guns spoke forth, and sorapidly that I feared for the safety of our men; but at last there wassilence deep and complete, and when I descended to the camp I found atumultuous excitement prevailing. The four men, escorted by those whohad gone to arrest them, were still carrying their guns, and as theyslipped from their saddles before me, smiles broadened their unveiledfaces.
I looked at them puzzled. It seemed as though the firing had been butpowder-play.
"Behold! O Ahamadou, our Sheikh! We are thy kinsmen, yet thou hastsent to attack us!" they exclaimed.
"Our kinsmen!" I cried, noticing that they wore the white burnouse ofthe north, with their _haicks_ held around their heads by ropes oftwisted camel's hair. They wore no veils, and a Touareg isunrecognisable, even to his relatives, if his black _litham_ be removed.
"Yea," cried one, the elder of the four. "Lend us a veil, and we willshow thee."
A strip of black cotton cloth was thrust into his hand by one of thecrowd, and he assumed it, twisting it deftly as only a Touareg can.Then he turned and faced the onlookers, who with one accord laughedimmoderately, hailing him as Taghma, son of Ifafan. Then the otherthree assumed the veil, and were, one by one, recognised and receivedback by their relatives.
At the conclusion of this strange ceremony, Taghma turned to meexplaining how long ago before Ramadan they had wandered afar with theirflocks to the oasis of Ezirer, and were there taken captives by theKel-Alkoum.
"But," he added, "we have seen with our eyes the greatest wonder onearth. Allah himself hath come down from heaven!"
"What?" I cried, starting to my feet. "Thou liest!" The sensationcaused by the man's calm announcement was intense.
"If my tongue uttereth falsehood, O Sheikh! then let it be cut out," hesaid. "I have seen Allah, the One. He guideth the Kel-Alkoum ourenemies, and we are of a verity forsaken."
"Ah!" wailed the old marabout Ajrab. "Did I not warn ye that because ofyour inattention to your devotions and your neglect to say the fiveprayers, the One Merciful would leave you to perish and be eaten by thevultures like the lame camel in the wilderness?"
"Loose not thy tongue's strings," I commanded quickly. "Let us hearkenunto Taghma, who hath seen the One from above."
"Of a verity, O Ahamadou!" answered the escaped captive, "we are lost,for Allah hath promised to render assistance unto the people he favouredin their expeditions. He declareth that we, of the Touaregs, are theparasites of the earth, and that we shall be exterminated, not one beingleft. Truly he can render our spears as broken reeds, and our blades asuseless as rusted tin. Each day at the _maghrib_ he standeth beneath abaldachin of purple and giveth the people an assurance of his favour,while all fall down and kiss the hem of his crimson garment so that theymay be blessed. In Salemma, El Had, El Guerat, and the villages aroundGatron, he hath healed the sick and performed wondrous miracles, whilebefore our own eyes hath he caused a great tree to rise from the baresand--a marvel which no earthly being could accomplish."
"The latter thou hast thyself seen?" I enquired, much interested inthis most remarkable statement.
"We have, O Sheikh!" he answered. "The face of Allah is in the darknessas a shining light. Verily the promise in the _sura_ is fulfilled. Hehath come in person to lead the Faithful unto conquest."
Alone I sat in my tent that night, smoking and pondering deeply over thestrange report. In the camp the excitement had already risen tofever-heat. The aged Ajrab was addressing the crowd of men and women,urging them to earnest supplication. Allah had come, and would vent hiswrath upon those who had discarded His Book of Everlasting Will. Frommy divan I could hear the grey-bearded marabout's declaratory argument,and began to wonder whether the statement that Allah had descended uponearth had any foundation in fact. I confess to being sceptical. Fromthe wailing of the women, and the low growls of the men, I knew plainlythat the belief in the report must have a seriously disheartening effectupon our fighting men, who, if convinced that Allah assisted theirenemies, would no doubt throw down their arms and flee.
I therefore saw that the statement of Taghma and his companions must beinvestigated, and after deep thought at length resolved to assume adisguise, and go myself to the camp of the Kel-Alkoum and see themiracles of which the men had spoken. To leave the Azjar without itsSheikh at such a time would, I knew, result disastrously; therefore,calling together the marabout and three of the most trusted headmen, Isecretly explained to them my intention, and told them to account for mynon-appearance during the next few days by spreading the report that Iwas seized by a slight fever and confined to my tent.
