G.A. Henty - With Kitchener in the Soudan - a story of Atbara and Omdurman

" I should say to the left, my lord. There is another caravan route from Metemmeh to Ambukol. It cannot be more than fifteen miles to the west."

"Do you know anything about it?"

" I have never been along there. It is a shorter route than the one to Korti, but not so much used, I believe, because the wells cannot be relied upon."

"Well, I feel sure we shall not be able to get at the wells on the other line, so we had better take that. As we shall be fairly safe from pursuit, we may as well bear towards the north-west. By doing so we shall be longer in striking the track, but the journey will be a good bit shorter than if we were to ride due west. Now we can safely dismount. It is getting pitch-dark, and we will lead our horses. I can feel that mine is nearly dead-beat. In a few minutes we will halt and give them half a gourdful of water each. After that we had better go on for another six or seven miles, so as to be well out of sight of anyone on the hills."

Ten minutes later they heard the dull sound of horses' hoofs on the sand. They waited five minutes until it died away in the distance, and then continued their course. It was slow work, as they had to avoid every bush carefully, lest if their pursuers halted they should hear the crackling of a dry stick in the still air. Zaki, who could see much better in the dark than his master, went on ahead, while Gregory led the two horses. A good hour passed before they stopped. They gave the horses a scanty drink and took a mouthful or two each, and then, throwing themselves down, allowed the horses to crop the scanty herbage. After four hours' halt they pursued their way on foot for three hours, laying their course by the stars. They calculated that they must have gone a good fifteen miles from the point where they turned off, and feared that they might miss the caravan track if they went on before daybreak.

CHAPTER IX

SAFELY BACK

AS soon as the sun was up they pursued their journey, Gregory's compass being now available. In half an hour Zaki said, "There is a sign of the track, my lord," and he pointed to the skeleton of a camel

•'How many more miles do you think we have to go, Zaki?"

" We must be a good half-way," my lord.

"Yes, quite that, I should think. Looking at the map, I should say that we must be about abreast of the line of Gakdul. This route is only just indicated, and there art no halting-places marked upon it. Still, there must be water, otherwise caravans could not use it. We have about sixty miles farther to go, so that if the horses were fresh we might be there this evening; but as it is, we have still two, if not three days' journey before us. Well, we must hope that we shall find some water. Just let the horses wet their mouths; we can keep on for a bit before we have a drink. How much more is there left?" he asked, after the lad had given a little water to each horse.

"Not above two gourdfuls."

" Well, we must ride as far as we can, and at any rate must keep one gourdful for to-morrow. If we cover twenty-five miles to-day—and I don't think the horses can do more—we can manage, if they are entirely done up, to walk the other thirty-five miles. However, as I said, there must be wells, and even if they are dry we may be able to scratch the sand out and find a little water. What food have we got?"

"Only about two pounds of dates."

" That is a poor supply for two days, Zaki, but we must make the best of them. We will only eat a few to-day, so as to have a fair meal in the morning. We shall want it if we have to walk thirty-five miles over the sand."

"It will not be all sand," Zaki said; "there is grass for the last fifteen miles near the river, and there were cultivated fields about ten miles out before the Dervishes came."

"That is better. Now we will be moving." The herbage the horses had cropped during the halt had served to a certain degree to supply the place of water, and they proceeded at a brisker pace than Gregory had expected. "Keep a sharp look-out for water. Even if the wells are dry, you will see

a difference in the growth of the bushes round them, and as it is certain that this route has not been used for some time there may even be grass."

They rode on at an easy canter, and avoided pressing the horses in the slightest degree, allowing them to walk whenever they chose. The heat was very great, and after four hours' riding Gregory called a halt. "We must have done twenty miles," he said. "The bushes look green about here, and the horses have got something of a feed."

"I think this must be one of the old halting-places," Zaki said, looking round as they dismounted. " See, my lord, there are some broken gourds and some rags scattered about."

" So there are," Gregory said. " We will take the bridles out of the horses' mouths, so that they can chew the leaves up better, and then we will see if we can find where the wells were."

Twenty yards farther away they found a deep hole. "This was one of them," the lad said, "but it is quite dry. See, there is an old bucket lying at the bottom. I will look about; there may be some more of them."

Two others were discovered, and the sand at the bottom of one of them looked a somewhat darker colour than the others. "Well, we will dig here," Gregory said. "Bring down those two half-gourds; they will help us to shovel the sand aside."

The bottom of the hole was some six feet across, and they set to work in the middle of it. By the time they had got down two feet the sand was soft and clammy. "We will get to water, Zaki, if we have to stay here all day!" said Gregory.

It was hard work, and it was not until after four hours' toil that, to their delight, they found the sand wet under their feet. They had taken it by turns to use the scoop, for the labour of making the hole large enough for them both to work at once would have been excessive. In another hour there was half an inch of water in the hole. Gregory took a gourd and buried it in the soft soil until the water flowed

in over the brim. "GiA^e me the other one down, Zaki. I will fill that too, and then we will both start drinking to gether."

Five minutes later the two took a long draught. The scoops were then refilled and carried to the horses, who drank with an eagerness that showed how great was their thirst. Three times the gourds were filled and emptied. Now hand me down that water-bag." This was half-filled, and then, exhausted with their work, they threw themselves down and slept for some hours. When they awoke the sun was setting. "Bring up the horses, Zaki. Let them drink as much as they like."

The gourds had each to be filled six times before the animals were satisfied. The riders then took another deep drink, ate a handful of dates, and mounted. "We are safe now, and only have to fear a band of marauding Arabs; and it would be hard luck were we to fall in with them. We had better ride slowly for the first hour or so; we must not press the horses after they have had such a drink."

" Very well, master."

"There is no particular reason for hurry, and even if we miss the trail we know that by keeping straight on we shall strike the river somewhere near Korti or Ambukol."

For an hour they went at a walk, and then the horses broke into their usual pace of their own accord. It was getting dark now, and soon even Zaki could not make out the track. "The horses will keep to it, my lord," he said; "their sight is a great deal better than ours, and I dare say their smell may have something to do with it. Besides, the track is clear of bushes, so we should know at once if they strayed from it."

They rode for five hours, and then felt that the horses were beginning to fag. " We will halt here," Gregory said. " We certainly cannot be more than five-and-twenty miles from the river, and, if we start at dawn, shall be there before the heat of the day begins. We can have another handful of dates, and