Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven 12 Hour Hike

At 7 o'clock in the morning, Lieutenant Vieter and his soldiers left the station.The sweltering heat of the day portended a storm of such violence that it often hits the Jared Plain suddenly.But there was no time to waste, M. de Charley had a legitimate interest in finding Puanta and his people. It goes without saying that the sergeant-major mounts Scramble and Heart-Cutting runs beside the horse. When they set off, the North African cavalry carried their food for the day on their horses. Besides, if they went to Kizepu Oasis instead of Zeliba, the food was still guaranteed. While waiting for the return of Lieutenant Vieter, the engineer and Captain Ardigan, with the help of Corporal Pistache and Monsieur François, proceeded to arrange the bivouac. Four North African cavalrymen did not join Lieutenant Vieter's escort Team and carriage driving.The grass on the oasis pasture is extremely abundant, and a small river flowing to the salt lake nourishes the pasture.

Viette's excursion must have lasted only twelve hours.In fact, this distance includes between 347 kilometers and Kizep, not more than 20 kilometers.The distance can be covered in the morning without pushing the horse too much.Then, after a two-hour break, the afternoon was enough to bring back the detachment and the construction captain of the site, Puanta. Mezach was given a horse, and he was seen to be a good rider, like all Arabs.He ran ahead, close to the lieutenant and the sergeant major, and headed northeast once the oasis was left behind. Long plains, here and there grow clumps of slender trees, and streams flow through the land and flow into the distance.This is exactly what Algeria looks like in a dry season.Barely a few pinches of yellowish vegetation emerged from the overheated ground, whose grains of sand shone like jewels in the sun.

This part of Jared was deserted.At this time, no camel caravan passed here to some important city on the edge of the Sahara, such as Ouargla or Turgurt.No ruminant would come here to jump into the dry river.It was the dog "cutting the heart" who jumped into the water. When "Qianxian" saw the dog jumping and dripping with water dripping all over his body, he cast an envious look at it. The team landed on the left bank of the river.Mezach responded to a question posed by the officer in this way: "Yes, we followed the river all the way to Kizep Oasis, the river runs the length of the oasis..."

"Is this oasis inhabited?" "No," replied the native. "Therefore, we had to leave the town of Zeribai without food, since there was nothing left on the Gulea construction site..." "Therefore," said Lieutenant Vieter, "it is the intention of your captain, Puanta, to return to the section to meet with the engineer..." "Of course," said Mezachi, "I came back to confirm whether the Berbers had abandoned that section..." "Are you sure we'll find the construction crew in Kizep?" "Yes, I left the construction team there, and Puanta should be waiting for me there... If we hurry up, we will be there in two hours."

It was impossible to pick up the pace in this sweltering heat, and the sergeant major blamed that too.In addition, even at an unhurried pace, it will be noon to reach the oasis, and after a few hours of rest, the lieutenant will return to Gulea before dark. Indeed, as the sun rises.The hot vapor across the horizon, the temperature is getting higher and higher, and the lungs can only breathe the scorching air. "It's damn hot! My lieutenant," repeated the sergeant major, "I don't think it's been this hot since I've been in Africa! The fire we breathe in, the water we drink boil in our stomachs It's open!...And, like 'cutting hearts', can we stick out our tongue to relieve a little pain! You see, its red tongue has touched its chest..."

"Do the same for you, Sergeant Major," Lieutenant Viette replied with a smile, "Like a dog! Although this is not a prescription!" "Whoa! I'm not hot anymore," Nicole countered. "Better shut up and not breathe!" "Of course," the lieutenant echoed, "if there is no heavy rain today, it will not be over..." "I think so, too," echoed Mezachi, who, as a local, felt no guilt at the unusually high temperature, adding: "Perhaps we can get to Kizep first... There we'll find the oasis resting place, and we'll escape the storm..."

