The Veiled Man Page 5

approach so nearthe sphere of French influence, especially as this was the region of theBeni-Mzabs, who zealously guarded any encroachment upon their territory.But war had been declared against the infidel, and the Shorfa(Faithful) were uniting beneath the green banner of Al-Islam. At highnoon we halted, and soon afterwards there appeared a French Colonel witha large escort of his scarlet-burnoused Spahis. The officer, who hadridden from Metlili to intercept us, was received courteously by Tamahu,our Sheikh. He demanded the payment of taxes, but the proud old manwhom I have since succeeded answered, "Tell that lord of yours, that ifhe wants our taxes he can come for them himself, and we will make surehe gets them, in silver coins too, for we will roll each franc into abullet, and deliver it to him ourselves." The Colonel declared that thetaxes must be paid, but our Sheikh courteously requested the infidel andhis horsemen to return to the town.

  "Then you intend fighting?" the Colonel asked, at last.

  "We do," answered Tamahu. "Tell thy lord that The Breath of the Winddecline to make submission to the French."

  "You intend attacking Metlili?" the officer enquired, thoughtfully,twirling his pointed moustache.

  Our Sheikh nodded, his keen eyes watching the face of the infidel. Thelatter's countenance grew grave, whereat we, standing around leaning onour spears, laughed in derision.

  "Thou art of the great army of the infidels," Tamahu said. "Yet thyface palest when we speak of conflict!"

  The officer started, and knit his grey brows.

  "I fear not thine host of Veiled Men, fierce and relentless though yebe. True, I am a soldier, but one thing alone I dread."

  "Thou fearest to lose thy life," observed our Sheikh, knowing that thegarrison at that little desert town was but small and weak.

  "For myself I care nothing," the Colonel answered. "It is the fate ofmy daughter that I fear."

  "Thy daughter! Why is she here, in the desert, so far from Algiers?"

  "Not having seen me for four years she travelled from Paris a moon agoto visit me. Both my captain and my lieutenant have died of fever, andwe two are now the only Europeans in Metlili. The rising of thytribesmen hath occurred so unexpectedly, or I would have sent her underescort back to the coast."

  "Is thy daughter a child?" asked Tamahu.

  "She is nineteen," answered the officer, whose name he informed us wasColonel Bonnemain. We at once knew him by repute as a distinguishedtraveller and soldier.

  "Thou knowest what is said of the word of a Touareg," the Sheikh said,regarding him keenly.

  The Colonel nodded.

  "Canst thou trust these my tribesmen with the escort of thy daughter?"Tamahu asked. "If thou wilt, no harm shall befall her. We have agreedwith the Mzabs to attack and pillage thy town, because thou, with thinehorsemen, hast established a post therein; therefore it must be done.But the Azjars wage not war upon women, and ere we commence the attackthy daughter shall find safe asylum within our camp."

  For a moment the Colonel hesitated, looking intently into the dark,bright eyes of our aged headman. But seeing honesty and truth mirroredin his face the infidel held out his hand, and in silence more eloquentthan words gripped that of his enemy. At last his tongue's stringsbecame loosened.

  "Henceforth, although I am an officer of the French, and compelled tofight against thee, I am nevertheless thy friend, and some day willprove my friendship. Gabrielle shall be within thy camp at dawn."

  "The Azjars will give her the welcome of friends," answered our Sheikh.

  With a brief expression of heartfelt thanks Colonel Bonnemain vaultedlightly into his saddle, and wishing us "Peace," spurred away to wherehis troop of expectant Spahis awaited him.

  "May Allah guard thee and thine!" answered Tamahu in response to theinfidel's salutation, and a moment later our enemies were riding hardaway towards the far-off horizon.

  The long breathless afternoon went slowly by. We had not encamped,because we knew not when our allies, the Beni-Mzabs, might approach, andrapidity of movement was of urgent necessity, inasmuch as a formidableFrench column was on the march. Spent by long travel, the majority ofus stretched ourselves on the hot sands and slept, leaving half-a-dozento act as sentinels and prevent surprise; but at the _maghrib_ hour allwere awakened by the clear voice of our aged marabout reciting the_fatihat_. Every man, without exception, knelt upon the sand, his backturned upon the blaze of crimson in the west, and recited the _suras_,praying to Allah to prosper our expedition.

