Under the Rebel's Reign Part 31

Notwithstanding the fearful position in which he stood, George could not resist this little bit of sarcasm at the expense of Arabi's prowess. Apparently his interrogator had no sense of humour, for although Helmar could not see the man he was convinced that he gave some sign. There was a horrid swish in the air, and the kourbash fell across his bare shoulders with ruthless force, and a great wale was raised where it struck. George uttered no sound, but, bursting with indignation and in great pain, waited for the next question.

It came quickly, and in the same even tones.

"Your retort is untimely, and will bring retribution upon you. The faithful require no comments from the Christian dog. Answer the questions put to you, simply, that your punishment may be less severe. We would mercifully save you more pain than is necessary. It is known that you are aware of the point at which the forces of the great Pasha are to be attacked. The English dogs are slow, but they are cunning. Where will their men-of-war be concentrated?"

"How can I tell you that--I don't know," replied Helmar irritably.

The last words were scarcely out his mouth when the kourbash again fell with terrific force on his flesh, this time twice in rapid succession. The pain was intense, and as each blow fell George hollowed his back involuntarily as if by doing so he would lessen the force of the dreaded thong. His back was scalding, and the sting of the cruel lash pervaded his whole body, but he only shut his teeth the harder and waited for what next was to come.

"Where will the concentration take place?"

The words came like the knell of doom, the monotony of their tone was appalling.

"I do not know," replied George again.

Again the lash fell, with another cut added--again he writhed in pain, pain that was anguish of mind as well as of body. He felt as if his brain was bursting with the dreadful slowness of the proceedings. It seemed to him that if he were to receive a hundred lashes in quick succession he could easily stand it, but the torture of the delay was fearful.

Again the fiendish inquisitor asked his question, and again our hero replied in the negative. Four more frightful cuts of the inexorable kourbash fell on his rapidly-scarring back. The torture he endured was frightful, not a single blow from the raw-hide thong but was timed to produce the utmost effect; his back was waled in large ridges, and with a fiendish cruelty the inhuman executioner with unfailing aim had smote and re-smote him in the same place. Already he could feel that the skin had burst, and it came almost as a relief as he felt the flow of blood down his back. Again and again the malignant man in the chair asked his question. Again and again the answer came from our hero, followed quickly by the increased number of lashes from his executioner.

The terrible punishment was beginning to tell; already George had pa.s.sed from the defiant stage to one of patient endurance. As the torture continued his body began to feel numbed, and he became light-headed; he caught himself counting in a foolish manner the number of strokes he had received, and as each one fell, he would add two or three according to whether he felt it more or less than its predecessor. Once he even laughed as the man struck him on a part of his body that was clothed, with the effect that the executioner, enraged at the levity, redoubled his merciless attack.

The light-headed stage pa.s.sed off and was replaced by a feeling of horrible despair. He wondered when these monsters would have vented their spite sufficiently; he wondered if he would be alive at the end of the castigation, or if they would flay the flesh from his body. He thought of the ignominious ending it would be to his brief career with the fighting line.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "He was already beyond crying out. All sense of feeling had left him!" p. 270.]

(Transcriber's note: Ill.u.s.tration not available.)

His head was buried in his arms, and he was becoming indifferent to how frequently the kourbash fell on his shoulders. Had he but known it, it was the beginning of unconsciousness; he uttered no sound, he cared nothing for what was going on; he no longer, as the blows were rained on him, shut his teeth to bear the pain--it was not necessary, he was already beyond crying out. All sense of feeling had left him.

Now and again he could hear, as if a long way off, the voice of the inquisitor repeating his question, but it had no meaning for him, the words were blurred and indistinct to his mental faculties, and he made no attempt to answer.

Presently the blows ceased to fall; his body lost all feeling as his legs became cramped, and he fell into unconsciousness. Suddenly he was aroused from his torpor by angry voices. Far away they sounded, but still they penetrated to his dulled and aching brain. He could hear a high-pitched, shrill, screaming sound that struck on his almost senseless nerves with a shock.

Vaguely he became aware that his flogging had ceased, and that something had gone wrong with his persecutors.

With a supreme effort he roused himself, but he was too weak and feeble to be able to grasp the meaning of what he heard, and quickly sank down to full length again, as he felt a warm touch on his hands.

CHAPTER XXIV

A FRIEND INDEED

The oblivion into which our hero had fallen did not last long, the suspension of brain-power was but pa.s.sing and soon gave place to dreams. With that extraordinary irony of reduced mental power these dreams were of the most beautiful description; all the agony he had suffered had pa.s.sed away, and he dreamt that he was in a gorgeous garden on the banks of his beloved Danube; all around him the most beautiful fountains played, and people were wandering about terraces and lawns dressed in lovely white flowing robes. Many of the faces he saw about him were those of the friends of his earlier a.s.sociations, and they smiled and bowed to him as they pa.s.sed by where he was reclining. No one seemed to speak, and a silence too peaceful and delightful for words reigned everywhere.

In the distance beyond the limits of this perfect place, he saw many dark shadows, in each of which he could distinctly trace the figures of dusky Egyptians vainly endeavouring to reach him, but, as each one made the attempt, he was beaten back by the heavy fall of some terrible weapon. Suddenly the scene changed and he was seated on a throne. On every side the white-robed figures stood waiting for him to speak; this he was vainly attempting to do, but at each effort a terrible pain pa.s.sed over him and the words remained unuttered. At last a big fountain began to play in front of where he sat, and the spray, in falling, played over his throne, saturating him and every one around; then his tongue seemed released, and he suddenly awoke to find himself lying upon a comfortable bed, with Mariam Abagi stooping over him bathing his back. The moment he regained consciousness the agony of his position burst upon him with terrible force. Racking pains shot all through his body, until he felt that he must shriek aloud; he could move neither hand nor foot, for, at each effort, his pain was redoubled, and he lay still, moaning piteously.