"That's exactly what you want," the lieutenant added. "Just now the dark clouds started to rush northward, and I can't feel the wind here." "Ah, my lieutenant," cried the sergeant major, "these storms in Africa need as little wind as the liner from Marseilles to Tunisia—it goes by itself! They have machines in their bellies, I suppose!" " Despite the heat, despite the fatigue from the heat, Lieutenant Viette picked up his pace.He hastily ended the journey—a 20-kilometre stop across the plain without shelter—without stopping.He hoped to get ahead of the storm, which could break out at any moment while Kizep was resting.There his North African cavalry could rest, and they could eat from the cloth knapsacks they carried with them.Then, as soon as the midday heat passed, they were on the road again toward 4:00 p.m. and could return to their bivouac by dusk.

However, the horses can't stand this section of the road, and the riders can't keep the horse running.The air is suffocating due to this approaching storm.These thick clouds, although they could hide the sun, rose only very slowly, and the lieutenant was sure to reach the oasis before they reached the zenith.Over there, behind the horizon, the clouds have not yet discharged each other, and the ears have not yet heard the rolling thunder in the distance... People walked, and walked, and the sun-baked plain remained deserted, as if it were endless. "Hey, Arab," the sergeant major repeated to the guide, "but why can't people see your damn oasis? . . . of course, it's in the sky, in the clouds, and only when it explodes over our heads, We can see it..."

"Aren't you going in the wrong direction?" Lieutenant Vieter asked Mezach. "No," answered the native, "we can't be mistaken, since we only have to go up the river to Kizep..." "Since nothing blocks our view, we should be able to see it..." the officer reminded. "Here it is," Mezach simply said, pointing to the horizon. In fact, only a few groves appeared a mile away at the time.This is the first tree seen in the oasis, and the team can reach the edge of the oasis after a short run.But it requires the horse to make a last effort, which is impossible. "Zhiqian" should be called "Zhuqianhou". Despite his stamina, he crawled heavily on the ground.

It was therefore nearly eleven o'clock when the Lieutenant passed the edge of the oasis. It may seem rather surprising that the detachment was not seen from the distance of this plain by the captain of the construction site and his companions, who, according to Mezach, were supposed to be waiting for him at Kizep. "Aren't they there anymore?" said the Arab, who at least feigned surprise. "Why aren't they there anymore?" asked the officer also. "I can't explain it," Mezachi claimed. "They were still there yesterday... Probably, they were worried about the storm, maybe they went to the oasis to find shelter from the rain! But I can find them..."

