y then?" asked Belmont, looking at the dragoman with an
eye which was as stern as the Colonel's.

"He seems to be in a somewhat better manner than before. He said that
if he had more water you should have it, but that he is himself short in
supply. He said that tomorrow we shall come to the wells of Selimah, and
everybody shall have plenty--and the camels too."

"Did he say how long we stopped here?"

"Very little rest, he said, and then forwards! Oh, Mr. Belmont----"

"Hold your tongue!" snapped the Irishman, and began once more to count
times and distances. If it all worked out as he expected, if his wife
had insisted upon the indolent reis giving an instant alarm at Haifa,
then the pursuers should be already upon their track. The Camel Corps or
the Egyptian Horse would travel by moonlight better and faster than in
the daytime. He knew that it was the custom at Haifa to keep at least a
squadron of them all ready to start at any instant. He had dined at
the mess, and the officers had told him how quickly they could take
the field. They had shown him the water-tanks and the food beside each
beast, and he had admired the completeness of the arrangements, with
little thought as to what it might mean to him in the future. It would
be at least an hour before they would all get started again from their
present halting-place. That would be a clear hour gained. Perhaps by
next morning----

And then, suddenly, his thoughts were terribly interrupted. The Colonel,
raving like a madman, appeared upon the crest of the nearest slope, with
an Arab hanging on to each of his wrists. His face was purple with
rage and excitement, and he tugged and bent and writhed in his furious
efforts to get free. "You cursed murderers!" he shrieked, and then,
seeing the others in front of him, "Belmont," he cried, "they've killed
Cecil Brown."

What had happened was this. In his conflict with his own ill-humour,
Cochrane had strolled over this nearest crest, and had found a group of
camels in the hollow beyond, with a little knot of angry, loud-voiced
men beside them. Brown was the centre of the group, pale, heavy-eyed,
with his upturned, spiky moustache and listless manner. They had
searched his pockets before, but now they were determined to tear off
all his clothes in the hope of finding something which he had secreted.
A hideous negro, with silver bangles in his ears, grinned and jabbered
in the young diplomatist's impassive face. There seem