Генрик Сенкевич
In Desert and Wilderness
XX
The old sheik Hatim faithfully kept his promise given to the Greek and watched over the children with great solicitude. The journey up the White Nile was difficult. They rode through Keteineh, Ed-Dueim, and Kawa; afterwards they passed Abba, a woody Nile island, on which before the war the Mahdi dwelt, in a hollow tree as a dervish hermit. The caravan often was compelled to make a detour around extensive floating masses overgrown with pyrus, or so-called "sudds," from which the breeze brought the poisoned odor of decomposed leaves carried by the current of water. English engineers had previously cut through these barriers, and formerly steamboats could ascend from Khartûm to Fashoda and farther. At present the river was blocked again and, being unable to run freely, overflowed on both sides. The right and left banks of this region were covered by a high jungle amid which stood hillocks of termites and solitary gigantic trees; here and there the forest reached the river. In dry places grew groves of acacias. During the first week they saw Arabian settlements and towns composed of houses with strange conical roofs made of dochnu straw, but beyond Abba, from the settlement of Gôz Abu Guma they rode in the country of the blacks. It was nearly desolate, for the dervishes had almost totally carried away the local negro population and sold it in the markets of Khartûm, Omdurmân, Fasher, Dar, El-Obeid, and other cities in the Sudân, Darfur, and Kordofân. Those inhabitants who succeeded in escaping slavery in thickets in the forests were exterminated by starvation and small-pox, which raged with unusual virulence along the White and Blue Niles. The dervishes themselves said that whole nations had died of it. The former plantations of sorghum, manioc, and bananas were covered by a jungle. Only wild beasts, not pursued by any one, multiplied plentifully. Sometimes before the evening twilight the children saw from a distance great herds of elephants, resembling movable rocks, walking with slow tread to watering places known only to themselves. At the sight of them Hatim, a former ivory dealer, smacked his lips, sighed, and spoke thus to Stas in confidence:
"Mashallah! How much wealth there is here! But now it is not worth while to hunt, for the Mahdi has prohibited Egyptian traders from coming to Khartûm, and there is no one to sell the tusks to, unless to the emirs for umbajas."
They met also giraffes, which, seeing the caravan, escaped hurriedly with heavy ambling pace, swinging their long necks as if they were lame. Beyond Gôz Abu Guma appeared, more and more frequently, buffaloes and whole herds of antelopes. The people of the caravan when they lacked fresh meat hunted for them, but almost always in vain, for the watchful and fleet animals would not allow themselves to be approached or surrounded.
Provisions were generally scarce, as owing to the depopulation of the region they could not obtain either millet or bananas, or fish, which in former times were furnished by the Shilluk and Dinka tribes who exchanged them willingly for glass beads and brass wire. Hatim, however, did not permit the children to die of starvation, and what is more he kept a strict control over Gebhr; and once, when the latter at about bed-time struck Stas while removing saddles from the camels, he ordered the Sudânese to be stretched upon the ground and whipped thirty times on each heel with a bamboo. For two days the cruel Sudânese could walk only on his toes and cursed the hour when he left Fayûm, and revenged himself upon a young slave named Kali, who had been presented to him.
Stas at the beginning was almost pleased that he had left infected Omdurmân and that he saw a country of which he always had dreamed. His strong constitution thus far endured perfectly the toils of the journey and the abundant food restored his energy. Several times during the journey and at the stops he whispered to his little sister that it was possible to escape even from beyond the White Nile, and that he did not at all abandon that design. But her health disquieted him. Three weeks after the day of their departure from Omdurmân Nell had not indeed succumbed to the fever, but her face grew thinner and instead of being tanned it became more and more transparent, and her little hands looked as if they were moulded of wax. She did not lack care and even such comforts as Stas and Dinah with the aid of Hatim could provide, but she lacked the salubrious desert air. The moist and torrid climate united with the hardships of the journey more and more undermined the strength of the child.
