The tents were now close by, but Stasch walked more slowly, for his strength was becoming exhausted. Even though Nell was light, he felt her weight more and more. The Sudanese, who were impatient to lie down and sleep, shouted at him to hurry up, and at last they pushed him along by striking him on the head with their fists.
The boy bore everything in silence, his one thought being always to protect his little sister, and it was only when one of the Bedouins gave him a blow that nearly knocked him down that he said through his clenched teeth:
“We shall reach Fashoda alive!”
This kept the Arabs from doing further violence, for they were afraid to disobey the commands of the prophet. But they were even more affected by the fact that Idris was suddenly seized with such a severe attack of dizziness that he had to lean on Gebhr’s arm, and although the pain ceased after a while, the Sudanese became alarmed and said:
“Allah! Something must be the matter with me! Have I been seized with some illness?”
“You have seen the Mahdi, and therefore you will not be ill,” answered Gebhr.
They finally reached the barracks, and summoning all his strength, Stasch put the sleeping Nell in the care of old Dinah, who, though indisposed herself, nevertheless prepared a very comfortable resting-place for her little lady. After the Sudanese and the Bedouins had swallowed a piece of raw meat, they threw themselves down as heavy as logs on the cloth rugs. Stasch was given nothing to eat, but Dinah pushed a handful of soaked maize toward him, a small quantity of which she had stolen from the camels. But he was neither sleepy nor hungry.
The burden that rested on his shoulders was really more than heavy. He felt that he had done right, and even if he forfeited the good will of the Mahdi, which one could purchase by denying one’s faith, he knew his father would be very proud of his decision, and that it would make him very happy, but at the same time he thought that he had endangered the life of Nell, his companion in misfortune and his beloved sister, for whom he would willingly have given the last drop of his blood.
And so when every one was asleep he sobbed as if his heart would break, and lay on the piece of cloth rug weeping for a long time like a child, which, after all, he still was.