CHAPTER VI
HOW WE ESCAPED FROM HARMAC
As finally arranged this was the order of our march: First went an Abatiguide who was said to be conversant with every inch of the way. Thencame Orme and Sergeant Quick, conducting the camels that were loadedwith the explosives. I followed in order to keep an eye upon theseprecious beasts and those in charge of them. Next marched some morecamels, carrying our baggage, provisions, and sundries, and finally inthe rear were the Professor and Shadrach with two Abati.
Shadrach, I should explain, had selected this situation for the reason,as he said, that if he went first, after what had passed, any mistake oruntoward occurrence might be set down to his malice, whereas, if he werebehind, he could not be thus slandered. On hearing this, Higgs, who isa generous soul, insisted upon showing his confidence in the virtue ofShadrach by accompanying him as a rearguard. So violently did he insist,and so flattered did Shadrach seem to be by this mark of faith, thatOrme, who, I should say, if I have not already done so, was in solecommand of the party now that hostilities were in the air, consented tothe plan, if with evident reluctance.
As I know, his own view was that it would be best for us four Englishmento remain together, although, if we did so, whatever position we chose,it would be impossible for us in that darkness to keep touch with theline of camels and their loads, which were almost as important to us asour lives. At least, having made up our minds to deliver them in Mur, wethought that they were important, perhaps because it is the fashionof the Anglo-Saxon race to put even a self-created idea of duty beforepersonal safety or convenience.
Rightly or wrongly, so things were settled, for in such troublousconditions one can only do what seems best at the moment. Criticismsubsequent to the event is always easy, as many an unlucky commander hasfound out when the issue went awry, but in emergency one must decide onsomething.
The sun set, the darkness fell, and it began to rain and blow. Westarted quite unobserved, so far as we could tell, and, travellingdownward from the overgrown, ruined town, gained the old road, and incomplete silence, for the feet of camels make no noise, passed along ittoward the lights of Harmac, which now and again, when the storm-cloudslifted, we saw glimmering in front of us and somewhat to our left.
In all my long wanderings I cannot remember a more exciting or a moredisagreeable journey. The blackness, relieved only from time to time bydistant lightnings, was that of the plagues of Egypt; the driving rainworked through the openings of our camel-hair cloaks and the waterproofswe wore underneath them, and wet us through. The cold, damp wind chilledus to the bone, enervated as we were with the heat of the desert.But these discomforts, and they were serious enough, we forgot in thetremendous issue of the enterprise. Should we win through to Mur? Or, asa crown to our many labours and sufferings, should we perish presentlyon the road? That was the question; as I can assure the reader, one thatwe found very urgent and interesting.
Three hours had gone by. Now we were opposite to the lights of Harmac,also to other lights that shone up a valley in the mountain to ourright. As yet everything was well; for this we knew by the wordswhispered up and down the line.
Then of a sudden, in front of us a light flashed, although as yet itwas a long way off. Next came another whispered message of "Halt!" So wehalted, and presently one of the front guides crept back, informing usthat a body of Fung cavalry had appeared upon the road ahead. We tookcounsel. Shadrach arrived from the rear, and said that if we waitedawhile they might go away, as he thought that their presence must beaccidental and connected with the great festival. He implored us to bequite silent. Accordingly, not knowing what to do, we waited.
Now I think I have forgotten to say that the dog Pharaoh, to preventaccidents, occupied a big basket; this basket, in which he often rodewhen tired, being fixed upon one side of Orme's camel. Here he laypeaceably enough until, in an unlucky moment, Shadrach left me to goforward to talk to the Captain, whereon, smelling his enemy, Pharaohburst out into furious baying. After that everything was confusion.Shadrach darted back toward the rear. The light ahead began to movequickly, advancing toward us. The front camels left the road, as Ipresume, following their leader according to the custom of these beastswhen marching in line.
Presently, I know not how, Orme, Quick, and myself found ourselvestogether in the darkness; at the time we thought Higgs was with us also,but in this we were mistaken. We heard shoutings and strange voicesspeaking a language that we could not understand. By the sudden glare ofa flash of lightning, for the thunderstorm was now travelling overus, we saw several things. One of these was the Professor'sriding-dromedary, which could not be mistaken because of its pure whitecolour and queer method of holding its head to one side, passing withinten yards, between us and the road, having a man upon its back whoevidently was not the Professor. Then it was that we discovered hisabsence and feared the worst.
