Rapidly the solitary horseman drew near, galloping as if for life.
Being alone, it seemed probable that he had been sent forward by our
pursuers to endeavour to obtain traces of us, and as the fleet Arab
steed approached, Tiamo, stretched upon the ground, took careful and
deliberate aim, ready to fire as soon as he approached within range.
Our camels lazily raised their heads to survey the newcomer, stirred
uneasily as if they had presage of danger, and as on the alert we
awaited the approach of the mysterious rider, we discerned to our dismay
that he wore a white burnouse.
"Behold!" whispered the dwarf, "it is one of our Zamfara, who always act
as scouts! He must die if we intend to escape."
It seemed that he had not discovered us, but was on his way to the well
to water his horse, therefore I answered,--
"Take not his life unless the circumstances demand extreme measures. At
least let him approach and have speech with us ere thou firest."
"Conquest lieth with those who strike the first blow," he replied, a
sinister grin upon his ugly visage as again he covered the approaching
figure with his rifle and carefully took aim. At that moment, however,
the galloping _ngirma_ emerged into the moonlight, revealing a strange
awkwardness in its white-robed rider's manner that struck me as
remarkable, and as it dashed forward and became more distinct, the truth
flashed upon me.
"By my beard!" I cried aloud, knocking, with sudden impulse, the rifle
from Tiamo's hand. "By my beard! It's a woman!"
The rifle exploded, but the bullet went wide. The rider, startled at
the shot, and thinking she had been fired at, pulled her horse instantly
upon its haunches, and sat peering in our direction, motionless, in
fear.
"Advance, and fear not, O friend!" I shouted to her, rising to my feet,
but my peaceful declarations had to be thrice repeated ere she summoned
courage to move forward to us, the bridle trembling in her hands. On
approaching, however, she slipped quickly from the saddle of the
foam-flecked animal, and tearing her haick from her face, bounded over
the sand towards us.
Her appearance struck us speechless with amazement.
The mysterious rider whom we had feared, and who had so very narrowly
escaped death by our hand, was Ayesha, the dumb slave of Azala.
With one accord we both eagerly inquired the object of her wild ride in
the lonely desert so far from Kano at that hour, but she merely shook
her head indicative of her inability to reply, and pressed her brown
hand to her side, being compelled to halt for a moment to recover
breath. In the moonlight we could see the look of fear and excitement
in her dark eyes, with their kohl-marked brows, but although she
gesticulated wildly, we failed to catch her meaning.
"Her mouth refuseth to utter sound," observed the dwarf. "Yet she
seemeth to have followed us with some important object. No halt hath
she made since leaving Kano, judging by the dust about her and the spent
condition of her horse, which, by the way, belongeth to the Aga of the
Janissaries, and one of the fleetest that the Sultan possesseth."
He spoke rapidly in Arabic, and the slave, unacquainted with any but her
native Hausa tongue, gazed in embarrassment from Tiamo's face to mine.
"Cannot she write?" I asked.
"Alas! no," answered my hideous little companion. "So carefully hath
she studied the Lalla that she anticipated her wishes by the looks in
her eyes."
While thus in conversation, wondering how we could obtain the truth from
her, she rushed towards her horse, and seizing its bridle, brought it
towards us. Then, with a smile of triumph upon her brown, wrinkled
face, she inserted her thin hand beneath the leather of the saddle, and
produced therefrom a letter folded small, and addressed in Arabic to
myself.
The sprawly characters I recognised instantly as Azala's, and on tearing
it open I found it bore the seal of her ancient signet-ring, shaped like
an Egyptian scarab. Tiamo El-Sadic, anticipating my requirements,
quickly kindled a piece of paper, and by its uncertain light I was
enabled to decipher the hasty message from the woman I loved, which read
as follows:--
"_Fly instantly to the city of Sokoto, O Zafar, my Beloved_. _Thine
enemies seek thy life, and are already in search of thee. Three hours
after I had watched thy departure from my lattice my father came unto
me, and although I denied thy visit in order to shield thee, it was
apparent that thou hast been betrayed, for he is aware of thy return.
