At home once more, in the house occupied by them in the centre of Khartoum, the three Frenchmen, in spite of the excitement of the evening and the fatigues of the night, sat down to congratulate each other on their victory, and to talk over the expedition which had been resolved upon at Madame de Guéran's house.
"It is unnecessary to say," said M. de Morin, addressing M. Delange, "that I have no right to drag you into these stupid countries whither we are bound. The Niam-Niam, whose acquaintance we shall soon be called upon to make, are not provided by nature with tails, as many travellers have stated—that is certain. But it is still more certain, according to Piaggia, Poncet, Schweinfurth and many others, that they file their teeth to a point in order to facilitate their digestion of human flesh. Their neighbours, the Monbuttoos, are not one whit behind them from an anthropophagous point of view; indeed, it is currently reported of them that when very hungry they do not stop at disinterment. I, consequently, my dear fellow, am not inhuman enough to devote your body to the refreshment of these interesting races."
"De Morin might have added," continued M. Périères, puffing away at his cigar with much gusto, and emitting clouds of smoke, to the great annoyance of the numerous mosquitoes, "that those travellers who are not fortunate enough to be eaten, generally speaking die of fatigue and want. Without going very far afield for examples, I may mention the Italian Miani, who in 1870 was the Director of the Acclimatization Society in this town. He left for the South in 1871, as we are going to do, and, a few months afterwards, he wrote in his note-book the touching words I read this morning, 'I have no strength to write—I am suffering horribly—I have had a trench dug for my grave, and my servants have come to kiss my hands, and say—God grant that you may not die!—Adieu, all my hopes! Adieu, the dreams of my life! Adieu, Italy, for whose liberty I once fought!'"
"You see," resumed M. de Morin, "that the countries whither we are bound are not altogether satisfactory. Resume your liberty once more, and be sure that we shall never forget all that you have done for us up to to-day."
"With your permission," answered M. Delange, "I am off to bed, and to-morrow morning you shall know my decision. You have just saved my life, and I feel that, to-night, I should be influenced by that fact."
CHAPTER L.
The answer of Dr. Delange was not long delayed, and the following morning he announced his intention of joining the expedition. This result might have been foreseen, for, when a journey is in question, hesitation exists at the moment of departure alone. When fairly on the road, vacillating characters lose their indecision, and bear testimony to the truth of the proverb, "Il n'y a que le premier pas qui coûte." Ties hard to break are formed amongst the travellers; services rendered by one to another create new duties for each, amour-propre enters into the calculation, no one member of the community wants to be under an obligation to another, nobody will give way whilst his neighbour holds out, and each one would blush for a desertion which would be condemned by all.
Again, in dangerous undertakings such as that we are discussing, gratitude as well as amour-propre has somewhat to say. A very serious kind of treaty, a treaty of life and death, is entered upon by the various components of the caravans—"I was almost lost to-day when you saved me; to-morrow it will be my turn to save you." In this way Dr. Delange, having rescued M. de Morin from the Bedouins of El-Bejaz, scored the first game. M. de Morin had just won the second; the conqueror had to be played, and the Doctor, like the thorough gambler that he was, did not care about leaving the partie undecided.
And now that we are speaking of gambling, we ought to mention that M. Delange had by no means given up the parties prescribed by his contract. Only, because M. de Morin had of late shown himself disinclined both for baccarat and écarté, the Doctor, not to drive him to desperation, had offered him credit for a few weeks, on condition that he would wipe off the score later on. They were already twenty parties, of a thousand francs each, behindhand, and that alone held out to M. Delange an agreeable prospect for the future; for, adding these twenty to the one per diem agreed upon, he saw before him a gambling horizon of stupendous proportions. Africa and its dreaded tribes disappeared, and he only saw cards, nothing but cards, strewing his onward path. They smoothed away all the rough places, and levelled all the precipices on the road. And we may as well add that the exploration fever, confessed to by so many others, had seized upon him, and had awakened in him the hitherto lalent instincts of a traveller.
MM. de Morin and Périères were consequently accompanied by Dr. Delange, when, on the following day, they betook themselves to Madame de Guéran. She had herself summoned to the conference Miss Beatrice Poles, and the Dinka Nassar, who had brought her the letter from her husband, as well as the two Arab interpreters, whose devotion had been so conspicuous during the first portion of the expedition. The trusty Joseph, also summoned, responded to the call. It had been vainly expected that he would have resolved upon returning to France, but he persisted in being one of the party with an obstinacy, of which Miss Poles, who could not bear the sight of him, had divined the real motive.