Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
Category: Nonfiction
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beeasier for him to defend himself in case of an attack.
So after a brief consideration he said:
"Good. Let Chamis hand you the rifle-case and you can take it out."
Chamis indifferently performed the order, which Gebhr could not oppose,as he was occupied at some distance with the camels. Stas withquivering hands took out the stock and afterwards the barrels, andhanded them to Idris.
"You see they are empty."
Idris took the barrels and peered upwards through them.
"Yes, there is nothing in them."
"Now observe," said Stas. "This is the way to put a rifle together"(and saying this he united the barrel and stock). "This is the way toopen it. Do you see? I will take it apart again and you can put ittogether."
The Sudanese, who watched Stas' motions with great attention, tried toimitate him. At first it was not easy for him, but as Arabians are wellknown for their skilfulness, the rifle, after a while, was put together.
"Open!" commanded Stas.
Idris opened the rifle easily.
"Close."
This was done yet more easily.
"Now give me two empty shells. I will teach you how to load thecartridges."
The Arabs had kept the empty cartridges as they had a value for them asbrass; so Idris handed two of them to Stas and the instruction begananew.
The Sudanese at first was frightened a little by the crack of the capsof the shells, but finally became convinced that no one was able tofire from empty barrels and empty shells. In addition, his trust inStas returned because the boy handed the weapon to him every littlewhile.
"Yes," said Stas, "you already know how to put a rifle together, youknow how to open, to close, and to pull the trigger. But now it isnecessary for you to learn to aim. That is the most difficult thing.Take that empty water gourd and place it at a hundred paces--on thosestones, and afterwards return to me; I will show you how to aim."
Idris took the gourd and without the slightest hesitation walked to theplace by the stones which Stas had indicated. But before he made thefirst hundred steps, Stas extracted the empty shells and substitutedloaded cartridges. Not only his heart but the arteries in his templesbegan to throb with such a force that he thought that his head wouldburst. The decisive moment arrived--the moment of freedom for Nell andhimself--the moment of victory--terrible and at the same time desirable.
Now Idris' life was in his hands. One pull of the trigger and thetraitor who had kidnapped Nell would fall a corpse. But Stas, who hadin his veins both Polish and French blood, suddenly felt that fornothing in the world could he be capable of shooting a man in the back.Let him at least turn around and face death in the eye. And after that,what? After that, Gebhr would come rushing up, and before he ran tenpaces he also would bite the dust. Chamis would remain. But Chamiswould lose his head, and even though he should not lose it, there wouldbe time to insert new cartridges in the barrels. When the Bedouinsarrived, they would find three corpses, and meet a fate they richlydeserved. After that he would only have to guide the camels to theriver.
All these thoughts and pictures flew like a whirlwind through Stas'brain. He felt that what was to happen after a few minutes was at thesame time horrible and imperative. The pride of a conqueror surged inhis breast with a feeling of aversion for the dreadful deed. There wasa moment when he hesitated, but he recalled the tortures which thewhite prisoners endured; he recalled his father, Mr. Rawlinson, Nell,also Gebhr, who struck the little girl with a courbash, and hatredburst out in him with renewed force. "It is necessary!" he said throughhis set teeth, and inflexible determination was reflected on hiscountenance, which became as if carved out of stone.
In the meantime Idris placed the gourd on a stone about a hundred pacesdistant and turned around. Stas saw his smiling face and his whole tallform upon the plain. For the last time the thought flashed through hismind that this living man would fall after a moment upon the ground,clutching the sand with his fingers in the last convulsions of thethroes of death. But the hesitation of the boy ended, and when Idrissauntered fifty paces toward him, he began slowly to raise the weaponto his eye.
But before he touched the trigger with his finger, from beyond thedunes, about a few hundred paces distant, could be heard tumultuouscheers, and in the same minute about twenty riders on horses and camelsdebouched on the plain. Idris became petrified at the sight. Stas wasamazed no less, but at once amazement gave way to insane joy. Theexpected pursuit at last! Yes! That could not be anything else.Evidently the Bedouins had been captured in a village and were showingwhere the rest of the caravan was concealed! Idris thought the same.When he collected himself he ran to Stas, with face ashen from terror,and, kneeling at his feet, began to repeat in a voice out of breath:
"Sir, I was kind to you! I was kind to the little 'bint'! Rememberthat!"
