Haxton's shrill appeal that they should
beat off the few assailants then perilously close at hand, they yielded
to the blind instinct of self-preservation, and rushed pell-mell for
the camels. At once these men of a martial tribe, men who had
cheerfully faced the far greater danger of the Hadendowa general
attack, became untrammeled savages, each striving like a maniac to
secure a mount for himself, and careless whether or not his employers
and comrades escaped also.
Many of the camels were wounded, some were dead, and valuable time was
wasted, even in this disgraceful _sauve qui peut_, in a deadly struggle
for possession of such animals as could move. Von Kerber, when it was
borne in on him that to obtain a camel meant life for Mrs. Haxton and
himself, shouted to her to keep close to him, and ran in front of a
mounted Arab who had emerged from the melee. He ordered the man to
halt, and, so near were Royson and his tiny squadron just then, that
the camel might have brought all three into safety. But the Arab bent
his head, and urged the swaying beast into a faster trot.
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