"Oh! Mr. Quatermain," he answered, "I will obey you, though with fear
and trembling."
He went and when a few hours afterwards I noted that he had never
reappeared, I came to the conclusion, with a sigh, for I was very fond
of Sammy in a way, that he had fallen into trouble and been killed.
Probably, I thought, "his fear and trembling" had overcome his reason
and caused him to run in the wrong direction with the cooking-pots.
The first part of our march through the town was easy enough, but
after we had crossed the market-place and emerged into the narrow way
that ran between many lines of huts to the south gate it became more
difficult, since this path was already crowded with hundreds of
terrified fugitives, old people, sick being carried, little boys,
girls, and women with infants at the breast. It was impossible to
control these poor folk; all we could do was to fight our way through
them. However, we got out at last and climbing the slope, took up the
best position we could on and just beneath its crest where the trees
and scattered boulders gave us very fair cover, which we improved upon
in every way feasible in the time at our disposal, by building little
breastworks of stone and so forth.
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