"Do you see the broad, gray band in front crossing from south to northwest?" Hamed asked me. "That is the great caravan track which leads from Berber to Wadi Gammer and Dar Shaigia. If we pass that without being seen, we have nothing more to fear, for between this and the river there is only stony ground, without a vestige of vegetation, and quite uninhabited. But now you must follow my directions closely. Let the camels advance at a slow pace, and each some five hundred paces from the next till we reach the big track. When we get there we will turn into the road and proceed for a few minutes in the direction of Berber. Then we will leave it again, and march in an easterly direction. Do you see that stone hillock about three miles away? There we will join again. This is the only way to put any one who may be pursuing us off our track."
We did as he had instructed us, crossed the caravan road, which is at most times tolerably frequented, without seeing a trace of any one, and met again at the spot indicated.
"And now urge the animals on. Don't spare them. Let them do us their last service," said Hamed, with a merry laugh. "All has gone well."
Since I left Omdurman I had not seen a laugh upon his face, and I knew that on this side of the river we had nothing more to fear.
So on we went, driving the weary camels forward with the stick without much mercy, till, leaving a range of hills on our right, we reached the Kerraba.
The Kerraba is a plateau with a sandy soil. The surface is covered with black stones, ranging from the size of a man's fist to that of his head, packed closely together. Single blocks of rock are seen at a certain distance one from another. The animals could scarcely make any progress over the rolling level. It was a break-neck march. Towards evening, we saw the Nile in the far, far distance, like a silver streak across the landscape. Climbing down from the plateau in the darkness we reached a valley lying between stony hills. We halted and took the saddles off. The river was about two hours' march away.
"Our mission is near its end," said Hamed and Zeki, as they sat on the ground munching dates. "Stay here with the animals. We will go to a spot we know near the river; and there we shall find your friends, who will escort you on."
I was left alone, looking forward in the highest spirits to the future. Already in imagination I saw my own people, saw my fatherland. I awoke after midnight. No one had come, and I began to feel somewhat concerned at the delay, for if they did not soon return I could not cross the river that night. It was not till some two hours before dawn that I heard footsteps. It was Hamed.
"What news?" I asked impatiently.
"None!" was the despairing answer. "We could not find your friends at the place indicated. I returned because you cannot remain here after daybreak. You are too near human habitations, and exposed to the risk of being seen. I left Zeki behind to look for your people. Take the water-skin on your shoulders and some dates. I am too exhausted to carry anything. We must go back on to the Kerraba. There you must stay till the day is over, hidden among the stones."