Chapter 30 Chapter Thirteen

Lord Kairabang and Ahme turned their heads and looked at the direction Nisib pointed out.What they saw made them immediately retreat quietly. On the top of the rock opposite the cave, a figure was trying to climb to its edge, no doubt to get a closer look at the camp.It goes without saying that there has been a secret agreement between the guide and this person. In fact it should be admitted that Ahmeh saw rightly all the plots against Kerabong and his companions.In addition, it can be inferred that danger is imminent, that an attack is secretly brewing, and that this evening, the small team that has been led into the trap may be wiped out.

Kairabang's first instinctive reaction was to immediately raise his gun and aim at the spy who dared to venture to the edge of the camp. It only takes one second for the gun to go off, and the man will fall down injured and die without a doubt!But doing so would alarm the enemy and make an already serious situation even more dangerous. "Don't shoot, Uncle!" Ahme whispered, raising the gun aimed at the top of the rock. "But, Ahme..." "No...don't shoot, the sound of gunfire will be a signal to attack! It is best to capture this person alive, we must understand why these despicable guys did this!"

"But how to subdue him?" "Let me do it!" Ahme replied. So he disappeared on the left in order to go around the rock and climb up from the back. Kerabong and Nisib stand ready to cover. The spy, with his stomach on the ground, had climbed to the edge of the rock.He poked his head over the edge of the rock, trying to see the entrance of the cave as best he could by moonlight. Half a minute later, Ahme appeared on the heights, crawling very carefully towards the spies who could not see him. Unfortunately, an unexpected circumstance alerted the man and made him aware of danger threatening him.

At this moment, Amasia had just left the cave.An intense worry kept her from sleeping, and she didn't know why.She felt a gun or a dagger threatening Ahme! Kerabong had just caught a glimpse of the girl and motioned for her to stop.But Amasya didn't understand. She raised her head and saw Ahme who was straightening up towards the rock, and she let out a horrible cry. When the spy heard the shout, he turned his head immediately, then stood up, and when he saw Ahme who was still bent over, he rushed over. Amasya was too frightened to move, but she still had the strength to shout: "Ahme! . . . Ahme! . . . "

The agent stabbed his opponent with a knife in his hand, but Kerabong, who had his gun resting on his shoulder, fired. The spy, fatally shot in the chest, dropped his dagger and rolled to the ground.After a while, Ahme slid down from the height of the rock, came up to Amasya, and took her in his arms. At the sound of the gunshots, everyone in the cave ran out—except the guide. Lord Kerabong brandished his gun and shouted: "In the name of Allah! This shot is well-deserved!" "It's in danger again!" Bruno muttered. "Don't leave me, Van Mittern!" said the energetic Sarabel, grabbing her fiancé's arm.

"He won't leave you, sister!" Lord Yanar answered her firmly. At this time Ahme approached the spy's body. "The man is dead," he said, "we were going to take him alive!" Najib walked up to him and immediately called out: "But... this person... is..." Amasia also came over and said: "Yes!...that's him!...it's Yaud! The captain of the 'Ghidal'!" "Yaud?" Kerabong called. "Oh! I was right!" Ahme said. "Yes! . . . " continued Amasya. "This is the man who hijacked us from my father's house!"

"I recognize it too," Ahme added, "I recognize it too! It was he who came to the villa to sell his wares not long before I left! . . . But he will not be alone! . . . We've got a gang of rascals after us! . . . They've just taken our horses to keep us from going!" "Our horses have been robbed!" cried Sarabul. "If we had gone to Kurdistan, none of these things would have happened!" Lord Yanar said. He fixed his eyes on Van Mettain as if he held the poor man responsible for all these problems. "But at the end of the day, who is this Yaud serving?" Kerabong asked.

"If he lives, we can reveal his secrets!" Ahme said. "Maybe he has some paper on him..." Amasia said. "Yes!...the body should be searched!" Kerabong also said. Ahme bent over Yaud's body, and Nisib brought a lamp from the cave. "A letter!... This is a letter!" Ahme said, taking the letter out of the Maltese captain's pocket. This letter was addressed to a fellow named Scarbunter. "Then read it! Ahme, read it!" Kerabong shouted, he couldn't control his anxiety! Ahme opened the letter and read: "Once their horses were taken, when Kerabon and his companions were taken into a cave by Scarbunter and fell asleep..."

