ry assented without any mental
reserve; but concerning the military utility of acrobatic equestrian
performances, or of their being available at all in the hunting field,
he entertained the very gravest doubt. But they were good fun to watch,
for all that, and one, that of vaulting into the saddle while the horse
was in motion, he practised, and to a certain extent caught the knack.
He also went in for throwing the spear, which the natives could do for
ten yards or so with great force and accuracy; and though he did not
make very good practice, it proved an excellent exercise for his muscles
after his long confinement.

The Sheikh Burrachee was delighted to see how his nephew took to these
martial exercises, and at last he put the question to him point-blank,
whether he would not assist in teaching some of the men the use of the
Remington rifles they had captured.

Harry, having thought over the best course to pursue in such a
contingency, consented with apparent alacrity, but said that he hoped
his shortcomings would be excused. His uncle, not knowing how much that
hope covered, replied that he must not take the Kor Dofan for Wimbledon,
and the most elementary instruction would be esteemed extremely
scientific.

So the very next day Harry found himself with a squad of five hundred
men to instruct.

"Delightful task, to rear the tender root--to teach five hundred Arabs
how to shoot!" he said to himself, when the lot were handed over to him.
There was one consolation: do what he would, his instructions to so
large a number, without assistance, could not avail much: but he wanted
to do nothing at all.

His uncle was not present; he had no one to check him, able to judge
whether his instruction was good or bad. So he stuck some stones up for
butts, at about twelve hundred yards, and set them all firing at them.
He judged that by this he would in the first place accustom them to
firing at a comparatively innocuous distance; and in the second, that
they would waste a good deal of ammunition.

"His honour rooted in dishonour stood;
And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true,"

in the words of Tennyson's famous conundrum.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

TRINKITAT.

The _Alligator_ troopship came tearing along the Red Sea, sending the
spray flying from her bows, and churning up the historical water with
her screw, just as if it were ordinary commonplace sea-water, without
any sacred, classical, or poetical associat