Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
Category: Nonfiction
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perhaps have shed tears.
He restrained himself, however, and, turning to the little girl, asked:
"Do you fear, Nell?"
And she replied in a low voice:
"Somehow--it is so horrible!"
At this Stas ordered Kali to bring the saddle-cloths from a saddle and,covering with one of them a rock on which he had previously dozed, hespread the other upon the ground and said:
"Sit here beside me near the fire. How chilly the night is! If sleepovercomes you, rest your head upon me and you will fall asleep."
But Nell repeated:
"Somehow--it is so horrible!"
Stas wrapped her carefully in plaids and for some time they sat insilence, supporting each other and illuminated by a rosy luster whichcrept over the rocks and sparkled on the mica plates with which thestony fissures were bespangled.
Beyond the zareba could be heard the snorting of horses and thecrunching of grass in their teeth.
"Listen, Nell," Stas spoke out. "I had to do that--Gebhr threatenedthat he would stab us both if the lion would not be content with Kaliand should continue to pursue them. Didn't you hear him? Think of it;he threatened by that not only me, but you. And he would have done it.I tell you sincerely that if it were not for that threat, thoughformerly I already was thinking of it, I would not have shot at them. Ithink I could not--But he exceeded the measure. You saw how cruellybefore that time he treated Kali. And Chamis? How vilely he betrayedus. Besides, do you know what would have happened if they did not findSmain? Gebhr would likewise have vented his anger upon us--upon you. Itis dreadful to think that he would have whipped you daily with thecourbash, and would have tortured us both to death, and after our deathhe would return to Fashoda and say that we died of fever. Nell, I didnot do that from fiendishness, but I had to think of this, how to saveyou--I was concerned only about you--"
And his face plainly reflected that affliction which overflowed in hisheart. Nell evidently understood this, as she pressed yet more closelyto him, while he, momentarily mastering his emotions, continued thus:
"I, of course, shall not change, and shall guard and watch over you asbefore. As long as they lived there was no hope of rescue. Now we mayfly to Abyssinia. The Abyssinians are black and wild, but Christiansand foes of the dervishes. If you only retain your health, we shallsucceed, for it is not so very far to Abyssinia. And even though we donot succeed, though we fall into Smain's hand, do not think that hewill revenge himself upon us. He never in his life saw either Gebhr orthe Bedouins; he knew only Chamis, but what was Chamis to him? Besides,we need not tell Smain that Chamis was with us. If we succeed inreaching Abyssinia, then we are saved, and if not, you will not fareany worse, but better, for tyrants worse than those men probably cannotbe found in the world. Do not fear me, Nell."
And desiring to win her confidence and at the same time cheer her, hebegan to stroke her little yellow head. The little maid listened,raising timidly her eyes to him. Evidently she wanted to say somethingbut hesitated and feared. Finally she leaned her head so that her hairentirely covered her face and asked in a yet lower and slightlyquivering voice:
"Stas--"
"What is it, dear?"
"They will not come here?"
"Who?" Stas asked with amazement.
"Those--killed."
"What are you talking about, Nell?"
"I am afraid! I am afraid!"
And her pallid lips began to quiver.
Silence ensued. Stas did not believe that the slain could rise from thedead, but as it was night and their bodies lay not far away, he becamedepressed in spirit; a chill passed over his back.
"What are you saying, Nell?" he repeated. "Then Dinah taught you tofear ghosts--The dead do not--"
And he did not finish, for at that moment something awe-inspiringoccurred. Amid the stillness of the night, in the depths of the ravine,from the direction in which the corpses lay suddenly resounded a kindof inhuman, frightful laughter in which quivered despair, and joy, andcruelty, and suffering, and pain, and sobbing, and derision; theheart-rending and spasmodic laughter of the insane or condemned.
Nell screamed, and with her whole strength embraced Stas with her arms.Stas' hair stood on end. Saba started up suddenly and began to growl.
