CHAPTER XLIX.

The two Parisians ought to have halted a few yards from the gang, and have harangued or fought them there. They were armed with revolvers only, and, in a _mêlée_, fire-arms, of whatever description they be, frequently become of no use, because, if space for taking aim is not forthcoming, the firing must be all snap-shooting and without effect. But M. de Morin, carried away by his habitual impetuosity, rushed upon the gang, M. Périères followed him, and they found themselves in the midst of half a dozen men, armed with knives and very formidable curved swords.

This sudden dash into the ruck, which closed round the trio with corresponding rapidity, had, however, one advantage, for at their very feet, in the roadway, and, so to speak, under their protection, they saw the man or woman who, a moment previously, was being carried towards the Nile. This living body, bound, gagged, and enveloped, as with a winding-sheet, in a large white bûrnus, gave evident signs of life in a series of convulsive jumps which, under other circumstances, would have been diverting enough. It was for all the world like a fish thrown up on a river bank, wriggling, floundering, and banging his tail about in lively, though futile fashion.

M. de Morin was stooping down to remove the winding-sheet when, by way of warning, he received a blow on his arm from a sword, fortunately without sustaining any injury. He sprang up and made a rush at his assailant, but stopped short suddenly on recognizing, in the star-light, the chief of the slave caravan, with whom, but a month previously, he had had such a sharp encounter.

The chief and his men simultaneously recognized the two Europeans, and their joy knew no bounds. At last all their enemies had been delivered into their hands, by mere chance, by the will of Allah. The Prophet had taken compassion on them, their cries for vengeance had reached him, their prayers had been heard. Not only had he given up to them M. Delange, who had ventured into the establishment of the Almehs, but he had also thrown in their way, at the dead of the night, and on the banks of the Nile, his companions. The thought that on two occasions in the same evening the Prophet had so manifestly shown his favour to them, could not fail to have a powerful influence on these fanatics, and it served to animate their courage. They made the grand mistake, nevertheless, of evidencing their joy prematurely, of relying too much on their superior strength, and, confident of victory, betrayed a secret which they would have done well to conceal. The chief, a European by birth, as we have already said, and speaking French, after a fashion, was imprudent enough to exclaim—

"At last you are all three in our power!"

"All three!" cried M. Périères, turning towards his friend.

They looked at each other, and took the whole thing in at a glance. The shapeless heap at their feet, the gagged and shrouded being could be no other than their companion. Dr. Delange. This unexpected revelation produced a complete and instantaneous change in their programme. It was no longer a question of risking their lives to save some unknown unfortunate, some ailing slave, as they had supposed, who was to be thrown into the Nile as the best means of disposing of such worthless property; the business in hand now was to rescue a fellow countryman, a friend, for whom they were ready to sacrifice themselves just as he would have done for them in similar circumstances.

"The fools!" whispered M. Périères in M. de Morin's ear. "And to think that I was just going to suggest getting out of this scrape as quietly as possible?"

"A brilliant idea that would have been!" replied M. de Morin. "What would have become of the poor Doctor? See, he has recognised our voices and is giving a few more evidences of vitality in order to attract our attention."

And, so saying, he was stooping down to take hold of the bûrnus once more, when Périères, seizing him by the arm, exclaimed—

"Wait. They are too near us. Let us clear the ground."

And, without waiting for a reply, he fired three random shots with his revolver.

These produced an immediate effect, for, though their adversaries were not hit, they recoiled, and so the circle was enlarged. MM. Périères and de Morin took advantage of this movement, and, without taking their eyes off the Arabs, who were already crowding in again upon them, they snatched away the bûrnus, and in a second had cut the thongs which bound M. Delange hand and foot, and relieved him of his gag.

"Phew!" said the Doctor, still confused and trying to stand up. "You are just in time. I thought it was all up with me. A thousand thanks. Have you a pistol?"

"No, but take the knife which served to release you."

"'Half a loaf is better than no bread.' Look out! Here they come!"

The Arabs, shouting and brandishing their swords, returned to the charge.

Two fresh shots from the revolvers resounded on the midnight air, but the balls took no effect, and the Arabs were unscathed.

"The game is not equal!" exclaimed M. de Morin. "Our task is ended. Let us run for it."

The danger must have been extreme indeed for M. de Morin to speak of flight. And it was so.