Stas, beginning at Gôz Abu Guma, gave her daily a half powder of quinine and worried terribly at the thought that this remedy, which could be obtained nowhere later, would not last him long. But it could not be helped, for it was necessary above all things to prevent the fever. At moments despair possessed him. He deluded himself, however, with the hope that Smain, if he desired to exchange them for his own children, would have to seek for them a more salubrious place than the neighborhood of Fashoda.
But misfortune seemed continually to pursue its victims. On the day before the arrival at Fashoda, Dinah, who while in Omdurmân felt weak, fainted suddenly at the untying of the small luggage with Nell's things taken from Fayûm, and fell from the camel. Stas and Chamis revived her with the greatest difficulty. She did not, however, regain consciousness, or rather she regained it at the evening only to bid a tearful farewell to her beloved little lady, and to die. After her death Gebhr insisted upon cutting off her ears in order to show them to Smain as proof that she died during the journey, and to demand of him a separate payment for her abduction. This was done with a slave who expired during the journey. But Hatim, at the entreaties of Stas and Nell, would not consent to this; so they buried her decently and her mound was safeguarded against hyenas with the assistance of stones and thorns. The children felt yet more lonely for they realized that in her they had lost the only near and devoted soul. This was a terrible blow, particularly for Nell, so Stas endeavored to comfort her throughout the whole night and the following day.
The sixth week of the journey arrived. On the next day at noon the caravan reached Fashoda, but they found only a pyre. The Mahdists bivouacked under the bare heaven or in huts hurriedly built of grass and boughs. Three days previously the settlement had been burnt down. There remained only the clay walls of the round hovels, blackened with smoke, and, standing close by the water, a great wooden shed, which during the Egyptian times served as a storage-place for ivory; in it at present lived the commander of the dervishes, Emir Seki Tamala. He was a distinguished personage among the Mahdists, a secret enemy of Abdullahi, but on the other hand a personal friend of Hatim. He received the old sheik and the children hospitably, but immediately at the introduction told them unfavorable news.
Smain was not in Fashoda. Two days before he had gone southeast from the Nile on an expedition for slaves, and it was not known when he would return, as the nearer localities were so depopulated that it was necessary to seek for human chattels very far. Near Fashoda, indeed, lay Abyssinia, with which the dervishes likewise waged war. But Smain having only three hundred men did not dare to cross its borders, guarded vigilantly, at present, by King John's warlike inhabitants and soldiers.
In view of this Seki Tamala and Hatim began to deliberate as to what was to be done with the children. The consultation was held mainly at supper, to which the emir invited Stas and Nell.
"I," he said to Hatim, "must soon start with all the men upon a distant expedition against Emin Pasha,* [* Emin Pasha, by birth a German Jew, was after the occupation by Egypt of the region around Albert Nyanza, Governor of the Equatorial Provinces. His headquarters were at Wadelai. The Mahdists attacked it a number of times. He was rescued by Stanley, who conducted him with a greater part of his troops to Bagamoyo, on the Indian Ocean.] who is located at Lado, having steamers and troops there. Such is the command which you, Hatim, brought me. Therefore you must return to Omdurmân, for in Fashoda there will not remain a single living soul. Here there is no place in which to live, there is nothing to eat, and sickness is raging. I know, indeed, that the white people do not catch small-pox, but fever will kill those children within a month."
"I was ordered to bring them to Fashoda," replied Hatim, "so I brought them, and need not trouble myself about them any more. But they were recommended to me by my friend, the Greek Kaliopuli; for that reason I would not want them to perish."
"And this will surely happen."
"Then what is to be done?"
"Instead of leaving them in desolate Fashoda, send them to Smain together with those men who brought them to Omdurmân. Smain went to the mountains, to a dry and high region where the fever does not kill the people as on the river."
"How will they find Smain?"
"By the trail of fire. He will set fire to the jungle, first, in order to drive the game to the rocky ravines in which it will be easy to surround and slaughter it, and then in order to scare out of the thickets the heathens, who hid in them before pursuit. Smain will not be hard to find – "
"Will they, however, overtake him?"
