“Go away!” she exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. “It is impossible; thou art wasting precious time. Go!” I took the rope where it was tied on to the ring of her collar and cut it through, and as she still refused to rise, I stuck the knife through the strip of rag that was tied round my loins, took her up in my arms, and, hoisting her on to my shoulder like a sack, strode away out of the camp along the path by which we had approached it. The moon had now set, and the night was pitch dark, so that although the country was moderately open, it was difficult to avoid straying from the path; and Aminé, who though but of medium height was a strapping, solidly-built woman, formed a burden sufficiently heavy to tax the strength of a stronger man than me. In fact, I had not gone a quarter of a mile before I had to set her down and rest, when she again entreated me to hurry away and leave her. While we were resting I explored the key holes of her fetters with my fingers, and finding that they were made so as to be unfastened by a key with a screw end, I determined to try if I could force them. For this purpose I groped among the trees and cut off a small branch, which I trimmed with my knife to a blunt point. This point I thrust forcibly into the hole and rotated it until the wood jammed into the thread of the screw-hole, when by giving it a few more turns, to my delight and Aminé’s amazement, the ankle clasp fell open. This manœuvre I repeated with the other three clasps with such success that, in a short time, I was able to remove the manacles and leg fetters, and Aminé stood up, hardly able to believe the evidence of her senses, and nearly wild with joy. We flung the fetters away among the trees, and, leaving the iron collar to be operated on by daylight, set off along the path at a run to make up for the time that had been consumed by these labours; but presently we settled down, as our excitement somewhat subsided, into a brisk walk, covering the ground at an astonishing pace notwithstanding the darkness. It was probably near midnight when we started, and we walked on, with gradually diminishing speed but without a halt, until the first streaks of dawn began to appear in the sky behind us, and our shadows spread out before us, attenuated and gigantic caricatures. The pale daybreak, rapidly brightening into sunlight, showed us, a little distance ahead, a small stream, and we could see that we were approaching a much-frequented drinking-place, for the ground was covered with the spoor of hoofs and paws, all converging to one point.