As thou hast truly said, he feareth thee because thou bearest the Mark
of the Asps, for he compelled me to uncover the mark I bear, so that he
might gaze upon it and compare it with thine. Before me upon the Koran
he hath sworn that thou shalt die. Already two troops of one hundred
horsemen each have left the Kofa-n-Kura and have scattered over the
desert in search of thee_. _Fly! Halt not, for my sake, so that thou
reachest the city of Sokoto ere news of the Sultan's wrath can be
conveyed thither. When thou reachest the city, seek at once the dyer
Mohammed el-Arewa, who liveth in the Gazubi quarter, and deliver unto
him the message Ayesha beareth thee. He will conduct thee into the
Mountains of Kambari, where thou canst escape the vigilance of spies and
continue thy journey unmolested. Halt not, but speed on, for thine
enemies are closely following thy camels tracks. My haste causeth my
hand to tremble, but Ayesha hath confidence in overtaking thee. Fly,
and may Allah favour thee, and protect thee with the invulnerable shield
of his blessing. Peace_."
Looking into the face of the dark-eyed slave who had so devotedly served
her mistress, and undertaken a journey that few women could have
accomplished, I stretched forth my hand for the second letter, which she
gave me. It bore Azala's seal, and was addressed to Mohammed el-Arewa.
"Lift, O master, from thy servant's heart, the anxiety oppressing it, by
telling him what news the mute hath brought," Tiamo said.
"We must travel at once to Sokoto," I answered, briefly. "Let us
replace the camels' packs, for sleep must not come again to our eyes ere
we enter the city."
"Do our enemies pursue us?" he inquired, eagerly.
"Yes. To reach Sokoto, and gain the assistance of one Mohammed
el-Arewa, is our only chance of escape."
"Let us set forth," he said promptly, walking towards where the camels
were kneeling. Then turning, he added, "Hast thou forgotten thou still
wearest the silk robe of a eunuch? Assuredly it will attract the eyes
of all men. Remove it and attire thyself in these," and rummaging in
one of the camels' packs, he produced the white haick and burnouse of an
Arab, together with the rope of brown twisted camel's hair to wind
around the head, so as to keep the haick in place.
While he loaded our camels I carried out his suggestion, quickly
transforming myself from a eunuch of the Sultan of Sokoto to a plain
wanderer of the desert. With Ayesha we could only converse by
gesticulation, rendering her thanks for conveying the message unto us.
Having no writing materials, I cut from my camel's trappings a piece of
soft goatskin, and with the point of a knife traced roughly in Arabic
the words,--
"_Verily a plot is on foot to encompass the overthrow of thy dynasty.
Warn thy father, the Sultan, of the conspiracy between the Khalifa
Abdullah and his Grand Eunuch Khaznch. This message Ayesha beareth from
thy friend, Zafar_."
On giving it to the slave to convey to her mistress, she concealed it
next her tattooed breast. From our little store we gave her some dates,
and as she motioned her intention of remaining to rest, and returning to
Kano at dawn, we tethered her horse for her. Then, mounting our camels,
we gave her "peace," and rode out again upon the silent, boundless
plain.
The moon no longer shed her light; an intense darkness had fallen--that
darkness which is invariably precursory of the sandstorm. Without even
a star by which to guide ourselves we trusted that by good fortune we
were travelling in the right direction. The dwarf, who had once before
been over the ground, was searching for a landmark, and, to our mutual
satisfaction, half-an-hour after dawn he discovered it.
"Lo!" he cried excitedly, shouting back to me and pointing to where, far
away on the grey, misty horizon, a large hill appeared. "We are not
mistaken, for we have struck the caravan route. Yonder is the Rock of
Mikia, and behind it, the village of Dsafe. Before noon we shall enter
the valley through which windeth a river, and continuing along its bank,
we shall be within the gate of Sokoto ere it closeth at sunset."