Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
Category: Nonfiction
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eaten my fill."
And he smiled, but immediately began to bite his lips in order not toweep, as he really was hungry. He promised himself that the followingday he would go again and earn some more; but it happened otherwise. Inthe morning a muzalem from Abdullahi came with the announcement thatthe camel-post was to leave at night for Fashoda, and with the caliph'scommand that Idris, Gebhr, Chamis, and the two Bedouins should prepareto go with the children. This command amazed and aroused theindignation of Gebhr; so he declared that he would not go as hisbrother was sick and there was no one to attend to him, and even if hewere well, both had decided to remain in Omdurman.
But the muzalem replied:
"The Mahdi has only one will, and Abdullahi, his caliph and my master,never alters commands. Your brother can be attended by a slave, whileyou will depart for Fashoda."
"Then I shall go and inform him that I will not depart."
"To the caliph are admitted only those whom he himself desires to see.And if you without permission, and through violence, should forceyourself into his presence, I will lead you to the gallows."
"Allah akbar! Then tell me plainly that I am a slave!"
"Be silent and obey orders!" answered the muzalem.
The Sudanese had seen in Omdurman gallows breaking under the weight ofhanging men. By order of the ferocious Abdullahi these gallows weredaily decorated with new bodies. Gebhr became terror-stricken. Thatwhich the muzalem told him, that the Mahdi commanded but once, wasreiterated by all the dervishes. There was therefore no help; it wasnecessary to ride.
"I shall see Idris no more!" thought Gebhr.
In his tigerish heart was concealed a sort of attachment for his olderbrother, so that at the thought that he would have to leave him insickness he was seized by despair. In vain did Chamis and the Bedouinsrepresent to him that they might fare better in Fashoda than inOmdurman, and that Smain in all probability would reward them morebountifully than the caliph had done. No words could assuage Gebhr'sgrief and rage, and the rage rebounded mainly upon Stas.
It was indeed a day of martyrdom for the boy. He was not permitted togo to the market-place, so he could not earn anything or beg, and wascompelled to work as a slave at the pack-saddles, which were beingprepared for the journey. This became a more difficult matter as fromhunger and torture he weakened very much. He was certain that he woulddie on the road; if not under Gebhr's courbash, then from exhaustion.
Fortunately the Greek, who had a good heart, came in at the evening tovisit the children and to bid them farewell, and at the same time toprovide for them on the way. He brought a few quinine powders, andbesides these a few glass beads and a little food. Finally, learning ofIdris' sickness, he turned to Gebhr, Chamis, and the Bedouins.
"Know this," he said. "I come here by the Mahdi's command."
And when they heard this they smote with their foreheads and hecontinued:
"You are to feed the children on the way and treat them well. They areto render a report of your behavior to Smain. Smain shall write of thisto the prophet. If any complaint against you comes here, the next postwill carry a death sentence for you."
A new bow was the only reply to these words; in addition Gebhr andChamis had the miens of dogs on which muzzles are placed.
The Greek then ordered them away, after which he thus spoke to thechildren in English:
"I fabricated all this, for the Mahdi did not issue any new orders. Butas he said that you were to go to Fashoda, it is necessary that youshould reach there alive. I also reckoned upon this, that none of themwill see either the Mahdi or the caliph before their departure."
After which to Stas:
"I took umbrage at you, boy, and feel it yet. Do you know that youalmost ruined me? The Mahdi was offended at me, and to secure hisforgiveness I was forced to surrender to Abdullahi a considerableportion of my estate, and besides, I do not know for how long a time Ihave saved myself. In any case I shall not be able to assist thecaptives as I have heretofore done. But I felt sorry for you,particularly for her (and here he pointed at Nell). I have a daughterof the same age, whom I love more than my own life, and for her sake Ihave done everything which I have done. Christ will judge me forthis--Up to this time she wears under her dress, on her breast, asilver cross.--Her name is the same as yours, little one. Were it notfor her, I would have preferred to die rather than to live in thishell."
He was deeply moved. For a while he was silent, after which he rubbedhis forehead with his hand and began to speak of something else.
