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In the Mahdi's Grasp, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 37. The Breakdown |
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_ CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN. THE BREAKDOWN There was a fresh patient for the Hakim in the morning. He was awakened by Sam, whose face was full of consternation. "Do get up and come to Mr Frank, sir," he said in a hurried whisper. Morris sat up at once. "What is it?" he said in the calm, matter-of-fact way of a doctor who always feels that a sudden awakening means a call upon him for aid. "I went to tell him it was time to rouse up, sir, and he began talking nonsense." "What do you mean?" said the doctor, dressing hurriedly. "Called me a white-faced dog; and then 'The stirrup,' he says, 'the stirrup: can't you see it's too short?'" "Ah?" ejaculated the doctor. "'Stirrup?' I says, 'what stirrup, sir?' and then he went on: 'You English are not fit even for slaves. Be quick! Can't you see that your lord and his friends are waiting to see me ride?' he says, 'and don't defile those red reins with your dirty white hands!' Of course I knew he was dreaming, and I shook him, but only made him burst out into a lot more stuff--telling me I was to fall ill and ask for the Hakim to cure me, and then we should be all together again. But that ain't the worst of it, sir." "No? Then what is?" said the doctor, fastening up his long robe calmly. "He's quite off his head, sir, and his tongue's running nineteen to the dozen. If you can't stop it we shall have all the Emir's people noticing it. Hadn't you better pretend as you've cured him, sir, and made him speak? If you don't we shall be having the cat let out of the bag, and all be scratched to death." "Let's see, Samuel," said the doctor quietly, and he followed his man into the next room, to find Frank talking wildly. He seemed to recognise his friend directly, and caught him by the arm. "Look here," he said, "I have no time to advise you, Hal. Be thrown from a horse; cut your forehead, or your leg. Do something that they can see looks bad--something that will stain your white things with blood. They will believe it then, and beg that you may be taken to the Hakim.--Ah, what are you doing here? Why are you not curing the Baggara's white slave?" The doctor had taken his young friend's wrist and laid a cool hand upon his burning, throbbing brow, with excellent effect, for Frank's loud talking grew broken, then indistinct, and rapidly sank into a low, incoherent babbling, as he closed his eyes. "Hah!" said Sam softly; "it's wonderful, sir. To do that with just a touch of your hands. But what is it, sir? One of those horrible African fevers? 'Tain't catching, is it?" he added excitedly. "If you feel alarmed," replied the doctor coldly, "keep away from the room. Mr Landon and I will nurse him." Sam turned upon him with a reproachful look. "Likely, sir!" he said scornfully, and he bent over the angareb and began giving little touches to the pillow, making a point of passing his hand over Frank's face and leaning quite close so as to feel his breath play upon his cheek, before laying a hand upon the sufferer's. "I don't care if it is ketching," he said; "I'm not going to leave Master Frank in a hole like that. If I get it he'll get better and help me. Breath's hot, sir, but it don't smell nasty and fevery. P'r'aps it's only being too much in the sun, after all." "Thank you, Samuel," said the doctor, in his quiet, grave way, and he patted the man gently on the shoulder. "Thank me, sir?--Oh, here's Mr Landon, sir." "Hullo, there!" said the professor, hurriedly entering; "what's the matter? Don't say Frank's ill!" "He is saying it for himself, my dear Fred," replied the doctor. "You have had some experience of this sort of thing out here. Look at him. He is calmer now, but he was talking wildly at random a few minutes ago." "What! Oh! Saint George and the Dragon! he mustn't begin to talk," cried the professor excitedly. "That would spoil all." There was a pause while the professor bent over and examined the sufferer. "Well," he said, "I'm not a doctor, but my journeys out here made me dabble a bit, and quack over my own ailments and those of my followers when there was no medical man to be had. I don't know, Robert, old friend, but I should say it was a touch of brain fever, consequent upon yesterday's excitement in the sun." "Ah-h-h!" ejaculated Sam, with a sigh of relief. "You be quiet," said the professor sharply. Then turning to the doctor, "Well, what do you think?" "The same as you do. Poor lad! His anxiety was horrible, and what he went through was enough to prostrate a man twice as strong." "But you don't think he is going to be seriously ill?" "I hope not. Stay here while I mix him a sedative. He must have sleep; and Sam, get ready cold water compresses for his head." "Cold water, sir?" said the man gravely. "Well, a bowl of water, my man. I'll bring in something to make it evaporate more quickly." The doctor went to where his case lay in a corner of his room, and rapidly prepared a sedative draught, took up a bottle, and returned to the professor, to find Sam waiting with bowl of water and cloths. "He's babbling about Harry and that plan of his," said the professor. "No wonder, poor fellow! Raise him up a little. I daresay he will drink this quietly enough." "One moment, sir," said Sam hurriedly. "Me, please," and with an eagerness evidently intended to fully disabuse the doctor's mind of all doubts regarding his fear of infection, Sam went behind the head of the couch and carefully raised the sick man's head and shoulders so that he could drink easily; and this he did with avidity. The next minute the doctor had half emptied a bottle into the water, which gave forth a peculiar, pungent odour on Sam wringing out a handkerchief; and this was