p keep peace
in the desert, and knowing what we know of his past, I think with the
child out of his reach he'll be pretty well at our mercy."

"When Hassan ben Saad finds the boy gone, he will be very sick," said
Sabine. "But I shall be polite and sympathetic, and will give him good
advice. He is in deadly awe of the marabout, and I will say that, if the
child's father hears what has happened, there will be no
forgiveness--nothing but ruin. Waiting is the game to play, I will
counsel Hassan. I shall remind him that, being Friday, no questions will
be asked at school till Monday, and I shall raise his hopes that little
Mohammed will be back soon after that, if not before. At worst, I will
say, he can pretend the child is shut up in the house with a cough. I
shall assure him that Monsieur Caird is a man of honour and great
riches; that no harm can come to little Mohammed in his care. I will
explain how the boy pleaded to go, and make Hassan happy with the
expectation that in a few days Monsieur Caird is coming back to fetch
his friend; that certainly Mohammed will be with him, safe and sound;
and that, if he would not lose his position, he must say nothing of what
has happened to any one who might tell the marabout."

"Do you think you can persuade him to keep a still tongue in his head
till it suits us to have him speak, or write a letter for me to take?"
asked Stephen.

"I am sure of it. Hassan is a coward, and you have but to look him in
the face to see he has no self-reliance. He must lean on some one else.
He shall lean on me. And Nedjma shall console him, so that time will
pass, and he shall hardly know how it is going. He will speak when we
want him to speak or write, not before."

The three men talked on in Stephen's room till dawn, deciding details
which cropped up for instant settlement. At last it was arranged--taking
the success of their plan for granted--that Stephen should wait a day
and a half after the departure of Nevill's little caravan. By that time,
it should have got half-way to Touggourt; but there was one bordj where
it would come in touch with the telegraph. Stephen would then start for
the Zaouia, for an interview with the marabout, who, no doubt, was
already wondering why he did not follow up his first attempt by a
second. He would hire or buy in the city a racing camel fitted with a
bassour large enough for two, and this he would take with him to the
Zaouia, ready to bring away both sisters.