me time he thought that he had caused the destruction of
Nell, his companion in misfortune, his little beloved sister, for whom
he would willingly have sacrificed his last drop of blood.

So when all had fallen asleep he burst into a flood of tears, and,
lying on a piece of saddle-cloth, he wept long, like the child which,
after all, he still was.

XIX

The visit to the Mahdi and the interview with him evidently did not
heal Idris, as during the night he grew worse and in the morning became
unconscious. Chamis, Gebhr, and the two Bedouins were summoned to the
caliph who detained them some hours and praised their courage. But they
returned in the worst humor and with rage in their souls for they had
expected the Lord knows what rewards, and in the meantime Abdullahi
gave each one an Egyptian pound* [* About five dollars.--_Translator's
note_.] and a horse.

The Bedouins began a quarrel with Gebhr which almost resulted in a
fight; in the end they announced that they would ride together with the
camel-post to Fashoda to demand payment from Smain. They were joined by
Chamis who expected that the patronage of Smain would be more
beneficial to him than a sojourn in Omdurman.

For the children a week of hunger and misery began, for Gebhr did not
think of feeding them. Fortunately Stas had the two dollars with the
effigy of Maria Theresa, which he got from the Greek; so he went to the
city to buy dates and rice. The Sudanese did not oppose this trip as
they knew that he could not escape from Omdurman and that under no
circumstances would he desert the little "bint." This experience did
not pass without some adventures, however, for the sight of a boy in
European dress buying provisions at the market-place, again attracted a
crowd of semi-savage dervishes, who received him with laughter and
yells. Fortunately many knew that he had been at the Mahdi's the
previous day, and they restrained those who wanted to assault him. Only
children threw sand and stones at him, but he paid no attention to them.

At the market-place the prices were too high. Stas could not obtain any
dates at all and a considerable part of the rice was taken away from
him by Gebhr for "his sick brother." The boy resisted with all his
strength, in consequence of which a scuffle and fight ensued, in which
the really weaker one came out with numerous contusions and bruises. In
addition the cruelty of Chamis became manifest. The latter evinced an
attach