"This was the way of it," said Abdul. "The slave-dealers had a camp near Fatiko, and were pretending to be doing as Baker wished, but all the time they were plotting against him. They had gathered quite a band of natives, and when Baker approached with only his little company of the so-called 'Forty Thieves' they felt confident of destroying them. "Baker sent one of his officers to demand that Aboo Saood, the chief of the slave-dealers, should come to him and explain certain things. The chief said he would do nothing of the sort, and sent back an insulting message. Thereupon Baker advanced with his men to within two or three hundred yards of the slavers' camp. "There he stopped, and sent another messenger, who was insulted, as the other had been. As he left the camp some of the slavers fired several shots in the direction of 'The Forty,' so that there was no doubt of their intentions. [Illustration: BAKER'S BATTLE WITH THE SLAVE-DEALERS.--CHARGE OF THE EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS.] "This was enough. The bugler was ordered to sound the charge, and away went the line of trained soldiers right in the direction of the group of tents that formed the camp. The slave-dealers and their allies opened fire upon the column, and it looked for a few moments as if they would all be cut down before reaching the camp. "Not a man halted or hesitated. They kept straight on, and the battle was over in less time than it would take you to write the story I am telling. The soldiers burned the huts, and made complete work before they stopped; they captured three hundred cattle and all the goods belonging to the camp, and released half as many slaves. Not a soldier of the forty was killed, and only seven of them were wounded. "One of the first shots fired at the slave-dealers was by Baker himself; it was aimed at one of the hostile chiefs, Wat-el-Mek, and the bullet cut off one of the fellow's fingers, and destroyed the gun he had in his hands. He was taken prisoner, and brought into camp, and a more thoroughly frightened man was never seen. "Wat-el-Mek declared that he had only acted under the orders of Aboo Saood, and supposed he was doing right. He carried a great many charms about him, and believed they were certain to protect him from harm. He had been in a hundred fights before, and never received so much as a scratch. His superstitious nature led him to believe that his injury was due directly to Divine interposition, which was the only thing that could have power over his charms and incantations.