"Wait a minute, my lieutenant," said the sergeant major, "I think it's best to let our men take a breather." "Shut up!" the officer ordered. A hundred paces from there opened a clearing surrounded by tall palm trees where the horses could recover their strength.There is no need to worry that they will go out there, and as for the water there is a river bounded on one side to supply it in abundance.From there it flows to the northeast, passing through the oasis in the direction of Zeribai. After the riders had tended their mounts, they went about their own affairs, and they ate the only meal they were supposed to eat at Zeriba. At this moment, Mezzachi was on the right bank of the river, a few hundred paces from the sergeant major who accompanied him, and beyond Cut Hearts.According to the Arabs, Puanta's construction team should stay nearby and wait for his return. "Is that where you left your workmates?" "Here it is," Mezaki replied. "We've been in Kizep for a few days, unless they're forced to return to Zeliba!" "Damn it!" Nicole yelled, "should have taken us there!" "Anyway," said the sergeant major, "we'll go back to camp...the lieutenant will be worried if we're late...we'll eat, and then we'll do a round of the oasis, and if the construction team is still there, we'll find it……" Then he said to the dog: "You don't feel anything, 'cut hearts'?" The animal straightened itself up again at the voice of its master, and Nicole kept saying: "Find...find..." Dogs just hop around and can't tell people any signs of encounters.Then, its mouth opened in a meaningful yawn, which the Sergeant Major could not have mistaken. "Yeah... got it," he said, "you're starving, you can eat a piece of it...so do I...my stomach has sunk to my heels and I can walk on it eventually! It doesn't matter , I wonder, if Puanta and his men are camping here, how can there be no trace of 'cutting hearts'?" The Arab and he walked down the steep bank of the river and back again.When Lieutenant Viet found out, he wasn't as surprised as Nicole. "But, all in all, you're sure you're not mistaken?" the sergeant major asked Mezach. "No... Since I came from what you call 347 kilometers, I took the same road to get there." "Surely this is the Kizep Oasis?" "Yes, Kizep," asserted the Arab, "along the river that flows to Malgil, I cannot be mistaken..." "So where are Puanta and his construction crew?" "In another part of the woods, because I don't understand why they returned to Zeribai..." "In an hour, we can run all over the oasis..." the lieutenant concluded at last. Mezachi took out food from the cloth backpack he was carrying, then sat in a secluded place on the river bank and began to eat. The lieutenant and the sergeant major ate together, leaning against a coconut tree, while the dog waited for the food thrown to it by its master. "But that's strange," repeated Nicole. "We still haven't seen anyone, and we haven't found any remains of the camp." "Did 'Cutting the Heart' find anything?" asked the officer. "No." "Tell me, Nicole," said the lieutenant, glancing at the Arbor next to him, "is there any reason to doubt this Mezach?" "Indeed, my lieutenant, we don't know where he comes from, or who he is . What reason to doubt him... Besides, what's the use of him lying to us?... Why did he take us to Kisep... if Puanta and his men never got there? I know all about that Arabian ghost, never reliable. Anyway, since we came to Gulea, he came by himself. There is no doubt. He has seen engineers, so he knows engineers. All this makes people think that he is a recruited by the company Arab!" Lieutenant Vieter let Nicol say that the evidence he said always seemed to make sense... Yet it was at least strange to find that the oasis of Kizep was deserted and the Arabs said that many workers were gathered there.If Puanta and some people were still here waiting for Mezachi yesterday, why didn't he wait for him to come back?Why didn't he come back to meet this North African cavalry squad?He should have seen this team from afar?If he withdrew deeper into the woods, was he forced?What is the reason?Can we assume that he is back in Zaribai again?In this case, should the Lieutenant push his scout there? ... No, certainly not, Puanta and his construction team proved not to be there, and he was supposed to catch up with the engineer and Captain Aldigon as fast as he could.So, without hesitation, whatever the outcome of his excursion at Kizep, he would be back at camp that evening...   When Lieutenant Viette finished eating and got up again after taking a break, it was already half o'clock.He looked at the state of the sky, and the clouds had spread wider, and he said to the Arab: "Before I go on the road again, I want to inspect the oasis...you will be our guide." "As ordered," Mezachi replied, "ready to go." "Sergeant Major," the officer added, "find two of our men, you go with us, the others wait here..." "It's a deal, my lieutenant," Nicole agreed, waving two North African cavalrymen over. As for "cutting the heart", it goes without saying that it will follow the master, and there is no need to give orders to it. Mezach walked north ahead of the officer and his comrades.Now it is far away from the river, that is to say, everyone goes down to the left bank of the river, so that the entire oasis can be inspected.Moreover, the oasis is less than 25 to 30 