that the march
would be a short one and they would presently halt for the night, but as
the hours went on it became evident that the general had determined to
keep straight on for the river, a distance of twenty-six miles from the
wells.

It was known that there was a considerable force of the enemy at
Metemmeh, and as this would be augmented by the addition of the
thousands of Arabs who had been engaged on the previous day, it was
probable that, were the enemy aware of the advance of the force, a
battle even more serious and desperate than the first would have to be
fought before reaching the Nile. The object of the night march, then,
was to reach the river before they were aware that the column had
started from the wells. The Nile once gained, and a supply of water
ensured, the force would be able to withstand any attack made on it.
Nevertheless it would have been far better to have risked another battle
in the open than to have made a night march across an unknown country.

The guides differed among themselves as to the route to be pursued, and
more than once the column marched in a complete circle, the advance
guard coming up to the rear. Thick groves of mimosa were passed
through, causing the greatest confusion among the baggage animals. Great
numbers of these lay down to die, unable to proceed a step further, and
the transport of all kinds got mixed up together in the most utter
confusion. The men, who had had but little sleep for two nights, were
unable to keep awake on their camels, and in their passage through the
bushes many of the animals straggled away from the main body.

Sergeant Bowen had managed to place Edgar next to himself upon the plea
that being wounded he wanted to keep his eye upon him. Being both
weakened by loss of blood, they were less able to resist the pressure of
sleep than the others, and when their animals got separated in the
passage through the mimosa grove from the main body, and stopped to crop
the leaves, they were unconscious of what had happened until Edgar woke
with a start as one of the boughs his camel had pushed aside struck him
smartly in the face. His exclamation roused the sergeant. "Hullo! what
has happened?"

"I don't know what has happened," Edgar said. "But it seems to me that
we are alone here. We must both have been asleep, and these brutes must
have separated from the column."

"This is a pretty mess, this is!" the sergeant said. "I cannot hear
anything of them,