Fire and Sword in the Sudan Part 34

My guides, Zeki Ibn Belal, as well as Hamed Ibn Hussein, both belong to the Kababish tribe. The Gilif mountain is their own country; and they were familiar with every path. We unsaddled the camels, and concealed the saddles among the boulders.

"We have come into our own country; and she will protect her son," said Hamed Hussein. "Have no fear; as long as we live you need have no misgiving. Remain quietly concealed here. A little way off there is a cleft in the rocks containing water. I will water the animals there.

Zeki will bring you a water-skin full. I will also hide the beasts elsewhere, that our halting-place may not be betrayed by the vultures circling above. Wait for me here; and we will see what our next step must be."

I was alone and somewhat depressed. I had hoped to make a straight dash for the Egyptian frontier, and to out-distance my pursuers by speed; and now a crowd of unexpected obstacles was gathering round me. About two hours later, Zeki arrived with the water-skin on his shoulders.

"Taste the water of my native land," he cried. "See how fresh and pure it is. Take confidence. G.o.d, if He will, will bring our enterprise to a happy end."

I drank a deep draught. It was delicious indeed.

"I am full of confidence," I said to Zeki; "but a little put out by the delay."

"Malaish kullu shai bi iradet Illahi (It matters not. All happens as G.o.d ordains), and perhaps this delay has its good side too. Let us wait for Hamed Hussein."

Soon after midday Hamed came. We ate our frugal meal of bread and dates, and while doing so arranged that Zeki should ride to the friends who were privy to my escape, a brief two days' journey, and fetch new animals.

"I will ride the Bisharin mare," said Zeki. "She is strong, and has not yet got to the end of her tether. This is Sat.u.r.day evening. I shall ride all night and to-morrow, Sunday. Monday morning early, please G.o.d, I shall reach our friends. We must allow one to two days there; because, it may be, no animals will be ready. But, Thursday or Friday, I should get here with fresh camels if no misfortune happens to me."

"It is better to put it a little later," I answered. "We will wait for you here till Sat.u.r.day. If you arrive sooner, all the better; but remember that our life is in your hand. Above all, be cautious in bringing the animals, that you arouse no suspicion."

"Trust in our good fortune and my good-will," and he grasped my hand in farewell.

"G.o.d protect you, and bring you back right soon."

He tied a few dates up in a cloth as provision for the journey, and took the saddle on his shoulders. Hamed described the spot accurately to him where he would find the mare. As he turned, he enjoined us to be careful not to be seen; and in a few moments he was lost to sight. We cleared the ground which was to serve as our night's resting-place, of stones, and were in the best of spirits as to our success.

"I have a proposal to make to you," said Hamed to me after a long interval. "A relation of mine, Ibrahim Masa, is Sheikh of this district, and has his house at the foot of the hill, about four hours' distance from here. Now though, as I hope, no one has seen us, still it would be better to warn him of our arrival, so that he may be prepared for any eventuality. I will describe our situation to him without mentioning your name. As my kinsman, he is bound to give us asylum, and would warn us in time of pursuit, if it should be that our track is followed to the base of the hills, though indeed this is scarcely to be feared. If you agree, I will go during the night, so as to see him without being observed by other people, and will be back with you early in the morning."

"The plan is good; but take twenty more dollars with you, and offer them as a small contribution to his house, and, as you have said, do not mention my name."

Hamed left me at sunset; and I was alone with my thoughts. I thought of my housefolk and companions, to whom, in spite of the difference of race and of many unattractive qualities, I had grown accustomed in the long course of years, and whom I had just left behind me in the hands of the enemy. I thought of the dear ones I was now on my way to meet, of my sisters, my friends and well-wishers. If only my adventures have a successful issue! Exhausted with fatigue, I fell asleep on my hard bed.

I woke while the dawn was gray, and shortly afterwards heard the sound of approaching footsteps. I knew it must be my guide.

"All goes well," said he as he came up. "The Sheikh, my kinsman, greets his unknown guest, and bids G.o.d protect you. Fortify yourself with patience. For the present, we have nothing else to do."

He sat down between two blocks of stone, from which his dark skin was hardly distinguishable, and kept watch. I sat a short distance below in the shade of a little tree which struggled for existence among the rocks; and we talked in low tones of the present and the former condition of the country. It was past midday when I suddenly heard behind the noise of footsteps, and, turning round, I saw, to my disgust, a man about one hundred and fifty yards off, climbing the slope opposite me, trying to draw the end of his farda, which was twisted round his loins, over his head. Judging from the direction he had come from, he must have seen us.

"In any case it is a fellow-countryman," said Hamed, who had heard the sound, and had perceived him. "Anyhow it will be better that I should overtake him and speak with him. Or do you not agree?"

"Certainly, make haste, and if necessary, give him a small present," I answered.

My companion left his seat, and followed the man at a swift pace. He had now reached the crest of the hill and pa.s.sed out of my sight. A few minutes later, I saw them both approaching me with smiling faces.

"We are in luck," Hamed cried from a distance. "He is one of my numerous relations. Our mothers are children of two sisters."

The man came up to me and offered his hand in greeting.

"The peace of G.o.d be with you. From me you run no danger," he said as he sat down on the stone at my side.

I gave him a few dates, and bade him taste our travelling fare. "Who are you?"

