t for some
distance, were small encampments, in some of which the men were still
erecting shelters, with the bushes the women and boys brought in. Most
of these were evidently fresh arrivals, who had squatted down as soon
as they came up; either from ignorance as to where their friends had
encamped, or from a preference for a quiet situation. This fringe of
new arrivals extended along the whole semicircle of the camp; and as
several small parties came up while Gregory wandered about, and he saw
that no notice was taken of them by those already established, he
thought that he could bring Zaki, and the horses up without any fear of
close questioning. He therefore walked down again to the spot where he
had left them; and, mounting, they rode to the camp, making a wide
sweep so as to avoid the front facing Metemmeh.

"We could camp equally well, anywhere here, Zaki, but we may as well go
round to the extreme left; as, if we have to ride off suddenly, we
shall at least start from the nearest point to the line by which we
came."

There was a small clump of bushes, a hundred yards or so from the
nearest of the little shelters. Here they dismounted, and at once
began, with their knives, to cut down some of the bushes to form a
screen from the sun. They had watered the horses before they left the
river, and had also filled their water skins.

"I don't think we could find a better place, Zaki," Gregory said, when,
having completed their shelter and thrown their blankets over it, they
lay down in the shade. "No doubt we shall soon be joined by others; but
as we are the first comers on this spot, it will be for us to ask
questions of them, and, after, for them to make enquiries of us.

"I shall go into the camp as soon as the heat abates, and people begin
to move about again. Remember our story--You were carried off from a
Jaalin village, in a raid. Your master was a small sheik, and is now
with the force at El Obeid. You had been the companion of his son, and
when the latter made up his mind to come and fight here your master
gave you your freedom, so that you might fight by his son's side. You
might say that I have not yet settled under whose banner I shall fight.
All I wish is to be in the front of the battle, when we meet the
infidels. That will be quite sufficient. There are men here from almost
every village in the Soudan, and no one will care much where his
neighbours come from.

"Mention that we intend to fight as mat