Morocco, the Land of the Extreme West 147 



The women servants, who alone had 

 not been bound, assisted the ladies to rise, 

 and one of the women rushed past the 

 mountaineers to the telephone, and before 

 these savages realized her intention she 

 called up the central office at Tangier, tell- 

 ing them of the attack and of our capture. 

 Before she could say more she was torn 

 from the instrument by the angry natives. 



At the same moment the screams of 

 a pretty native servant struggling with 

 the men, who were dragging her off, 

 aroused my wife, who, despite the fact 

 that she was seriously hurt from her fall, 

 rushed to the woman's assistance and 

 Ayesha's cowardly assailants, fearing 

 Raisuli's displeasure, hastily retired, 

 balked of their proposed prey. 



Mrs. Perdicaris was then herself as- 

 sisted to the front hall opening upon the 

 portico or pergola, where she came upon 

 Bourzin. Instead of bringing us our 

 things, Bourzin stopped to reassure my 

 wife, inventing a statement to the effect 

 that I knew the leader of the band and 

 had in the past rendered Raisuli a great 

 service, and that we were now amicably 

 coming to some arrangement, but should 

 any disturbance be made, that all of us, 

 both the family and the servants, might 

 be killed. 



As my wife listened she heard my 

 voice from without as I addressed Raisuli 

 and, noticing that I did not speak in 

 tones' either of excitement or alarm, she 

 concluded that Bourzin was telling the 

 truth ; consequently she waited near the 

 door for my return, and in the meantime 

 Bourzin slipped away, unnoticed, to re- 

 join me. 



the; march by night 



Needless to say the ladies waited in 

 vain for our return, and when at last they 

 ventured out onto the pergola all was 

 silent. We had disappeared. 



As for ourselves we were led rapidly 

 along the avenue leading away from the 

 direction of the town, our horses being 

 forced over the drv stone wall which en- 



circles the property and driven along by 

 many a blow from the rifles of our escort, 

 as the men dragged the unwilling animals 

 over rocks, through the underwood and 

 brambles, and across the numerous water- 

 courses, down toward the plain of Bu- 

 bana to the west of the town. 



How different the familiar locality, the 

 scene of many an exciting steeple-chase 

 or game of polo, looked as we now ne- 

 gotiated its water jumps and barriers in 

 the darkness. Here and there we came 

 unexpectedly to the steep cuttings of 

 water-courses or to deep pools, which our 

 captors made no attempt to turn nor to 

 choose the easy places ; but as the fellow 

 who held my bridle would hesitate upon 

 the verge of such descents, my horse, 

 pressing forward to escape the blows 

 from the rear, would either step upon the 

 heels of the man in front or push him 

 unexpectedly over the edge, when all 

 three of us would come rattling down 

 into the water, into which we splashed, 

 stumbling over the big boulders, each 

 such incident terminating in a sharp blow 

 upon my horse's nose, administered by 

 the angry native so soon as the latter re- 

 covered his footing. 



Ultimately I was, however, grateful 

 even for these unpleasant interludes, 

 since I was thus kept from reflecting 

 upon the ulterior anxieties implied by our 

 capture, owing to the effort to keep my 

 seat in the saddle. 



After circling around the town at a 

 distance of several miles, our party 

 struck across the fields toward the east, 

 making in the direction of the track 

 leading to Tetuan. Here the going was 

 easier and we had more time to consider 

 our situation. Varley and I, however, 

 were intentionally kept apart from each 

 other. 



Later on we found ourselves for a few 

 moments within speaking distance, and 

 my companion asked how I thought this 

 business likely to end. 



"From what I have heard of Raisuli's 

 character," I replied, "I hope we may not 



