Both memoirists claimed to be the other’s rescuer in Mahdist captivity

Evidence

It is interesting that, when introducing the other to their respective readers, both Fawzï and Neufeld present themselves as rescuer of the other. Fawzï recounts being chained to Neufeld, who had dysentery at the time, making everyone, particularly Fawzï, suffer also, whereas Neufeld describes telling Fawzï to act like a man and stop whining when the Mahdist guards were clamping on his chains. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 1146

Categorization

• CANDY: The mutual ‘I rescued him’ accounts — one chained to a dysenteric companion, the other telling him to man up — is a small, humanizing anecdote.