by G. A. Henty
As soon as a heavy French column entered this street fighting began in earnest. From roof and window a deadly fire was poured into them, bodies of men armed with sword and dagger rushed out of the narrow lanes and threw themselves on the flanks of the column. Many French soldiers were killed, but the bayonet did its work, and the assailants who had pierced the column fell to a man.
The blood of the French soldiers was now up. The sudden attack upon them, the killing of many of their comrades, and of several distinguished officers who had been caught riding unguardedly through the city, had exasperated them to a pitch of fury. They had been under arms all night, and the sight of many shops gutted, and their late inmates lying dead at their doorway or in the road, filled them with a thirst for vengeance, and they moved forward eagerly.
“Now it is our turn!” one of the Arab sheiks said sternly, then raising his war-cry he led the way down the street, followed by a hundred of his followers. Behind them rode Ben Ouafy, with Sidi and Edgar beside him, and his own band following closely. There was only room for eight men to ride abreast. Although their front ranks were swept away by the fire of the leading ranks of the French column, the Arabs charged with splendid bravery, but when within twenty paces of the column there was a sudden movement, the ranks opened, and two cannon loaded to the muzzle with grape poured a murderous discharge into them.
The effect was terrible. The greater portion of the band that led the charge was swept away; the others would have turned, but the Beni Ouafy were racing forward. “Charge,” the sheik cried, “before they can load again!”
“Forward, forward!” the Arabs’ war-cry pealed out loud and shrill from a hundred throats, and the whole then dashed down upon the French column. The leading ranks were cut down, the cannon were for the moment captured, and the Arabs pressed forward with shouts of victory; but the French in front, pressed upon by those behind, could retreat but a short distance. Those in front defended themselves with bayonet and clubbed muskets, those behind poured their fire into the Arabs, who, being raised above their comrades’ heads, offered an easy mark.
The road was speedily blocked with fallen men and horses, but the struggle continued until there was a movement from the French column, and pressing their way along, a number of soldiers dragged two more guns to the front. Then the head of the column opened sufficiently for the muzzles to project between those of the first line, and again the storm of grape swept the street. This was too much for the Arabs, and those who survived turned their horses and galloped back. The sheik and his party had just reached the French line, all in front of them having fallen, when the cannon poured their contents down the street. Edgar had caught sight of the guns just before, and uttered a warning shout.
“To the right, sheik, to the right!” while he himself, with a sharp pull at the bridle, caused his horse to wheel to the left, and thus when the guns were fired, their contents passed between Edgar and his two friends. The sheik gave a cry of dismay as he saw that the greater part of his followers were destroyed, and shouted to Sidi and Edgar to fly for their lives. Riding at a mad gallop they dashed along, but the bullets of the French pursued them vengefully, and half-way down the street Edgar felt a sudden sharp pain in his right arm, and at the same moment his horse gave a sudden spring and then rolled over. He was at the time somewhat in rear of the sheik and Sidi, and they were for the moment unaware of what happened to him. Fortunately the horse did not fall upon him, and in an instant he was upon his feet again.
Looking round he saw that he had fallen close to the open door of a shop with an Italian name over it; he ran into it. The shop had been completely ransacked, and three bodies, those of the proprietor and two lads, lay on the floor. There was no door leading out behind, and he ran up the stairs. The rooms were littered with the remains of the furniture and belongings. The bedding, curtains, and everything that could be of use to the spoilers were gone, but the European clothes, which could not be worn by them, were still about. The only windows looked into the street. There was no apparent means of escape; the only hope was in disguise. Tearing off his Arab garments and thrusting them into a cupboard, he threw on without a moment’s delay, trousers, a coat that buttoned up, and a pair of European shoes, thrust a cap on his head, and then ran downstairs again. Fortunately the column, after defeating its assailants, had paused for two or three minutes, while the soldiers broke into the houses from which they had been fired upon and slew all they found in them, and its head was still a hundred yards away when Edgar looked cautiously out. He had time to throw off his coat and to hastily bandage the wound in his arm, from which the blood had been streaming down; then as he heard the tramp of the advancing column he ran down to the door, and as the troops came up, waved his hand, danced as if for joy, and shouted a welcome in Italian, mingled with a few words of French, pouring at the same time a voluble string of maledictions on the ruffians who had killed his master and his two comrades. A mounted officer riding at the head of the column shouted to him to go in and to remain quiet, saying that there was no fear that he would be molested now. Edgar drew back a little, but remained at the door, sometimes shouting encouragement to the soldiers, sometimes apparently weeping convulsively, and acting as if half out of his mind with relief at his deliverance.
As soon as the column had passed he returned upstairs, bandaged his wound much more carefully than before, put on a shirt, and chose the best garments that he could find. All these had no doubt belonged to the proprietor, and he now went boldly out and followed the French column. These met with very slight resistance on their road towards the Mosque of Gama El Ashar. When they neared this spot they halted until the other columns should reach the point of attack. Before they had left the square General Gonmartin had moved round from Boulak with ten guns and taken post on the height near Fort Dupres, and at mid-day thirty guns from this fort and the citadel opened fire on the town. As it was known to the French that great numbers of the fugitives from the cemetery had fled to the mosque, where already a strong body of armed men were assembled, it was deemed imprudent to attack it until secure that there was no danger of a great mass of the insurgents falling upon them while so engaged.
