“What is this?” exclaimed Stas. “Nell, Nell! Look!”
Nell rose, and for a time was silent with astonishment, but after a while began to cry with joy:
“Medinet! to papa! to papa!”
And Stas turned pale from emotion.
“Truly — Perhaps that is Kharga — But no! That is Medinet perhaps — I recognize the minaret and even see the windmills above the wells—”
In fact, in the distance the highly elevated American windmills resembling great white stars, actually glistened. On the verdant background of the trees they could be seen so perfectly that Stas’ keen sight could distinguish the borders of the vanes painted red.
“That is Medinet!—”
Stas knew from books and narratives that there were on the desert phantasms known as “fata morgana” and that sometimes travelers happen to see oases, cities, tufts of trees and lakes, which are nothing more than an illusion, a play of light, and a reflection of real distant objects. But this time the phenomenon was so distinct, so well-nigh palpable that he could not doubt that he saw the real Medinet. There was the turret upon the Mudir’s house, there the circular balcony near the summit of the minaret from which the muezzin called to prayers, there that familiar group of trees, and particularly those windmills. No, — that must be the reality. It occurred to the boy that the Sudânese, reflecting upon their situation, had come to the conclusion that they could not escape and, without saying anything to him, had turned back to Fayûm. But their calmness suggested to him the first doubts. If that really was Fayûm, would they gaze upon it so indifferently? They, of course, saw the phenomenon and pointed it out to each other with their fingers, but on their faces could not be seen the least perplexity or emotion. Stas gazed yet once more and perhaps this indifference of the Arabs caused the picture to seem fainter to him. He also thought that, if in truth they were returning, the caravan would be grouped together, and the men, though only from fear, would ride in a body. But, in the meanwhile, the Bedouins, who, by Idris’ order, for the past few days drove considerably in advance, could not be seen at all; while Chamis, riding as a rear guard, appeared at a distance not greater than the vulture lying on the ground.
“Fata Morgana,” said Stas to himself.
In the meantime Idris approached him and shouted:
“Heigh! Speed your camel! You see Medinet!”
He evidently spoke jokingly and there was so much spite in his voice that the last hope that the real Medinet was before him vanished in the boy’s heart.
And with sorrow in his heart he turned to Nell to dispel her delusion, when unexpectedly an incident occurred which drew the attention of all in another direction.
At first a Bedouin appeared, running towards them at full speed and brandishing from afar a long Arabian rifle which no one in the caravan possessed before that time. Reaching Idris, he exchanged a few hurried words with him, after which the caravan turned precipitately into the interior of the desert. But, after a time, the other Bedouin appeared leading by a rope a fat she-camel, with a saddle on its hump and leather bags hanging on its sides. A short conversation commenced, of which Stas could not catch a word. The caravan in full speed made for the west. It halted only when they chanced upon a narrow khor full of rocks scattered in wild disorder, and of fissures and caverns. One of these was so spacious that the Sudânese hid the people and camels in it. Stas, although he conjectured more or less what had happened, lay beside Idris and pretended to sleep, hoping that the Arabs, who thus far had exchanged but a few words about the occurrence, would now begin to speak about it. In fact, his hope was not disappointed, for immediately after pouring out fodder for the camels, the Bedouins and the Sudânese with Chamis sat down for a consultation.
“Henceforth we can ride only in the night; in the daytime we will have to hide!” spoke out the one-eyed Bedouin. “There will be many khors now and in each one of them we will find a safe hiding-place.”
“Are you sure that he was a sentinel?” asked Idris.
