hat had passed, any mistake or
untoward occurrence might be set down to his malice, whereas, if he were
behind, he could not be thus slandered. On hearing this, Higgs, who is
a generous soul, insisted upon showing his confidence in the virtue of
Shadrach by accompanying him as a rearguard. So violently did he insist,
and so flattered did Shadrach seem to be by this mark of faith, that
Orme, who, I should say, if I have not already done so, was in sole
command of the party now that hostilities were in the air, consented to
the plan, if with evident reluctance.

As I know, his own view was that it would be best for us four Englishmen
to remain together, although, if we did so, whatever position we chose,
it would be impossible for us in that darkness to keep touch with the
line of camels and their loads, which were almost as important to us as
our lives. At least, having made up our minds to deliver them in Mur, we
thought that they were important, perhaps because it is the fashion
of the Anglo-Saxon race to put even a self-created idea of duty before
personal safety or convenience.

Rightly or wrongly, so things were settled, for in such troublous
conditions one can only do what seems best at the moment. Criticism
subsequent to the event is always easy, as many an unlucky commander has
found out when the issue went awry, but in emergency one must decide on
something.

The sun set, the darkness fell, and it began to rain and blow. We
started quite unobserved, so far as we could tell, and, travelling
downward from the overgrown, ruined town, gained the old road, and in
complete silence, for the feet of camels make no noise, passed along it
toward the lights of Harmac, which now and again, when the storm-clouds
lifted, we saw glimmering in front of us and somewhat to our left.

In all my long wanderings I cannot remember a more exciting or a more
disagreeable journey. The blackness, relieved only from time to time by
distant lightnings, was that of the plagues of Egypt; the driving rain
worked through the openings of our camel-hair cloaks and the waterproofs
we wore underneath them, and wet us through. The cold, damp wind chilled
us to the bone, enervated as we were with the heat of the desert.
But these discomforts, and they were serious enough, we forgot in the
tremendous issue of the enterprise. Should we win through to Mur? Or, as
a crown to our many labours and sufferings, should we perish presently
on the road? Th