"He will at times pass a week in one locality to cure meat. Even though he rode away two or three days ago they surely will overtake him."
"But why should they chase after him? He will return to Fashoda anyway."
"No. If the slave-hunt is successful, he will take the slaves to the cities to sell them – "
"What is to be done?"
"Remember that both of us must leave Fashoda. The children, even though the fever does not kill them, will die of starvation."
"By the prophet! That is true."
And there really remained nothing else to do but to despatch the children upon a new wandering life. Hatim, who appeared to be a very good man, was only troubled about this: whether Gebhr, with whose cruel disposition he had become acquainted during the journey, would not treat them too harshly. But the stern Seki Tamala, who aroused fear even in his own soldiers, commanded the Sudânese to be summoned, and announced to him that he was to convey the children alive and in good health to Smain, and at the same time to treat them kindly, as otherwise he would be hung. The good Hatim entreated the emir to present to little Nell a female slave, who would serve her and take care of her during the journey and in Smain's camp. Nell was delighted greatly with this gift as it appeared that the slave was a young Dinka girl with pleasant features and a sweet facial expression.
Stas knew that Fashoda was death, so he did not at all beg Hatim that he should not send them upon a new journey, the third in rotation. In his soul, he thought also that riding in an easterly and southerly direction, he must approach the Abyssinian boundaries and that he might escape. He had a hope that upon the dry tableland Nell would be safeguarded against the fever, and for these reasons he willingly and zealously entered into the preparation for the journey.
Gebhr, Chamis, and the two Bedouins also were not opposed to the expedition, reckoning that at Smain's side they would succeed in capturing a considerable number of slaves, and afterwards sell them profitably in the markets. They knew that slave-dealers in time amass great fortunes; in any case they preferred to ride rather than to remain at that place under the immediate control of Hatim and Seki Tamala.
The preparations, however, consumed considerable time, particularly as the children had to recuperate. The camels were unavailable now for this journey, so the Arabs, and Stas and Nell were to ride on horseback. Kali, Gebhr's slave, and Nell's maid, called Mea upon Stas' suggestion, were to go on foot beside the horses. Hatim also procured a donkey to carry a tent intended for the little girl and provisions for three days for the children. More Seki Tamala could not give them. For Nell, something in the nature of a ladies' saddle, made of saddle-cloth, palm, and bamboo mats was constructed.
The children passed three days in Fashoda to rest, but the countless number of mosquitoes above the river made their stay unendurable. During the daytime appeared swarms of big blue flies, which did not indeed bite, but were so vexing that they crept into the ears, filled the eyes, and fell even into the mouths. Stas had heard while in Port Said that the mosquitoes and flies spread fever and an infection of the inflammation of the eyes. Finally he himself entreated Seki Tamala to hurry the expedition, particularly as the rainy spring season was approaching.
XXI
"Stas, why are we riding and speeding and have not yet reached Smain?"
"I do not know. He undoubtedly is moving rapidly ahead, in order to reach as quickly as possible the region in which he can catch negroes. Are you anxious that we should join his detachment?"
The little girl nodded her pale-yellow little head in sign that she was very much concerned about it.
"Why should you be so anxious?" asked Stas.
"Because perhaps Gebhr will not dare in Smain's company to beat that poor Kali so cruelly."
"Smain probably is no better. They all have no mercy for their slaves."
"Is that so?"
And two little tears coursed over her emaciated cheeks.