“Allah! We spoke with him. Luckily there was only one. He stood hidden by a rock, so that we could not see him, but we heard from a distance the cry of his camel. Then we slackened our speed and rode up so quietly that he saw us only when we were a few paces away. He became very frightened and wanted to aim his rifle at us. If he had fired, though he might not have killed any of us, the other sentinels would have heard the shot; so, as hurriedly as possible, I yelled to him: ‘Halt! we are pursuing men who kidnapped two white children, and soon the whole pursuit will be here!’ The boy was young and foolish, so he believed us; only he ordered us to swear on the Koran that such was the case. We got off our camels and swore—”
“The Mahdi will absolve us—”
“And bless you,” said Idris. “Speak! what did you do afterwards?”
“Now,” continued the Bedouin, “when we swore, I said to the boy: ‘But who can vouch that you yourself do not belong to the outlaws who are running away with the white children, and whether they did not leave you here to hold back the pursuit?’ And I ordered him also to take an oath. To this he assented and this caused him to believe us all the more. We began to ask him whether any orders had come over the copper wire to the sheiks and whether a pursuit was organized. He replied: ‘Yes!’ and told us that a great reward was offered, and that all khors at a two days’ distance from the river were guarded, and that the great ‘baburs’ (steamers), with Englishmen and troops are continually floating over the river.”
“Neither the ‘baburs’ nor the troops can avail against the might of Allah and the prophet—”
“May it be as you say!”
“Tell us how you finished with the boy?”
The one-eyed Bedouin pointed at his companion.
“Abu-Anga,” he said, “asked him whether there was not another sentinel near-by, and the sentinel replied that there was not; then Abu-Anga thrust his knife into the sentinel’s throat so suddenly that he did not utter a word. We threw him into a deep cleft and covered him with stones and thorns. In the village they will think that he ran away to the Mahdi, for he told us that this does happen.”
“May God bless those who run away as he blessed you,” answered Idris.
“Yes! He did bless us,” retorted Abu-Anga, “for we now know that we will have to keep at a three days’ distance from the river, and besides we captured a rifle which we needed and a milch she-camel.”
“The gourds,” added the one-eyed, “are filled with water and there is considerable millet in the sacks; but we found but little powder.”
“Chamis is carrying a few hundred cartridges for the white boy’s rifle, from which we cannot shoot. Powder is always the same and can be used in ours.”
Saying this, Idris nevertheless pondered, and heavy anxiety was reflected in his dark face, for he understood that when once a corpse had fallen to the ground, Stas’ intercession would not secure immunity for them from trial and punishment, if they should fall into the hands of the Egyptian Government.
Stas listened with palpitating heart and strained attention. In that conversation there were some comforting things, especially that a pursuit was organized, that a reward was offered, and that the sheiks of the tribes on the river banks had received orders to detain caravans going southward. The boy was comforted also by the intelligence about steamers filled with English troops plying on the upper river. The dervishes of the Mahdi might cope with the Egyptian army and even defeat it, but it was an entirely different matter with English people, and Stas did not doubt for a moment that the first battle would result in the total rout of the savage multitude. So, with comfort in his soul, he soliloquized thus: “Even though they wish to bring us to the Mahdi, it may happen that before we reach his camp there will not be any Mahdi or his dervishes.” But this solace was embittered by the thought that in such case there awaited them whole weeks of travel, which in the end must exhaust Nell’s strength, and during all this time they would be forced to remain in the company of k
naves and murderers. At the recollection of that young Arab, whom the Bedouins had butchered like a lamb, fear and sorrow beset Stas. He decided not to speak of it to Nell in order not to frighten her and augment the sorrow she felt after the disappearance of the illusory picture of the oasis of Fayûm and the city of Medinet. He saw before their arrival at the ravine that tears were involuntarily surging to her eyes; therefore, when he had learned everything which he wished to know from the Bedouins’ narratives, he pretended to awake and walked towards her. She sat in a corner near Dinah, eating dates, moistened a little with her tears. But seeing Stas, she recollected that not long before he declared that her conduct was worthy of a person of at least thirteen years; so, not desiring to appear again as a child, she bit the kernel of a date with the full strength of her little teeth, so as to suppress her sobs.
