elmont followed his gaze, and, yes--yes--there
was something moving there! He saw the twinkle of metal, and the sudden
gleam and flutter of some white garment.

A Dervish vedette upon the flank turned his camel twice round as a
danger signal, and discharged his rifle in the air. The echo of the
crack had hardly died away before they were all in their saddles, Arabs
and negroes. Another instant, and the camels were on their feet and
moving slowly towards the point of alarm. Several armed men surrounded
the prisoners, slipping cartridges into their Remingtons as a hint to
them to remain still.

"By Heaven, they are men on camels!" cried Cochrane, his troubles all
forgotten as he strained his eyes to catch sight of these new-comers.
"I do believe that it is our own people." In the confusion he had tugged
his hands free from the halter which bound them.

"They've been smarter than I gave them credit for," said Belmont, his
eyes shining from under his thick brows. "They are here a long two hours
before we could have reasonably expected them. Hurrah, Monsieur Fardet,
_ca va bien, n'est ce pas?_"

"Hurrah, hurrah! _merveilleusement bien! Vivent les Anglais! Vivent
les Anglais!_" yelled the excited Frenchman, as the head of a column of
camelry began to wind out from among the rocks.

"See here, Belmont," cried the Colonel. "These fellows will want to
shoot us if they see it is all up. I know their ways, and we must be
ready for it. Will you be ready to jump on the fellow with the blind
eye, and I'll take the big nigger, if I can get my arms around him.
Stephens, you must do what you can. You, Fardet, _comprenez vous? Il
est necessaire_ to plug these Johnnies before they can hurt us.
You, dragoman, tell those two Soudanese soldiers that they must be
ready--but, but----" his words died into a murmur and he swallowed once
or twice. "These are Arabs," said he, and it sounded like another voice.

Of all the bitter day, it was the very bitterest moment. Happy Mr.
Stuart lay upon the pebbles with his back against the ribs of his
camel, and chuckled consumedly at some joke which those busy little
cell-workers had come across in their repairs.

His fat face was wreathed and creased with merriment. But the others,
how sick, how heart-sick, were they all! The women cried. The men turned
away in that silence which is beyond tears. Monsieur Fardet fell upon
his face, and shook with dry sobbings.

The Arabs were firing their rifles