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troops stationed there. There was great jubilation in the encampment after the
arrival of the newcomers, old friendships were renewed and new ones made. But
the happiest men were those of the troop that was to be relieved.
The next morning they started away, and as they were forced upon the parade
ground we prisoners were marched from our quarters and lined up before them.
A couple of long chains were brought, with rings in the links every few feet. At
first I could not guess the purpose of these chains. But I was soon to learn.
A couple of soldiers snapped the first ring around the neck of a powerful white
slave, and one by one the rest of us were herded to our places, and the work of
shackling us neck to neck commenced.
The colonel stood watching the procedure. Presently his eyes fell upon me, and
he spoke to a young officer at his side. The latter stepped toward me and
motioned me to follow him. I did so, and was led back to the colonel.
By this time I could understand a few words of their strange language, and when
the colonel asked me if I would prefer to remain at the post as his body servant, I
signified my willingness as emphatically as possible, for I had seen enough of the
brutality of the common soldiers toward their white slaves to have no desire to
start out upon a march of unknown length, chained by the neck, and driven on
by the great whips that a score of the soldiers carried to accelerate the speed of
their charges.
About three hundred prisoners who had been housed in six prisons at the post
marched out of the gates that morning, toward what fate and what future I could
not guess. Neither had the poor devils themselves more than the most vague
conception of what lay in store for them, except that they were going elsewhere to
continue in the slavery that they had known since their capture by their black
conquerors--a slavery that was to continue until death released them.
My position was altered at the post. From working about the headquarters office,
I was transferred to the colonel's living quarters. I had greater freedom, and no
longer slept in one of the prisons, but had a little room to myself off the kitchen of
the colonel's log house.
My master was always kind to me, and under him I rapidly learned the language
of my captors, and much concerning them that had been a mystery to me before.
His name was Abu Belik. He was a colonel in the cavalry of Abyssinia, a country
of which I do not remember ever hearing, but which Colonel Belik assured me is
the oldest civilized country in the world.
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