BEN NIL and I had no preparations to make for our dangerous journey. We turned our steps away from the lake and started off in the direction in which we had come the day before, without a glance toward the village, which appeared to be still sleeping. We had walked but about ten minutes when we heard a kind of whining behind us, rather like that of a dog which has lost his master and cannot find the trail again. I turned around with my gun held ready to shoot. We were followed, but I soon saw had nothing to fear, for our pursuer was none other than the long Selim, who came after us in such gigantic strides that his garments fluttered behind him in the wind.

"Wait, wait, Effendi," he called; "where are you going?"

"Where are you going rather?" I retorted.

"With you," he panted as he came up with us.

"Not much! You will stay where you are, you magnet of misfortune. I am going into danger. I have left the Reis Effendina because he is ungrateful to me."

"I have heard, and the 'Asaker' are regretting it, for they are fond of you, and they are hoping you will return. I rose up early to seek you, because I am your natural protector. I took my knife and gun and left the village. Even as I started I saw you and called to you, but you could not hear me, so I have run after you."

"I am sorry, for you will only have to return."

"No, Effendi, I will not return. If you do not take me with you I will follow you at a distance."

What was I to do? Ben Nil begged me to let him go,

and I certainly could not have him lumbering alone behind me all the way to Fagoda! He was a faithful old man, though unquestionably an idiot, and I knew he would follow, as he said he would, so I said ungraciously: "Come along then. I know you will bring misfortune upon us. But once more I will try to impress upon you that you must obey my smallest order to the letter."

"All, all, Effendi," he protested, laying his hand on his heart. "Demand of me what you will, I will do it; only do not demand that I should leave you."

So it was with this addition to our rescuing force that we finally set out, and the addition soon made itself felt by bewailing the hunger from which Selim chronically suffered. We turned a little from the route which we expected Ibn Asl to take, toward the south. We did not come upon the swamps which we dreaded, but entered a tamarind forest which seemed to be endless. There was a large lake in the heart of these woods, however, beside which I was able to shoot some birds which served to satisfy, not only Selim's clamoring stomach, but the necessity of us all. At sunset we came upon a second forest, having at last passed through the first one, and here we spent the night, the dry leaves and dead branches furnishing our beds.

We resumed our course before the break of day, and soon were floundering through swamps and again swamps, where there was not an edible berry to be found nor a sign of game. If Selim complained the day before he was unendurable now, and made such a row that, hungry and tired as I was, I thought I should go crazy and shoot him if nothing else turned up. Fortunately rescue came, for, like a promise of help, we heard a voice overhead crying: "Karnuk, karnuk, karnuk!"

"There's our dinner!" cried Ben Nil. "Where the karnuks are there are other birds."

"Karnuk" is the Arabian name for the crane, because as it flies it cries: "Karnuk, karnuk, nuk, nuk," and I knew that Ben Nil was right, for its presence betokened water near at hand. We plunged to the right, heard the cry repeated, and, calling Ben Nil to follow me, I unslung my gun from my shoulder and waded in the direction of the sound.

"Let me go with you," said Selim. "All wild things tremble before my gun."

"And then fly off unharmed!" I said. "No, my unlucky hero, you stay precisely where you are. Don't you move from this bush, where we shall know where to find you. You are not to move one inch. Understand?"

"Yes, I will stay just here, Effendi. I have promised to obey you to the letter. But only shoot something to eat, I beg you."

Promising to do our best, to which our own appetites urged us, Ben Nil and I went off to market, leaving Selim sitting in the exact spot designated.

We made our way toward the head of the swamp and soon saw the cranes which had called us standing on one leg in a little lake in approved decorative art attitude. The handsome gray birds, with their long crests, were splendid to look upon, but too old to be good eating. Beyond them, however, we spied a flock of geese and some plovers, which the natives of the Sudan call "sik-saks," because of their note.

Deciding that we preferred a goose, we crept over nearer to them, when suddenly the plovers started up, crying in fright: "Sik-sak, sik-sak!"

"What startled those plovers?" I asked softly, pausing to look around.

"We did; they saw us," whispered Ben Nil.

"They couldn't see us; the grass hides us. Besides, if it

had been we that startled them, they would have flown away from us, not toward us.

"Perhaps they saw Selim."

"That might be. Come on, we must have our goose, whatever it was."