Shells fell fast on the mosque, and fires broke out in several parts of the town. Edgar joined a group of several civilians, who, having either been hidden during the massacre or having escaped to the French lines, now came up, deeming that they would be safer near the troops than elsewhere. All had stories of hairbreadth escapes to relate, but, feigning not to be able to follow their narratives, Edgar, after a few words in Italian, joined the troops, who were engaged in eating the food that they had brought with them.
At three o’clock a tremendous roar of fire in the direction of Fort Dupres burst out, as some seven or eight thousand of the insurgents, among whom were a number of Arabs, poured out from the nearest gate to endeavour to carry the battery, while at the same moment a tremendous musketry fire from the minarets and roof of the Mosque of Hassan, and from the houses near the wall, was poured at the French artillerymen, to prevent them from working their guns upon their assailants. Gonmartin, however, had with him three battalions of infantry and 300 cavalry, and with these he charged the advancing crowd. The Arabs fought bravely, but were, for the most part, slain, and the insurgents, unable to stand the heavy volleys, followed by a bayonet charge of the infantry, fled back to the gate from which they had sallied out, 400 of them being taken prisoners and sent to the citadel.
A great number of the fugitives fled to the Mosque of Gama El Ashar, which was now crowded. Their reports of the disaster shook the courage of those already there, and when four columns of French infantry emerged simultaneously from the ends of as many streets, the fire opened upon them from the roof of the mosque was but feeble. Six guns were instantly placed commanding its gate, which was shattered after two or three rounds had been fired, and then, with a shout, the infantry rushed in and commenced the work of slaughter. This was terrible, no quarter was given, and some 6000 Mos
lems perished there, while 2000 had been killed in the previous fighting.
Satisfied with this terrible act of vengeance, the French troops were marched back to the square they had left in the morning, Bonaparte being sure that there would be no more rioting after the terrible lesson that had been taught the inhabitants. Late in the evening, indeed, the chief men waited upon him and implored mercy for the town. Several of them had been members of the council who directed the movement, but they represented that they had been compelled to act against their will, and Napoleon, satisfied that there would be no more troubles, pardoned them on condition of their at once issuing a proclamation condemning the rioters, and ordering all to return to their ordinary avocations, and to hand over to the authorities any who should preach mischief.
After the capture of the mosque, Edgar went down to the great square occupied by the French, and gathered from the talk of the officers there the result of the sortie. All agreed that the Arabs had fought bravely, and that few indeed had left the field alive. Edgar made his way out of the town by the Boulak gate, which was still open, and found the two Arabs still at the spot where he had left them when he and Sidi rode off to meet the chief at the Pyramids. They were full of excitement at the battle that had raged all day.
“I have bad news,” he said. “I rode with the sheik and his son against the French. My horse was killed, and I received a wound in the arm, but, as you see, I obtained a disguise, and have escaped without further harm. You heard that there was a great fight outside the walls?”
“Yes, my lord. Many men came running past here, and said that the French had beaten them.”
“I greatly fear,” Edgar went on, “that the sheik and his son took part in that fight. Many Arabs went out with those who attacked the battery, and I think it almost certain that the sheik and his son were among them. Most of the tribesmen were killed in the fight in which I was wounded. The sheik would have joined his countrymen, knowing that there would be no mercy shown the Arabs taken in the town. I hear that almost every one of those who rode out were killed, and I want you to come with me to search among the dead, for doubtless there are many wounded among them, and one or other may yet be alive. There will be a bright moon, and we shall have no difficulty in recognizing them. It will be necessary only to search among those in white.”
The two men were greatly moved at the thought of the fate of their chief, his son, and so many of their followers, and assented at once to his proposal.
“We must wait until it gets quite dark,” Edgar said. “Have you any food, for I am faint with hunger and loss of blood?”
After he had finished his meal, the horses were handed over by the Arabs to the care of one of their neighbours, with whom they had made acquaintance. The rough tent was pulled down in order that they might wrap the dark blankets over them to conceal their white clothing.
“You had better leave your pistols behind,” Edgar said, “but take your knives; we may come across some ruffians engaged in robbing the dead, and the knives may come in useful. I hope that, as is most likely, the French have sent down parties from the forts to watch the gates, so as to prevent any of the leaders in the trouble from making their escape; but some plunderers may well have come across from Old Cairo, so it is as well to be armed. Take your lances also, not for fighting, but to make a litter with, should we find either the chief or his son.”
The sun had set a short time before they started, but the moon would not rise for another hour, and they were unnoticed, or, at least, unquestioned as they went round towards Fort Dupres. Indeed, they encountered no one on the way. The din of battle had been succeeded by a dead silence, no sound was heard from the city, whose population were awe-stricken by the events of the day, and terrified by the expectation of further acts of vengeance by the French. Those in the suburbs had heard but vague rumours of the fighting in the streets and of the massacre at the mosque, but they had learned from fugitives of the defeat of the great sortie, and knew that the insurrection had been completely crushed. The moon was just rising when Edgar and his companions reached the spot between Fort Dupres and the city walls, where the fight had taken place.
