Father Ohrwalder and Sisters Venturini and Chincarini escape--The
ride for life--The rencontre with the Dervish guard near Abu
Hamed--Alarm of the party--The journey across the great Nubian
desert--Five hundred miles on camel-back in seven days--Arrival at
the Egyptian outpost at Murat--Safe at last--Arrival in Cairo.

On Sunday evening I went to see a friend and returned at nine o'clock;
this happened to be the last visit I was to make in Omdurman. Just as I
stepped into my yard, there I saw Ahmed standing before me. In a few
hasty words he told me to get ready as soon as possible; his friends had
made a mistake and had come a day earlier with the camels. The sisters
and Adila were all ready; I gave Ahmed the few small things I had as
well as my arms, and told him to take the sisters to the appointed
place, which was only about thirty yards from the hut, whilst I went off
and informed the only person who was in the secret, of our sudden
decision to leave a day earlier.

All fear had now gone, and, almost beside myself with excitement, I
hastened to my friend's house and knocked at the door. "Who's there?" he
asked. And when he knew who it was he was greatly surprised, and asked
why I came so late. As some one else was standing near, I said that I
had been seized with a violent pain, and had come to beg a few drops of
laudanum, and then I approached him, pressed his hand, and whispered in
his ear that we were on the point of starting.

The poor man received such a start, that had he not caught hold of
something, he would have fallen; but I roused him by asking him loudly
to get me the laudanum at once; so he went off to his room, and there,
with a trembling hand, he put a few drops on a piece of sugar. I took it
back to the house, which I found the sister had just left. Then wrapping
myself in a black mantle, I locked the door, and took the key with me. I
saw something dark in the distance, which I knew must be the camels, and
thither I picked my way. In a few moments I had reached the spot, and a
man whom I did not know helped me on to my camel; but there was no time
to ask questions. Ahmed put the sisters on the camels, on which the two
other Arabs rode, whilst I took Adila behind me on my camel.

Not thirty yards from where we were was a well, around which a number of
female slaves were gathered; but the little noise we made was drowned by
their laughter. The moment of mounting was pe