Then just before the waning of the moon, the dress that Taghma had wornwas brought to me, and, assuming it, I mounted a fleet horse and setforth alone down the winding wady.
With the facts I had elicited from the four fugitives vivid within mymind, I journeyed forward, arriving ten days later in the littlestone-built town of Zemnou, a cluster of white houses surrounding itssmall mosque capped by three thin whitewashed minarets. Wearing as Idid the correct garb of a tribesman of the Kel-Alkoum, my presence wasunnoticed, and I was therefore enabled to stroll about the market-placesand make my observations while pretending to bargain for goods I had nointention of purchasing.
At sunset each day, when the voice of the _mueddin_ sounded from theminaret, "Allah is great!" I crossed to the mosque, washed my feet inthe marble basin and entered, in the expectation of seeing the Ruler ofEarth, but was each day disappointed. At that hour the surroundingterraces were peopled with white forms, which stood out against thesummits of the palm-trees and the green of the baobab. Their backs wereturned to the purple splendours of the dying light, for their faceslooked towards the already darkened east, lighted for us by that eternallight in which Mecca is to be found. At length, after a week hadelapsed, a great and excited crowd gathered in the market, and, when Ienquired its reason, I learned that Allah was coming.
For an hour we waited in the full glare of the noon-day sun, untilsuddenly a shout of joy arose, and all fell upon their knees inadoration. Then, lifting my eyes, I witnessed for the first time theOne Merciful in the flesh. Truly Taghma had not lied. He was ofmiddle-age, a trifle pale, but his dark eyes had a kindly, sympatheticlook, and his countenance was open and bright, a face such as is neverseen on earth. In his robe of blood-red he stood with his headuncovered, and while the people about him kissed his feet and the hem ofhis robe, he stretched forth both hands over them, pronouncing upon themhis blessing and an assurance of his favour.
One fact, however, struck me as curious. Abreha, the Sheikh, stoodaloof, with arms folded, watching the scene from beneath his shaggybrows. The glare in his keen eye told me that within his heart heconcealed a fierce jealousy that his power had thus been eclipsed.
The people, frantic with joy at the words of the Giver of all GoodGifts, cried aloud their praises, repeating their _fatihat_, and makingopen declaration of their belief. The scene was the strangest and mostexciting that ever I had witnessed, for, carried away by theirenthusiasm, many fell fainting, and were trampled upon by the crowdeagerly struggling to press Allah's garment to their lips, and obtainthe remission of all past sins.
Suddenly the tall, erect, imposing figure in blood-red, truly kingly,raised both arms above his head, and, in a clear voice that echoedacross the market above the clamours of the wild perspiring crowd,commanded silence. In an instant one could have heard a cricket chirp.Every mouth was open in breathless eagerness, for Allah was about tospeak to them, his chosen, with his own lips.
"Give ear, O my well-beloved!" he cried, with an accent unfamiliar."Among ye have I come because ye have repeated your _suras_ faithfully,and have believed in my Prophet. Of a verity will I bless you withabundant blessings, and the sun of my favour shall shine upon you sothat your enemies may wither before the dazzling light shed by yourfaces. You, the Kel-Alkoum, my beloved, shall sweep from the face ofthe earth the wicked who have oppressed you, and their entrails will beburned by the all-consuming fire of my ve
ngeance. The Touaregs, thosewho hide their faces in veils because of the hideousness of theiriniquities, shalt thou put to the sword, and they shall be consigned tothe place Al-Hawiyat, where their food shall be offal, and melting pitchshall slake their thirst. I am thy leader, henceforward fear not, forthou hast a stronger hand than all nations of the earth, and at my willall who oppose thee shall be routed and die. The Kel-Alkoum, my chosen,shall rule the world."
He paused, and glanced round with an eye keen as a falcon's, while loudpraises arose from every hoarse throat around.
"We will rout the Azjar from their mountain fastnesses!" they cried."We are ready at any moment to do thy bidding, and sweep away thewicked. Thou wilt give strength to our arms that none can resist. Bepraised, O King of earth and heaven! Be praised, O