oluntary visitor
to that secluded spot; but something else that appeared in their midst--
something that proclaimed the presence of human beings.

Near the centre of the little valley half a dozen dark objects stood up
several feet above the level of the ground. Their size, shape, and
colour proclaimed their character. They were tents, the tents of a
Bedouin encampment. The old man-o'-war's-man had never seen such
before; but there was no mistaking them for anything else; even going as
he was at a speed that prevented him from having a very clear view of
them.

In a few seconds, however, he was near enough to distinguish something
more than the tents. They stood in a sort of circle of about twenty
yards in diameter, and within this could be seen the forms of men,
women, and children. Around were animals of different sorts; horses,
camels, sheep, goats, and dogs, grouped according to their kind, with
the exception of the dogs, which appeared to be straying everywhere.
This varied tableau was distinctly visible under the light of a full
mellow moon.

There were voices; shouting and singing. There was music, made upon
some rude instrument. The human forms, both of men and women, were in
motion, circling and springing about. The sailor saw they were dancing.

He heard and saw all this in a score of seconds, as the maherry hurried
him forward into their midst. The encampment was close to the bottom of
the hill round which the camel had carried him. He had at length made
up his mind to dismount _coute qui coute_; but there was no time.
Before he could make a movement to fling himself from the shoulders of
the animal, he saw that he was discovered. A cry coming from the tents
admonished him of this fact. It was too late to attempt a retreat, and,
in a state of desponding stupor, he stuck to the saddle. Not much
longer. The camel, with a snorting scream, responding to the call of
its fellows, rushed on into the encampment, right into the very circle
of the dancers; and there, amidst the shouts of men, the screeches of
women, the yelling of children, the neighing of horses, the bleating of
sheep and goats, and the barking of a score or two of cur dogs, the
animal stopped, with such abrupt suddenness that its rider, after
performing a somersault through the air, came down on all-fours in front
of its projecting snout!

In such fashion was Sailor Bill introduced to the Arab encampment.

CHAPTER TWENTY.