But Kali, sitting at some distance, quietly raised his head and saidalmost gleefully:
"Those are hyenas gloating over Gebhr and the lion--"
II
The great events of the preceding day and the sensations of the nightso tired out Stas and Nell that when finally slumber overcame them theyfell into a deep sleep, and the little girl did nor appear outside thetent until about noon-time. Stas rose somewhat earlier from asaddle-cloth spread near the camp-fire, and in expectation of hislittle companion he ordered Kali to prepare a breakfast, which in viewof the late hour was to form at the same time their dinner.
The bright light of the day dispelled the terrors of the night; bothawoke not only well rested, but refreshed in spirit. Nell looked betterand felt stronger. As both wanted to ride away as far as possible fromthe place where the slain Sudanese were lying, immediately after therefreshments they mounted their horses and moved ahead.
At that time of the day all travelers in Africa stop for the noon rest,and even caravans composed of negroes seek shelter under the shade ofgreat trees; for they are the so-called white hours, hours of heat andsilence, during which the sun broils unmercifully and, looking fromabove, seems to seek whom to slay. Every beast at such times burrowsitself in the greatest thicket, the song of birds ceases, the buzz ofinsects stops, and all nature falls into silence, secreting itself asif desirous of guarding against the eye of a wicked divinity. But theyrode on in the ravine in which one of the walls cast a deep shadow,enabling them to proceed without exposing themselves to the scorchingheat. Stas did not want to leave the ravine, firstly, because, above,they might be espied from a distance by Smain's detachments, and thenit was easier to find, in rocky crevices, water, which in uncoveredplaces soaked into the ground or under the influence of the sun's rayswas transformed into steam.
The road continuously but imperceptibly led upwards. On the rocky wallscould be seen from time to time yellow traces of sulphur. The water inthe clefts was saturated with its odor, which reminded both childrenunpleasantly of Omdurman and the Mahdists, who smeared their heads withfat mixed with sulphur powder. In some places muskcats could be smelt;but there, where from high, overhanging rocks magnificent cascades oflianas fell to the bottom of the ravine, came an intoxicating scent ofvanilla. The little wanderers willingly stopped in the shade of thesetapestries embroidered with purple flowers and lilies, which with theleaves provided food for the horses.
Animals could not be seen; only from time to time on the crests ofrocks monkeys squatted, resembling on the blue background thosefantastic idols which in India adorn the borders of temples. Big maleswith long manes displayed their teeth at Saba or stretched out theirjaws in sign of amazement and rage, and at the same time jumped about,blinking with their eyes and scratching their sides. But Saba,accustomed already to the sight of them, did not pay much heed to theirmenaces.
They rode briskly. Joy at recovering liberty drove away from Stas'breast that incubus which had throttled him during the night. His mindwas now occupied with the thought of what was to be done farther; howto lead Nell and himself from a locality in which they were threatenedby new captivity with the dervishes; what measures to adopt during thelong journey through the wilderness in order not to die of hunger andthirst, and finally, whither to go? He knew already from Hatim that theAbyssinian boundary in a direct line from Fashoda was not more thanfive days' journey, and he calculated that this would be about onehundred English miles. Now from their departure from Fashoda almost twoweeks had elapsed; so it was clear that they had not gone by theshortest route, but in seeking Smain must have turned considerablytowards the south. He recollected that on the sixth day they crossed ariver which was not the Nile, and that afterwards, before the countrybegan to rise
, they rode around great swamps. At school in Port Said,the geography of Africa was taught very thoroughly and in Stas' memoryremained the name of Ballor, designating an expansion of thelittle-known river Sobat, a tributary of the Nile. He was not indeedcertain whether they had passed that expansion, but assumed that theyhad. It occurred to him that Smain, desiring to capture slaves, couldnot seek for them directly west of Fashoda, as that country was alreadyentirely depopulated by dervishes and small-pox; but that he would haveto go to localities which heretofore were not visited by an expedition.Stas deduced from this that they were following Smain's trail, and thethought frightened him in the first moments.
He therefore reflected whether it would not be better to abandon theravine which turned more and more plainly towards the south and godirectly eastward. But after a moment's consideration he relinquishedthe plan. On the contrary, to follow the tracks of