Stas mechanically extracted the cartridges from the barrels and gazed.The riders drove horses and camels at the fullest speed, shouting fromjoy and flinging upwards their long Arabian rifles, which they caughtwhile in full gallop with extraordinary dexterity. In the brighttransparent air they could be seen perfectly. In the middle, at thevan, ran the two Bedouins waving their hands and burnooses as ifpossessed.
After a few minutes the whole band dashed to the caravan. Some of theriders leaped off the horses and camels; some remained on theirsaddles, yelling at the top of their voices. Amid these shouts only twowords could be distinguished.
"Khartum! Gordon! Gordon! Khartum!"
Finally one of the Bedouins--the one whom his companion calledAbu-Anga--ran up to Idris cringing at Stas' feet, and began to exclaim:
"Khartum is taken! Gordon is killed! The Mahdi is victorious!"
Idris stood erect but did not yet believe his ears.
"And these men?" he asked with quivering lips.
"These men were to seize us, but now are going together with us to theprophet."
Stas' head swam.
XIV
It was evident that the last hope of escaping during the journey hadbecome extinct. Stas now knew that his schemes would avail nothing;that the pursuit would not overtake them, and that if they endured thehardships of the journey they would reach the Mahdi and would besurrendered to Smain. The only consolation now was the thought thatthey were kidnapped so that Smain might exchange them for his children.But when would that happen, and what would they encounter before thattime? What dreadful misfortune awaited them among the savage hordesintoxicated with blood? Would Nell be able to endure all these fatiguesand privations?
This no one could answer. On the other hand, it was known that theMahdi and his dervishes hated Christians, and Europeans in general; soin the soul of the boy there was bred a fear that the influence ofSmain might not be sufficient to shield them from indignities, fromrough treatment, from the cruelties and the rage of the Mahdistbelievers, who even murdered Mohammedans loyal to the Government. Forthe first time since the abduction deep despair beset the boy, and atthe same time some kind of vague notion that an untoward fate waspersecuting them. Why, the idea itself of abducting them from Fayum andconveying them to Khartum was sheer madness which could be committedonly by such wild and foolish men as Idris and Gebhr, not understandingthat they would have to traverse thousands of kilometers over a countrysubject to the Egyptian Government or, more properly, English people.With proper methods they ought to have been caught on the second day,and nevertheless everything combined so that now they were not far fromthe Second Cataract and none of the preceding pursuing parties hadovertaken them, and the last one which could have detained them joinedthe kidnappers and, from this time, would aid them. To Stas' despair,to his fears about little Nell's fate, was linked a feeling ofhumiliation that he was unequal to the situation and, what was more,was unable now to devise anything, for even if they returned the rifleand cartridges to him, he could not, of course, shoot all the Arabscomposing the caravan.
And he was gnawed all the more by these thoughts because deliverancehad been already so near. If
Khartum had not fallen, or if it hadfallen only a few days later, these same men, who went over to the sideof the Mahdi, would have seized their captors and delivered them to theGovernment. Stas, sitting on the camel behind Idris and listening totheir conversation, became convinced that this undoubtedly would havehappened. For, immediately after they proceeded upon their furtherjourney, the leader of the pursuing party began to relate to Idris whatinduced them to commit treason to the Khedive. They knew previouslythat a great army--not an Egyptian now but an English one--had startedsouthward against the dervishes under the command of General Wolseley.They saw a multitude of steamers, which carried formidable Englishsoldiers from Assuan to Wadi Haifa, from whence a railroad was builtfor them to Abu Hamed. For a long time all the sheiks on the riverbanks,--those who remained loyal to the Government as well as those whoin the depth of their souls favored the Mahdi,--were certain