  When we arose, Tamahu, his right hand raised to heaven, and his leftgrasping his gleaming spear, exhorted us to remain faithful, and to beararms bravely against the infidels.

  "Ye are called forth against a mighty and a warlike nation," heexclaimed. "Ye shall fight against them, or they shall profess Islam.If ye obey, Allah will, of a verity, give you a glorious reward; but ifye turn back he will chastise you with a grievous chastisement. Allahhas promised you many spoils, which ye should take; and he giveth theseby way of earnest; and he restraineth the hand of man from you; and thesame may be a sign unto the true believers; and he guideth you in theright way. Allah knoweth that which ye know not; and he hath appointedyou, besides this, a speedy victory."

  Long and earnestly the old Sheikh addressed us, quoting from our Book ofEverlasting Will to emphasise his declarations. Then he referred to thecompact he had that day made with the leader of our enemies.

  "A woman of the Franks we shall receive into this our camp. Remember, Omy people, that she will partake of our salt, and that while this warcontinueth she is our friend. Let not a single hair of her head beinjured. The word of thy Sheikh Tamahu hath already been given."

  That evening we spent in sharpening our spears and shangermangors,preparatory to the fight, singing snatches of war-songs and discussingthe prospects of the attack. Perhaps of all the tribes in the tracklesssolitudes which constitute our home, we of the Azjar are among the mostactive, vigorous, and enterprising, inured as we are to hardships, andwith our mental faculties sharpened almost to a preternatural degree bythe hard struggle for existence in our arid rocky fastnesses. Therearing of oxen, horses, and goats is our chief occupation, but thescarcity of water and our speedy exhaustion of the scanty pasturage ofthe oases keep us perpetually on the march. Agriculture is scarcelypossible under a sky from which rain does not fall for six or eightconsecutive years; therefore it is, perhaps, not surprising that we havedeveloped into desert-pirates.

  Those who have never set foot upon the Saharan plains can possess but avague idea of their appearance. In the whole of the Great Desert, atrack comprising over two million square miles, there is not a singlecarriage-road, not a mile of navigable waters, not a wheeled vehicle,canoe, or boat of any kind. There are scarcely even any beaten tracks,for most of the routes, though followed for ages without divergence ofany kind, are temporarily effaced by every sandstorm, and recovered onlyby means of the permanent landmarks--wells, prominent dunes, a solitaryeminence crowned with a solitary bush, the remains of travellers,slaves, or camels that may have perished of thirst or exhaustion betweenthe stations.

  Long and patiently we waited for the arrival of the woman to whom we hadpromised protection; but although the night passed, the dawn rose, andthe hours crept on towards the noon, our vigilance remained unrewarded.A second day passed in inactivity, then, wearied of waiting, we struckcamp and moved forward.

  The afterglow had deepened into evening dusk when at length we camewithin sight of Metlili. Looming high up on a pinnacle of rock, whiteagainst the clear sky, its appearance astonished us, for it lookedimpregnable. Its flat-roofed houses rose tier upon tier around anexceedingly steep eminence crowned by a great mosque with high squareminaret, while at the foot of the hill were some scattered date-groves.

  We had passed over the summit of a sand ridge, and were making a dashstraight upon the French stronghold, when we noticed that our presencehad already been detected. Upon the walls a few Spahis in scarlet andsome white-burnoused Arabs were moving hurriedly. Suddenly there was
aflash from the Kasbah, followed by a report, loud, sharp, echoless. Ourenemies had opened fire upon us.

  Tamahu instantly gave the word to spur forward on the wings of haste.With one accord we rode in a huge compact body so swiftly as to justifyour popular appellation "The Breath of the Wind," and, regardless of arapid rifle-fire that was poured out from the white walls, pressedforward to the foot of the rock. Here we dismounted, and with loudyells of savage rage dashed up the rough narrow way that gave entranceto the town. Many of my companions fell dead or wounded ere theyreached the hastily-barred gate, but by dint of fierce and doggeddetermination, we pushed forward in force so great that we managed to atlast batter down the huge wooden doors. Next second we poured into theplace in overwhelming numbers. Up its steep streets, so narrow that twoasses could not pass abreast, we