was a prospect of their +being thus disposed of. + +Through his influence, therefore, the refractory slaves remained staunch +in their resolution to abstain from work. + +Their masters now saw that they were better off in the field than in the +prison. They could not be prevented from obtaining a few heads of the +barley, which they greedily ate, nor from obtaining a little moisture by +chewing the roots of the weeds growing around them. + +As soon as this was noticed, two of the Arabs were sent to conduct them +back to the place where they had been confined on the night before. + +It was with the utmost exertion that Sailor Bill and Colin were able to +reach the town; while the others, with the exception of Jim, were in a +very weak and exhausted state. Hunger and thirst were fast subduing +them--in body, if not in spirit. + +On reaching the door of the goat-pen, they refused to go in, all +clamoring loudly for food and water. + +Their entreaties were met with the declaration: that it was the will of +God that those who would not work should suffer starvation. + +"Idleness," argued their masters, "is always punished by ill-health"; +and they wound up by expressing their thanks that such was the case. + +It was not until the two Arabs had obtained the assistance of several of +the women and boys of the village that they succeeded in getting the +white slaves within the goat-pen. + +"Jim, I tell you I can't stand this any longer," said Sailor Bill. "Call +an' say to 'em as I gives in, and will work to-morrow, if they will let +me have water." + +"And so will I," said Terence. "There is nothing in the future to +compensate for this suffering, and I can endure it no longer." + +"Nor will I," exclaimed Harry; "I must have something to eat and drink +immediately. We shall all be punished in the next world for self-murder +in this unless we yield." + +"Courage! patience!" exclaimed Jim. "It is better to suffer for a few +hours more than to remain all our lives in slavery." + +"What do I care for the future?" muttered Terence; "the present is +everything. He is a fool who kills himself to-day to keep from being +hungry ten years after. I will try to work to-morrow, if I live so +long." + +"Yes, call an' tell 'em, Jem, as 'ow we gives in, an' they'll send us +some refreshment," entreated the old sailor. "It ain't in human nature +to die of starvation if one can 'elp it." + +But neither Jim nor the Krooman would communicate to the Arabs the +wishes of their companions; and the words and signals the old sailor +made to attract the attention of those outside were unheeded. + +Early in the evening, both Colin and the Krooman also expressed +themselves willing to sacrifice the future for the present. + +"We have nothing to do with the future," said Colin; in answer to Jim's +entreaties that they should remain firm. "The future is the care of God, +and we are only concerned with the present. We ought to promise anything +if we can obtain food by it." + +"I tink so too now," said the Krooman; "for it am worse than sure dat if +we starve now we no be slaves bom by." + +"They will not quite starve us to death," said Jim. "I have told you +before that we are worth too much for that. If we will not work they +will sell us, and we may reach Mogador. If we do work, we may stay here +for years. I entreat you to hold out one day longer." + +"I cannot," answered one. + +"Nor I," exclaimed another. + +"Let us first get something to eat, and then take our liberty by force," +said Terence, "I fancy that if I had a drink of water, I could whip all +the Arabs on earth." + +"And so could I," said Colin. + +"And I, too," added Harry Blount. + +Sailor Bill had sunk upon the floor, hardly conscious of what the others +were saying; but, partly aroused by the word water, repeated it, +muttering, in a hoarse whisper, "Water! Water!" + +The Krooman and the three youths joined in the cry; and then all, as +loudly as their parched throats would permit, shouted the word, "Water! +Water!" + +The call for water was apparently unheeded by the Arab men, but it was +evidently music to many of the children of the village, for it attracted +them to the door of the goat-pen, around which they clustered, listening +with strong expressions of delight. + +Through a long night of indescribable agony, the cry of "Water! Water!" +was often repeated in the pen, and at each time in tones fainter and +more supplicating than before. + +The cry at length became changed from a demand to a piteous prayer. + + + + +CHAPTER LXX. + +VICTORY! + + +Next morning, when the Arabs opened the door of the prison, Sailor Bill +and Colin were found unable to rise; and the old salt seemed quite +unconscious of all efforts made to awaken his attention. + +Not till then did Jim's resolution begin to give way. He would now +submit to save them from further suffering; but although knowing it was +the wish of all that he should tender their submission on the terms the +Arabs required, for a while be delayed doing so, in order to discover +the course their masters designed adopting towards them. + +"Are you Christian dogs willing to earn your food now?" inquired the old +sheik, as he entered the goat-pen. + +Faint and weak with hunger, nearly mad with thirst, alarmed for the +condition of his brother, and pitying the agony of the others, Jim was +about to answer the sheik's question in the affirmative; but there was +something in the tone in which the question had been put, that +determined him to refrain for a little longer. + +The earthly happiness of six men might depend upon the next word he +should utter, and that word he should not speak without some +deliberation. + +With an intellect sharpened by torture, Jim turned his gaze from the old +sheik upon several other Arabs that had come near. + +He could see that they had arrived at some decision amongst themselves, +as to what they should do, and that they did not seem much interested in +the ultimatum demanded by the sheik's inquiry. + +This lack of excitement or interest did not look like further starvation +and death; and in place of telling the Arabs that they were willing to +submit, Jim informed the old sheik that all were determined to die +rather than remain slaves. + +"There is not one of us that wishes to live," he added, "except for the +purpose of seeing our native land again. Our bodies are now weak, but +our spirits are still strong. We will die!" + +On receiving this answer, the Arabs departed, leaving the Christians in +the pen. + +The Krooman, who had been listening during the interview, then faintly +called after them to return; but he was stopped by Jim, who still +entertained the hope that his firmness would yet be rewarded. + +Half an hour passed, and Jim began to doubt again. He might not have +correctly interpreted the expressions he had noted upon the faces of the +Arabs. + +"What did you tell them?" muttered Terence. "Did you tell them that we +were willing to work, if they would give us water?" + +"Yes--certainly!" answered Jim, now beginning to regret that he had not +tendered their submission before it might be too late. + +"Then why do they not come and relieve us?" asked Terence, in a +whisper--hoarse from despair. + +Jim vouchsafed no answer; and the Krooman seemed in too much mental and +bodily anguish to heed what had been said. + +Shortly after, Jim could hear the flocks being driven out of the town; +and looking through a small opening in the wall of the pen, he could see +some of the Arabs going out towards the barley fields. + +Could it be that he had been mistaken--that the Arabs were going to +apply the screw of starvation for another day? Alarmed by this +conjecture, he strove to hail them, and bring them back; but the effort +only resulted in a hoarse whisper. + +"May God forgive me!" thought he. "My brother, as well as all the +others, will die before night! I have murdered them, and perhaps +myself!" + +Driven frantic with the thought, frenzy furnished him with the will and +strength to speak out. + +His voice could now be heard, for the walls of the stone building rang +with the shouts of a madman! + +He assailed the door with such force that the structure gave way, and +Jim rushed out, prepared to make any promises or terms with their +masters, to save the lives he had endangered by his obstinacy. + +His submission was not required: for on looking out, two men and three +or four boys were seen coming towards the pen, bearing bowls of water, +and dishes filled with barley-gruel. + +Jim had conquered in the strife between master and man. The old sheik +had given orders for the white slaves to be fed. + +Jim's frenzy immediately subsided into an excitement of a different +nature. + +Seizing a calabash of water, he ran to his brother Bill; and raising him +into a sitting posture, he applied the vessel to the man-o'-war's-man's +lips. + +Bill had not strength even to drink, and the water had to be poured down +his throat. + +Not until all of his companions had drunk, and swallowed a few mouthfuls +of the barley-gruel, did Jim himself partake of anything. + +The effect of food and water in restoring the energies of a starving man +is almost miraculous; and he now congratulated his companions on the +success of his scheme. + +"It is all right!" he exclaimed. "We have conquered them! We shall not +have to reap their harvest! We shall be fed, fattened, and sold; and +perhaps be taken to Mogador. We should thank God for bringing us all +safely through the trial. Had we yielded, there would have been no hope +of ever regaining our liberty!" + + + + +CHAPTER LXXI. + +SOLD AGAIN. + + +Two days elapsed, during which time our adventurers were served with +barley-gruel twice a day. They were allowed a sufficient quantity of +water, with only the trouble of bringing it from the well, and enduring +a good deal of insult and abuse from the women and children whom they +chanced to meet on their way. + +The second Krooman, who, in a moment of weakness inspired by the torture +of thirst, had assisted the other slaves at their task, now tried in +vain to get off from working. He came each evening to the pen to +converse with his countryman; and at these meetings bitterly expressed +his regret that he had submitted. + +There was no hope for him now, for he had given proof that he could be +made useful to his owners. + +On the evening of the second day after they had been relieved from +starvation, the white slaves were visited in their place of confinement +by three Arabs they had not before seen. + +These were well-armed, well-dressed, fine-looking fellows, having +altogether a more respectable appearance than any inhabitants of the +desert they had yet encountered. + +Jim immediately entered into conversation with them; and learned that +they were merchants, travelling with a caravan; and that they had +claimed the hospitality of the town for that night. + +They were willing to purchase slaves; and had visited the pen to examine +those their hosts were offering for sale. + +"You are just the men we are most anxious to see," said Jim, in the +Arabic language, which, during his long residence in the country, he had +become acquainted with, and could speak fluently. "We want some merchant +to buy us, and take us to Mogador, where we may find friends to ransom +us." + +"I once bought two slaves," rejoined one of the merchants, "and at great +expense took them to Mogador. They told me that their consul would be +sure to redeem them; but I found that they had no consul there. They +were not redeemed; and I had to bring them away again,--having all the +trouble and expense of a long journey." + +"Were they Englishmen?" asked Jim. + +"No: Spaniards." + +"I thought so. Englishmen would certainly have been ransomed." + +"That is not so certain," replied the merchant; "the English may not +always have a consul in Mogador to buy up his countrymen." + +"We do not care whether there is one or not!" answered Jim. "One of the +young fellows you see here has an uncle--a rich merchant in Mogador, who +will ransom not only him, but all of his friends. The three young men +you