"A Fung has got his camel," I said.
"No," answered Quick; "Shadrach has got it. I saw his ugly mug againstthe light."
Another vision was that of what appeared to be our baggage camels movingswiftly away from us, but off the road which was occupied by a body ofhorsemen in white robes. Orme issued a brief order to the effect that wewere to follow the camels with which the Professor might be. We startedto obey, but before we had covered twenty yards of the cornfield orwhatever it was in which we were standing, heard voices ahead that werenot those of Abati. Evidently the flash which showed the Fung to us haddone them a like service, and they were now advancing to kill or captureus.
There was only one thing to do--turn and fly--and this we did, headingwhither we knew not, but managing to keep touch of each other.
About a quarter of an hour later, just as we were entering a grove ofpalms or other trees which hid everything in front of us, the lightningblazed again, though much more faintly, for by this time the storm hadpassed over the Mountains of Mur, leaving heavy rain behind it. By theflash I, who was riding last and, as it chanced, looking back over myshoulder, saw that the Fung horsemen were not fifty yards behind, andhunting for us everywhere, their line being extended over a long front.I was, however, sure that they had not yet caught sight of us in thedense shadow of the trees.
"Get on," I said to the others; "they will be here presently," and heardQuick add:
"Give your camel his head, Captain; he can see in the dark, and perhapswill take us back to the road."
Orme acted on this suggestion, which, as the blackness round us waspitchy, seemed a good one. At any rate it answered, for off we went at afair pace, the three camels marching in line, first over soft groundand afterwards on a road. Presently I thought that the rain had stopped,since for a few seconds none fell on us, but concluded from the echo ofthe camels' feet and its recommencement that we had passed under somearchway. On we went, and at length even through the gloom and rain I sawobjects that looked like houses, though if so there were no lights inthem, perhaps because the night drew toward morning. A dreadful ideastruck me: we might be in Harmac! I passed it up for what it was worth.
"Very likely," whispered Orme back. "Perhaps these camels were bredhere, and are looking for their stables. Well, there is only one thingto do--go on."
So we went on for a long while, only interfered with by the occasionalattentions of some barking dog. Luckily of these Pharaoh, in his basket,took no heed, probably because it was his habit if another dog barked athim to pretend complete indifference until it came so near that hecould spring and fight, or kill it. At length we appeared to pass underanother archway, after which, a hundred and fifty yards or so furtheron, the camels came to a sudden stop. Quick dismounted, and presently Iheard him say:
"Doors. Can feel the brasswork on them. Tower above, I think, and wallon either side. Seem to be in a trap. Best stop here till light comes.Nothing else to be done."
Accordingly, we stopped, and, having tied the camels to each other toprevent their straying, took shelter from the rain under the tower orwhatever it might be. To pass away t
he time and keep life in us, for wewere almost frozen with the wet and cold, we ate some tinned food andbiscuits that we carried in our saddle-bags, and drank a dram of brandyfrom Quick's flask. This warmed us a little, though I do not think thata bottleful would have raised our spirits. Higgs, whom we all loved, wasgone, dead, probably, by that time; the Abati had lost or desertedus, and we three white men appeared to have wandered into a savagestronghold, where, as soon as we were seen, we should be trapped likebirds in a net, and butchered at our captor's will. Certainly theposition was not cheerful.
Overwhelmed with physical and mental misery, I began to doze; Orme grewsilent, and the Sergeant, having remarked that there was no need tobother, since what must be must be, consoled himself in a corner byhumming over and over again the verse of the hymn which begins:
"There is a blessed home beyond this land of woe, Where trials never come nor tears of sorrow flow."
Fortunately for us, shortly before dawn the "tears of sorrow" asrepresented by the rain ceased to flow. The sky cleared, showing thestars; suddenly the vault of heaven was suffused with a wonderful andpearly light, although on the earth the mist remained so thick that wecould see nothing. Then above this sea of mist rose the great ball ofthe sun, but still we could see nothing that was more than a few yardsaway from us.
"There is a blessed home beyond this land of woe"
droned Quick beneath his breath for about the fiftieth time, since,apparently, he knew no other hymn which he considered suitable to ourcircumstances, then ejaculated suddenly:
"Hullo! here's a stair. With your leave I'll go up it, Captain," and hedid.
