I know these people."
"You do not know Abou Fatma. He was Gordon's servant over there before
Khartum fell; he has been mine since. He came with me to Obak, and
waited there while I went down to Berber. He risked his life in coming
to Omdurman at all. Within six months he will be back, you may be very
sure."
Trench did not continue the argument. He let his eyes wander about the
enclosure, and they settled at last upon a pile of newly turned earth
which lay in one corner.
"What are they digging?" he asked.
"A well," answered Feversham.
"A well?" said Trench, fretfully, "and so close to the Nile! Why? What's
the object?"
"I don't know," said Feversham. Indeed he did not know, but he
suspected. With a great fear at his heart he suspected the reason why
the well was being dug in the enclosure of the prison. He would not,
however, reveal his suspicion until his companion was strong enough to
bear the disappointment which belief in it would entail. But within a
few days his suspicion was proved true. It was openly announced that a
high wall was to be built about the House of Stone. Too many prisoners
had escaped in their fetters along the Nile bank.
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