Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
Category: Nonfiction
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indeed be dervishes, but it also might be Arabsfrom the ocean coast, who made great expeditions into the interior forivory and slaves. These had nothing in common with the dervishes whoinjured their trade. The smoke might also be from a camp of Abyssiniansor from some negro village at the foot-hills which the slave huntershad not yet reached. Would it not be proper for him to satisfy himselfupon this point?
The Arabs from Zanzibar, from the vicinity of Bagamoyo, from Witu andfrom Mombasa, and in general from the territory bordering on the ocean,were people who continuously came in contact with white men; so whoknows whether for a great reward they would not conduct them to thenearest port? Stas knew perfectly well that he could promise such areward and that they would believe his promise. There occurred to himanother idea which touched him to the depth. In Khartum he saw thatmany of the dervishes, particularly those from Nubia, suffered feveralmost as badly as the white people and that they cured themselves withquinine which they stole from the Europeans, and if it were hidden byrenegade Greeks or Copts they purchased it for its weight in gold. Soit might be expected that the Arabs from the coast would be certain tohave it.
"I shall go," Stas said to himself, "I shall go, for Nell."
And pondering more and more strongly upon the situation he, in the end,came to the conclusion that even if that was Smain's division, it wasincumbent for him to go. He recollected that on account of the completerupture of relations between Egypt and the Sudan, Smain in allprobability knew nothing about their abduction from Fayum.
Fatma could not have had an understanding with him; therefore thatabduction was her individual scheme, executed with the aid of Chamis,son of Chadigi, together with Idris, Gebhr, and the two Bedouins. Nowthese men did not concern Smain for the simple reason that among themhe knew only Chamis, and the others he never saw in his life. He wasconcerned only about his own children and Fatma. But he might long forthem now, and might be glad to return to them, particularly if in theservice of the Mahdi he apparently did not meet with great fortune,since instead of commanding powerful troops or governing some vastregion he was compelled to catch slaves the Lord knew where--far beyondFashoda. "I will say to him," Stas thought, "that if you will lead usto any seaport on the Indian Ocean and return with us to Egypt, thegovernment will pardon all your offenses; you will rejoin Fatma and thechildren, and besides, Mr. Rawlinson will make you rich; if not youwill never again see your children and Fatma in your life."
And he was certain that Smain would consider well before he rejectedsuch an arrangement.
Of course this was not altogether safe; it might even prove disastrous,but it might become a plank of rescue from that African whirlpool. Stasin the end began to wonder why the possibility of meeting with Smainshould have frightened him at first and, as he was anxious for quickrelief for Nell, he determined to go, even that night.
It was easier, however, to say than to do it; it is one thing to sit atnight in the jungle near a good fire behind a thorny zareba, andanother to set forth amid darkness, in high grass, in which at such atime the lion, panther, and leopard, not to speak of hyenas andjackals, are seeking their prey. The boy, however, recollected thewords of the young negro at the time when he went during the night tosearch for Saba and, having returned, said to him, "Kali feared butKali went." And he repeated to himself, "I shall fear, but I will go."
He waited, however, until the moon rose, as the night wasextraordinarily dark, and only when the jungle was silvered by herluster did he call Kali and say:
"Kali, take Saba into the tree, close the entrance with thorns, andguard the little lady with Mea as the eye in your head, while I go andsee what kind of people are in that camp."
"Great master, take Kali with you and the rifle which kills badanimals. Kali does not want to stay."
"You shall stay!" Stas said firmly. "And I forbid you to go with me."
After which he became silent, but presently said in a somewhat hollowvoice:
"Kali, you are faithful and prudent, so I am confident that you will dowhat I tell you. If I should not return and the little lady should die,you will leave her in the tree, but around the tree you will build ahigh zareba and on the bark you will carve a great sign like this."
And taking two bamboos, he formed them into a cross, after which hecontinued thus:
"If, however, I do not return and the 'bibi' does not die you shallhonor her and serve her faithfully, and afterwards you shall conducther to your people, and tell the Wahima warriors that they should gocontinually to the east until they reach the great sea. There you willfind white men who will give you many rifles, much powder, beads, andwire, and as much cloth as you are able to carry. Do you understand?"