A minute later we heard his voice calling us softly:
"Come here, gentlemen," he said, "and see something worth looking at."
So we scrambled up the steps, and, as I rather expected, found ourselvesupon the top of one of two towers set above an archway, which towerswere part of a great protective work outside the southern gates of acity that could be none other than Harmac. Soaring above the mist rosethe mighty cliffs of Mur that, almost exactly opposite to us, werepierced by a deep valley.
Into this valley the sunlight poured, revealing a wondrous andawe-inspiring object of which the base was surrounded by billowyvapours, a huge, couchant animal fashioned of black stone, with a headcarved to the likeness of that of a lion, and crowned with the _uraeus_,the asp-crested symbol of majesty in old Egypt. How big the creaturemight be it was impossible to say at that distance, for we were quite amile away from it; but it was evident that no other monolithicmonument that we had ever seen or heard of could approach its colossaldimensions.
Compared to this tremendous effigy indeed, the boasted Sphinx of Gizehseemed but a toy. It was no less than a small mountain of rock shaped bythe genius and patient labour of some departed race of men to the formof a lion-headed monster. Its majesty and awfulness set thus above therolling mists in the red light of the morning, reflected on it from thetowering precipices beyond, were literally indescribable; even in ourmiserable state, they oppressed and overcame us, so that for awhile wewere silent. Then we spoke, each after his own manner:
"The idol of the Fung!" said I. "No wonder that savages should take itfor a god."
"The greatest monolith in all the world," muttered Orme, "and Higgs isdead. Oh! if only he had lived to see it, he would have gone happy. Iwish it had been I who was taken; I wish it had been I!" and he wrunghis hands, for it is the nature of Oliver Orme always to think of othersbefore himself.
"That's what we have come to blow up," soliloquized Quick. "Well,those 'azure stinging-bees,' or whatever they call the stuff (he meantazo-imides) are pretty active, but it will take a lot of stirring ifever we get there. Seems a pity, too, for the old pussy is handsome inhis way."
"Come down," said Orme. "We must find out where we are; perhaps we canescape in the mist."
"One moment," I answered. "Do you see that?" and I pointed to aneedle-like rock that pierced the fog about a mile to the south of theidol valley, and say two miles from where we were. "That's the WhiteRock; it isn't white really, but the vultures roost on it and make itlook so. I have never seen it before, for I passed it in the night, butI know that it marks the beginning of the cleft which runs up to Mur;you remember, Shadrach told us so. Well, if we can get to that WhiteRock we have a chance of life."
Orme studied it hurriedly and repeated, "Come down; we may be seen uphere."
We descended and began our investigations in feverish haste. This wasthe sum of them: In the arch under the tower were set two great doorscovered with plates of copper or bronze beaten into curious shapes torepresent animals and men, and apparently very ancient. These huge doorshad grilles in them through which their defenders could peep out orshoot arrows. What seemed more important to us, however, was that theylacked locks, being secured only by thick bronze bolts and bars such aswe could undo.
"Let's clear out before the mist lifts," said Orme. "With luck we mayget to the pass."
We assented, and I ran to the camels that lay resting just outside thearch. Before I reached them, however, Quick called me back.
"Look through there, Doctor," he said, pointing to one of thepeep-holes.
I did so, and in the dense mist saw a body of horsemen advancing towardthe door.
They must have seen us on the top of the wall. "Fools that we were to gothere!" exclaimed Orme.
Next instant he started back, not a second too soon, for through thehole where his face had been, flashed a spear which struck the groundbeyond the archway. Also we heard other spears rattle upon the bronzeplates of the doors.
"No luck!" said Orme; "that's all up, they mean to break in. Now I thinkwe had better play a bold game. Got your rifles, Sergeant and Doctor?Yes? Then choose your loopholes, aim, and empty the magazines intothem. Don't waste a shot. For heaven's sake don't waste a shot.Now--one--two--three, fire!"
Fire we did into the dense mass of men who had dismounted and wererunning up to the doors to burst them open. At that distance we couldscarcely miss and the magazines of the repeating rifles held five shotsapiece. As the smoke cleared away I counted quite half-a-dozen Fungdown, while some others were staggering off, wounded. Also several ofthe men and horses beyond were struck by the bullets which had passedthrough the bodies of the fallen.