"The Mahdi sends you to Fashoda with the idea that there you will die.In this manner he will revenge himself upon you for your stubbornness,boy, which touched him deeply, and he will not lose his fame for'mercy.' He always acts thus. But who knows who is destined to diefirst? Abdullahi suggested to him the idea that he should order thedogs who kidnapped you, to go with you. He rewarded them miserably, andnow he fears that they may publish it. Besides, they both preferredthat the people should not be told that there are still in Egypttroops, cannons, money, and Englishmen.--It will be a hard road anddistant. You will go into a country desolate and unhealthy. So guard,as the eye in the head, those powders which I gave to you."
"Sir, order Gebhr once more not to dare to starve or hit Nell," saidStas.
"Do not fear. I commended you to the old sheik who has charge of thepost. He is an old acquaintance of mine. I gave him a watch and withthat I gained his protection for you."
Saying this, he began to bid them farewell. Taking Nell in his arms, hepressed her to his bosom and repeated:
"May God bless you, my child."
In the meantime the sun descended and the night became starry. In thedusk resounded the snorting of horses and the groans of the heavilyloaded camels.
XX
The old sheik Hatim faithfully kept his promise given to the Greek andwatched over the children with great solicitude. The journey up theWhite Nile was difficult. They rode through Keteineh, Ed-Dueim, andKawa; afterwards they passed Abba, a woody Nile island, on which beforethe war the Mahdi dwelt, in a hollow tree as a dervish hermit. Thecaravan often was compelled to make a detour around extensive floatingmasses overgrown with pyrus, or so-called "sudds," from which thebreeze brought the poisoned odor of decomposed leaves carried by thecurrent of water. English engineers had previously cut through thesebarriers, and formerly steamboats could ascend from Khartum to Fashodaand farther. At present the river was blocked again and, being unableto run freely, overflowed on both sides. The right and left banks ofthis region were covered by a high jungle amid which stood hillocks oftermites and solitary gigantic trees; here and there the forest reachedthe river. In dry places grew groves of acacias. During the first weekthey saw Arabian settlements and towns composed of houses with strangeconical roofs made of dochnu straw, but beyond Abba, from thesettlement of Goz Abu Guma they rode in the country of the blacks. Itwas nearly desolate, for the dervishes had almost totally carried awaythe local negro population and sold it in the markets of Khartum,Omdurman, Fasher, Dar, El-Obeid, and other cities in the Sudan, Darfur,and Kordofan. Those inhabitants who succeeded in escaping slavery inthickets in the forests were exterminated by starvation and small-pox,which raged with unusual virulence along the White and Blue Niles. Thedervishes themselves said that whole nations had died of it. The formerplantations 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 distancegreat herds of elephants, resembling movable rocks, walking with slowtread to watering places known only to themselves. At the sight of themHatim, a former ivory dealer, smacked his lips, sighed, and spoke thusto Stas in confidence:
"Mashallah! How much wealth there is here! But now it is not worthwhile to hunt, for the Mahdi has prohibited Egyptian traders fromcoming to Khartum, and there is no one to sell the tusks to, unless tothe emirs for umbajas."
They met also giraffes, which, seeing the caravan, escaped hurriedlywith heavy ambling p
ace, swinging their long necks as if they werelame. Beyond Goz Abu Guma appeared, more and more frequently, buffaloesand whole herds of antelopes. The people of the caravan when theylacked fresh meat hunted for them, but almost always in vain, for thewatchful and fleet animals would not allow themselves to be approachedor surrounded.
Provisions were generally scarce, as owing to the depopulation of theregion they could not obtain either millet or bananas, or fish, whichin former times were furnished by the Shilluk and Dinka tribes whoexchanged them willingly for glass beads and brass wire. Hatim,however, did not permit the children to die of starvation, and what ismore he kept a strict control over Gebhr; and once, when the latter atabout bed-time struck Stas while removing saddles from the camels, heordered the Sudanese to be stretched upon the ground and whipped thirtytimes on each heel with a bamboo. For two days the cruel Sudanese couldwalk only