"They call me Ali Wad Feid," he replied; "and, to be honest with you, my intentions were not well disposed to you. I was changing my pasture ground, and arrived a few days ago with my flocks at the foot of those hills which you see from here to the south. I went to the cleft in the rocks to see if there were much water there, because we might need it, although we also get drinking-water in the plain. There I found traces of a camel, and followed them up. When, in the distance, I saw the white skin of your feet which were sticking out of your hiding-place, I realised that a stranger was concealed here, and tried to get away again un.o.bserved, so that," said he, smiling, "I might return again with a few comrades by night, and make your further journey easier by removing your superfluous luggage. I thank G.o.d that my cousin here caught me up. By night I should not, perhaps, have recognised him."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Slatin in hiding in the hills.]

"Ali Wad Feid," said my guide, who had listened in silence, "I will tell you a little story. Listen! Many years ago, when I was a little fellow, in the days when the Turks ruled in the land, my father was Sheikh of these mountains, which then were thickly peopled. One night there came a man, a fugitive, who sought asylum with my father. He was closely pursued by Government troops, under suspicion of being a highway brigand who had murdered some merchants. His women fell into the hands of his pursuers; but he himself sought and found protection with my father, who kept him in concealment. A long while after, my father went to the seat of Government at Berber, and by money and fair words succeeded in obtaining pardon for the man, against whom there existed no definite proofs of guilt. He went bail for him, and set free his women, who were in prison. That man's name was Feid --"

"And he was my father," interrupted Ali, whose face had grown grave during his narrative. "I was born later, and heard the story from my dead mother, on whom G.o.d have mercy. My brother, let me give you good tidings. What your father did for mine, his son will do for your father's son. In peace or in peril I am with you. But, follow me, and I will show you a better hiding-place."

We went some two thousand yards back round the hill towards the south, and reached a sort of little grotto formed of rock slabs, large enough to hold two men.

"When evening comes bring your baggage here, although there is nothing to fear, since the hills are uninhabited; but under the cover of darkness you can choose some other spot in the neighbourhood to sleep in. It is impossible to be quite sure that some one may not have perceived you, and have the intention which I confessed to have had, of returning after dark. I have lost time, and my road is a long one. I will go, pick up what news I can, and return to-morrow when it is dark, announcing my presence by a low whistle. Farewell till then!"

As Ali Wad Feid had advised us, we selected a place to sleep in, and early in the morning, before the sun rose, retired again to our cave.

Throughout the day Hamed Hussein kept watch from a high point of vantage, like a sentry on a tower, and only came to me when driven in by hunger. Our bread came to an end this day, and we had only dates to eat.

In the evening, two hours maybe after sunset, we heard a low whistle. It was Ali Wad Feid, who, faithful to his promise, had come to visit us. He brought some milk in a small vessel of gazelle-skin (the skin of young gazelles is tanned by the Arabs, and now much used for carrying milk in), and had rolled up some bread (millet cakes) in his farda.

"I pretended to my wife that I was going to visit the caravan folk, and show them hospitality," he said, after greeting us. "I cannot trust her with the truth, she is such a chatterbox."

"A feminine quality which many married men complain about in our country at home," I remarked with a smile, delighted at the prospect of such a grateful meal.

"I made inquiries at the well," he continued, "and heard of nothing to cause you uneasiness. Eat and drink your fill. I have every confidence in your good luck."

After we had done honour to his good fare, I begged him to return so as not to awake suspicion with his own folk by remaining out unduly long, and whispered to Hamed to give him a present of five dollars before he went.

"Do not return," I said to him in taking leave. "Your comings and goings may excite suspicion among your people, and your footsteps may perhaps leave traces on the ground which would betray our hiding-place to others, unless, of course, you hear any really disquieting news.

Farewell. I thank you for your loyal friends.h.i.+p."

Hamed Hussein accompanied his kinsman some little way.

"Ali would not take the money," he said, when he returned. "I had to press him very hard; and it was only the fear of offending you which induced him at last to accept it."

We once more selected our couches, and rested undisturbed till the morning, when we returned to the cave, or rather I did, for my companion had to go back to his post as watchman. This day went by equally without event, but how slowly the time seemed to pa.s.s! The hours grew to days, and thoughts succeeded thoughts in weary sequence. My patience was severely tried, but there was no help for it, and nothing to do but to bear it.

As our water supply threatened to fall short, Hamed Hussein went with the skin to the cleft in the rocks. At the same time, he intended to look up the camels, which had been hobbled, and were getting what food they could from trees and bushes.

"I shall return in about four hours. Meanwhile, remain quiet in the cave," he said to me, "and should any one appear,--which G.o.d forbid!--it could only be one of my own countrymen, for no stranger gets so far as this, detain him, and tell him that Hamed Wad Sheikh Hussein is coming in a little while. But do not yourself enter into any negotiation, and above all do not spill blood."

"I will follow your counsel whatever happens," I replied; "but I trust you will find me here undisturbed when you return."

My guide returned with the water-skin full even before the time he had indicated.

"I found the camels somewhat recovered, at any rate in appearance," he said, with evident satisfaction. "Give me a few dates. I am hungry, and must return to my watch tower."

The rest of the day pa.s.sed slowly, but without episode. At night we betook ourselves to our sleeping-place, talked for a while in a low voice, and prayed that our patience might not be put to too hard a trial.

On Thursday morning, Hamed had gone as usual to his post of observation; and it must have been about midday when I suddenly saw him climb down from his seat I clutched my rifle.