by G. A. Henty
Chapter 17: A Fugitive.
"I do not suppose," the diary began, "that what I write here will everbe read. It seems to me that the chances are immeasurably against it.Still, there is a possibility that it may fall into the hands of someof my countrymen when, as will surely be the case, the Mahdi'srebellion is crushed and order restored; and I intend, so long as Ilive, to jot down from time to time what happens to me, in order thatthe only person living interested in me, my wife, may possibly,someday, get to know what my fate has been. Therefore, should thisscrap of paper, and other scraps that may follow it, be ever handed toone of my countrymen, I pray him to send it to Mrs. Hilliard, care ofthe manager of the Bank at Cairo.
"It may be that this, the first time I write, may be the last; and Itherefore, before all things, wish to send her my heart's love, to tellher that my last thoughts and my prayers will be for her, and that Ileave it entirely to her whether to return to England, in accordancewith the instructions I left her before leaving, or to remain in Cairo.
"It is now five days since the battle. It cannot be called a battle. Itwas not fighting; it was a massacre. The men, after three days'incessant fighting, were exhausted and worn out, half mad with thirst,half mutinous at being brought into the desert, as they said, to die.Thus, when the Dervishes rushed down in a mass, the defence was feeble.Almost before we knew what had happened, the enemy had burst in on oneside of the square. Then all was wild confusion--camels and Dervishes,flying Egyptians, screaming camp followers, were all mixed inconfusion.
"The other sides of the square were also attacked. Some of our men werefiring at those in their front, others turning round and shooting intothe crowded mass in the square. I was with a black regiment, on theside opposite to where they burst in. The white officer who had been incommand had fallen ill, and had been sent back, a few days after weleft Khartoum; and as I had been, for weeks before that, aiding him tothe best of my powers, and there were no other officers to spare, Hicksasked me to take his place. As I had done everything I could for thepoor fellows' comfort, on the march; they had come to like me, and toobey my orders as promptly as those of their former commander.
"As long as the other two sides of the square stood firm, I did so; butthey soon gave way. I saw Hicks, with his staff, charge into the midstof the Dervishes, and then lost sight of them. Seeing that all waslost, I called to my men to keep together, to march off in regularorder, and repel all assaults, as this was the only hope there was ofgetting free.
"They obeyed my orders splendidly. Two or three times the Dervishescharged upon them, but the blacks were as steady as rocks, and theirvolleys were so fatal that the enemy finally left us alone, preferringto aid in the slaughter of the panic-stricken Egyptians, and to sharethe spoil.
"We made for the wells. Each man drank his fill. Those who had waterbottles filled them. We then marched on towards El Obeid, but beforenightfall the Dervish horse had closed up round us. At daylight theirinfantry had also arrived, and fighting began.
"All day we held our position, killing great numbers, but losing manymen ourselves. By night, our water was exhausted. Then the soldiersoffered to attack the enemy, but they were twenty to one against us,and I said to them, 'No, fight one day longer, if we can hold on. TheDervishes may retire, or they may offer us terms.'
"So we stood. By the next evening, we had lost half our number. Afterthey had drawn off, one of the Dervish emirs came in with a white flag,and offered life to all who would surrender, and would wear the badgeof the Mahdi, and be his soldiers. I replied that an answer should begiven in the morning. When he had left, I gathered the men together.
"'You have fought nobly,' I said, 'but you have scarce a round ofammunition left. If we fight again tomorrow, we shall all beslaughtered. I thank you, in the name of the Khedive, for all that youhave done; but I do not urge you to reject the terms offered. Yourdeaths would not benefit the Khedive. As far as I am concerned, you arefree to accept the terms offered.'
"They talked for some time together, and then the three native officerswho were still alive came forward.
"'Bimbashi,' they said, 'what will be done about you? We are Mahometansand their countrymen, but you are a white man and a Christian. Youwould not fight for the Mahdi?'
