ld enter upon a
desert jaunt, to whom all was full of novelty and interest, whose
companions were subjects for curious study, speaking in accents the
unfamiliar Oriental cadence of which fell pleasantly upon his ear, and
who found in every hour some fresh cause for wonder or pleasure. But a
pen of marvellous power and pathos must be invoked to portray the
mingled emotions that swayed in swift succession the minds of our Boy
Slaves! No charm existed for them in the strangeness of desert scenery,
Arab comradeship, and the murmur of Eastern tongues; they had long
passed the time for that, while their bitter familiarity with all these
made even a deep revulsion of feeling in their sorely tried souls. Hope,
fear, doubt, fatigue, anxious yearning, and vague despair,--all in turn
swept through their thoughts, even as the dust of their pitiless pathway
swept over their scorched faces, and covered with effacing monotony
every vestige of their passage. Mine is no such potent pen, and so let
us leave them, bound to their beasts of burden, going down from the
abodes of men into the depths again; and so let us leave them,
journeying ever onward,--away, away!

CHAPTER LXXVI.

HOPE DEFERRED.

For the first hour of their journey, Harry, Colin, and Sailor Bill, were
borne along fast bound upon the backs of their animals. So disagreeable
did they find this mode of locomotion, that the Krooman was requested to
inform their masters, that they were willing to accompany them without
further opposition, if allowed the freedom of their limbs, this was the
first occasion on which the Krooman had made known to the Arab merchants
that he could speak their language.

After receiving a few curses and blows for having so long concealed his
knowledge of it, the slaves were unbound, and the animals they bestrode
were driven along in advance of the others, while the two hired guards
were ordered to keep a short watch over them.

The journey was continued until a late hour of the night; when they
reached the gate of a high wall enclosing a small town.

Here a long parley ensued, and at first the party seemed likely to be
turned back upon their steps to pass the night in the desert, but at
last the guardians of the village, being satisfied with the
representations of the Arabs, unbarred the portals and let them enter.

After the slaves had been conducted inside, and the gate fastened behind
them, their masters, relieved of all anxiety abo