spread across the poor fellow's temples and afterwards kept moist. "Just at the most unlucky time," said the professor, with a sigh, as they sat near, watching the patient, who had sunk into the desired sleep; "but we must make the best of it. Here, Sam, we must eat and drink whatever happens." "Breakfast is quite ready, sir," was the reply; "but I haven't seen anything of Mr Abrahams this morning." "Look here," said the professor angrily, "if you call the Sheikh Abraham again I shall throw something at you. Ibrahim, once more," he continued, spelling the name letter by letter. "But that's only his ignorant way of spelling it, sir," protested Sam. "He told me himself it's the same name as we read of. It's Abra--ham, as I told him myself; but he only smiled at me as if he knew better." "Well, what about him?" "He hasn't been near, sir, and his young men--and one of them's ten years older than me--say that he hasn't been back since he went out last night." "Tut--tut--tut--tut!" said the doctor. "I hope he has not fallen into any trouble now." But before the breakfast was over--a meal that was interrupted twice by the doctor's visits to the patient--Ibrahim came to the door, and was told to enter. He looked sharply at the two gentlemen, and then at the door leading into Frank's room, and back inquiringly at the doctor. "Yes," said the latter gravely; "he is ill, Ibrahim." "The heat of the sun and the dreadful trouble yesterday, Excellency," said the old man excitedly. "I feared it. The heat made even me feel ill. But he will soon be better?" "I hope so," said the doctor; and the professor broke in-- "But what of yourself, Ibrahim? You have news?" "Yes, Excellency. If you listen you can hear them coming." "Not the Egyptian Army?" "No, no, Excellency, not yet. But spies keep coming in, all bringing the same news, that British forces are slowly and surely coming up the river to Khartoum, and the Khalifa is sending out his people to gather in more and more of the wild troops. They are crowding into the city and camping about outside. There will be war before long." "There must not be till we have escaped, Ibrahim," said the professor. "We being respectable singing birds must not be caught in the net along with the black dervish daws." "If the British and Egyptians win the battle, Excellency," said the Sheikh gravely. "We must not shut our eyes to the fact that these wild tribes are very brave, while the Egyptians--well, Excellency, we know that they have not made a very brave stand in the past." "But our British force will be up here in strength?" "Yes, Excellency, and if it depended entirely upon them I should not fear." "Then you do fear?" said the doctor gravely. "Hardly fear, Excellency, but I have my doubts, and I am troubled about our position in any case." "Why?" said the professor. "I have been out all night gathering news from such of the people as I have made my friends. The city is being filled with wild and lawless tribes who have come to fight for the new Mahdi, and whose pay is the plunder that they can gather from anywhere. They are their own friends only, and think of nothing else but what your English officers call loot. Even so soon as this past night there has been murder and outrage with plundering in the lower parts of the city, and the better people here would take flight at once, for their lives are not safe, and their wives and daughters seem marked out at once for the slaves of these savage men. I tremble for our own fate, and would gladly call my men together and risk an escape this very night, before the country round is swarming with the new Mahdi's people and we could not stir." "But you will not do this, Ibrahim? You will not forsake us when we are so near success?" "Alas! Excellency, we have not won success as yet, though we have found the young Excellency's brother." "Does that mean that you mean to escape and leave us?" "His Excellency the great Hakim knows that I have sworn to be faithful even unto death," said the old man proudly. "No, I will not leave you. I only speak out and tell you of our peril. If the prisoner we are trying to save were here I would say, Go this night. But he is not here, and our position is very bad." "What, with the doctor's reputation spread as it is, and such friends about us as the Emirs?" "The Emirs are but men, Excellency," said the Sheikh, looking the professor full in the eyes. "They can do much with their own followers, but nothing with the wild beasts of murdering dervishes who would slay anyone for the handsome robe he wears, or to carry off his wife and children for slaves. The great Emir and his people are our friends, but alas! our Emir here, his son, and his son's friend left Omdurman with all their forces last night for the north, to stay the British advance. We are here with only the twenty men of the Emir's guard, while we shall soon be surrounded by thousands who have never heard of the Hakim's name." "This is bad news indeed, O Sheikh," said the professor, frowning. "Bad tidings of the worst, Excellency, but it is true. These are the gleanings of the past night that I come with sorrowful heart to tell you. We have had much good of late, and my heart was glad last night as I saw that the young Excellency, Ben Eddin, would soon scheme that his brother should join us, and that then we would flee across the desert to the British camp; but now--" "Well, Ibrahim; but now?" said the doctor sternly. "Now, O Hakim, another sorrow meets me here: the young Excellency, Ben Eddin, is stricken down, and we have not rescued the prisoner slave as yet." "But you have some plans," said the professor excitedly. "What do you propose to do?" "Nothing as yet, Excellency. We must wait till the young Ben Eddin is well and we can bring his brother here. Till then we must be patient, and trust in God." _ |
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