Grasping the Crescent with both hands, I examined it minutely,
convincing myself that it actually was the strange object that Zoraida
had given me. I recognised its curious engraving and the undecipherable
hieroglyphics that had so puzzled me.
How it came to repose where I had discovered it was a profound mystery.
Apparently the thief of the Kel-Fade, who had snatched it from me, had
replaced it in its case and pushed it into his saddle-bag along with the
miscellaneous proceeds of other raids, and then, by some means, both the
bags had been deposited in that chamber for safe keeping. The entrance
to that gruesome sepulchre was, no doubt, a hidden mystery, therefore
the thief imagined his treasure safe from prying fingers. But I had
regained it, and meant to retain possession of it, and to learn the
great insolvable Secret even though my life might be jeopardised. If
Zoraida still lived, I might, after all, be enabled to carry out her
extraordinary commission, and so earn that peace and happiness that was
my promised reward. By this thought hope revived within me, as with
redoubled energy I endeavoured to detect some means by which to escape.
With the Crescent of Glorious Wonders once again in my possession it was
my determination to return to Agadez, even at the risk of arrest, and
seek Mohammed ben Ishak, the one person in the whole world who could
impart to me the abstruse knowledge upon which depended my future. Yet,
with the Crescent within my grasp, and only a few days distant from
Agadez, I was, nevertheless, an utterly helpless prisoner, doomed to the
companionship of the ghastly dead, until I too should pass the threshold
of the Silent Kingdom.
Through the day I searched for means of exit, unceasingly examining the
roof of my prison, but finding nothing to lead me to suppose that a door
was concealed. How I had been placed there was a mystery. Once, about
noon, I was startled by hearing a voice deep and resonant, yet I
reassured myself that it was merely fancy, and that I was alone. After
long search, I ate and drank, then sat helpless and dejected, examining
my regained prize, which, alas! was still useless to me. To return to
Agadez with it in my possession seemed a forlorn hope. All my thoughts
centred upon the woman whose grace and beauty held me enmeshed. In a
frenzy of madness I rose and paced that silent unknown tomb where
hideous, crumbling skeletons seemed to mock me, and where the stillness
and gloom were so complete and appalling.
Suddenly an object caught my eye that I had not before noticed. Close
to the niche in which the bones of one of the victims reposed, an iron
ring was fastened in the wall about a foot from the floor. The slanting
ray of light from above was falling at that hour quite close to it,
revealing that the dust encrusting other parts of the floor had been
removed in the vicinity. Upon the white beaten earth there was a large
dark stain, about the size of my hand. This aroused my curiosity, for
it appeared suspiciously like a stain of blood, and I remembered that my
wound was still open when I had been brought there. The thought flashed
across my mind that some secret mode of entrance was therein hidden, yet
I examined carefully the ring, and found it an ordinary one, evidently
used to chain up prisoners, and securely embedded in a huge block of
roughly-hewn stone about two feet square.
My hands carefully felt the ring, but it was rough and deeply rusted,
showing that it had not been used as a handle. It was curious, though,
why the dust should have been removed from the floor at that spot, and
why at that place only should there remain a trace of blood. With the
hilt of my knife I rapped upon the stone, but there was no sound to give
rise to further suspicion, neither was there any opening around the
block. It fitted closely like the others, and had probably been built
in there for centuries.
Taking the ring in both hands, I tugged at it, at the same time,
however, feeling the effort was useless. The idea of moving a gigantic
block of stone of that size was preposterous, and when I found I had
expended my strength in vain, I laughed aloud as I wiped my brow.
Pausing, I again examined its surroundings minutely. Though there was
nothing whatever to show the block was movable, I instinctively felt
that some secret mode of exit lay concealed there.
Again a voice startled me. Like a muffled wail it sounded, and I was
undecided as to whether it might not have been caused by the wind
passing over the crevice above that admitted light and air into the
charnel-house. Having rested to regain breath, I essayed another
attempt. Setting my feet firmly on either side of the block, I threw my
whole weight backward, and pulled frantically at the ring of iron.
Holding my breath, and setting my teeth firmly, I was exerting every
muscle, when suddenly there was a harsh, grating sound.
The great block of stone moved forward nearly six inches!
In my weak state the smallest exertion produced hard breathing,
therefore I was compelled to pause for a few moments in intense anxiety.