"'No,' I said, 'I would not fight for him, nor would I gain my life, atthe price of being his slave. I wish you to settle the matter, withoutany reference to me. I will take my chance. I may not be here, in themorning. One man might escape, where many could not. All I ask is thatI may not be watched. If in the morning I am not here, you can all saythat I disappeared, and you do not know how. I do not, myself, knowwhat I am going to do yet.'
"They went away, and in a quarter of an hour returned, and said thatthe men would surrender. If they had water and ammunition, they wouldgo on fighting till the end; but as they had neither, they wouldsurrender.
"I felt that this was best. The Soudanese love battle, and would asreadily fight on one side as on the other. They have done their dutywell to the Khedive, and will doubtless fight as bravely for the Mahdi.
"The men lay in a square, as they had fought, with sentries placed towarn them, should the Dervishes make a night attack. British troopswould have been well-nigh maddened with thirst, after being twenty-fourhours without water, and fighting all day in the blazing sun, but theyfelt it little. They were thirsty, but in their desert marches they areaccustomed to thirst, and to hold on for a long time without water.
"I was better off, for I had drunk sparingly, the day before, from mywater bottle; and had still a draught left in it. I waited until Ithought that the men were all asleep; then I stripped, and stainedmyself from head to foot. I had carried stain with me, in case I mighthave to go out as a native, to obtain information. In my valise I had anative dress, and a native cloth, in which I could have passed as apeasant, but not as one of the Baggara. However, I put it on, passedthrough the sleeping men, and went up to a sentry.
"'You know me,' I said. 'I am your Bimbashi. I am going to try and getthrough their lines; but if it is known how I have escaped, I shall bepursued and slain. Will you swear to me that, if you are questioned,you will say you know nothing of my flight?'
"'I swear by the beard of the Prophet,' the man said. 'May Allahprotect you, my lord!'
"Then I went on. The night was fairly dark and, as the Dervishes werenearly half a mile away, I had no fear of being seen by them. Therewere many of their dead scattered about, seventy or eighty yards fromour square. I had, all along, felt convinced that it would beimpossible to pass through their lines; therefore I went to a spotwhere I had noticed that a number had fallen, close together, and wentabout examining them carefully. It would not have done to have chosenthe dress of an emir, as his body might have been examined, but theordinary dead would pass unnoticed.
"I first exchanged the robe for one marked with the Mahdi's patches. Itwas already smeared with blood. I then carried the body of the manwhose robe I had taken off, for some distance. I laid him down on hisface, thinking that the absence of the patches would not be seen. ThenI crawled some thirty or forty yards nearer to the Dervishes, so thatit would seem that I had strength to get that far, before dying. Then Ilay down, partly on my side, so that the patches would show, but withmy face downwards on my arm.
"I had, before dyeing my skin, cut my hair close to my head, on which Iplaced the Dervish's turban. The only property that I brought out withme was a revolver, and this pocketbook. Both of these I buried in thesand; the pocketbook a short distance away, the pistol lightly covered,and within reach of my hand, so that I could grasp it and sell my lifedearly, if discovered.
"Soon after daylight I heard the triumphant yells of the Dervishes, andknew that my men had surrendered. Then there was a rush of horse andfoot, and much shouting and talking. I lifted my head slightly, andlooked across. Not a Dervish was to be seen in front of me.
"I felt that I had better move, so, taking up my pistol and hiding it,I crawled on my hands and knees to the spot where
I had hidden thisbook; and then got up on to my feet, and staggered across the plain, asif sorely wounded, and scarcely able to drag my feet along. As I hadhoped, no one seemed to notice me, and I saw three or four otherfigures, also making their way painfully towards where the Dervisheshad encamped.
"Here were a few camels, standing untended. Everyone had joined in therush for booty--a rush to be met with bitter disappointment, for, withthe exception of the arms of the fallen, and what few valuables theymight have about their person, there was nothing to be gained. Idiverged from the line I had been following, kept on until there was adip in the ground, that would hide me from the sight of those behind;then I started to run, and at last threw myself down in the scrub, fouror five miles away from the point from which I had started.