“Nell,” said the boy, “Medinet — that was an illusion, but I know for a certainty that we are being pursued; so don’t grieve, and don’t cry.”
At this the little girl raised towards him her tearful pupils and replied in a broken voice:
“No, Stas — I do not want to cry — only my eyes — perspire so.”
But at that moment her chin began to quiver; from under her closed eyelashes big tears gushed and she wept in earnest.
However, as she was ashamed of her tears and expected a rebuke for them from Stas, a little from shame and a little from fear she hid her head on his bosom, wetting his clothes copiously.
But he at once consoled her.
“Nell, don’t be a fountain. You saw that they took away from some Arab a rifle and a she-camel. Do you know what that means? It means that the desert is full of soldiers. Once these wretches succeeded in trapping a sentinel, but the next time they themselves will get caught. A large number of steamboats are plying over the Nile also — Why, of course, Nell, we will return. We will return, and in a steamer to boot. Don’t be afraid.”
And he would have comforted her further in this manner, were not his attention attracted by a strange sound coming from the outside, from the sand-drifts, which the hurricane blew onto the bottom of the ravine. It was something resembling the thin, metallic notes of a reed pipe. Stas broke off the conversation and began to listen. After a while these very thin and mournful sounds came from many sides simultaneously. Through the boy’s mind the thought flashed that these might be Arabian guards surrounding the ravine and summoning aid with whistles. His heart began to beat. He glanced once and again at the Sudânese, hoping that he would behold consternation on their faces; but no! Idris, Gebhr and the two Bedouins calmly chewed biscuits, only Chamis appeared a little surprised. The sounds continued. After a while Idris rose and looked out of the cavern; returning, he stopped near the children, and said:
“The sands are beginning to sing.”
Stas’ curiosity was so aroused that he forgot that he had determined not to speak to Idris any more and asked:
“Sands? What does it mean?”
“It happens thus, and means that for a long time there will be no rain. But the heat will not distress us, since as far as Assuan we will ride only during the night.”
And no more could be learned from him. Stas and Nell listened long to these peculiar sounds which continued until the sun descended in the west, after which night fell and the caravan started on its further journey.
XIII
In the daytime they hid in places concealed and difficult of access, amid rocks and chasms, and during the night they hurried, without respite, until they passed the First Cataract. When finally the Bedouins discerned from the situation and form of the khors that Assuan was behind them, a great burden fell off Idris’ breast. As they suffered already from want of water they drew nearer to the river a half day’s distance. There Idris, concealing the caravan, sent all the camels with the Bedouins to the Nile in order to water them well and for a longer time. Beyond Assuan the fertile belt along the river was narrower. In some places the desert reached the river; the villages lay at a considerable distance from each other. The Bedouins, therefore, returned successfully, unseen by any one, with a considerable supply of water. It was necessary now to think of provisions. As the animals had been fed sparingly during the past week they grew lean; their necks lengthened, their humps sank, and their legs became weak. The durra and the supplies for the people, with the greatest stint, would suffice for two days more. Idris thought, however, that they might, if not during daytime then at night, approach the pastures on the river banks and perhaps buy biscuits and dates in some village. Saba already was given nothing at all to eat or drink, and the children hid leavings of food for him, but he somehow managed to take care of himself and came running to the stopping places with bleeding jaws and marks of bites on his neck and breast. Whether the victim of these fights was a jackal, or a hyena, or perhaps a desert fox or a gazelle no one knew; it was enough that there were no signs of great hunger on him. At times also his black lips were moist as if he drank. The Bedouins surmised that he must have dug deep holes at the bottom of the ravines, and in this manner reached water which he scented under the ground. In this manner travelers who get lost dig the bottoms of chasms and, if they do not often find water, they almost always reach damp sand and, sucking it, cheat in this way the pangs of thirst. In Saba, however, considerable changes took place. He still had a powerful breast and neck, but his sides were sunken, through which he appeared taller. In his eyes, about the reddened whites, there was now something savage and threatening. To Nell and to Stas he was as attached as previously and permitted them to do with him whatever they pleased. He still at times wagged his tail at Chamis, but he growled at the Bedouins and Sudânese or snapped with his terrible teeth, which at such times clashed against each other like steel nails. Idris and Gebhr plainly began to fear and hate him to the extent that they would have killed him with the captured rifle, were it not that they desired to bring this extraordinary animal to Smain, and were it not also that they had already passed Assuan.
