t of Ahmed's sincerity. We counted the
days and hours preceding our departure, and I could not bear to think of
the trials the sisters would have to undergo during the journey. I had
also a little black girl, whom it would have been impossible for me to
have left behind, as our departure would undoubtedly have been betrayed.
She was named Adila, and had been born in the Khartum Mission house.
After the fall of Khartum, she and her mother had been sold as slaves
and sent to Gedaref.

Amongst Abu Anga's troops was a certain Panerazio Yusef, a very bright
and intelligent young soldier, who subsequently rose to the rank of an
emir; he had been told about Adila, bought her for five dollars, and
took her with him when he accompanied the emir Zaki to Omdurman. On his
arrival he presented her to me as a remembrance of former kindness; he
also gave me a quantity of coffee, for which I was truly grateful.

The day of our intended departure was approaching, and we looked forward
to it with almost breathless impatience. We had lost all appetite for
food; fear, mental anguish, and the idea that we should be free, kept us
in a perfect fever of excitement. I could not help thinking of my
companions in adversity whom I should be obliged to leave behind, and
who might, I thought, perhaps suffer after our departure. These had been
constantly with us for the last ten years, sharing our life of pain and
wretchedness, and now I could not but feel pained at the thought of
separation. But all these feelings had to be put aside, and we had to
concentrate all our thoughts on the present. I longed to be off, if only
to be free from this feverish anxiety which was rending our very souls.
Then Ahmed came just the day before we were to have started, and said
that the Arabs with whom he had come from Korosko had not yet returned,
and that we must await their departure before setting out.

I now began to think that our plans had been frustrated. Several
Egyptians, including some women, had attempted to fly to Berber, whence
they intended making their way back to Egypt, but had been intercepted,
brought back and thrown into chains. It also happened that some Greeks
who had been living at Gedaref, and had had their goods stolen, were
also brought to Omdurman and put in prison, because it was thought that
they had intended to escape to the Italians.

All this alarmed me, and I thought it probable the Khalifa would issue
more stringent orders against