"Skarbunter!" exclaimed Kerabong, "is that our guide's name, the traitor's name?". "Yes! . . . I was right about him!" said Ahme. Then he read on: "At the signal of Scarbunte waving a torch, our men rushed into the Nerissa Gorge." "Is there a signature on the letter? . . . " asked Kerabong. "Signed...Safar!" "Safar!...Safar!...Who is that?..." "By the way!" replied Ahme, "it must have been that haughty man we met on the railway crossing in Poti, who was on board for Trabzon in a few hours! . . . It was this Safar who had Amasia hijacked, and wanted her at all costs!"

"Ah! Master Safar!..." Kairabang roared, raising his clenched fist and hitting an imaginary head, "As long as I meet you one day!" "But this Scarbunter," asked Ahme, "where is he?" Bruno hurried into the hole, but came out almost at once and said: "It's gone... There must be another exit!" Indeed, Scarbunte slipped away from the depths of the cave after the conspiracy was revealed. This evil conspiracy has now been laid bare.It is Lord Safar's steward himself who is going to be the guide!It was Scarbant who led the small team first by the sea and then through these mountains of Anatolia!It was Yaud who sent the signal that Ahme saw last night, and it was also the captain of the "Ghidal" who sneaked in and brought Safar's final order to Skarbant!

