"I--I refuse to give thee answer," I said, resolutely.
"By Allah! thou art a traitor to our lord and to our tribe, and of a
verity thou hast also the eye of perfection. Therefore shalt thou die!"
Then, turning to the others, he added--
"We have no time to bandy words with this accursed son of the Evil One.
Tie him to yon tree, and let the vultures feast upon their carrion."
With loud imprecations the men seized me, tore off my haick and
burnouse, and bound me securely to a palm trunk in such a position that
I could only see the great expanse of barren sand. Then, with that
refinement of cruelty of which the nomadic Azjar are past-masters, they
smeared my face, hands, and feet with date-juice, to attract the ants
and other insects; and, after jeering at me and condemning me to
everlasting perdition and sempiternal culpability, they remounted their
horses, and, laughing heartily, left me alone to wait the end.
Through the long, silent night, with arms and legs bound so tightly that
I could not move them, I remained, wondering what terrible fate had
befallen the beautiful girl who had overheard my orison. My two
clansmen had not returned. I knew the men were splendid riders,
therefore it was more than probable that they had very quickly overtaken
her. Utterly hopeless, well knowing that to the blazing sun and the
agonies of being half-devoured by insects I must very soon succumb, I
waited, my ears on the alert to catch every sound.
In the sky a saffron streak showed on the edge of the sandy plain,
heralding the sun's coming. I watched it gradually spread, knowing that
each moment brought me nearer to an end of agony. I lifted my voice in
supplication to Allah, and showered voluble curses upon the expedition
about to be attempted by my tribe. The pale, handsome face of Kheira
was ever before me, haunting me like a half-remembered dream, its beauty
fascinating me, and even causing me to forget the horror of those hours
of dawn.
Saffron changed to rose, and rose to gold, until the sun shone out,
lighting up the trackless waste. The flies, awakened, began to torment
me, and I knew that the merciless rays beating down upon my uncovered
head would quickly produce the dreaded delirium of madness. The furnace
heat of sunshine grew intense as noon approached, and I was compelled to
keep my eyes closed to avoid the blinding glare.
Suddenly a noise fell upon my ear. At first it sounded like a low,
distant rumbling; but soon my practised ears detected that it was the
rattle of musketry and the din of tom-toms.
The City in the Sky was being attacked! My tribesmen had arranged to
deliver the assault at noon, but what puzzled me was a sullen booming at
frequent intervals. It was the sound of cannon, and showed plainly that
Afo was being defended!
From where I was I could see nothing of it. Indeed, the base of the
mountain was eight miles distant, and the city, perched upon its summit,
could only be approached from the opposite side by a path that was
almost inaccessible. Yet hour after hour the rapid firing continued,
and it was evident a most desperate battle was being fought. This
puzzled me, for had not Kheira said that the city was totally
undefended? Still, the tumult of battle served to prevent me from
lapsing into unconsciousness; and not until the sun sank in a brilliant,
blood-red blaze did the firing cease. Then all grew silent again. The
hot poison-wind from the desert caused the feathery heads of the palms
to wave like funeral plumes, and night crept on. The horrible torture
of the insects, the action of the sun upon my brain, the hunger, the
thirst, and the constant strain of the nerves, proved too much; and I
slept, haunted by spectral horrors, and a constant dread of the
inevitable--that half-consciousness precursory of death.
So passed the second night, until the sun reappeared; but mine eyes
opened not. The heat of the blazing noon caused me no concern, neither
did the two great grey vultures that were hovering over me; for it was
not until I heard voices in the vicinity that I gazed around.
One voice, louder than the others, was uttering thanks to Allah. I
listened; then, summoning all my strength that remained, I cried aloud,
in the name of the One Merciful, for assistance.
There were sounds of hurrying footsteps, voices raised in surprise, a
woman's scream, and then objects, grotesquely distorted, whirled around
me, and I knew no more.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I again opened my weary, fevered eyes, I was amazed to find myself
lying upon a soft, silken divan in a magnificent apartment, with slaves
watching, ready to minister to my wants. I took a cooling draught from
a crystal goblet handed to me, then raised myself, and inquired where I
was. The slaves made no reply, but, bowing low, left. Then in a few
moments the _frou-frou_ of silk startled me, and next second I leaped to
my feet, and, with a cry of joy, clasped Kheira in my arms.
In her gorgeous harem dress of pale rose silk, with golden bejewelled
girdle, she looked bewitching, though around her eyes were dark rings
that betrayed the anxiety of the past few days. As our lips met in hot,
passionate kisses, she was followed by a tall, stately, dark-bearded man
of matchless bearing, whose robe was of amaranth silk, and who wore in
his head-dress a magnificent diamond aigrette. Kheira saw him, and
withdrawing herself from my embrace, introduced me to her father, the
Sultan of Abea.
"To thee I owe my life and my kingdom," said the potentate, giving me
"Peace," and wringing my hand warmly. "Kheira hath related unto me the
mercy thou didst show towards her; and it was thy word of warning that
enabled us to repel and defeat the Azjar."
"Then thou, didst escape, O signet of the sphere of elegance!" I cried,
turning to the Sultan's daughter.
"Yes; though I was hard pressed by two of thine horsemen, I took the
secret path, and thus were they baffled."
"The Director of Fate apprised our fighting men of our danger," said the
Sultan; "and they returned on the same night. The breeze of grace blew;
the sun of the favour of Allah shone. The news brought by Kheira was
quickly acted upon, and the defences of the city so strengthened, that
when at noon the assault was delivered, our cannon swept thy tribesmen
from the pass like grains of sand before the sirocco. For six hours
they fought; but their attempts to storm the city gate were futile, and
the handful of survivors were compelled to retire, leaving nearly five
hundred prisoners, including your Sheikh himself, in our hands."
"And how was I rescued?" I inquired, after briefly explaining how my
conversation with Kheira had been overheard.
"On the day following the fight, we went unto the shrine of Sidi Okbar
to render thanks to Allah, and there found thee dying of heat and
thirst. Thou didst sacrifice thy life to save our ruler and his city,
therefore we brought thee hither," she said.
Then, taking my hands, the Sultan added, "Thou hast the verdure of the
meadows of life. May Allah preserve thee, and grant unto thee long
years of perfect peace, and an eternal rose-garden of happiness. Wipe
off the rust of _ennui_ and fatigue from the speculum of thy mind, and
follow me; for a feast is already prepared for the celebration of this
victory."
And we passed onward through the private pavilions--bewildering in their
magnificence of marble and gold, and green with many leaves--to the
Great Hall of the Divan, where, standing under the royal baldachin of
yellow silk brocade, the Sultan of Abea rejoiced me with his favours,
proclaiming me, Ahamadou, tribes man of the Azjar, the Saviour of the
City in the Sky.
No Touareg has ever contracted marriage with an Arab; therefore, after
tarrying in Afo for many moons, I made peace with my people and returned
unto them, for the wild life of the limitless sands was more congenial
to me than the ease and perfumes of palaces and the favours of kings.