"I was perfectly safe, for the present. The Dervishes were not likelyto search over miles of the desert, dotted as it was with thick bushes.The question was as to the future. My position was almost as bad ascould be. I was without food or water, and there were hundreds of milesof desert between me and Khartoum. At every water hole I should, almostcertainly, find parties of Dervishes.
"From time to time I lifted my head, and saw several large parties ofthe enemy, moving in the distance. They were evidently bound on ajourney, and were not thinking of looking for me. I chewed the sourleaves of the camel bush; and this, to some extent, alleviated mythirst.
"I determined at last that I would, in the first place, march to thewells towards which we had been pressing, when the Dervishes came up tous. They were nearly three miles south of the spot where the square hadstood. No doubt, Dervishes would be there; but, if discovered by them,it was better to die so than of thirst.
"Half an hour before the sun sank, I started. No horsemen were insight, and if any were to come along, I could see them long before theycould notice me. Knowing the general direction, I was fortunate enoughto get sight of the palm grove which surrounded the wells, beforedarkness set in.
"It lay about two miles away, and there were certainly moving objectsround it. I lay down until twilight had passed, and then went forward.When within two or three hundred yards of the grove, I lay down again,and waited. That the Dervishes would all go to sleep, however long Imight wait, was too much to hope for. They would be sure to sit andtalk, far into the night, of the events of the last three or four days.
"Shielding myself as well as I could, by the bushes, I crawled up untilI was in the midst of some camels, which were browsing. Here I stoodup, and then walked boldly into the grove. As I had expected, two orthree score of Dervishes were sitting in groups, talking gravely. Theyhad destroyed the Turks (as they always called the Egyptians, and theirinfidel white leaders), but had suffered heavily themselves. The threehundred Soudanese who had surrendered, and who had taken service withthe Mahdi, were but poor compensation for the losses they had suffered.
"'A year ago,' one old sheik said, 'I was the father of eight bravesons. Now they have all gone before me. Four of them fell in theassaults at El Obeid, two at Baria, and the last two have now beenkilled. I shall meet them all again, in the abode of the blessed; andthe sooner the better, for I have no one left to care for.'
"Others had tales of the loss of relations and friends, but I did notwait to listen further. Taking up a large water gourd, that stood emptyat the foot of one of the trees, I boldly walked to the well, descendedthe rough steps at the water's edge, and drank till I could drink nolonger; and then, filling the gourd, went up again.
"No one noticed me. Had they looked at me they would have seen, even inthe darkness, the great patches down the front of the robe; but I don'tthink anyone did notice me. Other figures were moving about, from groupto group, and I kept on through the grove, until beyond the trees. Icame out on the side opposite to that which I had entered, and, as Iexpected, found some of the Dervish horses grazing among the bushes.
"No guard was placed over them, as they were too well trained to wanderfar. I went out to them and chose the poorest, which happened to befarther among the bushes than the others. I had thought the matter wellover. If a good horse were taken, there would be furious pursuit, assoon as it was missed; and this might be soon, for the Arabs arepassionately fond of their favourite horses--more so than they are oftheir families. While I had been waiting at the edge of the wood, morethan one had come out to pat and fondle his horse, and give it ahandful of dates. But a poor animal would meet with no such attention,and the fact that he was missing was not likely to be discovered tilldaylight. Probably, no great search would be made for it. The otherswould ride on, and its owner might spend some hours in looking about,thinking it had strayed away, and was lying somewhere among the bushes.
"I had no thought of trying to return to Khartoum. The wells were farapart, and Dervish bands were certain to be moving along the line. Itseemed to me that El Obeid was the safest place to go to. True, it wasin the hands of the Mahdists, but doubtless many wounded would bemaking their way there. Some, doubtless, would have wives and children.Others might have come from distant villages, but these would all makefor the town, as the only place where they could find food, water, andshelter.