It was the ninth day of the journey. Gebhr, who was now the leader of the caravan, in the beginning easily discovered traces of Smain's march. His way was indicated by a trail of burnt jungle and camping grounds strewn with picked bones and various remnants. But after the lapse of five days they came upon a vast expanse of burnt steppe, on which the wind had carried the fire in all directions. The trails became deceptive and confusing, as, apparently, Smain had divided his detachment into ten or more small divisions, in order to facilitate the surrounding of the game and the capture of provisions. Gebhr did not know in which direction to go, and often it happened that the caravan, after moving long in a circle, returned to the same place from which it started. Afterwards they chanced upon forests, and after passing through them they entered upon a rocky country where the ground was covered by smooth rocks or small stones, scattered over the immense expanse so thickly that the children were reminded of city pavements. The vegetation there was scant. Only here and there, in the crannies of rocks, grew euphorbias, mimosas, and thorny and scrubby plants and, more infrequently yet, a slender, light green tree, which Kali in the Kiswahili language called "m'ti" and with the leaves of which the horses were fed. In this locality little rivers and streams were lacking, but fortunately from time to time the rain began to fall, so they found water in the hollows and excavations of the rocks.
The game was driven away by Smain's detachment and the caravan would have died of starvation, were it not for a multitude of guinea-fowls which every little while started from under the horses' legs, and at evening encumbered the trees so thickly that it was sufficient to shoot in their direction to cause a few to fall to the ground. In addition they were not timid and permitted a close approach, and they rose so heavily and indolently that Saba, rushing ahead of the caravan, seized and choked some of them almost every day.
Chamis killed about a score of them daily with an old shotgun which he had bartered from one of the dervishes serving under Hatim during the trip from Omdurmân to Fashoda. He did not, however, have shot for more than twenty charges and he became uneasy at the thought of what would happen when the supply was exhausted. Indeed, notwithstanding the scaring away of the game, there appeared at times amidst the rocks herds of ariels, beautiful antelopes common in all Central Africa, but it was necessary to shoot at the ariels with the short rifle, while they did not know how to use Stas' gun and Gebhr did not want to place it in his hands.
The Sudânese likewise began to grow uneasy at the long journey. At times it occurred to him to return to Fashoda, because in case he and Smain should miss each other they might stray in wild regions in which, not to speak of starvation, they were in danger of attacks of wild animals, and savage negroes panting for revenge for the hunt which had been despatched against them. But as he did not know that Seki Tamala was preparing an expedition against Emin, for the conversation about this was not held in his presence, he was seized with terror at the thought of appearing before the face of the puissant emir, who had commanded him to convey the children to Smain and had given him a letter addressed to him and in addition had announced that if he did not acquit himself properly of his duty, he would be hung. All of this taken together filled his soul with bitterness and rage. He did not dare, however, to revenge himself for his disappointments upon Stas and Nell; instead the back of poor Kali was covered with blood under the courbash. The young slave approached his cruel master always trembling and in fear. In vain he embraced his feet and kissed his hands; in vain he fell upon his face before him. The stony heart was not moved either by humility or by groans, and the courbash gashed the body of the unhappy boy upon the most trivial cause and often for none whatever. At night his feet were placed in a wooden board with an opening to prevent him from running away. During the day he walked tied with a rope fastened to a horse; this amused Chamis very much. Nell shed tears over Kali's plight. Stas' heart raged and a number of times he passionately interceded for him, but when he perceived that this inflamed Gebhr still more, he set his teeth and remained silent.
But Kali understood that those two interceded for him, and he began to love them deeply with his afflicted heart.
For two days they rode in a stony ravine lined with high steep rocks. From the stones heaped and scattered in disorder it was easy to perceive that during the rainy season the ravine was filled with water, but at present its bed was entirely dry. On the walls, on both sides, grew small patches of grass, a great many thorns, and here and there even a tree. Gebhr directed his way by this stony gullet because it went continually upwards; so he thought that it would lead him to some eminence from which he could descry smoke during the daytime and Smain's camp-fires at night. In some places the ravine became so narrow that only two horses could go side by side; in other places it widened into small, round valleys, surrounded as if by high stone walls, on which sat big baboons, playing with each other, barking, and displaying their teeth at the caravan.
It was five o'clock in the afternoon. The sun already lowered towards the west. Gebhr thought of a resting place; he wanted only to reach some small valley in which he could construct a zareba, that is, enclose the caravan and horses with a fence of thorny mimosa and acacias, for protection against attacks of wild animals. Saba rushed ahead, barking at the baboons which at sight of him shook uneasily, and all of a sudden disappeared in the bend of the ravine. Echo repeated loudly his barking.
