was his habit if another dog barked at
him to pretend complete indifference until it came so near that he
could spring and fight, or kill it. At length we appeared to pass under
another archway, after which, a hundred and fifty yards or so further
on, the camels came to a sudden stop. Quick dismounted, and presently I
heard him say:

"Doors. Can feel the brasswork on them. Tower above, I think, and wall
on either side. Seem to be in a trap. Best stop here till light comes.
Nothing else to be done."

Accordingly, we stopped, and, having tied the camels to each other to
prevent their straying, took shelter from the rain under the tower or
whatever it might be. To pass away the time and keep life in us, for we
were almost frozen with the wet and cold, we ate some tinned food and
biscuits that we carried in our saddle-bags, and drank a dram of brandy
from Quick's flask. This warmed us a little, though I do not think that
a bottleful would have raised our spirits. Higgs, whom we all loved, was
gone, dead, probably, by that time; the Abati had lost or deserted
us, and we three white men appeared to have wandered into a savage
stronghold, where, as soon as we were seen, we should be trapped like
birds in a net, and butchered at our captor's will. Certainly the
position was not cheerful.

Overwhelmed with physical and mental misery, I began to doze; Orme grew
silent, and the Sergeant, having remarked that there was no need to
bother, since what must be must be, consoled himself in a corner by
humming over and over again the verse of the hymn which begins:

"There is a blessed home beyond this land of woe,
Where trials never come nor tears of sorrow flow."

Fortunately for us, shortly before dawn the "tears of sorrow" as
represented by the rain ceased to flow. The sky cleared, showing the
stars; suddenly the vault of heaven was suffused with a wonderful and
pearly light, although on the earth the mist remained so thick that we
could see nothing. Then above this sea of mist rose the great ball of
the sun, but still we could see nothing that was more than a few yards
away from us.

"There is a blessed home beyond this land of woe"

droned Quick beneath his breath for about the fiftieth time, since,
apparently, he knew no other hymn which he considered suitable to our
circumstances, then ejaculated suddenly:

"Hullo! here's a stair. With your leave I'll go up it, Captain," and he
did.

A minute later we heard