At last I had discovered the secret!
Again I tugged at the great rusty ring, moving it towards me still
further. Then, on careful investigation, I discovered that the block of
stone was not solid, but formed the front of a great stone drawer, long
and narrow like a coffin, and just large enough to admit the body of a
man.
By dint of herculean effort I drew the great drawer out nearly four
feet, then, taking the Crescent of Glorious Wonders in its worm-eaten
case, together with some _ajwah_ for sustenance, I entered the
coffin-like receptacle. With difficulty I squeezed through the shallow
trough, that proved several feet longer than the thickness of the wall,
and, to my relief, I found myself, a moment later, in a narrow,
subterranean passage, enveloped in an impenetrable darkness. With feet
falling silently in the thick white dust, I felt my way along for some
distance, taking several abrupt turnings, until strange noises caused me
to halt, listening breathlessly.
Human voices were raised in a solemn, mournful chant!
Noiselessly I crept forward in the darkness, coming at length to a blank
wall, and then, turning sharply to the right, a thick plush curtain
arrested my progress. Drawing it aside slightly, and with infinite
care, I gazed in wonderment upon a scene weird and remarkable. It held
me spellbound.
The underground apartment was about fifteen feet wide, forty feet long,
and nine feet high, with one end slightly raised as a kind of platform.
Illumined by a great fire that burned in a sort of brazier in the
centre, there were nine flat stones ranged round, and upon these sat
aged, white-bearded Arabs. They were councillors of one of the secret
societies of Al-Islam. Around were assembled other younger Sons of the
Desert, presenting a strange and weird appearance. Each bore an ostrich
feather, stuck in the rope of camel's hair that encircled his head, and
carried in his left hand a green-painted _derbouka_.
The councillors, swaying their bodies in unison, were uttering strange,
monotonous incantations, when suddenly a very old and feeble man, in
scarlet burnouse, descended from the platform where he had been
enthroned, bearing in his hand a small black snake that writhed and
twisted itself around his bony wrist. Advancing to the brazier, he cast
the reptile into the fire, and as it was consumed, the whole of those
present set up a long, shrill wail.
"Accursed be the race of dogs!" they cried. "May the entrails of the
Infidels who have over-run the glorious land of the True Believer be
burned like yonder serpent, and may the pestilence overtake them. May
the vultures lay bare their bones, and may their dust be scattered
across the plains, even unto the Great Sea."
The words revealed to me their purpose. During my travels, I had, on
many occasions, heard rumours of secret Moslem societies, although their
existence had often been denied in the European press, the Paris
_Figaro_ excepted. Frequently had I longed for an opportunity of
investigating these associations, formed for the purpose of concerted
and decisive action against the Christians, and now, by a most curious
circumstance, I found myself present at one of their secret meetings.
The most violent and far-reaching of these organisations was, I had been
told, the Ghuzzat, a development of an offshoot of the Senousya, and was
composed of the wildest fanatics of the Aissawa sect who were followers
of the elder Senousi, a Shereef, or descendant of the Prophet. Leaving
Mecca some years before, the marabout had wandered through Egypt,
Tripoli, and Tunis, finally building a large _zawya_ [Hermitage] at
El-Beida, near the fountain of Apollo. At that time the Arabs of the
province were pagans. He preached against the Christian invaders,
healed the sick, performed "miracles," and established for himself a
reputation, so that the Bedouins carried his fame across the Desert,
through the Oasis of Ojila-Jalo, into Wadai and Mourzouk, Agadez, and
Timbuktu, and even into Morocco. The present head of this society for
the simultaneous massacre of all Christians throughout the Soudan, was a
descendant of Senousi, named El-Mahdi, and its members were the most
mad-brained fanatics, who took oaths upon the Koran to exterminate the
dogs of Infidels. [El-Mahdi. Meaning "Led by God." There are many
families of that name in the Sahara.] Thus it was with combined
interest and trepidation that I stood gazing upon a remarkable sight
that no European had ever before witnessed. Though the Christian
invader had been tolerated along the Barbary littoral, it was apparent
that the fierce hatred and treachery of Al-Islam was only stifled, and
the teaching of fanatical societies, such as these, was that all Roumis
should, in an unguarded moment, be massacred without mercy. Indeed, the
weird chant that fell upon my ears at that moment was to the effect that
Allah, Requiter of good and evil, bade them rise and revenge the wrongs
that followers of the Great Prophet had suffered at the defiling hands
of the accursed.