"Riding till morning, I let the horse graze, and threw myself downamong the bushes, intending to remain there until nightfall. In theafternoon, on waking from a long sleep, I sat up and saw, a quarter ofa mile away, a Dervish making his way along on foot, slowly andpainfully. This was the very chance I had hoped might occur. I got upat once, and walked towards him.
"'My friend is sorely wounded,' I said.
"'My journey is well-nigh ended,' he said. 'I had hoped to reach ElObeid, but I know that I shall not arrive at the well, which lies threemiles away. I have already fallen three times. The next will be thelast. Would that the bullet of the infidel had slain me, on the spot!'
"The poor fellow spoke with difficulty, so parched were his lips andswollen his tongue. I went to the bush, where I had left the gourd,half full of water. The man was still standing where I had left him,but when he saw the gourd in my hand he gave a little cry, and totteredfeebly towards me.
"'Let my friend drink,' I said. I held the gourd to his lips. 'Sip alittle, first,' I said. 'You can drink your fill, afterwards.'
"'Allah has sent you to save me,' he said; and after two or three gulpsof water, he drew back his head. 'Now I can rest till the sun has set,and then go forward as far as the well, and die there.'
"'Let me see your wound,' I said. 'It may be that I can relieve thepain, a little.'
"He had been shot through the body, and it was a marvel to me how hecould have walked so far; but the Arabs, like other wild creatures,have a wonderful tenacity of life. I aided him to the shelter of thethick bush, then I let him have another and longer drink, and bathedhis wound with water. Tearing off a strip from the bottom of his robe,I bound it round him, soaking it with water over the wound. He had beensuffering more from thirst than from pain, and he seemed stronger,already.
"'Now,' I said, 'you had better sleep.'
"'I have not slept since the last battle,' he said. 'I started as soonas it was dark enough for me to get up, without being seen by theTurks. I have been walking ever since, and dared not lie down. Atfirst, I hoped that I might get to the town where my wife lived, anddie in my own house. But that hope left me, as I grew weaker andweaker, and I have only prayed for strength enough to reach the well,to drink, and to die there.'
"'Sleep now,' I said. 'Be sure that I will not leave you. Is it not ourduty to help one another? When the heat is over, we may go on. I have ahorse, here, which you shall ride. How far is it from the well to ElObeid?'
"'It is four hours' journey, on foot.'
"'Good! Then you shall see your wife before morning. We will stop atthe well to give my horse a good drink; and then, if you feel wellenough to go on, we will not wait above an hour.'
"'May Allah bless you!' the man said, and he then closed his eyes, andat once went to sleep.
"I lay down beside him, but not to sleep. I was overjoyed w
ith my goodfortune. Now I could enter El Obeid boldly and, the wounded man being anative there, no questions would be asked me. I had a house to go to,and shelter, for the present.
"As to what might happen afterwards, I did not care to think. Some wayof escape would surely occur, in time. Once my position as a Mahdistwas fully established, I should be able to join any party going towardsKhartoum, and should avoid all questioning; whereas, if I were tojourney alone, I should be asked by every band I met where I came from;and might, at any moment, be detected, if there happened to be any fromthe village I should name as my abode. It was all important that thispoor fellow should live; until, at least, I had been with him two days,in the town.
"From time to time, I dipped a piece of rag in the gourd, squeezed afew drops of water between his lips, and then laid it on his forehead.When the sun began to get low, I went out and caught the horse. As Icame up, the Dervish opened his eyes.
"'I am better,' he said. 'You have restored me to life. My head iscool, and my lips no longer parched.'
"'Now,' I said, 'I will lift you into the saddle. You had better ridewith both legs on the same side. It will be better for your wound.There is a mound of earth, a few yards away. If you will stand up onthat, I can lift you into the saddle, easily. Now put your arms roundmy neck, and I will lift you in the standing position. If you try toget up, yourself, your wound might easily break out again.'