The bodies lay thickly piled here at the spots where the struggle had been fiercest. For a time they found none save those of the men of the city, but after two hours’ search they came upon a number of Arabs, whose white garments showed up clearly in the moonlight. Lying among them were many bodies of French cavalrymen, showing that the Bedouins had sold their lives dearly. Body after body was carefully examined, a few were found to be still living, and as the Arabs had, at Edgar’s orders, brought water-skins with them, they were able to give some little aid to these. Presently they came to a spot where the bodies were more closely heaped than elsewhere and almost as many French as Arabs lay together.
“Now, search most carefully,” he whispered, “this is where the last stand was evidently made.”
The greatest caution was indeed necessary, for the fort lay a couple of hundred yards away, and the French sentries could be plainly made out against the sky-line as they marched backwards and forwards. Presently one of the Arabs uttered a low exclamation. Lying by the side of his dead horse, and surrounded by the bodies of five or six French cavalry-men, lay the sheik. His white dress was dabbled with blood, one side of his face was laid open by a sabre cut, and four or five patches of blood at various points of his dress pointed to the existence of other wounds. Edgar knelt beside him and placed his ear to his heart.
“Thank God, he still lives!” he exclaimed; “give me your water-skin; Hassan, lift his head.” Edgar poured a little water between the sheik’s lips, sprinkled some on his face, and then, tearing off a strip of his garment, brought together the edges of the wound in the face, from which blood was still slowly oozing, laid a wad of rag along it, and then bound it tightly with the bandage.
“We must see to the other wounds after we have got him away,” he said. “Now, Hassan, do you two bind one of those spare blankets to the shaft of the two spears, wind it round them until the sides are not more than three feet apart.”
While the men were doing this he continued to allow a few drops of water to trickle between the sheik’s lips. When the stretcher was ready it was laid on the ground beside him; he was gently lifted on to it, the cloak strapped to his horse’s saddle was placed under his head, and the other spare blanket thrown over him. Then the two Arabs lifted the ends of the spears on to their shoulders, and, led by Edgar, made their way from the scene of conflict. When they had gone half a mile they laid the sheik down.
“Do you stay here, Ali; pour a little water between his lips occasionally. Hassan and I will go back and look for Sidi.”
The sheik was lifted from the blanket, and Hassan, shouldering the litter, they returned at a rapid pace to the spot where they had found the sheik. They had already made a hasty search here before leaving, but without success, and now examined with the greatest care the body of every Arab who had fallen near the spot, for Edgar made sure that, unless he had been previously stricken down, Sidi would have fallen near his father. Again their hunt was unsuccessful. Then they widened their circle until after three hours’ search they became convinced that he was not among those who had fallen on the field, that he had either been killed in the city, made prisoner, or escaped altogether. When at last convinced that further search would be useless, they returned to the spot where they had left the sheik.
“He has opened his eyes,” Ali said, “and murmured two or three words, but I could not hear what he said.”
“There are hopes at any rate that he is not mortally wounded,” Edgar said. “Now let us go on again with him; do you two each take one of the spears at his head, I will take my place at his feet; we shall get on faster so.”
Bearing down towards the river, they reached, after an hour’s fast walking, a grove of palm-trees near a village.
“We will leave him here,” Edgar said; “it must be five miles from the town. The French will hav
e enough to do to-day without searching for wounded. Do you two stay with him. If he becomes sensible and wants anything, here is some money, and one of you can get food from the village, but beyond some fresh fruit to make him a cooling drink with, he is not likely to need anything. I shall return at once and enter the town by the Boulak gate as soon as it is open. I heard in the town that there were three or four hundred prisoners taken, and that they were confined in the citadel, and would be tried in the morning. The first thing to do is to find out if Sidi is among them, in which case I shall do all in my power to save him. Pour a little water over my hands, Ali. Wait a moment,” and he took up a double handful of the sandy soil, “now pour it on to this. I must get rid of these blood-stains.”
After a vigorous rubbing with the wet sand his hands were, as far as he could see in the moonlight, clean, and with a few last words to the men, he started back for the city. It was with difficulty that he made his way to the spot where the horses had been left. It had been a terrible twenty-four hours, with their excitements and emotions, and he had lost a good deal of blood from the flesh wound in his arm. The gray light was just stealing over the sky when he arrived there, and he threw himself down on a secluded spot a short distance from his old camping-ground, and slept for a couple of hours. Waking, he went to the hut, by the side of which the horses were tethered. He and Sidi had spoken several times to the man who lived there, and he possessed two donkeys which worked for hire in the city.
“You do not recognize me?” he said.
The man shook his head.
“I am one of the young Arabs who were staying in the little tent close by. You see I am in disguise. It was not safe to be in the city yesterday in Arab dress, nor is it to-day.”