hectares, and the settled locals have never lived here. It is just a resting place for camel caravans from Biskra to the seashore. The lieutenant and his guide walked for half an hour in this direction.The branches were not thick enough to block the view: the sky was rolling with sullen swirls of cloud, now reaching the zenith.Beyond the horizon the muffled murmur of the storm had come, and lightning had ripped across the sky in the far north. From here to the very edge of the oasis, the lieutenant stopped.In front of him stretched out a pale yellow, silent and desolate plain.According to the assertion of Mezachi, who left there yesterday, if the construction team had left Kizep, the construction team must have gone far away, and Puanta had already gone to Zeribai or Nafta.But it must be certain that he did not settle elsewhere in the oasis, and it seemed unlikely that he would turn back and continue his search towards the river. The officer and his men went into the woods and spent another hour, but found no sign of the camp.The Arabs seemed surprised.Everyone looked at him with questioning eyes, but he still replied: "There they are...yesterday...the captain and the others...Puanta sent me to Gulea...must have left since morning..." "Where to ...? In your opinion? ..." Lieutenant Viette asked. "Probably went to the construction site..." "But we didn't meet them on our way back, I suppose..." "No, if they hadn't walked along the river..." "Why should they take a different path from ours?" Mezaki couldn't answer. It was almost 4 o'clock when the officers returned to the resting place.Looked for nothing.The dog didn't pounce on any trace.It seems that the oasis has been neglected for a long time, neither by the construction team nor by any of the kafirans. So, the sergeant major couldn't resist the entanglement of a thought, approached Mezaki, looked at him directly and said: "Hey Arab, are you going to get us in there?" Mezach did not lower his eyes to meet the sergeant major's gaze, and shrugged his shoulders so contemptuously that if Lieutenant Viet hadn't held him back, he would have grabbed the Arab by the throat. "Calm down, Nicole," he said, "we'll go back to Gulea at once, and Mezachi will follow us..." "Then we have to walk between the two of us..." "I'm ready." The Arab replied coldly, his eyes suddenly became agitated with anger, and then returned to their usual calm. The horses were fed on the grass, drank enough water from the river, and were able to cover the distance between Kizep and Malegil.The squad is sure to be back before dark. When the lieutenant gave the order to start, his watch pointed to 4:40.The sergeant major walked beside the lieutenant, and the Arab walked between two North African cavalrymen, under constant watch.Care should be taken of him, Nicole and his comrades now agree to be suspicious of Mezach, and no doubt he already feels distrustful of him.He therefore hurried to catch up with the engineer and Captain Altigon.So everyone decided that since the construction team could not return to the construction site tomorrow, they should do what they should do. The horse trots.Everyone felt the excitement of the coming storm on the horses.The voltage is at its peak, and now the clouds are spreading from one horizon to another.Lightning pierced through the clouds and interweaved with each other through space, and the terrible thunder rumbled, especially in the desolate plain, without any echo refracting back.In addition, there was not a breath of wind, nor a drop of rain. In this fiery weather, everyone was suffocated, and their lungs could only breathe the hot air. However, even if the weather conditions did not get worse, Lieutenant Vieter and his comrades were willing to suffer a lot and return not too late.Their chief fear, perhaps, was that thunderstorms would turn to squalls, and first the wind, and then the rain, would suddenly appear, and where would they find shelter from the rain on the arid plain where there were not even a tree in sight? Therefore, it is important to return to the 347 kilometers in the shortest possible time.But the horse could no longer obey the orders of the riders.It's useless for them to try!In a moment they stopped as if their hooves were tied, and their ribs were bleeding from spurs.Moreover, man himself soon feels too weak to make the last journey.Such a strong "scrambler" is exhausted, and every time it takes a step, its owner is worried that it will fall on the hot ground. However, under the urging and encouragement of the lieutenant, at nearly 6 o'clock in the evening, everyone had already completed three-quarters of the way.If a thick layer of dark clouds does not hide the sun very close to the horizon, one can see the glistening salt frost in the area of ​​​​the Mele Gir Salt Lake a kilometer away.The grove of the oasis expanded indistinctly, and it was estimated that it would take another hour to reach there.It was not completely dark when the team walked past the first tree they saw. "Forward! Come on, my friends, and finally work hard!" the lieutenant repeated. But despite the stamina of his soldiers, he saw that the squad was in disarray.A few cavalrymen had fallen behind, so in order not to abandon them, they had to wait for them. He really hoped that thunderstorms would not occur, but instead thunder and lightning would alternate.It's