"I managed better than I had expected and, taking the bridle, led thehorse towards the well.
"'You must tell me the way,' I said, 'for I am a stranger in this part,having come from the Blue Nile.'
"'I know it perfectly,' he said, 'having been born in El Obeid. Ifought against the Mahdists, till we were starved out; and then, as weall saw that the power of the Mahdi was great, and that Allah was withhim, we did not hesitate to accept his terms, and to put on hisbadges.'
"In less than an hour, we saw the trees that marked the position of thewell; and, in another half hour, reached it. At least a score ofwounded men were there, many of them so sorely hurt that they would getno farther. They paid little attention to us. One of them was known toSaleh--for the wounded man told me that that was his name--he also wasfrom El Obeid. He was suffering from a terrible cut in the shoulder,which had almost severed the arm. He told my man that it was given byone of the infidel officers, before he fell.
"I thought it was as well to have two friends, instead of one; and didwhat I could to bind his wound up, and fasten his arm firmly to hisside. Then I said to him:
"'My horse, after three hours' rest, will be able to carry you both.You can sit behind Saleh, and hold him on with your unwounded arm.'
"'Truly, stranger, you are a merciful man, and a good one. Wonderful isit that you should give up your horse, to men who are strangers to you;and walk on foot, yourself.'
"'Allah commands us to be compassionate to each other. What is a walkof a few miles? It is nothing, it is not worth speaking of. Say no moreabout it, I beseech you. I am a stranger in El Obeid, and you may beable to befriend me, there.'
"Three hours later Abdullah, which was the name of the second man,mounted, and assisted me to lift Saleh in front of him, and we set outfor El Obeid. We got into the town at daybreak. There were few peopleabout, and these paid no attention to us. Wounded men had been comingin, in hundreds. Turning into the street where both the men lived, wewent first to the house of Saleh, which was at the farther end, andwas, indeed, quite in the outskirts of the place. It stood in a walledenclosure, and was of better appearance than I had expected.
"I went to the door, and struck my hand against it. A voice withinasked what was wanted, and I said, 'I bring home the master of thehouse. He is sorely wounded.'
"There was a loud cry, and the door opened and a woman ran out.
"'Do not touch him,' Abdullah exclaimed. 'We will get him down from thehorse, but first bring out an angareb. We will lower him down ontothat.'
"The woman went in, and returned with an angareb. It was the usualSoudan bed, of wooden framework, with a hide lashed across it. Idirected them how to lift one end against the horse, so that Salehcould slide down onto it.
"'Wife,' the Arab said, when this was done, 'by the will of Allah, whosent this stranger to my aid, I have returned alive. His name is Mudil.I cannot tell you, now, what he has done for me. This house is his. Heis more than guest, he is master. He has promised to remain with me,till I die, or am given back to life again. Do as he bids you, in allthings.'
"Abdullah would have assisted to carry the bed in, but I told him thatit might hurt his arm, and I and the woman could do it.
"'You had better go off, at once, to your own people, Abdullah. Theremust be many here who understand the treatment of wounds. You hadbetter get one, at once, to attend to your arm."
"'I will come again, this evening,' the man replied. 'I consider that Ialso owe my life to you; and when you have stayed a while here, youmust come to me. My wives and children will desire to thank you, when Itell them how you brought me in here.'
"'Is there any place where I can put my horse?' I asked.
"'Yes,' the woman replied; 'take it to that door in the wall. I will goand unfasten it.'
"There was a shed in the garden. Into this I put my horse, and thenentered the house.
"Most of the Arab women know something of the dressing of wounds.Saleh's wife sent out the slave, to buy various drugs. Then she got amelon from the garden, cut off the rind, and, mincing the fruit insmall pieces, squeezed out the juice and gave it to her husband todrink. When she had done this, she set before me a plate of poundedmaize, which was boiling over a little fire of sticks, when we went in.
"'It is your breakfast,' I said.
