Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
Category: Nonfiction
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order toreach 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 wasvery much concerned about it.
"Why should you be so anxious?" asked Stas.
"Because perhaps Gebhr will not dare in Smain's company to beat thatpoor 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 ofthe caravan, in the beginning easily discovered traces of Smain'smarch. His way was indicated by a trail of burnt jungle and campinggrounds strewn with picked bones and various remnants. But after thelapse of five days they came upon a vast expanse of burnt steppe, onwhich the wind had carried the fire in all directions. The trailsbecame deceptive and confusing, as, apparently, Smain had divided hisdetachment into ten or more small divisions, in order to facilitate thesurrounding of the game and the capture of provisions. Gebhr did notknow 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 itstarted. Afterwards they chanced upon forests, and after passingthrough them they entered upon a rocky country where the ground wascovered by smooth rocks or small stones, scattered over the immenseexpanse so thickly that the children were reminded of city pavements.The vegetation there was scant. Only here and there, in the crannies ofrocks, grew euphorbias, mimosas, and thorny and scrubby plants and,more infrequently yet, a slender, light green tree, which Kali in theKiswahili language called "m'ti" and with the leaves of which thehorses were fed. In this locality little rivers and streams werelacking, but fortunately from time to time the rain began to fall, sothey found water in the hollows and excavations of the rocks.
The game was driven away by Smain's detachment and the caravan wouldhave died of starvation, were it not for a multitude of guinea-fowlswhich every little while started from under the horses' legs, and atevening encumbered the trees so thickly that it was sufficient to shootin their direction to cause a few to fall to the ground. In additionthey were not timid and permitted a close approach, and they rose soheavily and indolently that Saba, rushing ahead of the caravan, seizedand choked some of them almost every day.
Chamis killed about a score of them daily with an old shotgun which hehad bartered from one of the dervishes serving under Hatim during thetrip from Omdurman to Fashoda. He did not, however, have shot for morethan twenty charges and he became uneasy at the thought of what wouldhappen when the supply was exhausted. Indeed, notwithstanding thescaring away of the game, there appeared at times amidst the rocksherds of ariels, beautiful antelopes common in all Central Africa, butit was necessary to shoot at the ariels with the short rifle, whilethey did not know how to use Stas' gun and Gebhr did not want to placeit in his hands.
The Sudanese likewise began to grow uneasy at the long journey. Attimes it occurred to him to return to Fashoda, because in case he andSmain should miss each other they might stray in wild regions in which,not to speak of starvation, they were in danger of attacks of wildanimals, and savage negroes panting for revenge for the hunt which hadbeen despatched against them. But as he did not know that Seki Tamalawas preparing an expedition against Emin, for the conversation aboutthis was not held in his presence, he was seized with terror at thethought of appearing before the face of the puissant emir, who hadcommanded him to convey the children to Smain and had given him aletter addressed to him and in addition had announced that if he didnot acquit himself properly of his duty, he would be hung. All of thistaken together filled his soul with bitterness and rage. He did notdare, however, to revenge himself for his disappointments upon Stas andNell; instead the back of poor Kali was covered with blood under thecourbash. The young slave approached his cruel master always tremblingand in fear. In vain he embraced his feet and kissed his hands; in vainhe fell upon his face before him. The stony heart was not moved eitherby humility or by groans, and the courbash gashed the body of theunhappy boy upon the most trivial cause and often for none whatever. Atnight his feet were placed in a wooden board with an opening to preventhim from running away. During the day he walked tied with a ropefastened to a horse; this amused Chamis very much. Nell shed tears overKali's plight. Stas' heart raged and a number of times he passionatelyinterceded for him, but when he perceived that this inflamed Gebhrstill more, he set his teeth and remained silent.
But Kali understood that those two interceded for him, and he began tolove 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 toperceive 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 thereeven a tree. Gebhr directed his way by this stony gullet because itwent continually upwards; so he thought that it would lead him to someeminence from which he could descry smoke during the daytime andSmain's camp-fires at night. In some places the ravine became so narrowthat only two horses could go side by side; in other places it widenedinto small, round valleys, surrounded as if by high stone walls, onwhich sat big baboons, playing with each other, barking, and displayingtheir teeth at the caravan.
It was five o'clock in the afternoon. The sun already lowered towardsthe west. Gebhr thought of a resting place; he wanted only to reachsome small valley in which he could construct a zareba, that is,enclose the caravan and horses with a fence of thorny mimosa andacacias, for protection against attacks of wild animals. Saba rushedahead, barking at the baboons which at sight of him shook uneasily, andall of a sudden disappeared in the bend of the ravine. Echo repeatedloudly his barking.
Suddenly, however, he became silent and after a while he came rushingto the horses with hair bristling on his back and tail curled underhim. The Bedouins and Gebhr understood that something must havefrightened him, but staring at each other and desiring to ascertainwhat it could be, they proceeded farther.
But riding around a small bend, the horses shied and stood still in onemoment as if thunderstruck by the sight which met their eyes.
On a fair-sized rock situated in the middle of the ravine, which wasquite 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 gazeat them. The sun, which now stood low, illumined his huge head andshaggy breasts, and in that ruddy luster he was like one of thosesphinxes 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 mouthto 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 asif cast of bronze.
Gebhr and Chamis had heard from traders, who came to Egypt from theSudan with ivory and gum, that lions sometimes lie down in the paths ofcaravans, which, on account of this, must turn aside. But here therewas no place which they could turn to. It behoved them perhaps to turnabout and fly. Yes! But in such case it was a certainty that thedreadful 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 thequickened breathing of the human breasts could be heard.
"Untie Kali!" Chamis suddenly exclaimed to Gebhr, "and we will escapeon 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 aneye, would climb on the rocky
wall and the lion would chase after thehorses; therefore another horrible idea suggested itself to him. Hewould kill the boy with his knife and fling his body ahead of him andthen the lion, dashing after them, would see on the ground the bleedingcorpse and stop to devour it.
So he dragged Kali by the rope to the saddle and had already raised hisknife, when in the same second Stas clutched the wide sleeve of hisjubha.
"Villain! What are you doing?"
Gebhr began to tug and, if the boy had seized him by the hand, he wouldhave freed it at once, but it was not so easy with the sleeve; so hebegan to tug, and splutter with a voice stifled with fury.
"Dog! if he is not enough, I shall stab you both! Allah! I shall stabyou! I shall stab you!"
And Stas paled mortally, for like lightning the thought flashed throughhis mind that the lion chasing after the horses above all mightactually overlook Kali, and in