me,--under the skies of
Timbuctoo.

The "windfall" that had so unexpectedly dropped into the _douar_; first
in the shape of Sailor Bill,--and afterwards, in more generous guise, by
the capture of the three "young gentlemen" of the gunroom,--had caused
some change in the plans of their captors.

By mutual understanding between the two sheiks, something was to be done
in the morning; and their design of separating was deferred to another
day.

The order to strike tents had been countermanded: and both tribes
retired to rest,--as soon as the captives had been disposed of for the
night.

The douar was silent,--so far as the children of Ham and Japhet were
concerned. Even _their_ children had ceased to clamor and squall.

At intervals might be heard the neigh of a Barbary horse, the barking of
a dog, the bleating of a goat, or a sound yet more appropriate to the
scene, the snorting of a maherry.

In addition to these, human voices were heard. But they proceeded from
the throats of the sons of Shem. For the most part they were uttered in
a low tone, as the three midshipmen conversed seriously and earnestly
together; but occasionally they became elevated to a higher pitch, when
Sailor Bill, guarded on the opposite side of the encampment--took part
in the conversation, and louder speech was necessary to the interchange
of thought between him and his fellow-captives.

The Arab watchers offered no interruption. They understood not a word of
what was being said, and so long as the conversation of their captives
did not disturb the douar, they paid no heed to it.

"What have they done to you, Bill?" was the first question asked by the
new comers, after they had been left free to make inquiries.

"Faix!" responded the sailor, for it was Terry who had put the
interrogatory: "iverything they cowld think av--iverything to make an
old salt as uncomfortable as can be. They've not left a sound bone in my
body; nor a spot on my skin that's not ayther pricked or scratched wid
thar cruel thorns. My carcass must be like an old seventy-four after
comin' out av action--as full av holes as a meal sieve."

"But what did they do to you, Bill?" said Colin, almost literally
repeating the interrogatory of Terence.

The sailor detailed his experiences since entering the encampment.

"It's very clear," remarked the young Scotchman, "that we need look for
nothing but ill-treatment at the hands of these worse than savages. I
suppose they i