"She waved her hand.
"'I can cook more,' she said. 'It matters not if we do not eat tillsunset.'
"I sat down at once, for indeed, I was famishing. The food had all beenexhausted, at the end of the first day's fighting. I had been more thantwo days without eating a morsel. I have no doubt I ate ravenously, forthe woman, without a word, emptied the contents of the pot into mybowl, and then went out and cut another melon for me.
"When the slave woman returned, she boiled some of the herbs, made asort of poultice of them, and placed it on the wound. Saleh had fallenasleep, the moment he had drunk the melon juice, and did not move whilethe poultice was being applied.
"The house contained three rooms--the one which served as kitchen andliving room; one leading from it on the right, with the curtainshanging before the door (this was Saleh's room); and on the oppositeside, the guest chamber. I have not mentioned that there were four orfive children, all of whom had been turned out, as soon as we entered;and threatened with terrible punishments, by their mother, if they madeany noise.
"When I finished my meal I went into the guest chamber, threw myselfdown on the angareb there, and slept till sunset. When I awoke, I foundthat a native doctor had come, and examined Saleh. He had approved ofwhat the woman had done, told told her to continue to poultice thewound, and had given her a small phial, from which she was to pour twodrops into the wound, morning and evening. He said, what I could havetold her, that her husband was in the hands of Allah, If He willed it,her husband would live.
"Of course, I had seen something of wounds, for in the old times--itseems a lifetime back--when I was, for two years, searching tombs andmonuments with the professor, there had been frays between our workmenand bands of robbers; and there were also many cases of injuries,incurred in the work of moving heavy fragments of masonry. Moreover,although I had no actual practice, I had seen a good deal of surgicalwork; for, when I was at the university, I had some idea of becoming asurgeon, and attended the courses there, and saw a good manyoperations. I had therefore, of course, a general knowledge of thestructure of the human frame, and the position of the arteries.
"So far the wound, which I examined when the woman poured in what Isuppose was a styptic, looked healthy and but little inflamed. Ofcourse, a skilled surgeon wou
ld have probed it and endeavoured toextract the ball, which had not gone through. The Soudanese were armedonly with old muskets, and it was possible that the ball had notpenetrated far; for if, as he had told me, he was some distance fromthe square when he was hit, the bullet was probably spent.
"I told the woman so, and asked her if she had any objection to myendeavouring to find it. She looked surprised.
"'Are you, then, a hakim?'
"'No, but I have been at Khartoum, and have seen how the white hakimsfind which way a bullet has gone. They are sometimes able to get itout. At any rate, I should not hurt him; and if, as is likely, the ballhas not gone in very far--for had it done so, he would probably havedied before he got home--I might draw it out.'
"'You can try,' she said. 'You have saved his life, and it is yours.'
"'Bring me the pistol that your husband had, in his belt.'
"She brought it to me. I took out the ramrod.
"'Now,' I said, 'it is most important that this should be clean;therefore, heat it in the fire so that it is red hot, and then drop itinto cold water.'
"When this had been done, I took a handful of sand, and polished therod till it shone, and afterwards wiped it carefully with a cloth. ThenI inserted it in the wound, very gently. It had entered but an inch anda half when it struck something hard, which could only be the bullet.It was as I had hoped, the ball had been almost spent, when it struckhim.
"Saleh was awake now, and had at once consented to my suggestion,having come to have implicit faith in me.
"'It is, you see, Saleh, just as I had hoped. I felt sure that it couldnot have gone in far; as, in that case, you could never have walkedtwenty miles, from the battlefield, to the point where you met me. Now,if I had a proper instrument, I might be able to extract the bullet. Imight hurt you in doing so, but if I could get it out, you wouldrecover speedily; while if it remains where it is, the wound mayinflame, and you will die.'
"'I am not afraid of pain, Mudil.'
