A. E. W. Mason

Name: The Four Feathers — XXX: The Last of the Southern Cross
Author: A. E. W. Mason

The Four Feathers — XXX: The Last of the Southern Cross (1902)

Summary

“The Four Feathers — XXX: The Last of the Southern Cross”, published in 1902, is a work by A. E. W. Mason. It explores elements such as Feversham, Abou Fatma and camels.

Quotes from The Four Feathers — XXX: The Last of the Southern Cross (A. E. W. Mason)

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXX: The Last of the Southern Cross (1902)

“ Yet to each man the pace seemed always as slow as a funeral. A mountain would lift itself above the rim of the horizon at sunrise, and for the whole livelong day it stood before their eyes, and was never a foot higher or an inch nearer. At times, some men tilling a scanty patch of sorghum would send the fugitives' hearts leaping in their throats, and they must make a wide detour; or again a caravan would be sighted in the far distance by the keen eyes of Abou Fatma, and they made their camels kneel and lay crouched behind a rock, with their loaded rifles in their hands. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXX: The Last of the Southern Cross (1902)

“ He showed even more anxiety to handle the weapons than he had shown fear that he would be overtaken.
"There is ammunition?" he asked feverishly.
"Yes, yes," replied Abou Fatma, "ammunition and rifles and revolvers." He led the way to a spot about twenty yards from the camels, where some long desert grass rustled about their legs. He stooped and dug into the soft sand with his hands.
"Here," he said.
Trench flung himself upon the ground beside him and scooped with both hands, making all the while an inhuman whimpering sound with his mouth, like the noise a foxhound makes at a cover. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXX: The Last of the Southern Cross (1902)

“ Feversham and Trench gazed eagerly to their right. Somewhere in that direction and within the range of their eyesight flowed the Nile, but they could not see it.
"We must build a circle of stones," said Abou Fatma, "and you must lie close to the ground within it. I will go forward to the river, and see that the boat is ready and that our friends are prepared for us. I shall come back after dark."
They gathered the stones quickly and made a low wall about a foot high; within this wall Feversham and Trench laid themselves down upon the ground with a water-skin and their rifles at their sides. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXX: The Last of the Southern Cross (1902)

“ They were in the country of the Amrab Arabs, and had come to an end of their peril.
"We are safe," cried Abou Fatma. "God is good. Northwards to Assouan, westwards to Wadi Halfa, we are safe!" And spreading a cloth upon the ground in front of the kneeling camels, he heaped dhurra before them. He even went so far in his gratitude as to pat one of the animals upon the neck, and it immediately turned upon him and snarled.
Trench reached out his hand to Feversham. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXX: The Last of the Southern Cross (1902)

“ Two of the Arabs mounted the old camels and rode slowly away to Omdurman. Abou Fatma and the other remained with the fugitives. They mounted and trotted northeastwards. No more than a quarter of an hour had elapsed since they had first halted at Abou Fatma's word.
All that night they rode through halfa grass and mimosa trees and went but slowly, but they came about sunrise on to flat bare ground broken with small hillocks.
"Are the Effendi tired?" asked Abou Fatma. "Will they stop and eat? There is food upon the saddle of each camel."
"No; we can eat as we go." ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXX: The Last of the Southern Cross (1902)

“ Let him put his head from the window, he will see the long line of telegraph poles reaching from the sky's rim behind him to the sky's rim in front, and huddling together, as it seems, with less and less space between them the farther they are away. Twelve hours will enclose the beginning and the end of his journey, unless the engine break down or the rail be blocked. But in the days when Feversham and Trench escaped from Omdurman progression was not so easy a matter. They kept eastward of the present railway and along the line of wells among the hills. ”

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Source: Wikisource

A. E. W. Mason, The Four Feathers — XXX: The Last of the Southern Cross (1902)

“ There was his father, who just at this moment was very likely reading his Times after breakfast upon the terrace of Broad Place among the pine trees upon the Surrey hills. He must visit his father, he must take that fourth feather back to Ramelton. ”

A. E. W. Mason

Summary

Quotes from The Four Feathers — XXX: The Last of the Southern Cross (A. E. W. Mason)

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