The effect of this murderous discharge was instantaneous and remarkable.Brave though the Fung might be, they were quite unaccustomed to magazinerifles. Living as they did perfectly isolated and surrounded by a greatriver, even if they had heard of such things and occasionally seen anold gaspipe musket that reached them in the course of trade, of modernguns and their terrible power they knew nothing. Small blame to them,therefore, if their courage evaporated in face of a form of suddendeath which to them must have been almost magical. At any rate they fledincontinently, leaving their dead and wounded on the ground.
Now again we thought of flight, which perhaps would have proved ourwisest course, but hesitated because we could not believe that the Funghad left the road clear, or done more than retreat a little to waitfor us. While we lost time thus the mist thinned a great deal, so muchindeed that we could see our exact position. In front of us, towards thecity side, lay a wide open space, whereof the walls ended againstthose of Harmac itself, to which they formed a kind of vestibule orantechamber set there to protect this gateway of the town through whichwe had ridden in the darkness, not knowing whither we went.
"Those inner doors are open," said Orme, nodding his head toward thegreat portals upon the farther side of the square. "Let's go see if wecan shut them. Otherwise we shan't hold this place long."
So we ran across to the further doors that were similar to those throughwhich we had just fired, only larger, and as we met nobody to interferewith our efforts, found that the united strength of the three of us wasjust, only just, sufficient to turn first one and then the other ofthem upon its hinges and work the various bolts and bars into theirrespective places. Two men could never have done the job, but being
three and fairly desperate we managed it. Then we retreated to ourarchway and, as nothing happened, took the opportunity to eat and drinka few mouthfuls, Quick remarking sagely that we might as well die uponfull as upon empty stomachs.
When we had crossed the square the fog was thinning rapidly, but as thesun rose, sucking the vapours from the rain-soaked earth, it thickenedagain for awhile.
"Sergeant," said Orme presently, "these black men are bound to attackus soon. Now is the time to lay a mine while they can't see what we areafter."
"I was just thinking the same thing, Captain; the sooner the better,"replied Quick. "Perhaps the Doctor will keep a watch here over thecamels, and if he sees any one stick up his head above the wall, hemight bid him good-morning. We know he is a nice shot, is the Doctor,"and he tapped my rifle.
I nodded and the two of them set out laden with wires and the packagesthat looked like tobacco tins, heading for a stone erection in thecentre of the square which resembled an altar, but was, I believe, arostrum whence the native auctioneers sold slaves and other merchandise.What they did there exactly, I am sure I do not know; indeed, I was toomuch occupied in keeping a watch upon the walls whereof I couldclearly see the crest above the mist, to pay much attention to theirproceedings.
Presently my vigilance was rewarded, for over the great gatewayopposite, at a distance of about a hundred and fifty paces from me,appeared some kind of a chieftain clad in white robes and wearing a veryfine turban or coloured head-dress, who paraded up and down, waving aspear defiantly and uttering loud shouts.
This man I covered very carefully, lying down to do so. As Quick hadsaid, I am a good rifle shot, having practised that art for many years;still, one may always miss, which, although I bore no personal grudgeagainst the poor fellow in the fine head-dress, on this occasion I didnot wish to do. The sudden and mysterious death of that savage would, Ifelt sure, produce a great effect among his people.
At length he stopped exactly over the door and began to execute a kindof war-dance, turning his head from time to time to yell out somethingto others on the farther side of the wall. This was my opportunity. Icovered him with as much care as though I were shooting at a target,with one bull's eye to win. Aiming a little low in case the rifle shouldthrow high, very gently I pressed the trigger. The cartridge exploded,the bullet went on its way, and the man on the wall stopped dancing andshouting and stood quite still. Clearly he had heard the shot or feltthe wind of the ball, but was untouched.
I worked the lever jerking out the empty case, preparatory to firingagain, but on looking up saw that there was no need, for the Fungcaptain was spinning round on his heels like a top. Three or four timeshe whirled thus with incredible rapidity, then suddenly threw his armswide, and dived headlong from the wall like a bather from a plank, butbackward, and was soon no more. Only from the farther side of thosegates arose a wail of wrath and consternation.