We succeeded in creeping up to the flock without startling them, and, taking aim, we each bagged a young fat one, which we dragged out of the water. Then, each with a goose in our hand, we started back to our starving hero, from whom we had been absent something over a quarter of an hour.

We made the best time possible through the swamp, but when we got within sight of the spot where we had left him Selim was nowhere to be seen.

"That man has not stayed where you told him to," cried Ben Nil, and, coming up to the place, I saw that there were footprints leading thence into the swamp and branches of the shrubs growing near lay on the ground.

"He has gone back into the woods," I said. "Now, what has he done that for?"

The question was scarcely uttered than I received its answer in an unexpected way. A figure rose up from behind the bush with the butt of a gun raised to strike. I would have sprung back, but it was too late; a blow struck me down, and as I struggled to rise a second blow robbed me of my senses.

When I recovered later my head was in agony, and I saw everything as if through a veil, behind which figures were moving, and both my arms were fastened to my sides. I heard a voice that sounded far away, saying: "The dog's eyes are open; he is alive, then. What a pleasure for us!"

I feebly tried to think where I had heard that voice before, but my senses were too far scattered by the blows I had received to place it. It continued: "If you had died I should

have missed a great deal, but now you live, and shall be tortured till you die by inches. This time you shall not escape me!"

Now I knew who was speaking! It was Ibn Asl, and I had fallen into his hands! Weakness and pain made me fall asleep as I made this discovery, and when I again awoke the pain was greatly lessened and my strength was returning. I opened my eyes, and what I saw was far from consoling. I lay close to the spot where I had been captured, Ben Nil at my right, Selim on my left, both with their hands and feet bound, but alive.

Before me sat Ibn Asl, his eyes fastened on my face with an expression of hatred and triumph; beyond were the Djangeh Negroes whom he had forced or deceived into his service, busied with saddling and bridling a train of oxen which stood between the woods and the swamp -- they were destined to carry the slaves which he expected to capture. As Ibn Asl saw that I was conscious, he rose, and, raising the hippopotamus skin whip which he carried, struck me a severe blow, saying: "At last Allah has heard my prayers, and delivered you into my hands! Do you know what lies before you?"

"Yes," I replied calmly; "freedom!"

"Dog! Do you dare to mock me?" he cried, giving me another blow which was heavier than the first. "I have already described to you the tortures which await you. You had the good fortune to escape me, but this time you cannot escape. I will cut off your eyelids, and you shall go mad and die in the slow torture of sleeplessness!"

"You will die long before I do, and Allah will inflict upon you the pains you intend for me, but which you will never be able to make me suffer." As I spoke it seemed to me that something assured me that I spoke the truth, and that this time, too, I should escape.

"Not able?" Ibn Asl cried. "At a word from me you are dead, but I shall not speak it. You think I shall die before you? Don't imagine that you will be rescued; I know on whom you reckon, but you hope in vain."

"You know nothing whatever of my hopes," I said, to draw him out.

"I know everything," he retorted triumphantly. "You have learned my plans through Murad Nassyr, and you have come with the Bors to warn the Gohks of Wagunda."

"You are dreaming," I said, hoping to hear more.

"I am not dreaming, and my informant is a sure one. This wise Selim of yours has acknowledged everything. You have combined with the Reis Effendina, but have fallen out with him, and are on your way to Fagoda to get help. Fortunately I shortened my march, for I had an inspiration, and decided not only to destroy Wagunda, but to fall on Fagoda also. This Selim is such a fountain of wisdom that it never occurred to him to run away when he saw me coming, though he had plenty of time, for our oxen could not pass under the trees as fast as he could have gotten away. If the warriors you have are equally sensible I shall have child's play in dealing with them. We captured the man, and by threatening him with death found out all that we wanted to know. Then you came back and were captured; you are lost. Now we will start for Fagoda, and give you a glimpse of slave capturing. What you see there may give you an idea of what you have to expect." He rose, and made a signal which brought all his followers to their feet to prepare for going. I employed the moment thus secured by asking Selim if what Ibn Asl said was true, and he had actually sat still, waiting to be captured.

"Certainly," he replied. "Have you forgotten that you ordered me to stay where I was, and that I had promised to obey you in everything?"

This was too much! "Oh, you idiot! You most idiotic of all idiots!" I cried in a fury. "There never was anything to equal this! How could I have known that Ibn Asl was coming? I knew well you would get us into some sort of scrape. If you had jumped into the bushes quickly at your first glimpse of Ibn Asl, before you were seen, you could have warned us, and he would now have been our prisoner instead of our being in his hands. And how came you to tell him everything about us?"

