“When you are down, I shall tie the rope to one of the columns and follow.  There are the knots on which to rest if the rope cuts my hands too much.  But don’t be afraid:  I am very agile.  At Gao, when I was just a child, I used to climb almost as high as this in the gum trees to take the little toucans out of their nests.  It is even easier to climb down.”

“And when we are down, how will we get out?  Do you know the way through the barriers?”

“No one knows the way through the barriers,” she said, “except Cegheir-ben-Cheikh, and perhaps Antinea.”

“Then?”

“There are the camels of Cegheir-ben-Cheikh, those which he uses on his forays.  I untethered the strongest one and led him out, just below us, and gave him lots of hay so that he will not make a sound and will be well fed when we start.”

“But....”  I still protested.

She stamped her foot.

“But what?  Stay if you wish, if you are afraid.  I am going.  I want to see Gao once again, Gao with its blue gum-trees and its green water.”

I felt myself blushing.

“I will go, Tanit-Zerga.  I would rather die of thirst in the midst of the desert than stay here.  Let us start.”

“Tut!” she said.  “Not yet.”

She showed me that the dizzy descent was in brilliant moonlight.

“Not yet.  We must wait.  They would see us.  In an hour, the moon will have circled behind the mountain.  That will be the time.”

She sat silent, her haik wrapped completely about her dark little figure.  Was she praying?  Perhaps.

Suddenly I no longer saw her.  Darkness had crept in the window.  The moon had turned.

Tanit-Zerga’s hand was on my arm.  She drew me toward the abyss.  I tried not to tremble.

Everything below us was in shadow.  In a low, firm voice, Tanit-Zerga began to speak: 

“Everything is ready.  I have twisted the rope about the pillar.  Here is the slip-knot.  Put it under your arms.  Take this cushion.  Keep it pressed against your hurt shoulder....  A leather cushion....  It is tightly stuffed.  Keep face to the wall.  It will protect you against the bumping and scraping.”

I was now master of myself, very calm.  I sat down on the sill of the window, my feet in the void.  A breath of cool air from the peaks refreshed me.

I felt little Tanit-Zerga’s hand in my vest pocket.

“Here is a box.  I must know when you are down, so I can follow.  You will open the box.  There are fire-flies in it; I shall see them and follow you.”

She held my hand a moment.

“Now go,” she murmured.

I went.

I remember only one thing about that descent:  I was overcome with vexation when the rope stopped and I found myself, feet dangling, against the perfectly smooth wall.

“What is the little fool waiting for?” I said to myself.  “I have been hung here for a quarter of an hour.  Ah ... at last!  Oh, here I am stopped again.”  Once or twice I thought I was reaching the ground, but it was only a projection from the rock.  I had to give a quick shove with my foot....  Then, suddenly, I found myself seated on the ground.  I stretched out my hands.  Bushes....  A thorn pricked my finger.  I was down.