taken the fugitive, in which case they would have brought the camel
back and left the body of Hamish in the desert.

A shout of welcome greeted the chief as he rode up. "You have overtaken
him, El Bakhat, I see; Bishmillah, God be praised, we are safe from the
trouble the treacherous dog would have brought upon us!"

The sheik shook his head. "The son of Sheitan has escaped. We caught
sight of him just at the edge of the desert, having ridden with scarce
an hour's rest from the time we started. As soon as we did so Aboo and
myself dismounted and started in pursuit; but he must have seen us as
soon as we caught sight of him, for when we came up to his camel it was
alone. We followed him to the edge of the cultivated lands, but the
grass was long and the crops stood in some places as high as our heads,
and it would have been useless searching for him, so we brought the
camels on, gave them water and a night's halt to fill themselves in the
fields, and then started back. Has all been well?"

"All has been well," his wife replied. "The camels made three journeys,
have rested, and are ready to start afresh. We have cut down as much as
they can carry, and have indeed left but little remaining."

"We will start the day after to-morrow," the sheik said. "Our camels
need a rest, and time does not press. Before we leave the wady we will
set fire to the dry stalks and grass. There is little that will not
burn. We must destroy all that we can, so that when they arrive here in
search of us they shall not be able to sit down here, but must turn and
travel back with all speed, unless they decide to push on in pursuit of
us to Wady El Bahr Nile."

Two days later the tents were struck and the camels loaded up; then when
they had moved away, the dried grass and corn stalks were fired at the
windward end of the valley and in a few minutes the flames swept along
in a broad sheet, and in a quarter of an hour a coating of gray ashes
covered the soil where lately the encampment with its surroundings of
cultivation stood. Two of the men were left behind with fast camels.
They were to leave the animals a mile from the camp on its northern
side, so that they would neither be on the line by which the enemy would
come or that leading to the wady. They had forage for their camels and
food for themselves for a fortnight. One was to remain by the camels,
the other to keep watch concealed among the sand-hills near the well.

If an enemy was seen