of it we turn
east to the river. We cross that road to-night; and if God wills,
to-morrow evening we shall have crossed the Nile."

"If God wills," said Trench. "If only He wills," and he glanced about
him in a fear which only increased the nearer they drew towards safety.
They were in a country traversed by the caravans; it was no longer safe
to travel by day. They dismounted, and all that day they lay hidden
behind a belt of shrubs upon some high ground and watched the road and
the people like specks moving along it. They came down and crossed it in
the darkness, and for the rest of that night travelled hard towards the
river. As the day broke Abou Fatma again bade them halt. They were in a
desolate open country, whereon the smallest protection was magnified by
the surrounding flatness. Feversham and Trench gazed eagerly to their
right. Somewhere in that direction and within the range of their
eyesight flowed the Nile, but they could not see it.

"We must build a circle of stones," said Abou Fatma, "and you must lie
close to the ground within it. I will go forward to the river, and see
that the boat is ready and that our friends are prepared for us. I shall
come back after dark."

They gathered the stones quickly and made a low wall about a foot high;
within this wall Feversham and Trench laid themselves down upon the
ground with a water-skin and their rifles at their sides.

"You have dates, too," said Abou Fatma.

"Yes."

"Then do not stir from the hiding-place till I come back. I will take
your camels, and bring you back fresh ones in the evening." And in
company with his fellow-Arab he rode off towards the river.

Trench and Feversham dug out the sand within the stones and lay down,
watching the horizon between the interstices. For both of them this
perhaps was the longest day of their lives. They were so near to safety
and yet not safe. To Trench's thinking it was longer than a night in the
House of Stone, and to Feversham longer than even one of those days six
years back when he had sat in his rooms above St. James's Park and
waited for the night to fall before he dared venture out into the
streets. They were so near to Berber, and the pursuit must needs be
close behind. Feversham lay wondering how he had ever found the courage
to venture himself in Berber. They had no shade to protect them; all day
the sun burnt pitilessly upon their backs, and within the narrow circle
of stones they had no room wherei