"You heard him say that he threatened me with death?"

"Stupid! don't you know that unless I deliver you you will be killed in spite of your information?"

"Do you mean that it is possible that you can deliver us, dear Effendi?"

"I have not lost hope; we have a saying that while there is life there is hope. Pray Allah that He may --" I was interrupted by the coming of some white "Asaker" to prepare us for the march. I was forced to rise, and a heavy "schebah" was laid upon me. A "schebah" is a stout forked branch, in the fork of which the neck of a slave or prisoner is thrust, and held there by a crosspiece of wood. Thus the prisoner retains the free use of his hands and feet, while the long branch which he has to carry before him prevents his escape. It seemed as though the heaviest bough possible had been sought out for me, but lest it were not sufficient I was also handcuffed, the handcuffs held together by a short chain. Ben Nil and Selim were secured only by the "schebah."

The march began. A number of good runners were sent ahead, then came a body of Djangeh, followed by Ibn Asl with his white "Asaker," the remainder of the Djangeh bringing up the rear. Most of these people were mounted on oxen. The point of my "schebah" had a strong rope fastened to it, the other end of which was made fast to Ibn Asl's

saddle. We passed through open country for more than an hour; then we saw woods before us outlined against the sky. One of the fore-runners came out from these woods and said something to the Djangeh leader, who then came up to Ibn Asl, evidently repeating the information. I had been thinking that these Negroes must be deceived, or they would not be with their arch-enemy, proceeding against their own kindred, and I had been puzzling over the problem of how I could let them know the truth. Hoping that this might be my chance, I summoned up the few Djangeh words I knew and cried in the tongue: "Ibn Asl anadsch rehn, badd ginu Scheik kador, Scheik and wirt, afod rahn --"

These words, which mean: "Ibn Asl is a wretch; he will murder your chief; the chief is with us as our friend," were all I could utter. Ibn Asl seized my "schebah," pulling it so hard that I fell, and cried in a fury: "Silence, dog! You miserable liar! Shall I stop your mouth with my whip?" He drew his hippopotamus hide whip from his girdle, and as I started to rise struck me such a blow that I fell again. Then he bade the Djangeh withdraw, and as he obeyed I saw by the expression of his face that I had failed. He had not understood my words in the sense I had intended to convey.

"If you attempt again to speak to a Djangeh I will gag you," growled Ibn Asl as I rose to my feet. I knew that he would keep his word, and as, aside from the pain, it would only make matters worse if I were gagged, I resolved not to risk it.

We passed through the woods in half an hour, and held our way until about eight o'clock in the evening; then we halted to await the spies who had gone on ahead. I felt sure we were near the doomed village.

The oxen were made fast, but everything was done with scarcely a sound; fire was not made, and it was perfectly

dark; but the rattle of chains and weapons told me they were preparing to attack. I tortured my brain trying to discover a means of warning these poor Negroes. I could not get to them, but I thought if we were near enough to them for Ibn Asl to use such precautions my voice might reach them. I raised my hands painfully to my mouth, took a deep breath, and shouted three times; to my surprise our guards offered no objections, but one of them burst into scornful laughter and said: "You fool! do you think Ibn Asl did not foresee that? He knows you, and that you would try to warn these black curs; that is why he has left you here. The village is an hour away, so yell in heaven's name, if you like it. I warn you it is the last thing you will do in this world."

I was silent, trying to find some comfort in the thought that at least I had done my best. And then we waited. It must have been ten or eleven o'clock, when suddenly the heavens glowed red toward the south.

"Hamdulillah, it has begun!" cried the last speaker joyously. "The rats will be smoked out."

"Will you burn them?" I cried in horror.

"Burn them?" he laughed scornfully. "Don't you know anything about slave captures?"

"I am no hunter of men."

"Then I will describe it."

"Be silent with your descriptions!"

"You must hear it; it is not for you to command silence. When I will speak, I will speak, and of what I please. You know all Negro villages are surrounded by thorn hedges; these thorns are dry, and burn well. When we have surrounded the village we light the hedge in several places. In a few minutes it is burning everywhere; the sparks fly on the huts, and the thatched reed roofs catch instantly. The Negroes wake up and try to save themselves. The children

and old people are too weak to do so, so they burn up; but the strong ones run out, and as it is just these whom we wish to capture, we grab them as they break through the burning hedges, for it is dark outside the fire, and they cannot see us. The first thing they know they are chained, and if they resist we stab them."