The blazing brazier was, I noticed, very similar in shape to that in the
mysterious chamber in Algiers, to which Zoraida had conducted me. Could
it be that she too was a member of this widespread secret league to
secure the extermination of the Christians?
The chant concluded, the strange rites of the Ghuzzat [Fighters for the
Faith] commenced. After performing a _sujdah_, [a single "prostration,"
with the forehead touching the ground, performed from a sitting
position], the whole of those present recited the Surat-al-Ikhlas, which
is also sometimes called the Kul Huw' Allah, or the Declaration of
Unity, of which the following is the translation:--
"Say, He is the one God!
The eternal Allah!
He begets not, nor is He begot!
And unto Him the like is not."
The aged man in the scarlet burnouse, who seemed to be the high priest
of the order, turned towards the raised platform, and, amid a sudden
silence, clapped his hands. When lo! a curtain at the rear was drawn
aside, revealing a kind of small circular hut, built of dried palm
branches, with an opening at the top. Those assembled cried aloud, as
if in fear, but the priest comforted them with an Ayat, or Koranic
verse, and almost at the same moment, eleven men, barefooted, with their
burnouses cast aside, marched in single file before the hut.
The secret ceremony was a strange admixture of religion and paganism,
for, as they descended from the dais and marched round the circle of
seated councillors, the chief sprinkled them with blood from the tip of
an ostrich feather. Then they were lined up with their backs to the
hut, and in the uncertain light shed by the flaming brazier presented a
most weird spectacle. Suddenly, at a word from the man in the red robe,
the conspirators gathered around, thumped their _derboukas_, and set up
a plaintive howl, while the eleven kept perfect cadence with the right
foot.
A slight pause ensued, when the eleven turned and moved onward, until
the first--a lad not over ten years of age, apparently just initiated
into the mysteries of the foul plot against Europeans--reached the
mysterious hut. Then, halting for a second, he deliberately plunged his
arm down the hole in the top, and, amid low, guttural expressions of
approbation that sounded from all sides, dragged forth a huge serpent,
about five feet in length, and the size of a man's wrist. Struggling
desperately, he attempted to hold it about four inches from the head
with his teeth, but at first he could not open his mouth wide enough,
and this seemed to cause the onlookers considerable anxiety. The head
of the reptile was to the left, and to break the dead weight of the
great snake, the lad held its writhing body up with his left hand. The
boy was not four feet in height, so the contrast was remarkable. At
length, however, he succeeded in fastening his teeth firmly in the
serpent's back, and the march and chant were resumed, to the
accompaniment of monotonous drumming. The man behind the snake-carrier
took his feather from his head and seemed to be chasing the serpent
towards the left, so as to keep the reptile's fangs from the lad's face.
The third man picked out a snake from the little hut and carried it as
did the boy, while the fourth acted as the second man did; thus it went
on till eight of the men were in motion. By the time the fifth couple
were ready to take a snake, the first had completed a few circuits of
the space. Then he took the reptile from his mouth and gently threw it
upon the ground, where it lay motionless in a state of catalepsy, and,
marching round while the onlookers prostrated themselves, murmuring
strange incantations, he again reached the hut, and took another of the
writhing reptiles. This was continued until all the snakes had been
used.
Meanwhile, the reptiles that had been thrown at the feet of the silent,
statuesque councillors of the order were brushed by feathers by half a
dozen men, and then handed one by one to the conspirators grouped
around, who gripped them near the head, and, while holding them still
and motionless at arm's length, recited a declaration of adherence to
the secret league. When all the snakes had gone through the weird
ceremonial, and were in the hands of the dark-faced wanderers of the
plains, the grave councillors rose, and their places were taken by a
similar number of mysterious-looking women, enveloped from head to foot
in black haicks, which entirely covered them, except for the two holes
through which their bright eyes peered.
As they seated themselves upon the flat stones, the note of the dismal
chant was changed to a more shrill one, and the men, led by the
venerable chief of the conspirators, formed a circle around them, while
each drew from beneath his burnouse a _Hamail_, or pocket Koran.
