It was curious to see how the discovery that our tanks in the depot had been emptied, in spite of the difficulties that it created, cheered up the men. The feeling of suspense was over. We knew pretty well what we were up against, and everyone, I think, felt braced up by the crisis. Dahab looked a bit serious, but Ibrahim, with a gun over his shoulder, and suddenly promoted to the important post of guide to a caravan, even though it consisted of only two camels and an old Berberine cook, was in the highest spirits. I had impressed on him that the safety of his brother, his tribesman Abdulla and myself, rested entirely on his brawny shoulders, and that he had the chance of a lifetime of earning the much-coveted reputation among the bedawin of being a gada (sportsman)—and a gada Ibrahim meant to be, or die. I had no doubt at all of his intention of seeing the thing through, if he possibly could. I only hoped that he would not lose his way.
Having seen him off from the depot on the way back to Mut, I turned camel driver and, with the remainder of the camels and all the water we could carry, set out with Abd er Rahman to follow up Qway’s tracks to relieve Abdulla. Abd er Rahman, too, rose to the occasion and started off gaily singing in excellent spirits. I had told him that I wanted to see whether he or Qway was the better man in the desert, and the little Sudani had quite made up his mind that he was going to come out top-dog.
CHAPTER XVIII
ABD ER RAHMAN was an excellent tracker.
There had been no wind to speak of since Qway had left the depot, and the footprints on the sandy soil were as sharp and distinct as when they were first made. By following Qway’s tracks we were able to piece together the history of his journey with no uncertainty; and a very interesting job it proved.
We followed his footprints for three days, and there was mighty little that he did in that time that was not revealed by his tracks—Abd er Rahman even pointed out one place where Qway had spat on the ground while riding on his camel!
We could see where he had walked and led his mount, and where he had mounted again and ridden. We could see where he walked her and where he trotted; where he had curled himself up on the ground beside her and slept at night, and all along his track, at intervals, were the places where he had stopped to pray—the prints of his open hands where he bowed to the ground, and even the mark where he had pressed his forehead on the sand in prostration, were clearly visibly. The Moslem prayers are said at stated hours, and Qway was always extremely regular in his devotions. This prayerful habit of his was of the greatest assistance to us, as it told us the time at which he had passed each point.
Walking on foot he had led his camel behind him, when he left the depot, till he reached Abdulla’s trail. He had then mounted and gone forward at a slow shuffling trot. Abdulla also had left the depot on foot, leading his hagin, and the tracks of Qway’s camel occasionally crossed his spoor and overlaid them, showing that Abdulla and his hagin were in front.
Abdulla had continued at a walk until Qway overtook him—as shown by his tracks overlying those of Qway. Knowing the pace at which Qway must have trotted and at which Abdulla would have walked, by noting the time it took us to walk from the depot to where Qway caught Abdulla up, we were able to estimate that Qway could not have left the depot until Abdulla was nearly a mile and a half away, and consequently too far off to see what he was doing.