me used to observing the stars, and could
tell the time almost to within five minutes.

Just at dawn we neared the village of Wad Bishara, and pushed on quicker
so as to pass it before daybreak. This village is generally considered
two days north of Omdurman. We then left the ordinary track, and turned
towards the desert, as we dared not go along the river bank during the
daytime. At sunrise we could just see the thin strip of green which
marked the course of the stream; still we did not alight, but pushed on
and on, up and down hills, across long stretches of sandy plain. Our
eyes became so red and swollen we could scarcely see, and they pained us
considerably.

At length, after some hours, we drew up, dismounted ate a little
biscuit, and drank some water, readjusted our saddles, then up and away
again. My mind travelled back to Omdurman. Had our flight been
discovered at once? What would happen to those left behind? How
astonished they would be to find we had gone! But this train of thought
was suddenly interrupted; one of the sisters had fallen off her camel,
and was lying insensible on the ground; we picked her up, splashed her
with water, and after a time brought her to; we then put her on to the
camel again, and tied her firmly to the saddle; there was nothing else
to be done--it was a question of life and death. So we rode continuously
forward, in the desert by day and along the river bank by night.

I had asked Ahmed about the stranger who had helped me to mount my camel
in Omdurman, and he told me that the animals had become so restive by
good feeding that it was impossible for one man to hold them whilst the
other two came to the hut to fetch us; he had therefore taken two
friends into his confidence, and made them swear on the Kuran that they
would not betray us. Just after sunset they had ridden the camels quite
openly through the market-place, with their arms slung across the
saddles, so that people should think they were post-camels, and no
suspicion would be created.

Ahmed told me more too about the difficulties he had had in stabling the
camels prior to our flight; two of them had been tethered in a poor
woman's yard, and the two others he had placed in charge of one of his
friends; but these caretakers had guessed that something was about to
happen, and had urged Ahmed to depart as soon as possible, for they
began to think they might become involved in the matter. Ahmed had paid
them most liberally