"Sir, I was kind to you! I was kind to the little 'bint'! Remember that!"
Stas mechanically extracted the cartridges from the barrels and gazed. The riders drove horses and camels at the fullest speed, shouting from joy and flinging upwards their long Arabian rifles, which they caught while in full gallop with extraordinary dexterity. In the bright transparent air they could be seen perfectly. In the middle, at the van, ran the two Bedouins waving their hands and burnooses as if possessed.
After a few minutes the whole band dashed to the caravan. Some of the riders leaped off the horses and camels; some remained on their saddles, yelling at the top of their voices. Amid these shouts only two words could be distinguished.
Finally one of the Bedouins--the one whom his companion called Abu-Anga--ran up to Idris cringing at Stas' feet, and began to exclaim:
"Khartûm is taken! Gordon is killed! The Mahdi is victorious!"
Idris stood erect but did not yet believe his ears.
"And these men?" he asked with quivering lips.
"These men were to seize us, but now are going together with us to the prophet."
It was evident that the last hope of escaping during the journey had become extinct. Stas now knew that his schemes would avail nothing; that the pursuit would not overtake them, and that if they endured the hardships of the journey they would reach the Mahdi and would be surrendered to Smain. The only consolation now was the thought that they were kidnapped so that Smain might exchange them for his children. But when would that happen, and what would they encounter before that time? What dreadful misfortune awaited them among the savage hordes intoxicated with blood? Would Nell be able to endure all these fatigues and privations?
This no one could answer. On the other hand, it was known that the Mahdi and his dervishes hated Christians, and Europeans in general; so in the soul of the boy there was bred a fear that the influence of Smain might not be sufficient to shield them from indignities, from rough treatment, from the cruelties and the rage of the Mahdist believers, who even murdered Mohammedans loyal to the Government. For the first time since the abduction deep despair beset the boy, and at the same time some kind of vague notion that an untoward fate was persecuting them. Why, the idea itself of abducting them from Fayûm and conveying them to Khartûm was sheer madness which could be committed only by such wild and foolish men as Idris and Gebhr, not understanding that they would have to traverse thousands of kilometers over a country subject to the Egyptian Government or, more properly, English people. With proper methods they ought to have been caught on the second day, and nevertheless everything combined so that now they were not far from the Second Cataract and none of the preceding pursuing parties had overtaken them, and the last one which could have detained them joined the kidnappers and, from this time, would aid them. To Stas' despair, to his fears about little Nell's fate, was linked a feeling of humiliation that he was unequal to the situation and, what was more, was unable now to devise anything, for even if they returned the rifle and cartridges to him, he could not, of course, shoot all the Arabs composing the caravan.