see are officers of an English ship-of-war. They have rich fathers +in England,--all of them grand sheiks,--and they were learning to be +captains of war-ships, when they were lost on this coast. The uncle of +one of them in Mogador will redeem the whole party of us." + +"Which is he who has the rich uncle?" inquired one of the Arabs. + +Jim pointed to Harry Blount, saying, "That is the youngster. His uncle +owns many great vessels, that come every year to Swearah, laden with +rich cargoes." + +"What is the name of this uncle?" + +To give an appearance of truth to his story, Jim knew that it was +necessary for some of the others to say something that would confirm it; +and turning towards Harry, he muttered, "Master Blount, you are expected +to say something--only two or three words--any thing you like!" + +"For God's sake, get them to buy us!" said Harry, in complying with the +singular request made to him. + +Believing that the name he must give to the Arabs should something +resemble in sound the words Harry had spoken, Jim told them that the +name of the Mogador merchant was "For God's sake buy us." + +After repeating these words two or three times, the Arabs were able to +pronounce them--after a fashion. + +"Ask the young man," commanded one of them, "if he is sure the merchant +'For God's sake bias' will ransom you all?" + +"When I am done speaking to you," said Jim, whispering to Harry, "say +Yes! nod your head, and then utter some words!" + +"Yes!" exclaimed Harry, giving his head an abrupt inclination. "I think +I know what you are trying to do, Jim. All right!" + +"Yes!" said Jim, turning to the Arab; "the young fellow says that he is +quite certain his uncle will buy us all. Our friends at home will repay +him." + +"But how about the black man?" asked one of the merchants. "He is not an +Englishman?" + +"No; but he speaks English. He has sailed in English ships, and will +certainly be redeemed with the rest." + +The Arabs now retired from the pen, after promising to call and see our +adventurers early in the morning. + +After their departure, Jim related the whole of the conversation to his +companions, which had the effect of inspiring them with renewed hope. + +"Tell them anything," said Harry, "and promise anything; for I think +there is no doubt of our being ransomed, if taken to Mogador, although +I'm sure I have no uncle there, and don't know whether there's any +English consul at that port." + +"To get to Mogador is our only chance," said Jim; "and I wish I were +guilty of no worse crime than using deception, to induce some one to +take us there. I have a hope that these men will buy us on speculation; +and if lies will induce them to do so, they shall have plenty of them +from me. And you," continued he, turning to the Krooman, "you must not +let them know that you speak their language, or they will not give a +dollar for you. When they come here in the morning, you must converse +with the rest of us in English,--so that they may have reason to think +that you will also be redeemed." + +Next morning, the merchants again came to the pen, and the slaves, at +their request, arose and walked out to the open space in front, where +they could be better examined. + +After becoming satisfied that all were capable of travelling, one of the +Arabs, addressing Jim, said:-- + +"We are going to purchase you, if you satisfy us that you are not trying +to deceive us, and agree to the terms we offer. Tell the nephew of the +English merchant that we must be paid one hundred and fifty Spanish +dollars for each of you." + +Jim made the communication to Harry; who at once consented that this sum +should be paid. + +"What is the name of his uncle?" asked one of the Arabs. "Let the young +man tell us." + +"They wish to know the name of your uncle," said Jim, turning to Harry. +"The name I told you yesterday. You must try and remember it; for I must +not be heard repeating it to you." + +"For God's sake buy us!" exclaimed Harry. + +The Arabs looked at each other with an expression that seemed to say, +"It's all right!" + +"Now," said one of the party, "I must tell you what will be the penalty, +if we be deceived. If we take you to Mogador, and find that there is no +one there to redeem you, if the young man, who says he has an uncle, be +not telling the truth, then we shall cut his throat, and bring the rest +of you back to the desert, to be sold into perpetual slavery. Tell him +that." + +"They are going to buy us," said Jim to Harry Blount; "but if we are not +redeemed in Mogador, you are to have your throat cut for deceiving +them." + +"All right!" said Harry, smiling at the threat, "that will be better +than living any longer a slave in the Saaera." + +"Now look at the Krooman"; suggested Sailor Bill, "and say something +about him." + +Harry taking the hint, turned towards the African. + +"I hope," said he, "that they will purchase the poor fellow; and that we +may get him redeemed. After the many services he has rendered us, I +should not like to leave him behind." + +"He consents that you may kill the Krooman, if we are not ransomed"; +said Jim, speaking to the Arab merchants, "but he does not like to +promise more than one hundred dollars for a negro. His uncle might +refuse to pay more." + +For some minutes the Arabs conversed with each other in a low tone; and +then one of them replied, "It is well. We will take one hundred dollars +for the negro. And now get ready for the road. We shall start with you +to-morrow morning by daybreak." + +The merchants then went off to complete their bargain with the old +sheik, and make other arrangements for their departure. + +For a few minutes the white slaves kept uttering exclamations of delight +at the prospect of being once more restored to liberty. Jim then gave +them a translation of what he had said about the Krooman. + +"I know the Arab character so well," said he, "that I did not wish to +agree to all their terms without a little haggling, which prevents them +from entertaining the suspicion that we are trying to deceive them. +Besides, as the Krooman is not an English subject, there may be great +difficulty in getting him redeemed; and we should therefore bargain for +him as cheaply as possible." + +Not long after the Arab merchants had taken their departure from the +pen, a supply of food and drink was served out to them: which, from its +copiousness, proved that it was provided at the expense of their new +owners. + +This beginning augured well for their future treatment; and that night +was spent by the Boy Slaves in a state of contentment and repose, +greater than they had experienced since first setting foot on the +inhospitable shores of the Saaera. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXII. + +ONWARD ONCE MORE. + + +Early next morning our adventurers were awakened and ordered to prepare +for the road. + +The Arab merchants had purchased from their late hosts three donkeys, +upon which the white slaves were allowed to ride in turns. Harry Blount, +however, was distinguished from the rest. As the nephew of the rich +merchant, "For God's sake buy us!" he was deemed worthy of higher favor, +and was permitted to have a camel. + +In vain he protested against being thus _elevated_ above his companions. +The Arabs did not heed his remonstrances, and at a few words from Jim he +discontinued them. + +"They think that we are to be released from slavery by the money of your +relative," said Jim, "and you must do nothing to undeceive them. Not to +humor them might awaken their suspicions. Besides, as you are the +responsible person of the party,--the one whose throat is to be cut if +the money be not found,--you are entitled to a little distinction, as a +compensation for extra anxiety." + +The Krooman, who had joined the slaves in cutting the grain, was in the +field at work when the merchants moved off, and was not present to bid +farewell to his more fortunate countryman. + +After travelling about twelve miles through a fertile country, much of +which was in cultivation, the Arab merchants arrived at a large +reservoir of water, where they encamped for the night. + +The water was in a stone tank, placed so as to catch all the rain that +fell in a long narrow valley, gradually descending from some hills to +the northward. + +Jim had visited the place before, and told his companions that the tank +had been constructed by a man whose memory was much respected, and who +had died nearly a hundred years ago. + +During the night the Krooman, who had been left behind, entered the +encampment, confident in the belief that he had escaped from his +taskmasters. + +At sunset he had contrived to conceal himself among the barley sheaves +until his masters were out of sight, when he had started off on the +track taken by the Arab merchants. + +He was not allowed long indulgence in his dream of liberty. On the +following morning, as the kafila was about to continue its journey, +three men were seen approaching on swift camels; and shortly after Rais +Abdallah Yessed, and two of his followers rode up. + +They were in pursuit of the runaway Krooman, and in great rage at the +trouble which he had caused them. So anxious were the Boy Slaves that +the poor fellow should continue along with them, that, for their sake, +the Arab merchants made a strenuous effort to purchase him; but Rais +Abdallah obstinately refused to sell him at anything like a reasonable +price. The Krooman had given proof that he could be very useful in the +harvest-field; and a sum much greater than had been paid for any of the +others, was demanded for him. He was worth more to his present owners +than what the Arab merchants could afford to give; and was therefore +dragged back to the servitude from which he had hoped to escape. + +"You can see now, that I was right," said Jim. "Had we consented to cut +their harvest, we should never have had an opportunity of regaining our +liberty. Our labor for a single year would have been worth as much to +them as the price they received for us, and we should have been held in +perpetual bondage." + +Jim's companions could perceive the truth of this observation, but not +without being conscious that their good fortune was, on their part, +wholly undeserved, and that had it not been for him, they would have +yielded to the wishes of their late masters. + +After another march, the merchants made halt near some wells, around +which a large Arab encampment was found already established,--the flocks +and herds wandering over the adjacent plain. Here our adventurers had an +opportunity of observing some of the manners and customs of this nomadic +people. + +Here, for the first time, they witnessed the Arab method of making +butter. + +A goat's skin, nearly filled with the milk of camels, asses, sheep, and +goats, all mixed together, was suspended to the ridge pole of a tent, +and then swung to and fro by a child, until the butter was produced. The +milk was then poured off, and the butter clawed out of the skin by the +black dirty fingers of the women. + +The Arabs allege that they were the first people who discovered the art +of making butter,--though the discovery does not entitle them to any +great credit, since they could scarce have avoided making it. The +necessity of carrying milk in these skin bags, on a journey, must have +conducted them to the discovery. The agitation of the fluid, while being +transported on the backs of the camels, producing the result, naturally +suggested the idea of bringing it about by similar means when they were +not travelling. + +At this place the slaves were treated to some barley-cakes, and were +allowed a little of the butter; and this, notwithstanding the filthy +mode in which it had been prepared, appeared to them the most delicious +they had ever tasted. + +During the evening, the three merchants, along with several other Arabs, +seated themselves in a circle; when a pipe was lit and passed round from +one to another. Each would take a long draw, and then hand the pipe to +his left-hand neighbor. + +While thus occupied, they kept up an animated conversation, in which the +word "Swearah" was often pronounced. Swearah of course meant "Mogador." + +"They are talking about us," said Jim, "and we must learn for what +purpose. I am afraid there is something wrong. Krooman!" he continued, +addressing himself to the black, "they don't know that you understand +their language. Lie down near them, and pretend to be asleep; but take +note of every word they say. If I go up to them they will drive me +away." + +The Krooman did as desired; and carelessly sauntering near the circle, +appeared to be searching for a soft place on which to lay himself for +the night. + +This he discovered some seven or eight paces from the spot where the +Arabs were seated. + +"I have been disappointed about obtaining my freedom so many times," +muttered Jim, "that I can scarce believe I shall ever succeed. Those +fellows are talking about Mogador; and I don't like their looks. Hark! +what is that about 'more than you can get in Swearah!' I believe these +new Arabs are making an offer to buy us. If so, may their prophets curse +them!" + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIII. + +ANOTHER BARGAIN. + + +The conversation amongst the Arabs was kept up until a late hour; and +during the time it continued, our adventurers were impatiently awaiting +the return of the Krooman. + +He came at length, after the Arabs had retired to their tents; and all +gathered around him, eager to learn what he had heard. + +"I find out too much," said he, in answer to their inquiries; "too much, +and no much good." + +"What was it?" + +"Two of you be sold to-morrow." + +"What two?" + +"No one know. One man examine us all in the morning, but take only two." + +After suffering a long lesson teaching the virtue of patience, they +learnt from the Krooman that one of those who had been conversing with +their masters was a grazier, owning large droves of cattle; and that he +had lately been to Swearah. + +He had told the merchants that they would not be able to get a large +price for their slaves in that place; and that the chances were much +against their making more than the actual expenses incurred in so long a +journey. He assured the Arab merchants that no Christian consul or +foreign merchant in Mogador would pay a dollar more for redeeming six +slaves than what they could be made to pay for two or three; that they +were not always willing or prepared to pay anything; and that whenever +they did redeem a slave, they did not consider his value, but only the +time and expense that had been incurred in bringing him to the place. + +Under the influence of these representations, the Arab merchants had +agreed to sell two of their white slaves to the grazier,--thinking they +would get as much for the remaining four as they would by taking all six +to the end of the journey. + +The owner of the herds was to make his choice in the morning. + +"I thought there was a breaker ahead," exclaimed Jim, after the Krooman +had concluded his report. "We must not be separated except by liberty or +death. Our masters must take us all to Mogador. There is trouble before +us yet; but we must be firm, and overcome it. Firmness has saved us +once, and may do so again." + +After all had promised to be guided in the coming emergency by Jim, they +laid themselves along the ground, and sought rest in sleep. + +Next morning, while they were eating their breakfast, they were visited +by the grazier who was expected to make choice of two of their number. + +"Which is the one who speaks Arabic?" he inquired from one of the +merchants. + +Jim was pointed out, and was at once selected as one of the two to be +purchased. + +"Tell 'im to buy me, too, Jim," said Bill, "We'll sail in company, you +and I, though I don't much like partin' with the young gentlemen here." + +"You shall not part either with them or me, if I can help it," answered +Jim; "but we must expect some torture. Let all bear it like devils; and +don't give in. That's our only chance!" + +Glancing his eyes over the other slaves, the grazier selected Terence as +the second for whom he was willing to pay a price. + +His terms having been accepted by the merchants, they were about +concluding the bargain, when they were accosted by Jim. + +He assured them that he and his companions were determined to die, +before they should be separated,--that none of them would do any work if +retained in slavery,--and that all were determined to be taken to +Swearah. + +The merchants and the buyer only smiled at this interruption; and went +on with the negotiation. + +In vain did Jim appeal to their cupidity,--reminding them that the +merchant, "for God's sake bias," would pay a far higher price for +himself and his companions. + +His arguments and entreaties failed to change their determination,--the +bargain was concluded; and Jim and Terence were made over to their new +master. + +The merchants then mounted their camels, and ordered the other four to +follow them. + +Harry Blount, Colin, and Sailor Bill answered this command by sulkily +sitting down upon the sand. + +Another command from the merchants was given in sharp tones that +betrayed their rising wrath. + +"Obey them!" exclaimed Jim. "Go on; and Master Terence and I will follow +you. We'll stand the brunt of the battle. They shall not hold me here +alive!" + +Colin and Bill each mounted a donkey, and Harry his camel--the Arab +merchants seeming quite satisfied at the result of their slight +exhibition of anger. + +Jim and Terence attempted to follow them; but their new master was +prepared for this; and, at a word of command, several of his followers +seized hold of and fast bound both of them. + +Jim's threat that they should not hold him alive, had thus proved but an +idle boast. + +Harry, Colin, and Bill, now turned back, dismounted, and showed their +determination to remain with their companions, by sitting down alongside +of them. + +"These Christian dogs do not wish for liberty!" exclaimed one of the +merchants. "Allah forbid that we should force them to accept it. Who +will buy them?" + +These words completely upset all Jim's plans. He saw that he was +depriving the others of the only opportunity they might ever have of +obtaining their liberty. + +"Go on, go on!" he exclaimed. "Make no further resistance. It is +possible they may take you to Mogador. Do not throw away the chance." + +"We are not goin' to lave you, Jim," said Bill, "not even for +liberty,--leastways, I'm not. Don't you be afeerd of that!" + +"Of course we will not, unless we are forced to do so," added Harry. +"Have you not said that we must keep together?" + +"Have you not all promised to be guided by me?" replied Jim. "I tell you +now to make no more resistance. Go on with them if you wish ever to be +free!" + +"Jim knows what he is about," interposed Colin; "let us obey him." + +With some reluctance, Harry and Bill were induced to mount again; but +just as they were moving away, they were recalled by Jim, who told them +not to leave; and that all must persevere in the determination not to be +separated. + +"The man has certainly gone mad," reflected Harry Blount, as he turned +back once more. "We must no longer be controlled by him; but Terence +must not be left behind. We cannot forsake _him_." + +Again the three dismounted, and returning to the spot where Jim and +Terence lay fast bound along the sand, sat determinedly down beside +them. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIV. + +MORE TORTURE. + + +The sudden change of purpose and the counter-orders given by Jim were +caused by something he had just heard while listening to the +conversation of the Arabs. + +Seeing that the merchants, rather than have any unnecessary trouble with +them, were disposed to sell them all, Jim had been unwilling to deprive +his brother and the others of an opportunity of obtaining their freedom. +For this reason had he entreated them to leave Terence and himself to +their fate. + +But just as he had prevailed on Harry and his companion to go quietly, +he learnt from the Arabs that the man who had purchased Terence and +himself refused to have any more of them; and also that the other Arabs +present were either unable or unwilling to buy them. + +The merchants, therefore, would have to take them farther before they +could dispose of them. + +In Jim's mind then revived the hope that, by opposing the wishes of his +late masters, he and Terence might be bought back again and taken on to +Mogador. + +It was this hope that had induced him to recall his companions after +urging them to depart. + +A few words explained his apparently strange conduct to Harry and Colin, +and they promised to resist every attempt made to take them any farther +unless all should go in company. + +The merchants in vain commanded and entreated that the Christian dogs +should move on. They used threats, and then resorted to blows. + +Harry, to whom they had hitherto shown much respect, was beaten until +his scanty garments were saturated with blood. + +Unwilling to see others suffering so much torture unsupported by any +selfish desire, Jim again counselled Harry and the others to yield +obedience to their masters. + +In this counsel he was warmly seconded by Terence. + +But Harry declared his determination not to desert his old shipmate +Colin, and Bill remained equally firm under the torture; while the +Krooman, knowing that his only chance of liberty depended on remaining +true to the white slaves, and keeping in their company, could not be +made to yield. + +Perceiving that all his entreaties--addressed to his brother, Harry, and +Colin--could not put an end to the painful scene he was compelled to +witness, Jim strove to effect some purpose by making an appeal to his +late masters. + +"Buy us back, and take us all to Swearah as you promised," said he. "If +you do so, we will go cheerfully as we were doing before. I tell you, +you will be well paid for your trouble." + +One of the merchants, placing some confidence in the truth of this +representation, now offered to buy Jim and Terence on his own account; +but their new master refused to part with his newly-acquired property. + +A crowd of men, women, and children had now gathered around the spot; +and from all sides were heard shouts of "Kill the obstinate Christian +'dogs.' How dare they resist the will of true believers!" + +This advice was given by those who had no pecuniary interest in the +chattels in question; but the merchants, who had invested a large sum in +the purchase of the white slaves, had no idea of making such a sacrifice +for the gratification of a mere passion. + +There was but one way for them to overcome the difficulty that had so +unexpectedly presented itself. This was to separate the slaves by force, +taking the four along with them; and leaving the other two to the +purchaser who would not revoke his bargain. + +To accomplish this, the assistance of the bystanders was required and +readily obtained. + +Harry was first seized and placed on the back of his camel, to which he +was firmly bound. + +Colin, Bill, and the Krooman were each set astride of a donkey, and then +made fast by having their feet tied under the animal's belly. + +For a small sum the merchants then engaged two of the Arabs to accompany +them and guard the white slaves to the frontier of the Moorish empire, a +distance of two days' journey. + +While the party was about to move away from the spot, one of the +merchants, addressing himself to Jim, made the following observations. + +"Tell the young man, the nephew of the merchant, 'For God's sake bias,' +that since we have started for Swearah in the belief that his story is +true, we shall now take him there whether he is willing or not, and if +he has in anyway deceived us, he shall surely die." + +"He has not deceived you," said Jim, "take him and the others there, and +you will certainly be paid." + +"Then why do they not go willingly?" + +"Because they do not wish to leave their friends." + +"Ungrateful dogs! cannot they be thankful for their own good fortune? Do +they take us for slaves, that we should do their will?" + +While the conversation was going on, the other two merchants had headed +their animals to the road; and in a minute after Harry Blount and Colin +had parted with their old messmate Terence, without a hope of ever +meeting him again. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXV. + +EN ROUTE. + + +And now away for the Moorish frontier. + +Away,--trusting that the last hasty promise of the merchant to test +their earnest story, and yield to the importunate desires which they had +so long cherished, might not be unfulfilled. + +Away,--out into the desert again; into that broad, barren wilderness of +sand, stretching wearily on as far as eye could reach, and beyond the +utmost limit of human steps, where the wild beasts almost fear to tread. + +Away,--under the glare of the tropic sun, whose torrid beams fall from +heavens that glow like hot walls of brass, and beat down through an +atmosphere whose faint undulations in the breath of the desert wind ebb +and flow over the parched travellers, like waves of a fiery sea; under a +sun that seems to grow ever larger and brighter as the tired eyes, sick +with beholding its yellow splendor overflowing all the world, yet turn +toward it their fascinated gaze, and faint into burning dryness at its +sight. + +Away,--from the coolness of city walls, and the dark shadows of narrow, +high-built streets, where the sunlight comes only at the height of noon, +where men hide within doors as the hot hours draw nigh, and rest in +silent chambers, or drowse away the time with _tchibouque_ or +_narghileh_, whose softened odor of the rich Eastern tobacco floats up +through perfumed waters and tubes of aromatic woods to leisurely lips, +and curls in dim wreaths before restful eyelids half dropping to repose. + +Away,--from the association of men in street, lane, bazaar, and +market-place. No very profitable or happy association for the poor +captives, one might think; and yet not so. For in every group of +bystanders, or bevy of passers, they perchance might see him who should +prove their angel of deliverance,--a kindly merchant, a new speculator, +or even, by some event of gracious fortune, a countryman or a friend. + +Away,--from all that they had borne and hoped, and borne and seen and +suffered, into the desert whose paths lay invisible to them, mapped out +in the keen intellects of their guides and guards, who read the +streaming sand of Saaera as sailors read the wilds of sweeping seas, but +whose dusky faces, as inscrutable as the barren wastes, revealed no +trace of the secret of the path they led,--whether indeed the great +Moorish Empire were their destination, or whether they turned their +steps to some unknown and untried goal. + +Away,--from the hum of business, from the gossip of idlers and the staid +speech of a city into the silence of the vast desolation wherein they +moved, the only reasoning, thinking beings it contained. Silence all +around, unbroken save by the smothered tread of the beasts in their +little train, the shouts of the drivers, the chattering of the +attendants, the rattling of harness and burdens, and the soft sough of +the sand as it sank back into the hot level from which the passing hoofs +had disturbed it. + +Away, away,--and who shall attempt to paint the feelings of the captives +as their wanderings began again? It would need a brilliant pen to convey +the sensations with which the _voyageur_, eager for scenes of adventure +and fresh from the hived-up haunts of civilization, would enter upon a +desert jaunt, to whom all was full of novelty and interest, whose +companions were subjects for curious study, speaking in accents the +unfamiliar Oriental cadence of which fell pleasantly upon his ear, and +who found in every hour some fresh cause for wonder or pleasure. But a +pen of marvellous power and pathos must be invoked to portray the +mingled emotions that swayed in swift succession the minds of our Boy +Slaves! No charm existed for them in the strangeness of desert scenery, +Arab comradeship, and the murmur of Eastern tongues; they had long +passed the time for that, while their bitter familiarity with all these +made even a deep revulsion of feeling in their sorely tried souls. Hope, +fear, doubt, fatigue, anxious yearning, and vague despair,--all in turn +swept through their thoughts, even as the dust of their pitiless pathway +swept over their scorched faces, and covered with effacing monotony +every vestige of their passage. Mine is no such potent pen, and so let +us leave them, bound to their beasts of burden, going down from the +abodes of men into the depths again; and so let us leave them, +journeying ever onward,--away, away! + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVI. + +HOPE DEFERRED. + + +For the first hour of their journey, Harry, Colin, and Sailor Bill, were +borne along fast bound upon the backs of their animals. So disagreeable +did they find this mode of locomotion, that the Krooman was requested to +inform their masters, that they were willing to accompany them without +further opposition, if allowed the freedom of their limbs, this was the +first occasion on which the Krooman had made known to the Arab merchants +that he could speak their language. + +After receiving a few curses and blows for having so long concealed his +knowledge of it, the slaves were unbound, and the animals they bestrode +were driven along in advance of the others, while the two hired guards +were ordered to keep a short watch over them. + +The journey was continued until a late hour of the night; when they +reached the gate of a high wall enclosing a small town. + +Here a long parley ensued, and at first the party seemed likely to be +turned back upon their steps to pass the night in the desert, but at +last the guardians of the village, being satisfied with the +representations of the Arabs, unbarred the portals and let them enter. + +After the slaves had been conducted inside, and the gate fastened behind +them, their masters, relieved of all anxiety about losing their +property, accepted the hospitality of the sheik of the village, and took +their departure for his house, directing only that the white slaves +should be fed. + +After the latter had eaten a hearty meal, consisting of barley-bread and +milk; they were conducted to a pen, which they were told was to be their +sleeping-place, and there they passed the greater part of the night in +fighting fleas. + +Never before had either of them encountered these insects, either so +large in size or of so keen appetites. + +It was but at the hour at which their journey should have been resumed, +that they forgot their hopes and cares in the repose of sleep. Weary in +body and soul, they slept on till a late hour; and when aroused to +consciousness by an Arab bringing some food, they were surprised to see +that the sun was high up in the heavens. + +Why had they not been awakened before? + +Why this delay? + +In the mind of each was an instinctive fear that there must be something +wrong,--that some other obstacle had arisen, blocking up their road to +freedom. Hours passed, and their masters came not near them. + +They remained in much anxiety, vainly endeavoring to surmise what had +caused the interruption to their journey. + +Knowing that the merchants had expressed an intention to conduct them to +Mogador as soon as possible, they could not doubt but what the delay +arose from some cause affecting their own welfare. + +Late in the afternoon they were visited by their masters; and in that +interview their worst fears were more than realized. + +By the aid of the Krooman, one of the merchants informed Harry that they +had been deceived,--that the sheik, of whose hospitality they had been +partaking, had often visited Swearah, and was acquainted with all the +foreign residents there. He had told them that there was no one of the +name "For God sake byas." + +He had assured them that they were being imposed upon; and that by +taking the white slaves to Swearah, they would certainly lose them. + +"We shall not kill you," said one of the masters to Harry, "for we have +not had the trouble of carrying you the whole distance; and besides, we +should be injuring ourselves. We shall take you all to the borders of +the desert, and there sell you for what you will fetch." + +Harry told the Krooman to inform his masters that he had freely pledged +his existence on the truth of the story he had told them; that he +certainly had an uncle and friend in Mogador, who would redeem them all; +but that, should his uncle not be in Swearah at the time they should +arrive there, it would make no difference, as they would certainly be +ransomed by the English Consul. "Tell them," added Harry, "that if they +will take us to Swearah, and we are not ransomed as I promised, they +shall be welcome to take my life. I will then willingly die. Tell them +not to sell us until they have proved my words false; and not to injure +themselves and us by trusting too much to the words of another." + +To this communication the merchants made reply:--That they had been told +that slaves brought from the desert into the Empire of Morocco could, +and sometimes did, claim the protection of the government, which set +them free without paying anything; and those who were at the expense of +bringing them obtained nothing for their trouble. + +One of the merchants, whose name was Bo Musem, seemed inclined to listen +with some favor to the representations of Harry; but he was overruled by +the other two, so that all his assertions about the wealth of his +parents at home, and the immense worth he and his comrades were to this +country, as officers in its navy, failed to convince his masters that +they would be redeemed. + +The merchants at length went away, leaving Harry and Colin in an agony +of despair; while Sailor Bill and the Krooman seemed wholly indifferent +as to their future fate. The prospect of being again taken to the +desert, seemed to have so benumbed the intellect of both, as to leave +them incapable of emotion. + +Hope, fear, and energy seemed to have forsaken the old sailor, who, +usually so fond of thinking aloud, had not now sufficient spirit left, +even for the anathematizing of his enemies. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVII. + +EL HAJJI. + + +Late in the evening of the second night spent within the walls of the +town, two travellers knocked at the gate for admittance. + +One of them gave a name which created quite a commotion in the village, +all seeming eager to receive the owner with some show of hospitality. + +The merchants sat up to a late hour in company with these strangers and +the sheik of the place. Kids were caught and killed, and a savory stew +was soon served up for their guests, while, with coffee, pipes, and many +customary civilities, the time slipped quickly by. + +Notwithstanding this, they were astir upon the following morning before +daybreak, busied in making preparations for their journey. + +The slaves, on being allowed some breakfast, were commanded to eat it in +all haste, and then assist in preparing the animals for the road. + +They were also informed that they were to be taken south, and sold. + +"Shall we go, or die?" asked Colin. "I, for one, had rather die than +again pass through the hardships of a journey in the desert." + +Neither of the others made any reply to this. The spirit of despair had +taken too strong a hold upon them. + +The merchants themselves were obliged to caparison their animals; and +just as they were about to use some strong arguments to induce their +refractory slaves to mount, they were told that "El Hajji" ("the +pilgrim") wished to see the Christians. + +Soon after, one of the strangers who had entered the town so late on the +night before was seen slowly approaching. + +He was a tall, venerable-looking Arab, with a long white beard reaching +down to the middle of his breast. His costume, by its neatness and the +general costliness of the articles of which it was composed, bespoke him +a man of the better class, and his bearing was nowise inferior to his +guise. + +Having performed the pilgrimage to the