But Ahme's vigilance, especially his insight, thwarted the plot.The traitor was revealed, as was the evil design of his master.The name of the man who commanded the abduction of Amasya was known, and it was this Lord Safar who threatened the most terrible reprisals by Lord Kerabong. However, although the snare of this small team has been discovered, its danger has not been reduced, because it may be attacked at any time. The decisive Ahme immediately made the only decision that should be taken at this moment. "My friends," he said, "we must leave the Nerissa gorge at once. We shall not get out alive if someone attacks us on this narrow defile from the heights of the rocks!" "Go!" Kelabang responded immediately. "Bruno, Nisib, and you, Lord Yanar, you should take your weapons just in case!" "Relax, Lord Kerabong," replied Yarnar, "you will see how we do it, my sister and I!" "Of course!" the brave Kurdish woman replied heroically, brandishing a machete, "I will never forget that now I have to defend a fiancé!" If Van Mettain was deeply humiliated, it was because he heard this fearless woman speak of him in this way, and he also seized a pistol, determined to do his duty. Then all were ready to climb up the defile again to occupy the nearby high ground.Only Bruno, who was always concerned about food, said: "But this donkey, don't leave it here!" "Really," said Ahme too. "Maybe Skarbant has lost us in this remote part of Anatolia! Maybe we're farther away from Skutari than we thought!  … And this car is the only thing we have left." There's some food!" These assumptions are all reasonable.What they have to worry about now is whether, due to a traitor's trick, Lord Kairabang and his companions will not only fail to reach the Bosporus, but will be farther and farther away from it. But now is not the time to speculate: action must be taken now. "Well then," said Kerabong, "the donkey will follow us, and why doesn't he follow us?" As he spoke, he went to pick up the rope leading the donkey, trying to pull it over. "Let's go!" he said. The donkey didn't move. "Aren't you coming here obediently?" Kerabong said again, hitting it hard. The donkey was no doubt also very stubborn by nature, and it still didn't move. "Push it, Nisib!" Kerabong said. With Bruno's help, Nissi pushed the donkey's butt... It didn't move forward, but retreated. "Ah! You're so stubborn!" exclaimed Kerabong, really getting angry. "Good!" Bruno said to himself, "Stubborn to stubborn!" "You against... me?" Kerabong said again. "Your master has found his accomplice!" Bruno told Nisib in an inaudible voice. "That astonishes me!" replied Nisib in the same voice. At this time Ahme urged impatiently: "It's time to go!... We can't waste a minute...even if we lose this donkey!" "I! . . . give in to it! . . . never!" Kerabong exclaimed. So he grabbed the donkey's ears and shook them, as if he wanted to pull them off. "Are you going?" he growled. The donkey didn't move. "Ha! You won't obey me! . . . " said Kerabong. "Well, I know how to force you!" Kerabong ran to the entrance of the cave, where he gathered some handfuls of hay, tied them in a small bundle, and presented them to the donkey, who took a step forward. "Ha! Ah!" exclaimed Kerabong, "you will not go until you see this! . . . Well, by the name of Muhammad, you will go!" After a while the little bundle of hay was tied to the end of the shaft of the cart, out of reach of the donkey's head.So this kind of scene appeared: because the dry grass kept moving in front, the donkey finally moved forward along the defile under the temptation of it. "Excellent!" said Van Mettaine. "Well, learn it!" cried the venerable Sarabul, dragging him behind the cart. She was also a moving bait, but it was this bait that Van Mittern was most afraid of, unlike a donkey. All huddled together, headed in the same direction, and soon left behind the impenetrable camp. "So, Ahme," said Kerabong, "in your opinion, this Safar is the haughty fellow who, with his sheer obstinacy, crushed a stagecoach on the railway crossing in Poti. carriage?" "Yes, uncle, but he is the shameless person who hijacked Amasia first, and I should deal with him!" "We shall share equally, Nephew Ahme, we shall share equally," Kerabang replied, "May Allah help us!" Lord Kailabon, Ahme and their companions had just walked about 50 steps along the defile, and the top of the rock was full of attackers. With a few shouts, gunshots rang out from all directions. "Back! Back!" Ahme yelled, and he made everyone fall back to the boundaries of the camp. It was too late to leave the Nerissa gorge, and it was too late to find a defensive position on the high ground.A dozen men employed by Safar had just launched an attack.Their bosses are motivating them to this crime, and the terrain they occupy is extremely favorable. The fate of Lord Kerabong and his companions is at the mercy of others. "We're going to fight back! We're going to fight back!" Ahme shouted, his words drowning out the cacophony. "Woman in the middle!" Kerabong said too. Amasya, Sarabul, and Najib immediately formed a team.Kerabon, Ahme, Van Mittain, Yanar, Nisib and Bruno stood around them.Six men resisted Safar's team, one against two, and the terrain was not favorable. Almost at once the bandits burst into the defile, screaming horribly, and rushed like an avalanche into the middle of the camp. "Friends," cried Ahme, "we will resist to the death!" The battle begins immediately.Nisib and Bruno were first slightly wounded, but they did not back down, still fighting fearlessly like a brave Kurdish woman, her pistol returning the gunfire of the attacker. Besides, these men had apparently been ordered to kidnap Amasya, to capture her alive, so they preferred to fight with bayonets, so as not to shoot the girl by accident. Therefore, in the first period of time, although they were numerous, they did not have the slightest advantage, and several of them were seriously injured and fell down. At this time, two new, but equally terrifying combatants appeared on the battlefield. That's Safar and Scarbunter. "Yeah! Despicable guy!" Kerabong yelled. "It's him! It's the man on the railroad crossing!" Several times he tried to aim his gun, but failed because he had to be exposed to the enemy to do so. Ahme and his companions resisted bravely.Everyone has only one thought: to save Amasya at all costs, to prevent her from falling back into Safar's hands at all costs. But no matter how loyal and brave they are, they are outnumbered after all.Kerabong and his companions gradually began to back off, breaking apart, and clinging