rescue them."
"Nell! Nell!" repeated the unhappy Englishman.
"Nell and Stas! It was not Stas' fault. Both were enticed by trickeryand kidnapped. Who knows why? Perhaps for a ransom. Chamis undoubtedlyis in the plot, and Idris and Gebhr also."
Here he recalled what Fatma had said about both Sudanese belonging tothe Dongolese tribe, in which the Mahdi was born, and that Chadigi, thefather of Chamis, came from the same tribe. At this recollection hisheart for a moment became inert in his breast for he understood thatthe children were abducted not for a ransom but as an exchange forSmain's family.
"But what will the tribesmen of the ill-omened prophet do with them?They cannot hide them on the desert or anywhere on the banks of theNile, for they all would die of hunger and thirst on the desert, andthey certainly would be apprehended on the Nile. Perhaps they will tryto join the Mahdi."
And this thought filled Pan Tarkowski with dismay, but the energeticex-soldier soon recovered and began in his mind to review all thathappened and at the same time seek means of rescue.
"Fatma," he reasoned, "had no cause to revenge herself either upon usor our children. If they have been kidnapped it was evidently for thepurpose of placing them in the hands of Smain. In no case does deaththreaten them. And this is a fortune in misfortune; still a terriblejourney awaits them which might be disastrous for them."
And at once he shared these thoughts with his friend, after which hespoke thus:
"Idris and Gebhr, like savage and foolish men, imagine that followersof the Mahdi are not far, while Khartum, which the Mahdi reached, isabout one thousand two hundred and forty miles from here. This journeythey must make along the Nile and not keep at a distance from it asotherwise the camels and people would perish from thirst. Ride at onceto Cairo and demand of the Khedive that despatches be sent to all themilitary outposts and that a pursuit be organized right and left alongthe river. Offer a large reward to the sheiks near the banks for thecapture of the fugitives. In the villages let all be detained whoapproach for water. In this manner Idris and Gebhr must fall into thehands of the authorities and we shall recover the children."
Mr. Rawlinson had already recovered his composure.
"I shall go," he said. "Those miscreants forgot that Wolseley's Englisharmy, hurrying to Gordon's relief, is already on the way and will cutthem off from the Mahdi. They will not escape. They cannot escape. Ishall send a despatch to our minister in a moment, and afterwards gomyself. What do you intend to do?"
"I shall telegraph for a furlough, and not waiting for an answer, shallfollow then trail by way of the Nile to Nubia, to attend to thepursuit."
"Then we shall meet, as from Cairo I shall do the same."
"Good! And now to work!"
"With God's help!" answered Mr. Rawlinson.
VII
In the meantime the camels swept like a hurricane over the sandsglistening in the moonlight. A deep night fell. The moon, at thebeginning as big as a wheel and ruddy, became pale and rolled on high.The distant desert hills were enveloped with silvery vapors like muslinwhich, not veiling their view, transformed them as if into luminousphenomena. From time to time from beyond the rocks scattered here andthere came the piteous whining of jackals.
Another hour passed. Stas held Nell in his arms and supported her,endeavoring in this way to allay the fatiguing jolts of the mad ride.The little girl began more and more frequently to ask him why they werespeeding so and why they did not see the tents and their papas. Stasfinally determined to tell her the truth, which sooner or later hewould have to disclose.
"Nell," he said, "pull off a glove and drop it, unobserved, on theground."
"Why, Stas?"
And he pressed her to himself and answered with a kind of tendernessunusual to him:
"Do what I tell you."
Nell held Stas with one hand and feared to let him go, but she overcamethe difficulty in this manner: she began to pull the glove with herteeth, each finger separately, and, finally taking it off entirely, shedropped it on the ground.
"After a time, throw the other," again spoke Stas. "I already havedropped mine, but yours will be easier to observe for they are bright."
And observing that the little girl gazed at him with an inquiring look,he continued:
"Don't get frightened, Nell. It may be that we will not meet your or myfather at all--and that these foul people have kidnapped us. But don'tfear--for if it is so, then pursuers will follow them. They willovertake them and surely rescue us. I told you to drop the gloves sothat the pursuers may find clews. In the meanwhile we can do nothing,but later I shall contrive something--Surely, I shall contrivesomething; only do not fear, and trust me."