These three young men, armed with one knife and two revolvers, could not, as one half of their ammunition was already expended, struggle for any length of time with the slightest chance of success against six men, furnished with swords and daggers. But the successive reports of the pistols, in a suburb of Khartoum and within a few yards of the inhabited portion of it, had attracted the attention of an Egyptian picket patrolling the town. As a rule, the soldiers who in Upper Egypt act as police only put in an appearance when they think there is no danger. If they do not hesitate to take strong measures against quarrelsome slaves and drunken negroes, they prudently avoid all interference in the disputes of the Mussulmen, slave dealers and scamps of all sorts, who, knife in hand, swarm about Khartoum. But a large portion of the Egyptian army is composed of prisoners taken in former days from the territories now annexed to Egypt, and those in whom the Government places the most reliance come from the Dinka tribe, fine, brave, soldier-like looking men. The slave merchants have for some time past abandoned all idea of dealing with this tribe, their indomitable character, their independent spirit, and, above all, their strength rendering them very dangerous customers. In the ranks of the army, on the contrary, although they are occasionally insubordinate, they render valuable service. The commanding officers themselves frequently belong to this tribe, and it was only last year that the Soudan contingent was under the command of Adam Pasha, a Dinka ex-prisoner.

The small picket, which, attracted by the noise, came to the assistance of the three Europeans, was fortunately almost entirely composed of these picked men. As soon as they saw the Arabs, they advanced against them at the double, attacked them at close quarters, and dealt their blows right and left without apparently taking any thought of their own danger.

The struggle was soon over. Two Arabs took to flight, whilst the remaining four, hastily concealing their arms, began to bellow and shout, and maintained that they were the victims of an unprovoked attack on the part of the Europeans. The latter contented themselves with a shrug of the shoulders without trying to enter into any explanations, which, moreover, would have been utterly futile, seeing that the Dinkas could not have understood them. The matter ended, as it would have done in our own country, by the whole party being taken to the Egyptian station-house, situated in a square of Khartoum close to the Divan. The soldiers, however, treated the Europeans with the greatest courtesy, making them walk in front, without using any force, whereas on the slightest provocation they used both their fists and their feet on their other prisoners, whom they had recognised as slave dealers. The Dinkas hate these brutes, whom they, and on good grounds, reproach with having depopulated their country, and with still making razzias there for the purpose of seizing their women, celebrated for their culinary and household talents, and, for these reasons, eagerly sought after in every well-appointed harem.

When the station-house was reached, the Europeans succeeded in explaining matters to the officer on duty, and were at once set at liberty, whereas the traders were detained in durance vile to answer later on for their misdeeds.

At home once more, in the house occupied by them in the centre of Khartoum, the three Frenchmen, in spite of the excitement of the evening and the fatigues of the night, sat down to congratulate each other on their victory, and to talk over the expedition which had been resolved upon at Madame de Guéran's house.

"It is unnecessary to say," said M. de Morin, addressing M. Delange, "that I have no right to drag you into these stupid countries whither we are bound. The Niam-Niam, whose acquaintance we shall soon be called upon to make, are not provided by nature with tails, as many travellers have stated—that is certain. But it is still more certain, according to Piaggia, Poncet, Schweinfurth and many others, that they file their teeth to a point in order to facilitate their digestion of human flesh. Their neighbours, the Monbuttoos, are not one whit behind them from an anthropophagous point of view; indeed, it is currently reported of them that when very hungry they do not stop at disinterment. I, consequently, my dear fellow, am not inhuman enough to devote your body to the refreshment of these interesting races."

"De Morin might have added," continued M. Périères, puffing away at his cigar with much gusto, and emitting clouds of smoke, to the great annoyance of the numerous mosquitoes, "that those travellers who are not fortunate enough to be eaten, generally speaking die of fatigue and want. Without going very far afield for examples, I may mention the Italian Miani, who in 1870 was the Director of the Acclimatization Society in this town. He left for the South in 1871, as we are going to do, and, a few months afterwards, he wrote in his note-book the touching words I read this morning, 'I have no strength to write—I am suffering horribly—I have had a trench dug for my grave, and my servants have come to kiss my hands, and say—God grant that you may not die!—Adieu, all my hopes! Adieu, the dreams of my life! Adieu, Italy, for whose liberty I once fought!'"

"You see," resumed M. de Morin, "that the countries whither we are bound are not altogether satisfactory. Resume your liberty once more, and be sure that we shall never forget all that you have done for us up to to-day."

"With your permission," answered M. Delange, "I am off to bed, and to-morrow morning you shall know my decision. You have just saved my life, and I feel that, to-night, I should be influenced by that fact."