Unfortunately I did not complete everything until September 12, which
obliged me to brave the unlucky 13th. As half the town wanted to
accompany me part of the road, and I was afraid that a demonstration
might result, I determined to slip away quietly by night. Abd el Kadir
and Lady Ellenborough were in the secret, and they accompanied me as
far as the city gates, where I bade them an affectionate farewell.
The parting with Lady Ellenborough affected me greatly. I was the poor
thing's only woman friend. As she wrung my hand these were her last
word: "Do not forget your promise if I die and we never meet again."[1]
I replied, "Inshallah, I shall soon return." She rode a black thorough-
bred Arab mare; and as far as I could see anything in the moonlight,
her large sorrowful blue eyes, glistening with tears, haunted me.
It was thus, accompanied on my journey by Mr. Drake and two faithful
dragomans, who had never deserted me, and who put themselves and all
they possessed at my disposal, that I stole away from Damascus an hour
before dawn.
I shall never forget that ride across the desert. I felt my heart sink
as I jogged along for weary miles, wishing mental good-byes to every
dearly loved object. I had felt fever coming on for some days, but I
had determined not to be ill at Damascus. Now that I had left it,
however, a reaction set in. When I reached that part of the Lebanon
looking down upon the sea far above Beyrout, my fever had increased to
such an extent that I became delirious, and I had to be set down on the
roadside.
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