siness. If he were here, our interpreter gave us to
understand, things might have been different; for the chief had
determined that, whatever came, no infidel dog should settle in _his_
oasis.

[Illustration: HER AGITATION WAS EVIDENT.]

The women with their veiled faces attracted us strangely. They were
wilder than on the river. They ran when one looked at them. Suddenly,
as we passed one, we saw her give a little start. She was veiled like
the rest, but her agitation was evident even through her thick covering.

'She is afraid of Christians,' Elsie cried, nestling towards me.

The woman passed close to us. She never looked in our direction, but in
a very low voice she murmured, as she passed, 'Then you are English!'

I had presence of mind enough to conceal my surprise at this unexpected
utterance. 'Don't seem to notice her, Elsie,' I said, looking away.
'Yes, we are English.'

She stopped and pretended to examine some jewellery on a stall. 'So am
I,' she went on, in the same suppressed low voice. 'For Heaven's sake,
help me!'

'What are you doing here?'

'I live here--married. I was with Gordon's force at Khartoum. They
carried me off. A mere girl then. Now I am thirty.'

'And you have been here ever since?'

She turned away and walked off, but kept whispering behind her veil. We
followed, unobtrusively. 'Yes; I was sold to a man at Dongola. He passed
me on again to the chief of this oasis. I don't know where it is; but I
have been here ever since. I hate this life. Is there any chance of a
rescue?'

'Anny chance of a rescue, is it?' the Doctor broke in, a trifle too
ostensibly. 'If it costs us a whole British Army, me dear lady, we'll
fetch you away and save you.'

'But now--to-day? You won't go away and leave me? You are the first
Europeans I have seen since Khartoum fell. They may sell me again. You
will not desert me?'

'No,' I said. 'We will not.' Then I reflected a moment.

What on earth could we do? This was a painful dilemma. If we once lost
sight of her, we might not see her again. Yet if we walked with her
openly, and talked like friends, we would betray ourselves, and her, to
those fanatical Senoosis.

I made my mind up promptly. I may not have much of a mind; but, such as
it is, I flatter myself I can make it up at a moment's notice.

'Can you come to us outside the gate at sunset?' I asked, as if speaking
to Elsie.

The woman hesitated. 'I think so.'

'Then keep us in sight all da