"I could touch the ball with my finger, but beyond feeling that theflesh in which it was embedded was not solid to the touch, I could donothing towards getting the ball out. I dared not try to enlarge thewound, so as to get two fingers in. After thinking the matter over inevery way, I decided that the only chance was to make a tool from theramrod. I heated this again and again, flattening it with the pistolbarrel, till it was not more than a tenth of an inch thick; then I cut,from the centre, a strip about a quarter of an inch wide. I then rubbeddown the edges of the strip on a stone, till they were perfectlysmooth, and bent the end into a curve. I again heated it to a dull red,and plunged it into water to harden it, and finally rubbed it with alittle oil. It was late in the evening before I was satisfied with mywork.
"'Now, Saleh,' I said, 'I am going to try if this will do. If I had oneof the tools I have seen the white hakims use, I am sure I could getthe ball out easily enough; but I think I can succeed with this. If Icannot, I must make another like it, so as to put one down each side ofthe bullet. You see, this curve makes a sort of hook. The difficulty isto get it under the bullet.'
"'I understand,' he said. 'Do not mind hurting me. I have seen men dieof bullets, even after the wound seemed to heal. I know it is better totry and get it out.'
"It was a difficult job. Pressing back the flesh with my finger, Isucceeded, at last, in getting the hook under the bullet. This I heldfirmly against it, and to my delight felt, as I raised finger and hooktogether, that the bullet was coming. A few seconds later, I held ittriumphantly between my fingers.
"'There, Saleh, there is your enemy. I think, now, that if there is noinflammation, it will not be long before you are well and strongagain.'
"'Truly, it is wonderful!' the man said, gratefully. 'I have heard ofhakims who are able to draw bullets from wounds, but I have never seenit done before.'
"If Saleh had been a white man, I should still have felt doubtful as tohis recovery; but I was perfectly confident that a wound of that sortwould heal well, in an Arab, especially as it would be kept cool andclean. Hard exercise, life in the open air, entire absence ofstimulating liquors, and only very occasionally, if ever, meat diet,render them almost insensible to wounds that would paralyse a white.Our surgeons had been astonished at the rapidity with which the woundedprisoners recovered.
"Saleh's wife had stood by, as if carved in stone, while I performedthe operation; but when I produced the bullet, she burst into tears,and poured blessings on my head.
"I am writing this on the following morning. Saleh has slept quietlyall night. His hand is cool this morning, and I think I may fairly saythat he is convalescent. Abdullah's wife came in yesterday evening, andtold the women here that her husband was asleep, but that he would comeround in the morning. I warned her not to let him stir out of doors,and said I would come and see him.
"It has taken me five hours to write this, which seems a very long timeto spend on details of things not worth recording; but the act ofwriting has taken my thoughts off myself, and I intend always to notedown anything special. It will be interesting to me to read it, if Iever get away; should I be unable to escape, I shall charge Saleh tocarry it to Khartoum, if he ever has the chance, and hand it over tothe Governor there, to send down to Cairo.
"A week later. I am already losing count of days, but days matternothing. I have been busy, so busy that I have not even had time towrite. After I had finished my story so far, Saleh's slave woman tookme to Abdullah's house. I found that he was in a state of high fever,but all I could do was to recommend that a wet rag should be applied,and freshly wetted every quarter of an hour; that his head should bekept similarly enveloped, in wet bandages; and that his hands should bedipped in water very frequently.
"When I got back, I found several women waiting outside Saleh's house.His wife had gossiped with a neighbour, and told them that I had gotthe bullet out of his wound. The news spread rapidly, and these womenwere all there to beg that I would see their husbands.
"This was awkward. I certainly could not calculate upon beingsuccessful, in cases where a bullet had penetrated more deeply; andeven if I could do so, I should at once excite the hostility of thenative hakims, and draw very much more attention upon myself than Idesired. In vain I protested that I was not a hakim, and had done onlywhat I had seen a white hakim do. Finding that this did not avail, Isaid that I would not go to see any man, except with one of the nativedoctors.