At last the bathing that Mariam was administering began to soothe him, he felt easier, and his moans lessened. As time went on they ceased altogether, and the bathing was at once discontinued.

He was now aware of everything that had happened, and longed to ask his nurse to tell him all that had occurred after the flogging had ceased. Once he made an effort to speak, but Mariam restrained him by giving him something to drink. After that he slept.

When next he awoke there were several people in the room. Mariam was seated at his side, and Naoum stood near, while several dusky figures were waiting in the background. He found that he had been turned on to his back, and he felt very little pain until he attempted to move, when he at once realized that he had better make no further effort in that direction.

"Where am I, Mariam? In prison still?" he asked in feeble tones.

The old woman's face relaxed from its stern expression and became wreathed in a wrinkled smile, which set George's heart at rest before she uttered a word.

"Yes, my son, still in prison, but with those around you who will no more allow harm to reach you. We only found you out just in time, or you would have seen the light of day no more. Your enemies were clever, and attacked you quickly to prevent our interference, but the news was brought to us and we hurried to your a.s.sistance. You are now in safety."

George thought for a moment, his eyes resting on Naoum's face, everything became quite clear to him, and he remembered, though indistinctly, the angry tones he had heard before he became unconscious, and was wondering if they were Mariam's.

"Did you come yourself?" he next asked her. "Ah," as she nodded, "I remember your voice."

"Yes, I was indeed angry, and had to exert all my power before the wretched Pasha would release you."

The old woman's look as she uttered these words was one of intense hatred, and boded, as George thought, but little mercy should ever opportunity arise for the man who had attempted to defy her. Again he caught himself wondering at the power of these two strange people. His reflections were put a stop to as the sound of Naoum's voice fell on his ear.

"I will leave you, mother; he will recover now, and, under your administering, rapidly. See that you tell him the news I have brought you. There is much work for us all, and his share of it will require a healthy body."

As he finished speaking, Naoum turned and left the room, followed by the rest of his onlookers, whom Helmar quickly surmised were servants.

Mariam alone remained, intent upon the care of her patient. Her eyes never for one moment left the thin and drawn face on the pillow before her, antic.i.p.ating, with the solicitous care of a mother, every need for his comfort.

"How long do you think it will be before I can get up?" asked George suddenly, after a long pause. "My back feels much better already.

To-morrow?"

"No, no, my son. Not to-morrow or the day after, neither will you get up for some days to come," replied the old woman, shaking her head. "You have been injured almost unto death, and your recovery must surely be slow. As Naoum said, there is work to be done in which you will have to bear your part, and, to that end, we must take the greatest care of you. Now, listen, to-night I shall come again, when I shall have news of the greatest importance to communicate to you; by that time you will be sufficiently refreshed to listen, and for the while you must sleep."

She then administered an opiate and left him. In a few moments he was again buried in profound slumber. It was not until the morrow that he awoke; it was broad daylight when he did so, and while he waited for the coming of Mariam he scanned the apartment in which he was a prisoner. Evidently it was a room unused for the retention of people in custody, for it was fitted up in luxurious style. The walls were hung with heavy tapestries, and the floor was carpeted with Eastern rugs. The window he observed was unbarred, and this alone brought him a sense of comfort and repose that he could never have felt, in spite of Mariam's a.s.surances, had the ominous gratings obtruded their sinister presence. The window was sheltered from the intense rays of the burning sun outside by a protecting lattice, and this kept the atmosphere pleasantly cool within; he sighed as he mentally thanked his kindly friends for their goodness to him--a stranger. Several times his thoughts reverted to the wretches who had so cruelly flogged him, and vividly he traced his arch-enemy Arden's hand in all his sufferings; he was too weak to rouse himself to indignation, but he could not forget his inhuman treatment.

Presently his nurse entered, and his wounds were at once attended to. After submitting to the process he felt much relieved, and lay back, prepared to listen to the promised news, when his protectress should be disposed to deliver it.

"And now, Mariam, what about the news you have to tell me? I am quite strong enough to listen."

"Yes, I think I can safely tell you. You must not let anything I have to say excite you." She paused for a moment, as if to think how best to express herself, but, as she observed her patient's growing irritation at the delay, plunged into the subject at once.

"The information you were supposed to possess has already been communicated to Arabi. The silence and apparent inactivity of the British Commanders have now taken the form of a definite plan, and the Pasha is aware that they intend advancing against him from the direction of Port Said, through Ismalia on the ca.n.a.l. Against this Arabi will bring his army to meet them at some place on the railway, in the hopes of driving them back to the Suez. If this succeeds he will then destroy the ca.n.a.l, the further to hamper their movements."

"Yes, but is he aware of his opponent's strength? Surely they would not advance unless in overwhelming numbers?" George broke in. "Psha!

The man must be mad to hope for success!"

"That of course remains to be seen," said Mariam slowly. "Naoum's people bring us word that soldiers have been landing ever since the beginning of the war, but Arabi's people, probably to encourage the rebellion, say no, that the British army is but a puny affair."

"What fools!" said Helmar. "They'll find out their mistake before long, and get such a smashing up that they won't forget in a hurry."

"Yes," said the old woman, "that we know, but all this will take a long time, and by the time the blow is ready to fall, I must get you well enough for the work before you."

Mariam paused, as if weighing her words. George was at once all interest. Something was coming, he felt sure, that was of even greater importance than the conflict and probable overthrow of Arabi. Mariam, he knew, never spoke lightly, and when she hinted at work that, apparently, could only be carried out by himself, it must indeed be of an urgent character.