limits of their encampment. It was different now. There was
quiet in the camp, though both male and female figures could be seen
stirring among the tents. The saturnalia that succeeded the capture of
the castaway had come to a close. A comparative peacefulness reigned
throughout the valley; but in this very tranquillity lay the danger
which our adventurers dreaded.

With nothing else to attract their attention, the occupants of the
encampments would be turning their eyes in every direction. If any of
them should look westward at a given moment, that is, while the three
mids should be "in the saddle," the latter could not fail to be
discovered. What was to be done? There was no other way leading forth
from the valley. It was on all sides encircled by steep ridges of sand,
not so steep as to hinder them from being scaled; but on every side,
except that on which they had entered, and by which they were about to
make their exit, the moon was shining in resplendent brilliance. A cat
could not have crawled up anywhere, without being seen from the tents,
even had she been of the hue of the sand itself.

A hurried consultation, held between the trio of adventurers, convinced
them that there was nothing to be gained by turning back, nothing by
going to the right or the left. There was no other way, no help for it,
but to scale the ridge in front, and cut as quickly as possible across
the hollow of the saddle.

There was one other way; or at least a deviation from the course which
had thus recommended itself. It was to wait for the going down of the
moon, before they should attempt the crossing. This prudent project
originated in the brain of the young Scotchman; and it might have been
well if his companions had adopted the idea. But they would not. What
they had seen of Saaran civilisation had inspired them with a keen
disgust for it; and they were only too eager to escape from its
proximity. The punishment inflicted upon poor Bill had made a painful
impression upon them; and they had no desire to become the victims of a
similar chastisement.

Colin did not urge his councils. He had been as much impressed by what
he had seen as his companions, and was quite as desirous as they to give
the Bedouins a wide berth. Withdrawing his opposition, therefore, he
acceded to the original design; and without further ado, all three
commenced crawling up the slope.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.

A QUEER QUADRUPED.

Half w