Suddenly, however, he became silent and after a while he came rushing to the horses with hair bristling on his back and tail curled under him. The Bedouins and Gebhr understood that something must have frightened him, but staring at each other and desiring to ascertain what it could be, they proceeded farther.
But riding around a small bend, the horses shied and stood still in one moment as if thunderstruck by the sight which met their eyes.
On a fair-sized rock situated in the middle of the ravine, which was quite wide at that place, lay a lion.
At most, a hundred paces separated him from them. The powerful beast, seeing the riders and horses, rose on his fore paws and began to gaze at them. The sun, which now stood low, illumined his huge head and shaggy breasts, and in that ruddy luster he was like one of those sphinxes which ornament the entrances to ancient Egyptian temples.
The horses began to sit upon their haunches, to wince and draw back.
The amazed and frightened riders did not know what to do; so from mouth to mouth there flowed only the fearsome and helpless words, "Allah!
Bismillah! Allah akbar!"
And the king of the wilderness gazed at them from above, motionless as if cast of bronze.
Gebhr and Chamis had heard from traders, who came to Egypt from the Sudân with ivory and gum, that lions sometimes lie down in the paths of caravans, which, on account of this, must turn aside. But here there was no place which they could turn to. It behoved them perhaps to turn about and fly. Yes! But in such case it was a certainty that the dreadful beast would rush after them in pursuit.
Again resounded the feverish interrogations:
"What is to be done?"
"Allah! Perhaps he will step aside."
"No, he will not."
And again a silence fell. Only the snorting of the horses and the quickened breathing of the human breasts could be heard.
"Untie Kali!" Chamis suddenly exclaimed to Gebhr, "and we will escape on the horses; the lion will first overtake him, and kill him only."
"Do that," repeated the Bedouins.
But Gebhr surmised that in such a case Kali, in the twinkling of an eye, would climb on the rocky wall and the lion would chase after the horses; therefore another horrible idea suggested itself to him. He would kill the boy with his knife and fling his body ahead of him and then the lion, dashing after them, would see on the ground the bleeding corpse and stop to devour it.
So he dragged Kali by the rope to the saddle and had already raised his knife, when in the same second Stas clutched the wide sleeve of his jubha.
"Villain! What are you doing?"
Gebhr began to tug and, if the boy had seized him by the hand, he would have freed it at once, but it was not so easy with the sleeve; so he began to tug, and splutter with a voice stifled with fury.
"Dog! if he is not enough, I shall stab you both! Allah! I shall stab you! I shall stab you!"
And Stas paled mortally, for like lightning the thought flashed through his mind that the lion chasing after the horses above all might actually overlook Kali, and in such case Gebhr with the greatest certainty would stab them both in turn.
So pulling the sleeve with redoubled strength he shouted:
"Give me the short rifle! I will kill the lion!"
These words astonished the Bedouins, but Chamis, who had witnessed Stas' shooting in Port Said, began at once to cry:
"Give him the rifle! He will kill the lion."
Gebhr recollected at once the shots on Lake Karûn and in view of the horrible danger, assented. With great haste he gave the boy the short rifle and Chamis, as quick as a thought, opened the cartridge box, from which Stas took a large fistful of cartridges, after which he leaped off his horse, inserted the cartridges in the barrels, and moved forward.
For the first few steps he was as though stupefied and saw only himself and Nell with throats cut by Gebhr's knife. But soon the nearer and more horrible danger commanded him to forget about everything else. He had a lion before him! At the sight of the animal his eyes grew dim. He felt a chill on his cheeks and nose, he felt that he had feet as if made of lead and he could scarcely breathe. Plainly he feared. In Port Said he had read during the recitation time of lion-hunts, but it was one thing to examine pictures in books and another to stand eye to eye with the monster, who now gazed at him as if with amazement, wrinkling his broad forehead which resembled a shield.