better that the wind makes the air clearer, and the big clouds don't turn into rain!What is lacking is air, and the lungs work extremely hard in such suffocating air. The wind finally picked up, presumably because of the high voltage in the air that made it so violent.This high-pressure air flow is getting bigger and bigger, and when they meet, they form a cyclone.The deafening sound intertwined with the thunder, forming an unbelievably sharp whistling sound.Because the rain failed to suppress the dust, it formed a huge top shape, which was affected by the current and rotated at an incredible speed. This huge top determined the irresistible suction.The cries of the birds were heard caught in the whirlwind, and the greatest efforts could not rescue them from it. The horses were caught in the path of the tornado, they were inseparable from each other, and many were quickly thrown off their horses.We can no longer see or hear each other.The whirlwind took everything and headed for the plains south of Jared. The road Lieutenant Viet took was in such a condition that he could not understand it.His men were pushed with him to Salt Lake, it is true, but far from the camp.Fortunately, the torrential rain came suddenly.Attacked by a gust of wind, the whirlwind disappeared in the dark night. In this way, the detachment was dispersed.It's not without difficulty to get it together.Besides, in the light of the lightning, the lieutenant didn't think the oasis was a little more than a kilometer to the southeast. At last, after repeated calls in a moment of calm, man and horse reunited, when suddenly the sergeant shouted: "Where are the Arabs?" The two North African cavalry who were in charge of guarding Mezaki couldn't answer either.When the tornado dragged them into the vortex, they didn't know what happened to him because they were far away from each other. "Brave! . . . he's gone!" repeated the sergeant major. "He slipped away, and his horse...our horses were with him...he tricked us, the Arab, he tricked us!" The officer pondered, but said nothing. At about the same time that Nicole was about to arrest the Arab, the dog barked wildly and rushed, hopping and disappearing in the direction of the salt lake. "Here, 'Heart Cut' . . . here!" the sergeant major exclaimed, terribly disturbed. But maybe the dog didn't hear, maybe the dog didn't want to listen, and the dog disappeared into the night. In short, it seems that "Cutting the Heart" threw itself at the footsteps of Mezzachi, and with such an effort Nicole could not turn to his horse, which, like the others, was exhausted. Lieutenant Viette then wondered if there had been a disaster, if there were any dangers threatening the engineers, Captain Aldigon, and others who remained in Gulea while he was going to Kizep.The inability to explain the disappearance of the Arabs made all assumptions plausible, as Nicole had repeatedly said, wasn't the detachment dealing with a spy? "Go back to the camp as soon as possible!" Lieutenant Viette ordered. At this moment, the thunderstorm is still falling, just as you can see that the higher winds have almost subsided, but the rain is getting heavier, and the rain has rushed out of wide ditches, and many puddles have appeared on the surface.It was dark, so to speak, although the sun had not yet disappeared below the horizon.Walking to the oasis became difficult, and there were no lights to show the direction of the bivouac. However, in order to ensure the return of the lieutenant, the engineer did not ignore the care being taken at this point.There is no shortage of firewood, and there are a lot of dead wood in the oasis.In spite of the wind and the rain, one was able to light a fire, the light of which was visible at an average distance, perhaps no further than half a kilometer in small groups. Therefore, whatever uneasiness haunted Lieutenant Vieter, the sergeant major shared his uneasiness, and this was his word to the officer.The officer responded: "Forward, I hope we are not too late!" However, they were going in the wrong direction, and the team arrived at the left side of the oasis in the Salt Lake area.It was necessary to go back eastward along its north shore, and it was not half past eight when everyone stopped at the end of Malegil. No one had appeared yet, but the North African cavalry had just signaled them to return with repeated shouts. A few minutes later, the lieutenant arrived at the clearing in the forest, where the carriage should have been parked and the tent had been erected... Still no one, neither M. de Charley, nor the captain, nor the corporal, nor anyone who remained with them. Everyone shouted, fired guns...no response.Many resinous branches were set ablaze, sending a dim light through the bushes... The tents are gone, and as for the carriages, it should be realized that they have been robbed and rendered useless.The mules of the trailer, the horses of Captain Aldigon and his comrades, were gone. The bivouac was thus attacked, and there can be no doubt that Mezach intervened in the same place only for this fresh attack, and led Lieutenant Vieter and his North African cavalry in the direction of Kizep. It goes without saying that the Arabs did not return.As for "Cutting the Red Heart," it was in vain for the sergeant to call out to it, and the whole night passed, and it never appeared at Gulea's bivouac.