o meet them unless their force is
altogether too strong for us."

On the seventh day after their arrival at the wady the messenger who had
been despatched for aid returned. His news was that the greater part of
the men were away; they were expected in a few days, but it might be a
week or more before they came back. The sheik was unwilling to send off
the few men at the douar, but promised that as soon as his main force
returned he would set out with the whole strength of his fighting men to
their assistance.

Upon the following morning one of the men left to watch the wells also
returned. He had come through without stopping, and reported that late
in the evening before he left he and his companions had seen a line of
camels with some horsemen coming towards the wells. He had waited until
morning in order to discover their force; he put it down as forty men.

"That is very bad news," the sheik said. "We can only muster eighteen
fighting men, and some of these are old and others mere lads. They are
two to one against us, and if we were beaten and forced to fly their
horsemen would overtake us and destroy us. Think it over, Muley; you
are full of expedients."

"How many men do you expect to get from the other douar?"

"Their encampment is the same size as ours; they are sure to leave some
of the old men to guard it, perhaps fifteen will come. That will make
our force nearly equal to theirs, and we might defend this wady, though
I doubt it, but I am sure that they would beat us easily in the desert.
They are almost all armed with the rifles that they took at El-Obeid
from Hicks Pasha's men, and will have found an abundance of arms at
Khartoum; besides, these dervishes fight desperately. The faith they
have in the Mahdi gives them strength and courage; they do not care
whether they die or live, and doubtless picked men have been sent on the
expedition. I fear there is nought before us but flight, unless you with
your knowledge of the Frank method of war can hit upon some plan."

"I will think it over, sheik, but at present I see no way in which we
can withstand them. We might, of course, cut down trees and make so
strong a fort here that we might beat them off; but in that case they
might return in much greater numbers, therefore it seems to me that if
we fight we must fight at the other wady."

"Then we cannot fight at all," the sheik said decisively. "There are two
to one against us, and it would be madness to att