The Arabs held the breath in their breasts, for never in their lives had they seen anything like this. On the one side was a small boy, who amid the steep rocks appeared yet smaller, on the other a powerful beast, golden in the sun's rays, magnificent, formidable – "The lord with the great head," as the Sudânese say.
Stas overcame with the whole force of his will the inertness of his limbs and advanced farther. For a while yet it seemed to him that his heart had leaped up into his throat, and this feeling continued until he raised the rifle to his face. Then it was necessary to think of something else. Whether to approach nearer or to fire at once; where to aim. The smaller the distance the surer the shot – therefore nearer and nearer! – forty paces, too many yet; – thirty! – twenty! Already the breeze carried the pungent animal odor.
The boy stood.
"A bullet between the eyes, or it will be all over with me," he thought. "In the name of the Father and of the Son – !"
And the lion rose, stretched his body, and lowered his head. His lips began to open, his brows to contract over his eyes. This mite of being had dared to approach too closely – so he prepared for a leap, sitting with haunches quivering on his hind legs.
But Stas, during the twinkling of an eye, perceived that the bead of the rifle was in a direct line with the forehead of the animal – and pulled the trigger.
The shot pealed. The lion reared so that for a while he straightened out to his full height; after which he toppled over on his back with his four paws up.
And in the final convulsions he rolled off the rock onto the ground.
Stas for several minutes covered him with his rifle, but seeing that the quivering ceased and that the tawny body was stretched out inertly, he opened the rifle and inserted another cartridge.
The stony walls reverberated yet with the thunderous echo. Gebhr, Chamis, and the Bedouins could not at once descry what had happened, as on the previous night rain had fallen, and owing to the dampness of the weather the smoke veiled everything in the narrow ravine. Only when the smoke abated, did they shout with joy, and wanted to rush towards the boy, but in vain, as no power could force the horses to move ahead.
And Stas turned around, took in the four Arabs with his gaze and fixed his eyes on Gebhr.
"Ah! There has been enough of this!" he said through his set teeth. "You have exceeded the measure. You shall not torment Nell or any one else any more."
And suddenly he felt that his nose and cheeks turned pale, but this was a different chill, caused not by fright, but by a terrible and inflexible resolution from which the heart in the bosom becomes, for the time being, iron.
"Yes! It is imperative! These are mere villains, executioners, murderers, and Nell is in their hands!"
"You shall not murder her!" he repeated.
He approached them – again stood, and suddenly with the rapidity of lightning raised the rifle to his face.
Two shots, one after the other, jarred the ravine with an echo. Gebhr tumbled upon the ground, and Chamis swayed in the saddle and struck his horse's neck with his bleeding forehead.
The two Bedouins uttered a horrified cry of consternation and, springing from the horses, dashed at Stas. A bend was not far behind them, and if they had run in the other direction, which Stas in his soul desired, they could have saved their lives. But blinded by terror and fury they thought that they would reach the boy before he would be able to change the cartridges, and cut him to pieces with their knives. Fools! They ran barely a dozen paces when again the ill-omened rifle cracked; the ravine resounded with the echo of new shots and both fell with faces on the ground, flouncing about like fishes taken out of water. One of them, who in the haste was hurt the least, raised himself and propped himself on his hands, but at that moment Saba sunk his fangs in his throat.
And mortal silence ensued.
It was broken only by the moans of Kali, who threw himself on his knees and, stretching out his hands, exclaimed in the broken Kiswahili tongue:
"Bwana kubwa! (Great master!) Kill the lion! Kill bad people, but do not kill Kali!"
Stas, however, paid no heed to his cries. For some time he stood as if dazed; after which, observing Nell's pallid face and half-conscious eyes, opened widely from terror, he ran towards her.
"Nell, do not fear! – Nell, we are free!"
In fact they actually were free, but astray in a wild, uninhabited region, in the heart of the land of the Blacks.