"'There are two here,' one of the women said. 'I will go and fetchthem.'
"'No,' I said; 'who am I, that they should come to me? I will go andsee them, if you will show me where they live.'
"'Ah, here they come!' she said, as two Dervishes approached.
"I went up to them, and they said: 'We hear that you are a hakim, whohas done great things.'
"'I am no hakim,' I said. 'I was just coming to you, to tell you so.The man I aided was a friend, and was not deeply wounded. Having seen awhite hakim take bullets from wounded men, I tried my best; and as thebullet was but a short way in, I succeeded. If I had had theinstruments I saw the infidel use, it would have been easy; but I hadto make an instrument, which sufficed for the purpose, although itwould have been of no use, had the bullet gone in deeper.'
"They came in and examined Saleh's wound, the bullet, and the tool Ihad made.
"'It is well,' they said. 'You have profited by what you saw. Whence doyou come?'
"I told the same story that I had told Saleh.
"'You have been some time at Khartoum?'
"'Not very long,' I said; 'but I went down once to Cairo, and was theresome years. It was there I came to know something of the ways of theinfidels. I am a poor man, and very ignorant; but if you will allow meI will act as your assistant, as I know that there are many woundedhere. If you will tell me what to do, I will follow your instructionscarefully.'
"The two hakims looked more satisfied, at finding that I was not adangerous rival. One said:
"'Among the things that have been brought in here is a box. Those who
brought it did not know what it contained, and it was too strong forthem to open, though of course they were able to hammer it, and breakit open. It contained nothing but many shining instruments, but theonly one that we knew the purport of was a saw. There were two boxes ofthe same shape, and the other contained a number of little bottles ofdrugs; and we thought that maybe, as the boxes were alike, theseshining instruments were used by the white hakim.'
"'I can tell you that, if I see them,' I said, and went with them.
"In a house where booty of all sorts was stored, I saw the chests whichI knew were those carried by Hicks's medical officer. The one containeddrugs, the other a variety of surgical instruments--probes, forceps,amputating knives, and many other instruments of whose use I wasignorant. I picked out three or four probes, and forceps of differentshapes.
"'These are the instruments,' I said, 'with which they take outbullets. With one of these thin instruments, they search the wounduntil they find the ball. Sometimes they cannot find it, and even whenthey have found it, they sometimes cannot get hold of it with any ofthese tools, which, as you see, open and shut.'
"'What are the knives for?'
"'They use the knives for cutting off limbs. Twice have I seen thisdone, for I was travelling with a learned hakim, who was searching thetombs for relics. In one case a great stone fell on a man's foot, andsmashed it, and the hakim took it off at the ankle. In another case aman had been badly wounded, by a bullet in the arm. He was not one ofour party but, hearing of the hakim's skill, he had made a journey ofthree days to him. The wound was very bad, and they said it was toolate to save the arm, so they cut it off above the elbow.'
"'And they lived?'
"'Yes, they both lived.'
"'Could you do that?'
"I shook my head. 'It requires much skill,' I said. 'I saw how it wasdone, but to do it one's self is very different. If there was a man whomust die, if an arm or a leg were not taken off, I would try to savehis life; but I would not try, unless it was clear that the man mustdie if it were not done.
"But you are learned men, hakims, and if you will take me as yourassistant, I will show you how the white doctors take out balls, and,if there is no other way, cut off limbs; and when I have once shownyou, you will do it far better than I.'
"The two men seemed much pleased. It was evident to them that, if theycould do these things, it would widely add to their reputation.
"'It is good,' they said. 'You shall go round with us, and see thewounded, and we will see for ourselves what you can do. Will you wantthis chest carried?'
"'No,' I said. 'I will take these instruments with me. Should it benecessary to cut off a limb, to try and save life, I shall need theknives, the saw, and this instrument, which I heard the white hakimcall a tourniquet, and which they use for stopping the flow of blood,while they are cutting. There are other instruments, too, that will berequired.'"