ned my gaze hastily in
the direction which the Arab indicated, and saw Denviers struggling with
a fierce Dhah from whose hands he was trying to wrest a bow, and who had
hidden in the brushwood near him without being observed hitherto! They
were seen in a moment by the assembled Dhahs, and, with a wild rush, the
latter poured down upon the combatants, seizing them as they still
grasped the bow.

"Hassan," I cried to our guide, "come on, we must get Denviers out of
the hands of this horde somehow!" We dashed across the intervening
space, and made a brief but desperate attempt to release our companion.
It was as useless as it was rash, for we were directly afterwards
dragged, in spite of our struggles--as well as Denviers and his
opponent--into the open glade, close to the dead body of the man lying
there.

"We are betrayed!" cried one of the Dhahs. "The white spies have been
led hither by the traitor among us that they may learn our strength, and
then return with a force to destroy us! One of our number has already
fallen; shall we not slay the captives over his dead body?" A fierce cry
of assent rose from the others, as they fitted each a shaft to their
bows and took deliberate aim at us as we were held fast by our captors.
I saw the face of the queen grow pale as she rested her eyes, first upon
the fallen Dhah and then upon us. Had men of her own race come that they
might destroy the tribe which obeyed her slightest word? She made an
imperative gesture, which caused the Dhahs to hold their arrows
undischarged, though they still kept their bows bent, waiting eagerly
for her to utter the word of command to slay us.

"Stop!" she cried, in a commanding tone. "Upon your foreheads ye wear
still the pledge of obedience to me, with whom rests alone the power of
life and death. Ye shall have justice to the full: I will hear what they
can say in their defence, but if wantonly they have caused life to be
taken, white though they be, I swear unto ye that they shall surely
die." The Dhahs shifted their arrows from the bowstrings and seemed
reluctant to give us even this short respite. I looked into the queen's
face and read there that her threat against us was no idle one. She
commanded the women and most of the men to retire--leaving us still held
fast by our captors.

"We are not cowards," said Denviers, calmly, to her. "Hear what we have
to say, and then decide our fate. Bid these savages release us from
their grasp--we shal