After this no other Fung appeared upon the wall, so I turned myattention to the spy-hole in the doors behind me, and seeing somehorsemen moving about at a distance of four or five hundred yards on arocky ridge where the mist did not lie, I opened fire on them and at thesecond shot was fortunate enough to knock a man out of the saddle. Oneof those with him, who must have been a brave fellow, instantly jumpeddown, threw him, dead or living, over the horse, leaped up behind him,and galloped away accompanied by the others, pursued by some probablyineffective bullets that I sent after them.
Now the road to the Pass of Mur seemed to be clear, and I regretted thatOrme and Quick were not with me to attempt escape. Indeed, I meditatedfetching or calling them, when suddenly I saw them returning, buryinga wire or wires in the sand as they came, and at the same time hearda noise of thunderous blows of which I could not mistake the meaning.Evidently the Fung were breaking down the farther bronze doors with somekind of battering-ram. I ran out to meet them and told my news.
"Well done," said Orme in a quiet voice. "Now, Sergeant, just join upthose wires to the battery, and be careful to screw them in tight. Youhave tested it, haven't you? Doctor, be good enough to unbar the gates.No, you can't do that alone; I'll help you presently. Look to the camelsand tighten the girths. These Fung will have the doors down in a minute,and then there will be no time to lose."
"What are you going to do?" I asked as I obeyed.
"Show them some fireworks, I hope. Bring the camels into the archwayso that they can't foul the wire with their feet. So--stand still, yougrumbling brutes! Now for these bolts. Heavens! how stiff they are. Iwonder why the Fung don't grease them. One door will do--never mind theother."
Labouring furiously we got it undone and ajar. So far as we could seethere was no one in sight beyond. Scared by our bullets or for otherreasons of their own, the guard there appeared to have moved away.
"Shall we take the risk and ride for it?" I suggested.
"No," answered Orme. "If we do, even supposing there are no Fung waitingbeyond the rise, those inside the town will soon catch us on their swifthorses. We must scare them before we bolt, and then those that are leftof them may let us alone. Now listen to me. When I give the word, youtwo take the camels outside and make them kneel about fifty yardsaway, not nearer, for I don't know the effective range of these newexplosives; it may be greater than I think. I shall wait until the Fungare well over the mine and then fire it, after which I hope to join you.If I don't, ride as hard as you can go to that White Rock, and if youreach Mur give my compliments to the Child of Kings, or whatever she iscalled, and say that although I have been prevented from waiting uponher, Sergeant Quick understands as much about picrates as I do. Alsoget Shadrach tried and hanged if he is guilty of Higgs's death. Poor oldHiggs! how he would have enjoyed this."
"Beg your pardon, Captain," said Quick, "but I'll stay with you. Thedoctor can see to the baggage animals."
"Will you be good enough to obey orders and fall to the rear when youare told, Sergeant? Now, no words. It is necessary for the purposes ofthis expedition that one of us two should try to keep a whole skin."
"Then, sir," pleaded Quick, "mayn't I take charge of the battery?"
"No," he answered sternly. "Ah! the doors are down at last," and hepointed to a horde of Fung, mounted and on foot, who poured through thegateway where they had stood, shouting after their fashion, and went on:"Now then, pick out the captains and pepper away. I want to keep themback a bit, so that they come on in a crowd, not scattered."
We took up our repeating rifles and did as Orme told us, and so densewas the mass of humanity opposite that if we missed one man, we hitanother, killing or wounding a number of them. The result of the loss ofseveral of their leaders, to say nothing of meaner folk, was justwhat Orme had foreseen. The Fung soldiers, instead of rushing onindependently, spread to right and left, until the whole farther side ofthe square filled up with thousands of them, a veritable sea of men, atwhich we pelted bullets as boys hurl stones at a wave.
At length the pressure of those behind thrust onward those in front,and the whole fierce, tumultuous mob began to flow forward across thesquare, a multitude bent on the destruction of three white men, armedwith these new and terrible weapons. It was a very strange and thrillingsight; never have I seen its like.
"Now," said Orme, "stop firing and do as I bid you. Kneel the camelsfifty yards outside the wall, not less, and wait till you know the end.If we shouldn't meet again, well, good-bye and good luck."
So we went, Quick literally weeping with shame and rage.
