sed himself as one willing to take his chance in
any action they should propose; and believed that his countrymen would
do the same. He feared, however, that the other blacks could not be
trusted, and that any proposal he might make to them would be in a
language the two guards would understand.

"Well, then," said Harry, "there will be six of us against three. Shall
I give the word?"

"All right!" said Terence, drawing his feet under his body, by way of
preparation for rising suddenly.

The scheme was a desperate one, but all seemed willing to undertake it.

Since leaving the well, they had felt convinced that life and liberty
depended on their making a struggle; though circumstances seemed to have
forced that struggle upon them when there was the least hope of success.

"Now all make ready," muttered Harry, speaking in a calm voice, so as
not to excite the attention of the guards. "One!"

"Stop!" exclaimed Colin, who had been listening attentively to all that
was said. "I'm not with you. We should all be killed. Two or three
would be shot, and the sheik himself could finish all the rest with his
scimitar. It is better for him to kill me, if he really means to do so,
than to have all four destroyed in the vain hope of trying to save one."

"It is not for you alone that we are going to act," interposed Harry.
"It is as much for ourselves."

"Then act when there is a chance of succeeding," pursued Colin. "You
cannot save me, and will only lose your own lives."

"De big black sheik am going to kill someb'dy, dat berry sure," said
the Krooman, as he sat with his eyes fixed upon Golah.

The latter was still in consultation with Fatima, his face wearing an
expression that was horrible for all except herself to behold. Murder
by excruciating torture seemed written on every feature of his
countenance.

The woman, upon whose manner of death they were deliberating, was in the
act of caressing her children, apparently conscious that she had but a
few minutes more to remain in their company. Her features wore an
expression of calm and hopeless resignation, as if she had yielded
herself up to the decree of an inevitable fate.

The third wife had retired a short distance from the others. With her
child in her arms, she sate upon the ground, contemplating the scene
before her with a look of mingled surprise, curiosity, and regret.

From the appearance of the whole caravan, a stranger could have divined
that