And the young negro threw himself on his knees, embraced Stas' limbs,and began to repeat mournfully:
"Bwana kubwa! You will return! You will return!"
Stas was deeply touched by the black boy's devotion, so he leaned overhim, placed his hand on his head, and said:
"Go into the tree, Kali--and may God bless you!"
Remaining alone, he deliberated for a while whether to take the donkeywith him. This was the safer course, for lions in Africa as well as thetigers in India, in case they meet a man riding a horse or donkey,always charge at the animal and not at the man. But he propounded tohimself the question, who in such case will carry Nell's tent and onwhat will she herself ride? After this observation he rejected at oncethe idea of taking the donkey and set off on foot in the jungle.
The moon already rose higher in the heavens; it was thereforeconsiderably lighter. Nevertheless, the difficulties began as soon asthe boy plunged into the grass, which grew so high that a man onhorseback could easily be concealed in it. Even in the daytime onecould not see a step ahead in it, and what of the night, when the moonilluminated only the heights, and below everything was steeped in adeep shade? Under such conditions it was easy to stray and walk aroundin a circle instead of moving forward. Stas, nevertheless, was cheeredby the thought that in the first place the camp, towards which he went,was at most three or four English miles distant from the promontory,and again that it appeared between the tops of two lofty hills;therefore, by keeping the hills in sight, one could not stray. But thegrass, mimosa, and acacias veiled everything. Fortunately every fewscore of paces there stood white-ant hillocks, sometimes between tenand twenty feet high. Stas carefully placed the rifle at the bottom ofeach hillock; afterwards climbed to the top, and descrying the hillsblackly outlined on the background of the sky, descended and proceededfarther.
Fear seized him only at the thought of what would happen if cloudsshould veil the moon and the sky, for then he would find himself asthough in a subterranean cavern. But this was not the only danger. Thejungle in the night time, when, amidst the stillness can be heard everysound, every step, and almost the buzz which the insects creeping overthe grass make, is downright terrifying. Fear and terror hover over it.Stas had to pay heed to everything, to listen, watch, look around inevery direction, have his head on screws, as it were, and have therifle ready to fire at any second. Every moment it seemed to him thatsomething was approaching, skulking, hiding in ambush. From time totime he heard the grass stir and the sudden clatter of animals runningaway. He then conjectured that he had scared some antelopes which,notwithstanding posted guards, sleep watchfully, knowing that manyyellow, terrible hunters are seeking them at that hour in the darkness.But now something big is darkly outlined under the umbrella-likeacacia. It may be a rock and it may be a rhinoceros or a buffalo which,having scented a man, will wake from a nap and rush at once to attackhim. Yonder again behind a black bush can be seen two glittering dots.Heigh! Rifle to face! That is a lion! No! Vain alarm! Those arefireflies for one dim light rises upwards and flies above the grasslike a star shooting obliquely. Stas climbed onto ant-hillocks, notalways to ascertain whether he was going in the right direction, but towipe the cold perspiration from his brow, to recover his breath, and towait until his heart, palpitating too rapidly, calmed. In addition hewas already so fat
igued that he was barely able to stand on his feet.
But he proceeded because he felt that he must do so, to save Nell.After two hours he got to a place, thickly strewn with stones, wherethe grass was lower and it was considerably lighter. The lofty hillsappeared as distant as before; on the other hand nearer were the rockyridges running transversely, beyond which the second, higher hillarose, while both evidently enclosed some kind of valley or ravinesimilar to the one in which the King was confined.
Suddenly, about three or four hundred paces on the right, he perceivedon the rocky wall the rosy reflection of a flame.
He stood still. His heart again beat so strongly that he almost heardit amid the stillness of the night. Whom would he see below? Arabs fromthe eastern coast? Smain's dervishes, or savage negroes who, escapingfrom their native villages, sought protection from the dervishes in theinaccessible