rhaps the most dangerous
time, for the camels were restive, and longing to be off. It was with
the greatest difficulty the Arabs managed to keep their mouths closed,
and no sooner were we on their backs than we glided swiftly away into
the darkness. Now and then we saw fires, at which the people were
cooking their food, or sitting around gossiping; fortunately it was a
cold night, so most of the people were in their huts. We passed the spot
where we had laid the poor sister who had recently died; it was sad to
think that she was not with us now. We kept steadily moving forward, not
a word had passed our lips; the camels had been well fed up on dhurra,
and went so quickly that we could scarcely hold them in. I tried to peer
through the darkness, while my ear was ready to catch the slightest
sound of possible pursuers.

Soon we had left Omdurman far behind, and in the soft sand-bed of Khor
Shambat we dismounted to have our saddles re-arranged; then we mounted
again, and pursued our journey at a rapid pace northwards along the
river bank. We were in all seven persons and four camels: the guide
Ahmed Hassan, his two friends Hamed and Awad; Sister Catterina
Chincarini and Sister Elizabetta Venturini; myself and Adila.

A cold north wind was blowing, which our rapid advance made quite
cutting. I followed the Arab custom, and bound a large turban round my
head, leaving only the eyes exposed. We passed several villages, but the
barking of the dogs always gave us warning, and so we avoided them. I
had not heard a dog bark for years, and the sound was quite pleasing to
me. We met some Gellabas riding on donkeys, on their way to Omdurman,
but in the darkness they could not see who we were, and we passed them
rapidly; only Ahmed remained behind, to greet them and exchange news.

Now the narrow track led through thick bushes, which we could not
rightly see; our clothes, hands, and feet got torn and scratched by the
thorns; but we never checked the pace, and continued our course steadily
northwards. "Time is money," they say, but in our case time was life; we
crossed dry beds of streams, over which the animals would sometimes
stumble and fall, the riders with them; but there was no time to think
of pains and bruises; to pick oneself up, catch and mount the camel,
which might easily have been lost in the desert, was all one had time to
think about. None of us had watches, but during the many sleepless
nights I had passed, I had beco