They had passed Assuan! Stas thought of this continually, and doubt that the pursuit would ever overtake them stole gradually into his soul. He knew, indeed, that not only Egypt proper, which ends at Wâdi Haifa, that is, at the Second Cataract, but the whole of Nubia was up to that time in the hands of the Egyptian Government, but he also understood that beyond Assuan and particularly Wâdi Haifa the pursuit would be more difficult and the commands of the Government would be executed carelessly. His only hope was that his father with Mr. Rawlinson, after making arrangements for the pursuit from Fayûm, would go to Wâdi Haifa by steamer, and there securing troops of the camel-corps, would endeavor to intercept the caravan from the south. The boy reasoned that if he were in their place he would do just this, and for that reason he assumed that his supposition was very probable.
He did not, however, abandon the thought of a rescue on his own account. The Sudânese wanted to have powder for the captured rifle and with this object decided to disjoin a score of the rifle cartridges, so he told them that he alone was able to do that, and that if any one of them should undertake the task unskilfully, the cartridge would explode in his fingers and tear off his hands. Idris, fearing English inventions and unknown things generally, determined finally to entrust the boy with this undertaking. Stas went at it willingly, hoping in the first place that the powerful English powder at the first shot would burst the old Arabian rifle to pieces, and, again, that he might be able to hide a few cartridges. In fact, he succeeded more easily than he expected. Apparently they watched him at the work, but the Arabs began at once to talk among themselves and soon they were more occupied with their conversation than with their supervision. Finally this loquacity and inbred carelessness permitted Stas to conceal in his bosom seven cartridges. Now all that was necessary was to secure the rifle.
The boy judged that beyond Wâdi Haifa, the Second Cataract, this would not be a very difficult matter as he foresaw that as they drew nearer to their destination the Arabs’ vigilance would relax. The tho
ught that he would have to kill the Sudânese, the Bedouins, and even Chamis, always caused him to shudder, but after the murder which the Bedouins had committed, he did not have any scruples. He said to himself that the defense, liberty, and life of Nell were involved, and in view of this the lives of his adversaries did not deserve any consideration, especially if they did not surrender and it came to a fight.
But he was anxious about the short rifle. Stas resolved to secure it by stratagem, whenever the opportunity presented itself, and not to wait until they reached Wâdi Haifa, but perform the deed as soon as possible.
Accordingly he did not wait.
Two days had elapsed since they passed Assuan, and Idris finally at the dawn of the third day was forced to despatch the Bedouins for provisions, which were totally lacking. In view of the diminished number of adversaries Stas said to himself: “Now or never!” and immediately turned to the Sudânese with the following question:
“Idris, do you know that the country which begins not far beyond Wâdi Haifa is really Nubia?”
“I know. I was fifteen years old and Gebhr eight, when my father took us from the Sudân to Fayûm, and I remember that we rode at that time on camels over the whole of Nubia. But this country belongs still to the Turks (Egyptians).”
“Yes. The Mahdi is only before Khartûm and you see how foolishly Chamis chattered when he told you that the army of dervishes reached as far as Assuan. However, I shall ask you something else. Now I have read that in Nubia there are many wild animals and many brigands who do not serve any one and who attack alike the Egyptians and the faithful Mahdists. With what will you defend yourself, if wild animals or brigands attack you?”
Complete Works of Henryk Sienkiewicz Page 625