But Nell, learning that she should not see her papa and that they areflying somewhere, far in the desert, began to tremble from fright andcry, clinging at the same time close to Stas and asking him amid hersobs why they kidnapped them and where they were taking them. Hecomforted her as well as he could--almost in the same words with whichhis father comforted Mr. Rawlinson. He said that their parentsthemselves would follow in pursuit and would notify all the garrisonsalong the Nile. In the end he assured her that whatever might happen,he would never abandon her and would always defend her.
But her grief and longing for her father were stronger even than fear;so for a long time she did not cease to weep--and thus they flew, bothsad, on a bright night, over the pale sands of the desert.
Sorrow and fear not only oppressed Stas' heart, but also shame. He wasnot indeed to blame for what had happened, yet he recalled the formerboastfulness for which his father so often had rebuked him. Formerly hewas convinced that there was no situation to which he was not equal; heconsidered himself a kind of unvanquished swashbuckler, and was readyto challenge the whole world. Now he understood that he was a smallboy, with whom everybody could do as he pleased, and that he wasspeeding in spite, of his will on a camel merely because that camel wasdriven from behind by a half-savage Sudanese. He felt terriblyhumiliated and did not see any way of resisting. He had to admit tohimself that he plainly feared those men and the desert, and what heand Nell might meet.
He promised sincerely not only to her but to himself that he wouldwatch over and defend her even at the cost of his own life.
Nell, weary with weeping and the mad ride, which had lasted already sixhours, finally began to doze, and at times fell asleep. Stas, knowingthat whoever fell from a galloping camel might be killed on the spot,tied her to himself with a rope which he found on the saddle. But aftersome time it seemed to him that the speed of the camels became lessrapid, though now they flew over smooth and soft sands. In the distancecould be seen only the shifting hills, while on the plain began thenocturnal illusions common to the desert. The moon shone in the heavenmore and more palely and in the meantime there appeared before them,creeping low, strange rosy clouds, entirely transparent, woven onlyfrom light. They formed mysteriously and moved ahead as if pushed bythe light breeze. Stas saw how the burnooses of the Bedouins and thecamels became roseate when they rode into that illuminated space, andafterwards the whole caravan was enveloped in a delicate, rosy luster.At times the clouds assumed an azure hue and thus it continued untilthe hills were reached.
Near the hills the speed of the camels slackened yet more. All aboutcould be seen rocks protruding from sandy knolls or strewn in wilddisorder amidst the sand dunes. The ground became stony. They crossed afew hollows, sown with stone and resembling the dried-up beds ofrivers. At times their road was barred by ravines about which they hadto make a detour. The animals began to step carefully, moving theirlegs with precision as if in a dance, among the dry and hard bushesformed by roses of Jericho with which the dunes and rocks wereabundantly covered. Time and again some of the camels would stumble andit was apparent that it was due to them to give them rest.
Accordingly the Bedouins stopped in a sunken pass, and dismounting fromthe saddles, proceeded to untie the packs. Idris and Gebhr followedtheir example. They began to attend to the camels, to loo
sen thesaddle-girths, remove the supplies of provisions, and seek flat stoneson which to build a fire. There was no wood or dried dung, which Arabsuse, but Chamis, son of Chadigi, plucked roses of Jericho and built ofthem a big pile to which he set fire. For some time, while the Sudanesewere engaged with the camels, Stas and Nell and her nurse, old Dinah,found themselves together, somewhat apart. But Dinah was morefrightened than the children and could not say a word. She only wrappedNell in a warm plaid and sitting close to her began with a moan to kissher little hands. Stas at once asked Chamis the meaning of what hadhappened, but he, laughing, only displayed his white teeth, and went togather more roses of Jericho. Idris, questioned afterwards, answeredwith these words: "You will see!" and threatened him with his finger.When the fire of roses, which smoldered more than blazed, finallyglowed they all surrounded it in a circle,