Prophet's Tomb, he commanded the +respect and hospitality of all good Mussulmans whithersoever he +wandered. + +With the Krooman as interpreter, he asked many questions, and seemed to +be much interested in the fate of the miserable-looking objects before +him. + +After his curiosity had been satisfied as to the name of the vessel in +which they had reached the country, the time they had passed in slavery, +and the manner of their treatment which had produced their emaciated and +wretched appearance, he made inquiries about their friends and relatives +at home. + +Harry informed him that Colin and himself had parents, brothers, and +sisters, who were now probably mourning them as lost: that they and +their two companions were sure to be ransomed, could they find some one +who would take them to Mogador. He also added, that their present +masters had promised to take them to that place, but were now prevented +from doing so through the fear that they would not be rewarded for their +trouble. + +"I will do all I can to assist you," said El Hajji, after the Krooman +had given the interpretation of Harry's speech. "I owe a debt of +gratitude to one of your countrymen, and I shall try to repay it. When +in Cairo I was unwell, and starving for the want of food. An officer of +an English ship of war gave me a coin of gold. That piece of money +proved both life and fortune to me; for with it I was able to continue +my journey, and reach my friends. We are all the children of the true +God; and it is our duty to assist one another. I will have a talk with +your masters." + +The old pilgrim then turning to the three merchants, said,-- + +"My friends, you have promised to take these Christian slaves to +Swearah, where they will be redeemed. Are you bad men who fear not God, +that your promise should be thus broken?" + +"We think they have deceived us," answered one of the merchants, "and we +are afraid to carry them within the emperor's dominions for fear they +will be taken from us without our receiving anything. We are poor men, +and nearly all our merchandise we have given for these slaves. We cannot +afford to lose them." + +"You will not lose the value of them," said the old man, "if you take +them to Swearah. They belong to a country the government of which will +not allow its subjects to remain in bondage; and there is not an English +merchant in Swearah that would not redeem them. A merchant who should +refuse to do so would scarce dare return to his own country again. You +will make more by taking them to Swearah than anywhere else." + +"But they can give themselves up to the governor when they reach +Swearah," urged one of the merchants, "and we may be ordered out of the +country without receiving a single cowrie for all. Such has been done +before. The good sheik here knows of an Arab merchant who was treated +so. He lost all, while the governor got the ransom, and put it in his +own pocket." + +This was an argument El Hajji was unable to answer but he was not long +in finding a plan for removing the difficulty thus presented. + +"Do not take them within the Empire of Morocco," said he, "until after +you have been paid for them. Two of you can stay with them here, while +the other goes to Swearah with a letter from this young man to his +friends. You have as yet no proof that he is trying to deceive you; and +therefore, as true men, have no excuse for breaking your promise to him. +Take a letter to Swearah; and if the money be not paid, then do with +them as you please, and the wrong will not rest upon you." + +Bo Muzem, one of the merchants, immediately seconded the pilgrim's +proposal, and spoke energetically in its favor. + +He said that they were but one day's journey from Agadeez, a frontier +town of Morocco; and that from there Swearah could be reached in three +days. + +The merchants for a few minutes held consultation apart, and then one of +them announced that they had resolved upon following El Hajji's advice. +Bo Muzem should go to Swearah as the bearer of a letter from Harry to +his uncle. + +"Tell the young man," said one of the merchants, addressing himself to +the interpreter, "tell him, from me, that if the ransom be not paid, he +shall surely die on Bo Muzem's return. Tell him that." + +The Krooman made the communication, and Harry accepted the terms. + +A piece of dirty crumpled paper, a reed, and some ink was then placed +before Harry; and while the letter was being written, Bo Muzem commenced +making preparations for his journey. + +Knowing that their only hope of liberty depended on their situation +being made known to some countrymen resident in Mogador, Harry took up +the pen, and, with much difficulty, succeeded in scribbling the +following letter:-- + + "SIR,--Two midshipmen of H. M. S. ---- (lost a few weeks ago north + of Cape Blanco), and two seamen are now held in slavery at a small + town one day's journey from Santa Cruz. The bearer of this note is + one of our masters. His business in Mogador is to learn if we will + be ransomed and if he is unsuccessful in finding any one who will + pay the money to redeem us, the writer of this note is to be + killed. If you cannot or will not pay the money they require (one + hundred and fifty dollars for each slave), direct the bearer to + some one whom you think will do so. + + "There is a midshipman from the same vessel, and another English + sailor one day's journey south of this place. + + "Perhaps the bearer of this note, Bo Muzem, may be induced to + obtain them, so that they also may be ransomed. + + "Henry Blount." + +This letter Harry folded, and directed to "Any English merchant in +Mogador." + +By the time it was written, Bo Muzem was mounted, and ready for the +road. + +After receiving the letter, he wished Harry to be informed once more, +that, should the journey to Swearah be fruitless, nothing but his +(Harry's) life would compensate him for the disappointment. + +After promising to be back in eight days, and enjoining upon his +partners to look well after their property during his absence, Bo Muzem +took his departure from the town. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVIII. + +BO MUZEM'S JOURNEY. + + +Although an Arab merchant, Bo Muzem was an honest man,--one who in all +business transactions told the truth, and expected to hear it from +others. + +He pursued his journey towards Mogador with but a faint hope that the +representations made by Harry Blount would prove true, and with the +determination of taking the life of the latter, should he find himself +deceived. He placed more faith in the story told him by the sheik, than +in the mere supposition of the pilgrim, that the white slaves would find +some one to ransom them. For often,--alas too often!--the hopes which +captives have dwelt on for tedious months, until they have believed them +true, have proved, when put to the test, but empty and fallacious +dreams. + +His journey was partly undertaken through a sense of duty. After the +promise made to the slaves, he thought it but right to become fully +convinced that they would not be redeemed before the idea of taking them +to Mogador should be relinquished. + +He pressed forward on his journey with the perseverance and self-denial +so peculiar to the race. After crossing the spurs of the Atlas Mountain +near Santa Cruz, he reached, on the evening of the third day, a small +walled town, within three hours ride of Mogador. + +Here he stopped for the night, intending to proceed to the city early on +the next morning. Immediately after entering the town, Bo Muzem met a +person whose face wore a familiar look. + +It was the man to whom but a few days before, he had sold Terence and +Jim. + +"Ah! my friend, you have ruined me," exclaimed the Arab grazier, after +their first salutations had passed. "I have lost those two useless +Christian dogs you sold me, and I am ruined." + +Bo Muzem asked him to explain. + +"After your departure," said the grazier, "I tried to get some work out +of the infidels; but they would not obey, and I believe they would have +died before doing anything to make themselves useful. As I am a poor +man, I could not afford to keep them in idleness, nor to kill them, +which I had a strong inclination to do. The day after you left me, I +received intelligence from Swearah which commanded me to go there +immediately on business of importance; and thinking that possibly some +Christian fool in that place might give something for their infidel +countrymen, I took the slaves along with me. + +"They promised that if I would take them to the English Consul, he would +pay a large price for their ransom. When we entered Mogador, and reached +the Consul's house, the dogs told me that they were free, and defied me +trying to take them out of the city, or obtaining anything for my +trouble or expense. The governor of Swearah and the Emperor of Morocco +are on good terms with the infidel's government, and they also hate us +Arabs of the desert. There is no justice there for us. If you take your +slaves into the city you will lose them." + +"I shall not take them into the empire of Morocco," said Bo Muzem, +"until I have first received the money for them." + +"You will never get it in Swearah. Their consul will not pay a dollar, +but will try to get them liberated without giving you anything." + +"But I have a letter from one of my slaves to his uncle,--a nut merchant +in Swearah. The uncle must pay the money." + +"The slave has lied to you. He has no uncle there, and I can soon +convince you that such is the case. There is lying in this place a +Mogador Jew, who is acquainted with every infidel merchant in that +place, and he also understands the languages they speak. Let him see the +letter." + +Anxious to be convinced as to whether he was being deceived or not, Bo +Muzem readily agreed to this proposition; and in company with the +graziers, he repaired to the house where the Jew was staying for the +night. + +The Jew, on being shown the letter, and asked to whom it was addressed, +replied,-- + +"To any English merchant in Mogador." + +"_Bismillah!_" exclaimed Bo Muzem. "All English merchants cannot be +uncles to the young dog who wrote this letter." + +"Tell me," added he, "did you ever hear of an English merchant in +Swearah named 'For God sake byas?'" + +The Jew smiled, and with some difficulty restraining an inclination to +laugh outright at the question, gave the Arab a translation of the +words, "For God's sake buy us." + +Bo Muzem was now satisfied that he had been "sold." + +"I shall go no farther," said he, after they had parted with the Jew. "I +shall return to my partners. We will kill the Christian dog who wrote +the letter, and sell the rest for what we can get for them." + +"That is your best plan," rejoined the grazier. "They do not deserve +freedom, and may Allah forbid that hereafter any true believers should +try to help them to it." + +Early the next morning Bo Muzem set out on his return journey, thankful +for the good fortune that had enabled him so early to detect the +imposture that was being practised upon him. + +He was accompanied by the grazier, who chanced to be journeying in the +same direction. + +"The next Christian slaves I see for sale I intend to buy them," +remarked the latter, as they journeyed along. + +"Bismallah!" exclaimed Bo Muzem, "that is strange. I thought you had had +enough of them?" + +"So I have," answered the grazier; "but that's just why I want more of +them. I want revenge on the unbelieving dogs; and will buy them for the +purpose of obtaining it. I work them until they are too old to do +anything and then let them die of hunger." + +"Then buy those we have for sale," proposed Bo Muzem. "We are willing to +sell them cheap, all but one. The one who wrote this letter I shall +kill. I have sworn it by the prophet's beard." + +As both parties appeared anxious for a bargain, they soon came to an +understanding as to the terms; and the grazier promised to give ten +dollars in money, and four head of horses for each of the slaves that +were for sale. He also agreed that one of his herdsmen should assist in +driving the cattle to any Arab settlement where a market might be found +for them. + +The simple Bo Muzem had now in reality been "sold," for the story he had +been told about the escape of the two slaves, Terence and Jim, was +wholly and entirely false. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIX. + +RAIS MOURAD. + + +Six days passed, during which the white slaves were comparatively well +treated, far better than at any other time since their shipwreck. They +were not allowed to suffer with thirst, and were supplied with nearly as +much food as they required. + +On the sixth day after the departure of Bo Muzem, they were visited by +their masters, accompanied by a stranger, who was a Moor. + +They were commanded to get upon their feet; and were then examined by +the Moor in a manner that awakened suspicion that he was about to buy +them. + +The Moor wore a caftan richly embroidered on the breast and sleeves; and +confined around the waist with a silken vest or girdle. + +A pair of small yellow Morocco-leather boots were seen beneath trowsers +of great width, made of the finest satin, and on his head was worn a +turban of scarlet silk. + +Judging from the respect shown to him by the merchants, he was an +individual of much importance. This was also evident from the number of +his followers, all of whom were mounted on beautiful Arabian horses, the +trappings of which were made from the finest and most delicately shaded +leathers, bestudded beautifully with precious metals and stones. + +The appearance of his whole retinue gave evidence that he was some +personage of wealth and influence. + +After he had examined the slaves, he retired with the two merchants; and +shortly afterwards the Krooman learnt from one of the followers that the +white slaves had become the property of the wealthy Moor. + +The bright anticipations of liberty that had filled their souls for the +last few days, vanished at this intelligence. Each felt a shock of +pain,--of hopeless despair,--that for some moments stunned them almost +to speechlessness. + +Harry Blount was the first to awaken to the necessity of action. + +"Where are our masters the merchants?" he exclaimed. "They cannot--they +shall not sell us. Come, all of you follow me!" + +Reaching forth from the pens that had been allowed them for a residence, +the young Englishman, followed by his companions, started towards the +dwelling of the sheik, to which the merchants and the Moor had retired. + +All were now excited with disappointment and despair; and on reaching +the sheik's house, the two Arab merchants were called out to witness a +scene of anger and grief. + +"Why have you sold us?" asked the Krooman when the merchant came forth. +"Have you not promised that we should be taken to Swearah, and has not +one gone there to obtain the money for our ransom?" + +The merchants were on good terms with themselves and all the world +besides. They had made what they believed to be a good bargain; and were +in a humor for being agreeable. + +Moreover they did not wish to be thought guilty of a wrong, even by +Christian slaves, and they therefore condescended to give some +explanation. + +"Suppose," said one of them, "that our master Bo Muzem should find a man +in Swearah who is willing to ransom you, how much are we to get for +you?" + +"One hundred dollars for me," answered the Krooman, "and one hundred and +fifty for each of the others." + +"True; and for that we should have to take you to Swearah, and be at the +expense of feeding you along the road?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, Rais Mourad, a wealthy Moor, has paid us one hundred and fifty +dollars for each of you; and would we not be fools to take you all the +way to Swearah for less money? Besides we might never get paid at +Swearah,--whereas we have received it in cash from Rais Mourad. You are +no longer our slaves, but his." + +When the Krooman had made this communication to the others, they saw +that all further parley with the Arab merchants was useless; and that +their fate was now in the hands of Rais Mourad. + +At Harry's request, the Krooman endeavored to ascertain in what +direction the Moor was going to take them; but the only information they +received was that Rais Mourad knew his own business, and was not in the +habit of conferring with his slaves as to what he should do with them. + +Some of the followers of the Moor now came forward; and the slaves were +ordered back to their pen, where they found some food awaiting them. +They were commanded to eat it immediately, as they were soon to set +forth upon a long journey. + +Not one of them, after their cruel disappointment, had any appetite for +eating; and Sailor Bill doggedly declared that he would never taste food +again. + +"Don't despair, Bill," said Harry; "there is yet hope for us." + +"Where?--where is it?" exclaimed Colin; "I can't perceive it." + +"If we are constantly changing owners," argued Harry, "we may yet fall +into the hands of some one who will take us to Mogador." + +"Is that your only hope?" asked Colin, in a tone of disappointment. + +"Think of poor Jim," added Bill; "he's 'ad fifty masters,--been ten +years in slavery, and not free yet; and no hope on it neyther." + +"Shall we go quietly with our new master?" asked Colin. + +"Yes," answered Harry; "I have had quite enough of resistance, and the +beating that is sure to follow it. My back is raw at this moment. The +next time I make any resistance, it shall be when there is a chance of +gaining something by it, besides a sound thrashing." + +Rais Mourad being unprovided with animals for his slaves to ride upon, +and wishing to travel at a greater speed than they could walk, purchased +four small horses from the sheik, and it was during the time these +horses were being caught and made ready for the road, that the slaves +were allowed to eat their dinner. + +Although Harry, as well as the others, had determined on making no +opposition to going away with Rais Mourad, they were very anxious to +learn where he intended to take them. + +All the inquiries made by the Krooman for the purpose of gratifying +their curiosity, only produced the answer, "God knows, and will not tell +you. Why should we do more than Him?" + +Just as the horses were brought out, and all were nearly ready for a +start, there was heard a commotion at the gate of the town; and next +moment Bo Muzem, accompanied by three other Arabs, rode in through the +gateway. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXX. + +BO MUZEM BACK AGAIN. + + +As soon as the white slaves recognized Bo Muzem, they all rushed forward +to meet him. + +"Speak, Krooman!" exclaimed Harry. "Ask him if the money for our ransom +will be paid? If so, we are free, and they dare not sell us again." + +"Here,--here!" exclaimed Bill, pointing to one of the Arabs who came +with Bo Muzem. "Ax this man where be brother Jim an' Master Terence?" + +Harry and Colin turned towards the man from whom Bill desired this +inquiry to be made, and recognized in him the grazier, to whom Terence +and Jim had been sold. + +The Krooman had no opportunity for putting the question; for Bo Muzem, +on drawing near to the gate of the town, had allowed his passion to +mount into a violent rage; and as he beheld the slaves, shouted out, +"Christian dogs! you have deceived me. Let every man, woman, and child, +in this town assemble, and be witnesses of the fate that this lying +Christian so richly deserves. Let all witness the death of this young +infidel, who has falsely declared he has an uncle in Swearah, named 'For +God's sake buy us.' Let all witness the revenge Bo Muzem will take on +the unbelieving dog who has deceived him." + +As soon as Bo Muzem's tongue was stopped sufficiently to enable him to +hear the voices of those around him, he was informed that the slaves +were all sold,--the nephew of "For God's sake buy us," among the rest, +and on better terms than he and his partners had expected to get at +Swearah. + +Had Harry Blount been rescued, Bo Muzem would have been much pleased at +this news; but he now declared that his partners had no right to sell +without his concurrence,--that he owned an interest in them; and that +the one who had deceived him should not be sold, but should suffer the +penalty incurred, by sending him on his long and fruitless journey. + +Rais Mourad now came upon the ground. The Moor was not long in +comprehending all the circumstances connected with the affair. He +ordered his followers to gather around the white slaves and escort them +outside the walls of the town. + +Bo Muzem attempted to prevent this order from being executed. He was +opposed by everybody, not only by the Moor, but his own partners, as +well as the sheik of the town, who declared that there should be no +blood spilled among those partaking of his hospitality. + +The slaves were mounted on the horses that had been provided for them, +and then conducted through the gateway leaving Bo Muzem half frantic +with impotent rage. + +There was but one man to sympathize with him in his disappointment, the +grazier to whom Terence and Jim had been sold, and who had made +arrangements for the purchase of the others. + +Riding up to the Moor, this man declared that the slaves were his +property; that he had purchased them the day before, and had given four +horses and ten dollars in money for each. + +He loudly protested against being robbed of his property, and declared +that he would bring two hundred men, if necessary, for the purpose of +taking possession of his own. + +Rais Mourad, paying no attention to this threat, gave orders to his +followers to move on; and, although it was now almost night, started off +in the direction of Santa Cruz. + +Before they had proceeded far, they perceived the Arab grazier riding at +full speed in the opposite direction, and towards his own home. + +"I wish that we had made some inquiries of that fellow about Jim and +Terence," said Colin; "but it's too late now." + +"Yes, too late," echoed Harry, "and I wish that he had obtained +possession of us instead of our present master. We should then have all +come together again. But what are we to think of this last turn of +Fortune's wheel?" + +"I am rather pleased at it," answered Colin. "A while ago we were in +despair, because the Moor had bought us. That was a mistake. If he had +not done so, you Harry would have been killed." + +"Bill!" added the young Scotchman, turning to the old sailor, "what are +you dreaming about?" + +"Nothing," answered Bill, "I'm no goin to drame or think any mair." + +"We ah gwine straight for Swearah," observed the Krooman as he spoke, +glancing towards the northwest. + +"That is true," exclaimed Harry, looking in the same direction. "Can it +be that we are to be taken into the empire of Morocco? If so, there is +hope for us yet." + +"But Bo Muzem could find no one who would pay the money for our ransom," +interposed Colin. + +"He nebba go thar," said the Krooman. "He nebba had de time." + +"I believe the Krooman is right," said Harry. "We have been told that +Mogador is four days' journey from here, and the Arab was gone but six +days." + +The conversation of the slaves was interrupted by the Moors, who kept +constantly urging them to greater speed. + +The night came on very dark, but Rais Mourad would not allow them to +move at a slower pace. + +Sailor Bill, being as he declared unused to "navigate any sort o' land +craft," could only keep his seat on the animal he bestrode, by allowing +it to follow the others, while he clutched its mane with a firm grasp of +both hands. + +The journey was continued until near midnight, when the old sailor, +unable any longer to endure the fatigue, managed to check the pace of +his horse, and dismount. + +The Moors endeavored to make him proceed, but were unsuccessful. + +Bill declared that should he again be placed on the horse, he should +probably fall off and break his neck. + +This was communicated to Rais Mourad, who had turned back in a rage to +inquire the cause of the delay. It was the Krooman who acted as +interpreter. + +The Moor's anger immediately subsided on learning that one of the slaves +could speak Arabic. + +"Do you and your companions wish for freedom?" asked the Moor, +addressing himself to the Krooman. + +"We pray for it every hour." + +"Then tell that foolish man that freedom is not found here--that to +obtain it he must move on with me." + +The Krooman made the communication as desired. + +"I don't want to hear any more about freedom," answered Bill; "I've +'eard enough ov it. If any on 'em is goin' to give us a chance for +liberty, let 'em do it without so many promises." + +The old sailor remained obstinate. + +Neither entreaties nor threats could induce him to go farther; and Rais +Mourad gave orders to his followers to halt upon the spot, as he +intended to stay there for the remainder of the night. The halt was +accordingly made, and a temporary camp established. + +Although exhausted with their long, rough ride, Harry and Colin could +not sleep. The hope of liberty was glowing too brightly within their +bosoms. + +This hope had not been inspired by anything that had been said or done +by Rais Mourad; for they now placed no trust in the promises of any one. + +Their hopes were simply based upon the belief that they were now going +towards Mogador, that the Moor, their master, was an intelligent man--a +man who might know that he would not lose his money by taking English +subjects to a place where they would be sure of being ransomed. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXI. + +A PURSUIT. + + +At the first appearance of day, Rais Mourad ordered the march to be +resumed, over a long ridge of sand. The sun soon after rising, on a high +hill about four leagues distant were seen the white walls of the city of +Santa Cruz, or, as it is called by the Arabs, Agadez. Descending the +sand ridge, the cavalcade moved over a level plain covered with grain +crops, and dotted here and there with small walled villages surrounded +by plantations of vines and date-trees. + +At one of the villages near the road the cavalcade made a halt, and was +admitted within the walls. Throwing themselves down in the shade of some +date-trees, the white slaves soon fell into a sound slumber. + +Three hours after they were awakened to eat a small compound of hot +barley-cakes and honey. + +Before they had finished their repast, Rais Mourad came up to the spot, +and began a conversation with the Krooman. + +"What does the Moor say?" inquired Harry. + +"He say dat if we be no bad, and we no cheat him, he take us to Sweareh, +to de English Consul." + +"Of course we will promise that, or anything else," assented Harry, "and +keep the promise too, if we can. He will be sure to be well paid for us. +Tell him that!" + +The Krooman obeyed: and the Moor, in reply, said that he was well aware +that he would be paid something by the Consul, but that he required a +written promise from the slaves themselves as to the amount. + +He wanted them to sign an agreement that he should be paid two hundred +dollars for each one of them. + +This they readily assented to, and the Moor then produced a piece of +paper, a reed, and some ink. + +Rais Mourad wrote the agreement himself in Arabic, on one side of the +paper, and then, reading it sentence by sentence, requested the Krooman +to translate it to his companions. + +The translation given by the Krooman was-- + + "To English Consul,-- + + "We be four Christian slave. Rais Mourad buy us of Arab. We promise + to gib him two hundred dollar for one, or eight hundred dollar for + four, if he take us to you. Please pay him quick." + +Harry and Colin signed the paper without any hesitation, and it was then +handed with the pen to Sailor Bill. + +The old sailor took the paper; and, after carefully surveying every +object around him, walked up to one of the saddles lying on the ground a +few paces off. + +Spreading the paper on the saddle, he sat down, and very deliberately +set about the task of making his autograph. + +Slowly as the hand of a clock moving over the face of a dial, Bill's +hand passed over the paper, while his head oscillated from side to side +as each letter was formed. + +After Bill had succeeded in painting a few characters which, in his +opinion, expressed the name of William McNeal, Harry was requested to +write a similar agreement on the other side of the paper, which they +were also to sign. + +Rais Mourad was determined on being certain that his slaves had put +their names to such an agreement as he wished, and therefore had written +it himself, so that he might not be deceived. + +About two hours before sunset all were again in the saddle; and, riding +out of the gateway, took a path leading up the mountain on which stands +the city of Santa Cruz. + +When about half-way up, a party of horsemen, between twenty and thirty +in number, was seen coming after them at full speed. + +Rais Mourad remembered the threat made by the grazier who claimed the +slaves as his property, and every exertion was made to reach the city +before his party could be overtaken. + +The horses ridden by the white slaves were small animals, in poor +condition, and were unable to move up the hill with much speed, although +their riders had been reduced by starvation to the very lightest of +weights. + +Before reaching the level plain on the top of the hill, the pursuers +gained on them rapidly, and had lessened the distance between the two +parties by nearly half a mile. The nearest gate of the city was still +more than a mile ahead, and towards it the Moors urged their horses with +all the energy that could be inspired by oaths, kicks, and blows. + +As they neared the gate the herds of their pursuers were seen just +rising over the crest of the hill behind them. But as Rais Mourad saw +that his slaves were now safe, he checked his steed, and the few yards +that remained of the journey were performed at a slow pace, for the Moor +did not wish to enter the gate of a strange city in a hasty or +undignified manner. + +No delay on passing the sentinels, and in five minutes more the weary +slaves dismounted from their nearly exhausted steeds, and were commanded +by Rais Mourad to thank God that they had arrived safe in the Empire of +Morocco. + +In less than a quarter of an hour after Bo Muzem and the grazier rode +through the gateway, accompanied by a troop of fierce-looking Arab +horsemen. + +The wrath of the merchant seemed to have waxed greater in the interval, +and he appeared as if about to make an immediate attack upon Harry +Blount, the chief object of his spiteful vengeance. + +In this he was prevented by Rais Mourad, who appealed to an officer of +the city guard to protect him. + +The officer informed the merchant that while within the walls of the +city he must not molest other people, and Bo Muzem was compelled to give +his word that he would not do so: that is to say, he was bound over to +keep the peace. + +The other Arabs, in whose company they had come, were also given to +understand that they were in a Moorish city; and, as they saw that they +were powerless to do harm without meeting with punishment, their fierce +deportment soon gave way to a demeanor more befitting the streets of a +civilized town. + +Both pursued and pursuers were cautioned against any infringement of the +laws of the place; and as a different quarter was assigned to each +party, all chances of a conflict were, for the time, happily frustrated. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXII. + +MOORISH JUSTICE. + + +The next morning, Rais Mourad was summoned to appear before the governor +of the city. He was ordered, also, to bring his slaves along with him. +He had no reluctance in obeying these orders, and a soldier conducted +him and his followers to the governor's house. + +Bo Muzem and the grazier were there before them; and the governor soon +after made his appearance in the room where both parties were waiting. + +He was a fine-looking man, of venerable aspect, about sixty-five years +of age, and, from his appearance, Harry and Colin had but little fear of +the result of his decision in an appeal that might be made against them. + +Bo Muzem was the first to speak. He stated that, in partnership with two +other merchants, he had purchased the four slaves then present. He had +never given his consent to the sale made by his partners to the Moor; +and there was one of them whom it had been distinctly understood was not +to be sold at all. That slave he now claimed as his own property. He had +been commissioned by his partners to go to Swearah, and there dispose of +the slaves. He had sold the other two to his friend Mahommed, who was +present. He had no claim on them. Mahommed, the grazier was their +present owner. + +The grazier was now called upon to make his statement. + +This was soon done. All he had to say was, that he had purchased three +Christian slaves from his friend, Bo Muzem, and had given four horses +and ten dollars in money for each of them. They had been taken away by +force by the Moor, Rais Mourad, from whom he now claimed them. + +Rais Mourad was next called upon to answer the accusation. The question +was put, why he retained possession of another man's property. + +In reply, he stated that he had purchased them of two Arab merchants, +and had paid for them on the spot; giving one hundred and fifty silver +dollars for each. + +After the Moor had finished his statement, the governor remained silent +for an interval of two or three minutes. + +Presently, turning to Bo Muzem, he asked, "Did your partners offer you a +share of the money they received for the slaves?" + +"Yes," answered the merchant, "but I would not accept it." + +"Have you, or your partners, received from the man, who claims three of +the slaves, twelve horses and thirty dollars?" + +After some hesitation, Bo Muzem answered in the negative. + +"The slaves belong to the Moor, Rais Mourad, who has paid the money for +them," said the governor, "and they shall not be taken from him here. +Depart from my presence, all of you." + +All retired, and, as they did so, the grazier was heard to mutter that +there was no justice for Arabs in Morocco. + +Rais Mourad gave orders to his followers to prepare for the road; and +just as they were ready to start, he requested Bo Muzem to accompany him +outside the walls of the city. + +The merchant consented, on condition that his friend Mahommed the +grazier should go along with them. + +"My friend," said Rais Mourad, addressing Bo Muzem, "you have been +deceived. Had you taken these Christians to Swearah, as you promised, +you would have certainly been paid for them all that you could +reasonably have asked. I live in Swearah, and was obliged to make a +journey to the south upon urgent business. Fortunately, on my return, I +met with your partners, and bought their slaves from them. The profit I +shall make on them will more than repay me all the expenses of my +journey. The man Mahommed, whom you call your friend, has bought two +other Christians. He has sold them to the English Consul. Having made +two hundred dollars by that transaction, he was anxious to trade you out +of these others, and make a few hundred more. He was deceiving you for +the purpose of obtaining them. There is but one God, Mahomet is his +prophet, and you are a fool!" + +Bo Muzem required no further evidence in confirmation of the truth of +this statement. He could not doubt that the Moor was an intelligent man, +who knew what he was about when buying the slaves. The grazier Mahommed +had certainly purchased the two slaves spoken of, had acknowledged +having carried them to Swearah, and was now anxious to obtain the +others. + +All was clear to him now; and for a moment he stood mute and motionless, +under a sense of shame at his own stupidity. + +This feeling was succeeded by one of wild rage against the man who had +so craftily outwitted him. + +Drawing his scimitar, he rushed towards the grazier, who, having been +attentive to all that was said, was not wholly unprepared for the +attack. + +The Arabs never acquire much skill in the use of the scimitar, and an +affair between them with these weapons is soon decided. + +The contest between the merchant and his antagonist was not an exception +to other affrays between their countrymen. It was a strife for life or +death, witnessed by the slaves who felt no sympathy for either of the +combatants. + +A mussulman in a quarrel generally places more dependence on the justice +of his cause than either on his strength or skill; and when such is not +the case much of his natural prowess is lost to him. + +Confident in the rectitude of his indignation, Bo Muzem, with his +Mohammedan ideas of fatalism, was certain that the hour had not yet +arrived for him to die; nor was he mistaken. + +His impetuous onset could not be resisted by a man unfortified with the +belief that he had acted justly: and Mahommed the grazier was soon sent +to the ground, rolling in the dust in the agonies of death. + +"There's one less on 'em anyhow," exclaimed Sailor Bill, as he saw the +Arab cease to live. "I wish he had brought brother Jem and Master +Terence here. I wonder what he has done wi' 'em?" + +"We should learn, if possible," answered Harry, "and before we get any +farther away from them. Suppose we speak to the Moor about them? He may +be able to obtain them in some way." + +At Harry's request, the Krooman proceeded to make the desired +communication, but was prevented by Rais Mourad ordering the slaves into +their places for the purpose of continuing the journey which this tragic +incident had interrupted. + +After cautioning Bo Muzem to beware of the followers of Mahommed, who +now lay dead at their feet, the Moor, at the head of his kafila, moved +off in the direction of Mogador. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIII. + +THE JEW'S LEAP. + + +The road followed by Rais Mourad on the day after leaving Santa Cruz was +through a country of very uneven surface. + +Part of the time the kafila would be in a narrow valley by the seashore, +and in the next hour following a zigzag path on the side of some +precipitous mountain. + +In such places the kafila would have to proceed in single file, while +the Moors would be constantly cautioning the slaves against falling from +the backs of their animals. + +While stopping for an hour at noon for the horses to rest, the Krooman +turned over a flat stone, and underneath it found a large scorpion. + +After making a hole in the sand about six inches deep, and five or six +in diameter, he put the reptile into it. + +He then went in search of a few more scorpions to keep the prisoner +company. Under nearly every stone he turned over, one or two of these +reptiles were found, all of which were cast into the hole where he had +placed the first. + +When he had secured about a dozen within the prison from which they +could not escape, he began teasing them with a stick. + +Enraged at this treatment the reptiles commenced a mortal combat among +themselves, a sight which was witnessed by the white slaves with about +the same interest as that between the two Arabs in the morning. In other +words, they did not care which got the worst of it. + +A battle between two scorpions would commence with much active +skirmishing on both sides, each seeking to fasten its claws on the +other. + +When one of the reptiles would succeed in getting a fair grip, its +adversary would exhibit every disposition to surrender, apparently +begging for its life, but all to no purpose, as no quarter would be +given. + +The champion would inflict the fatal sting; and the unfortunate reptile +receiving it would die immediately after. + +After all the scorpions had been killed except one, the Krooman himself +finished the survivor with a blow of his stick. + +When rebuked by Harry for what the latter regarded as an act of wanton +cruelty, he answered that it was the duty of every man to kill +scorpions. + +In the afternoon they reached a place called the Jew's Leap. It was a +narrow path along the side of a mountain, the base of which was washed +by the sea. + +The path was about half a mile long and not more than four or five feet +broad. The right hand side was bounded by a wall of rocks, in some +places perpendicular and rising to a height of several hundred feet. + +On the left hand side was the sea, about four hundred feet below the +level of the path. + +There was no hope for any one who should fall from this path,--no hope +but heaven. + +Not a bush, tree, or any obstacle was seen to offer the slightest +resistance to the downward course of a falling body. + +The Krooman had passed this way before, and informed his companions that +no one ever ventured on the path in wet weather; that it was at all +times considered dangerous; but that, as it saved a tiresome journey of +seven miles around the mountain, it was generally taken in dry weather. +He also told them that the name of "Jew's Leap" was given to the +precipice, from a party of Jews having once been forced over it. + +It was in the night-time. They had met a numerous party of Moors coming +in the opposite direction. Neither party could turn back, a contest +arose, and several on both sides were hurled over the precipice into the +sea. + +On this occasion as many Moors as Jews had been thrown from the path; +but it had pleased the former to give the spot the name of the "Jew's +Leap," which it still bears. + +Before venturing upon this dangerous road, Rais Mourad was careful to +see that no one was coming from the opposite direction. + +After shouting at the top of his voice, and hearing no reply, he led the +way, bidding his followers to trust more to their animals than to +themselves. + +As the white slaves entered on the pass, two Moors were left behind to +follow them, and when all had proceeded a short distance along the +ledge, the horse ridden by Harry Blount became frightened. It was a +young animal, and having been reared on the plains of the desert, was +unused to mountain-road. + +While the other horses were walking along very cautiously, Harry's steed +suddenly stopped, and refused to go any farther. + +In such a place a rider has good cause to be alarmed at any eccentricity +of behavior in the animal he bestrides, and Harry was just preparing to +dismount, when the animal commenced making a retrograde movement, as if +determined to turn about. + +Harry was behind his companions, and closely followed by one of the +Moors. The latter becoming alarmed for his own safety, struck the young +Englishman's horse a blow with his musket to make it move forward. + +The next instant the hind legs of the refractory animal were over the +edge of the precipice, and its body, with the weight of its rider +clinging to his neck, was about evenly balanced as on the brink. The +horse made a violent struggle to avoid going over, with its nose and +fore feet laid close along the path, and vainly striving to regain the +position from which it had so imprudently parted. + +At this moment its rider determined to make a desperate exertion for his +life. + +Seizing the horse by the ears, and drawing himself up, he placed one +foot on the brink of the precipice, and then sprang clear over the +horse's head, just as the animal relinquished its hold! In another +instant the unfortunate quadruped was precipitated into the sea, its +body striking the water with a dull plunge, as if the life had already +gone out of it. + +The remainder of the ledge was traversed without any difficulty; and +after all had got safely over, Harry's companions were loud in +congratulating him upon his narrow escape. + +The youth remained silent. + +His soul was too full of gratitude to God to give any heed to the words +of man. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIV. + +CONCLUSION. + + +On the evening of the second day after passing the Jew's Leap, Rais +Mourad, with his following, reached the city of Mogador; but too late to +enter its gates, which were closed for the night. + +For a great part of the night, Harry, Colin, and Sailor Bill were unable +to sleep. + +They were kept awake by the memory of the sufferings they had endured in +slavery, but more by the anticipation of liberty, which they believed to +be now near. + +They arose with the sun call, impatient to enter the city, and learn +their fate. Rais Mourad, knowing that no business could be done until +three or four hours later, would not permit them to pass into the gate. + +For three hours they waited with the greatest impatience. So strongly +had their minds been elated with the prospect of getting free, that the +delay was creating the opposite extreme of despair, when they were again +elated at the sight of Rais Mourad returning to them. + +Giving the command to his followers, he led the way into the city. + +After passing through several narrow streets, on turning a corner, they +saw waving over the roof of one of the houses a sight that filled them +with joy inexpressible. It was the flag of Old England! + +It indicated the residence of the English consul. On seeing it all three +gave forth a loud simultaneous cheer, and hastened forward, in the midst +of a crowd of Moorish men, women, and children. + +Rais Mourad knocked at the gate of the consulate, which was opened; and +the white slaves were ushered into the court-yard. At the same instant +two individuals came running forth from the house. They were Terence and +Jim! + +A fine looking man about fifty years of age, now stepped forward; and +taking Harry and Colin by the hand, congratulated them on the certainty +of soon recovering their liberty. + +The presence of Terence and Jim in the consulate at Mogador, was soon +explained. The Arab grazier, after buying them, had started immediately +for Swearah, taking his slaves with him. On bringing them to the English +consul he was paid a ransom, and they were at once set free. At the same +time he had given his promise to purchase the other slaves and bring +them to Mogador. + +The consul made no hesitation in paying the price that had been promised +for Harry, Colin, and Bill; but he did not consider himself justified in +expending the money of his government in the redemption of the Krooman, +who was not an English subject. + +The poor fellow was overwhelmed with despair at the prospect of being +restored to a life of slavery. + +His old companions in misfortune could not remain tranquil spectators of +his grief. They promised he should be free. Each of the middies had +wealthy friends on whom he could draw for money, and they were in hopes +that some English merchant in the city would advance the amount. + +They were not disappointed. On the very next day the Krooman's +difficulty was settled to his satisfaction. + +The consul having mentioned his case to several foreign merchants, a +subscription-list was opened, and the amount necessary to the purchase +of his freedom was easily obtained. + +The three mids were furnished with plenty of everything they required, +and only waited the arrival of some English ship to carry them back to +the shores of their native land. + +They had not long to wait; for shortly after, the tall masts of a +British man-of-war threw their shadows athwart the waters of Mogador +Bay. + +The three middies were once more installed in quarters that befitted +them: while Sailor Bill and his brother, as well as their Krooman +comrade, found a welcome in the forecastle of the man-of-war. + +All three of the young officers rose to rank and distinction in the +naval service of their country. It was their good fortune often to come +in contact with each other, and talk laughingly of that terrible time, +no longer viewed with dread or aversion, when all three of them were +serving their apprenticeship as Boy Slaves in the Saaera. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Slaves, by Mayne Reid + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SLAVES *** + +***** This file should be named 31410.txt or 31410.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/4/1/31410/ + +Produced by Mary Meehan and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +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. 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