to the rocks of the defile.There has been confusion among them. Safar saw this. "It's your turn, Scarbunter, it's your turn!" he cried, pointing at the girl. "Yes! Lord Safar," Scarpont replied, "this time she can't escape!" Riding on the chaos, Scarbunter rushed to grab Amasia, trying to drag her out of the camp. "Amasya! . . . Amasya! . . . " cried Ahme. He wanted to rush at her, but a gang of robbers blocked his way, and he had to stop opposite them. Yanar also tried to drag the girl out of Scarbunte's arms, but failed, so Scarbunte took her a few steps towards the defile. Kerabon, however, took aim at Scarbunte, and the traitor fell mortally wounded, and the girl who was let go tried in vain to go to Ahme's side. "Skarbent! . . . dead! . . . Vengeance on him!" bellowed the leader of the gang. "Avenge on him!" So they all swooped on Kerabong and his companions, making it impossible for them to resist.Under pressure from all sides, they were barely able to use their weapons. "Amasya!...Amasya!..." Ahmey shouted, trying to save the girl who had just been finally caught by Safar and dragged out of the camp. "Hold it!...Hold it!..." Kerabong kept yelling. But he clearly felt outnumbered, hopeless for them. At this moment a shot rang out from the top of the rock, knocking one of the attackers to the ground.Then the gunfire continued, and several robbers fell down, which made them terrified. Safar paused for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on.Could it be that Lord Kailabon has an unexpected reinforcement? While Safar was panicked by the sudden onslaught, Amasya broke free from his arm. "Father! . . . Father! . . . " cried the girl. That was Selim, that's right, and Selim came with twenty well-equipped men to rescue this small team that was about to be overwhelmed. "Run for your life!" shouted the bandit leader and took the lead to run away. He took the rest into the cave, because there was still a way out inside. "Cowards!" Safar yelled as he saw himself abandoned by the bandits. "Well, don't let her live!" So he rushed to Amasia, and Ahme was also rushing to him.Safar fired the last bullet in the pistol at the young man: it missed.Then Kairabang, who remained calm all the time, made no mistakes. He rushed to grab Safar's chest and stabbed the dagger into the heart. Safar uttered only ~ roar, he couldn't even hear the opponent's cry in his dying struggle: "Let you taste the taste of crushing my carriage!" Lord Kerabong and his companions are saved.Almost all suffered minor injuries.But all did well, all: Bruno and Nisib proved brave; Yanar fought fearlessly; The sound often echoes where the battle is fiercest. But without Selim's unspoken arrival, Amasya and her defenders would be doomed.They will all die because each is determined to fight and die for her. "Father!...Father!..." cried the girl, throwing herself into Selim's arms. "Old friend," Kerabong said, "are you... are you... here?" "That's right! It's me!" Selim replied. "What coincidence brought you here?" Ahme asked him. "This is by no means a coincidence!" Selim replied, "I would have been looking for my daughter a long time ago, if I hadn't been injured when this captain hijacked her from the villa..." "Are you hurt, father?" "Yes . . . a shot from that sailboat! I was wounded and could not leave Odessa for a month! But the other day Ahme sent a telegram . . . " "A telegram?" Kerabong called, suddenly alarmed by the ugly word. "Yes...a telegram...from Trebzon!" "Oh! Here's a..." "Of course, Uncle," Ahme said, throwing himself up and hugging Kerabong. "This is the first time I have sent a telegram without telling you. You have to admit that I did the right thing!" "Yes . . . a bad thing done right!" Kerabong replied, shaking her head, "but I won't tell you about it again, nephew!" "So," Selim went on, "knowing from this telegram that your little company might not be out of danger, I assembled these brave servants, went to Skutali, and walked up to the beach on the coast. the way……" "In the name of Allah! My friend Selim," yelled Kerabong, "you came at the right time! . . . We are lost without you! . . . But our little team played well!" "Yes," Lord Yarnar also said, "my sister has proved that she can shoot when necessary!" "What woman!" muttered Van Mettaine to himself. At this time, the morning sun was slightly dew on the sky, and some of the motionless clouds on the top of the sky were stained with the initial sunlight. "But where are we, friend Selim," Lord Kerabong asked, "how did you find us in this area, because a traitor brought our team to..." "Is this area far from the way we want to go?" Ahme asked again. "Not far, friends, not far!" Selim replied. "You are on your way to Skuthari, just a few kilometers from the sea!" "Huh?..." Kelabang was a little skeptical. "That's the coast of the Bosphorus!" Selim added, pointing to the northwest. "The coast of the Bosphorus?" Ahme called. So all climbed up to the rock, which is the high place above the Nerissa gorge. "Look! . . . look!" said Selim. At this moment, a phenomenon happened to appear-a natural phenomenon of the long-awaited sea area in the distance by a simple refraction.As the sun rose, a mirage gradually held up the scene below the horizon, and the hills rounded at the edge of the field, almost like a sunken farmstead. "Sea!... This is the sea!" Ahme shouted. All the people shouted with him: "Sea! . . . the sea!" But although this is a kind of mirage effect, the sea is indeed not far away, only a few kilometers away. "Sea!...Sea!..." Lord Kailabon kept repeating. "But if this isn't the Bosphorus, if this isn't Skuthari, today is the last day of the month, and..." "This is the Bosphorus! ... This is Skuthari! ..." cried Ahme. This phenomenon gradually intensifies, and now the outline of a city built on the basin-shaped terrain is clearly revealed on the horizon. "By Allah! This is Skuthari!" Kerabang repeated. "This is the panorama overlooking the strait! ... That is the Buyukyami Mosque!" This was indeed Skutari, Selim had only been away from it for three hours. "On the road, on the road!" Kerabong yelled. To be a good Muslim, recognize the greatness of Allah in everything: "Allah is the only one!" he said, turning to the rising sun. After a while, the small team rushed to the road on the left bank of the strait.Four hours later, on September 30—the last day scheduled for the wedding of Amasya and Ahme—Lord Kerabong, his companions, and his donkey were wrapping up their trip around the Black Sea Afterwards, appear on the heights of Skuthari and salute to the shores of the Bosphorus.