"The grave is darkness and good deeds are its lamp," they commenced
chanting, moving slowly round the seated women. Then followed a
supplication which commenced, "O Prince! O Ruler! O Ancient of
Benefits! O Omniscient! O Lord of the Three Worlds! O Thou who givest
when asked, and who aidest when Aid is required, receive this our
prostration, and preserve us from dangers, and make easy our Affairs,
and broaden our Breasts."
From the remainder of their remarkable prayer I gathered that as they,
the Ghuzzat of the Senousya, had been able to hold in submission the
venomous serpents in their hands, so would they, on the day when the
standard of revolt was raised in Algeria, in Tunis, and in Egypt, hold
in their clutches the swaggering Roumis who had defiled their land.
Then, as they proceeded one after another to kill the reptiles, they
declared, with one accord, that with as little compunction as they now
treated these snakes, so would they slaughter without mercy the men,
women, and children of the Infidels. Their extermination, like vermin,
would alone, they declared, "bring coolness to the eyes of True
Believers."
Suddenly, almost before I was aware of it, the eyes of the aged chief
met mine! I had, in my eager desire to witness the strange scenes,
indiscreetly pulled back the curtain too far, revealing the whole of my
head!
The high priest, clapping his hands, produced in a moment a dead
silence.
"Lo!" he shouted in a loud voice. "My sons and daughters, prying eyes
have fallen upon us. We are discovered!"
His words produced an effect that was electrical. Fifty voices, with
one accord, demanded further explanation.
"We have, O children, been watched from behind yonder curtain!" he
cried. "_Our secret is known_!"
I waited for no more. A dozen fierce fanatics dashed towards the spot
where I had been standing, but without thinking of any place of refuge,
I plunged down the dark passage. In a second I was pursued. Oaths and
vows of vengeance sounded behind me, and with the Crescent of Glorious
Wonders grasped tightly in my hand, I sped onward until I ran headlong
against a wall. Turning quickly at right angles, I found another long,
unlighted subterranean passage. Dashing headlong down it, I turned to
right and then to left through its intricate windings, and as the
footsteps of my pursuers sounded behind me, I suddenly became aware that
I was retracing my steps to my tomb-like dungeon. From those who sought
me I could expect no mercy. Death only could expiate my crime. I had
discovered the intentions of Al-Islam, and even though I might declare
myself a follower of the Prophet, I had not been initiated into the
mysteries of the Ghuzzat, and would therefore be put to death as a spy.
The fierce fanatics, with knives unsheathed, were at my heels, and,
redoubling my speed, I tore along, stumbling over the rough floor and
grazing both legs and arms in my wild flight. To strike me down the
conspirators were straining every muscle, yet I managed to keep on,
until, taking two sudden turns immediately after one another, I
remembered that I was near the entrance to the secret chamber.
It was my only chance. If they were unaware of the existence of the
charnel-house with its crumbling bones, then, perchance, I might escape.
In the darkness I could distinguish nothing. What if I had passed the
entrance, and came at last to a blank wall! The thought unnerved me.
Voices behind me sounded harsh and deep, still I dashed onward until my
feet caught in something, and, stumbling, I fell.
I knew the accident must result in my death. In a few moments the keen
knives of the conspirators must reach my heart.
My hands came into contact with stone. Frantically I grasped it,
realising with gratification that I had fallen over the great
coffin-like drawer that gave entrance to my prison. In a second I
recovered myself, and, entering the half-open trough, crawled through
it, with the Crescent still in my hand.
Finding myself on the opposite side of the wall, I lost no time in
grasping the iron ring, and, with the last strenuous effort of which I
was capable, succeeded in dragging the drawer towards me. It was done
on the impulse of the moment; then I waited, not daring to breathe.
Hurrying footsteps sounded outside, with shouts of "Death to the spy!
He holdeth our secrets, and must not evade us! Kill him! His entrails
shall be burned with the snakes!"
Nearer they came, as if searching for the secret entrance.
In pulling the drawer inside I had closed it, and, clinging on to the
ring, determined that it should not be opened while strength was left to
me.
For a second the footsteps, sounding dull and muffled in the dust,
seemed to halt outside. Then joy filled my heart a moment later, when
they hurried onward, and the angry cries receded in the distance.
Evidently, with the stone trough drawn inside, nothing remained in the
subterranean passage to denote the whereabouts of a hidden entrance.
Likewise it was apparent that they knew not the existence of the secret
sepulchre.
Panting and exhausted, I sank upon the ground. I had again escaped!