"Good Lord!" he exclaimed, "good Lord! to think that, after fourcampaigns, Samuel Quick, Sergeant of Engineers, with five medals, shouldlive to be sent off with the baggage like a pot-bellied bandmaster,leaving his captain to fight about three thousand niggers single-handed.Doctor, if he don't come out, you do the best you can for yourself, forI'm going back to stop with him, that's all. There, that's fifty paces;down you go, you ugly beasts," and he bumped his camel viciously on thehead with the butt of his rifle.
From where we had halted we could only see
through the archway into thespace beyond. By now the square looked like a great Sunday meeting inHyde Park, being filled up with men of whom the first rows were alreadypast the altar-like rostrum in its centre.
"Why don't he loose off them stinging-bees?" muttered Quick. "Oh! I seehis little game. Look," and he pointed to the figure of Orme, who hadcrept behind the unopened half of the door on our side of it and waslooking intently round its edge, holding the battery in his right hand."He wants to let them get nearer so as to make a bigger bag. He----"
I heard no more of Quick's remarks, for suddenly something like anearthquake took place, and the whole sky seemed to turn to one greatflame. I saw a length of the wall of the square rush outward and upward.I saw the shut half of the bronze-plated door skipping and hoppingplayfully toward us, and in front of it the figure of a man. Then itbegan to rain all sorts of things.
For instance, stones, none of which hit us, luckily, and other moreunpleasant objects. It is a strange experience to be knocked backwardby a dead fist separated from its parent body, yet on this occasion thisactually happened to me, and, what is more, the fist had a spear in it.The camels tried to rise and bolt, but they are phlegmatic brutes, and,as ours were tired as well, we succeeded in quieting them.
Whilst we were thus occupied somewhat automatically, for the shock haddazed us, the figure that had been propelled before the dancing doorarrived, reeling in a drunken fashion, and through the dust and falling_debris_ we knew it for that of Oliver Orme. His face was blackened, hisclothes were torn half off him, and blood from a scalp wound ran downhis brown hair. But in his right hand he still held the little electricbattery, and I knew at once that he had no limbs broken.
"Very successful mine," he said thickly. "Boer melinite shells aren'tin it with this new compound. Come on before the enemy recover from theshock," and he flung himself upon his camel.
In another minute we had started at a trot toward the White Rock, whilstfrom the city of Harmac behind us rose a wail of fear and misery. Wegained the top of the rise on which I had shot the horseman, and, asI expected, found that the Fung had posted a strong guard in the dipbeyond, out of reach of our bullets, in order to cut us off, shouldwe attempt to escape. Now, terrified by what had happened, to thema supernatural catastrophe, they were escaping themselves, for weperceived them galloping off to the left and right as fast as theirhorses would carry them.
So for awhile we went on unmolested, though not very quickly, because ofOrme's condition. When we had covered about half the distance between usand the White Rock, I looked round and became aware that we were beingpursued by a body of cavalry about a hundred strong, which I supposedhad emerged from some other gate of the city.
"Flog the animals," I shouted to Quick, "or they will catch us afterall."
He did so, and we advanced at a shambling gallop, the horsemen gainingon us every moment. Now I thought that all was over, especially when ofa sudden from behind the White Rock emerged a second squad of horsemen.
"Cut off!" I exclaimed.
"Suppose so, sir," answered Quick, "but these seem a different crowd."
I scanned them and saw that he was right. They were a very differentcrowd, for in front of them floated the Abati banner, which I could notmistake, having studied it when I was a guest of the tribe: acurious, triangular, green flag covered with golden Hebrew characters,surrounding the figure of Solomon seated on a throne. Moreover,immediately behind the banner in the midst of a bodyguard rode adelicately shaped woman clothed in pure white. It was the Child of Kingsherself!
Two more minutes and we were among them. I halted my camel and lookedround to see that the Fung cavalry were retreating. After the eventsof that morning clearly they had no stomach left for a fight with asuperior force.
The lady in white rode up to us.
"Greetings, friend," she exclaimed to me, for she knew me again at once."Now, who is captain among you?"
I pointed to the shattered Orme, who sat swaying on his camel with eyeshalf closed.
"Noble sir," she said, addressing him, "if you can, tell me what hashappened. I am Maqueda of the Abati, she who is named Child of Kings.Look at the symbol on my brow, and you will see that I speak truth,"and, throwing back her veil, she revealed the coronet of gold thatshowed her rank.
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