"Be quiet!" cried Ben Nil. "You are not men, but devils!"

"You are right," laughed the other. "You will soon learn that we are devils. You will be worse off than the Negroes we capture. They have nothing to complain of; whether they are burned, or shot, or stabbed, their death is quick."

Another hour passed, while the fire lighted even to the spot where we were waiting; then came two "Asaker" from Ibn Asl, and said to the three who were guarding us: "Ibn Asl will show these captive dogs what a capture we have made. Follow us to Fagoda."

Obedient to this order we were taken to the scene of what proved to be Ibn Asl's last crime, where he was waiting our coming, seated on a rug, unmoved in the midst of the desolation. The village burned no longer, but the hunters of men had kindled a great fire and sat around it with their prey, men and beasts, for the Pagoda dwellers had been rich in herds.

But the human beings! It is forbidden to shed blood, but if my hands had been free the glimpse I had of the scene before me as I came up would have been Ibn Asl’s last moment on earth, and rightly so, for the liberation of his victims. They lay between two fires, the unfortunate creatures who but a short time before had been sleeping unsuspicious of their doom. The men had been separated from the women, and they, in turn, from the children. Between their ranks guards with whips marched up and down;

the prisoners were bound, but if one of them moved ever so slightly, he was struck a blow that took off the skin. I turned away, sickened, as did Ben Nil and Selim. Ibn Asl rose and went over to the children, feeling their little limbs to select the strongest of them. He saw our disgust and said: "The dogs will not look at what they see, eh? Bind them to a stake in view of it all, and if they close their eyes whip them until they open them again." This order was carried out; there was no need of the whip to keep my eyes open -- horror prevented me from closing them an instant on the scene before me. Ibn Asl continued his examination of the children; those whom he found strong enough to be transported to a distance remained where they were; the others were carried to one side and thrown down. When the examination was ended I heard a command given, and some of his followers went over to the rejected children; knives flashed; I shrieked aloud with the agonized mothers, closed my eyes, and when I opened them not a child of them all still lived.

I was insane with rage; my body trembled, and I tugged madly on my chains, but in vain. But all was not yet finished; the examination of the young men and girls followed, and those who were found unfit for his purposes Ibn Asl had slain on the spot without wasting time on separating them from their fellows.

When the work was done the chains and "schebahs" were brought and the poor wretches destined for market were made ready for their transport.

Ibn Asl, his task performed, came over to me, grinning diabolically, and asked: "How do you like it? Don't you think we have made a good haul?"

I mastered myself sufficiently to reply calmly: "A truly splendid haul; I should estimate its value very highly, aside from the herds; I congratulate you."

If the scene had been a different one, the expression on his face would have been funny as he stepped backward a little in surprise, staring at me and saying: "You congratulate me? Allah surely works wonders! Are you mad with pity for these Diggers? Are you transformed? Are you ready to become a slave-captor?"

"Yes, I too, mean to capture human beings, and I tell you frankly they are you and your white 'Asaker.'"

He burst into laughter. "I and my white 'Asaker'!" he cried. Then, as I continued to look steadily at him he stooped and carefully examined my shackles; then he rose and laughed again. "You almost made me believe you had got loose," he said, "and were hoping to get away, but I see you have not, so I suppose you are really mad."

"I am in full possession of my senses," I said. "But I know, as there is justice in heaven, that to-night's work has sealed your doom. Ibn Asl, as sure as the sun shall rise tomorrow, so surely will I get you into my hands, and you shall pay with the last drop of your blood for the blood of the victims of your greed and cruelty, the shedding of which you have made me the witness to-night."

He drew his knife and plunged toward me; paused, laughed, though his voice shook, and put the knife back into his girdle. "No," he said; "I see your trick to provoke me into giving you a quick death, now that hope has left you, and you have seen what you are to suffer. But you shall not succeed; you shall live a little longer for the tortures destined you."

"It is kismet, as you would say; it is the will of God, as I know," I said. "Ibn Asl, your hour is near; never again shall you dye the earth with innocent blood. I am your prisoner, but I shall be your victims' avenger."

He struck me in the face with his whip, but walked away without another word.

Contents

Introduction