for my mind
was full of the camels, now flank toward us, that would have served
our purpose like the gift of God could we only have contrived to
capture them.

"How should I know?" he answered. "See--they pass within a half-mile
of where I sat. Is not that the rock?" And I said yes.

"Had you lingered there," he said, "word about us would have gone
back to Angora at top camel speed. What possessed you to come away?"

"God!" said I, and he nodded, so that I began to preen myself. He
noticed my gathering self-esteem.

"Nevertheless," he said, aloud, but as if talking to himself, yet
careful that I should hear, "had this not happened to me I should
have seen those camels on the sky-line. Did you count the camels?"

"Two hundred and eight," said I.

"How many armed men with them?" he asked. "My eyes are yet dim from
the blow."

"One hundred and four," said I, "and an officer or two."

He nodded. "The prisoners would have been a nuisance," he said, "yet
we might have used them later. What with camels and what with
horses--and there is a good spot for an ambuscade through which they
must pass presently--I went and surveyed it while they cooked my
dinner--never mind, never mind!" said he. "If you had made a mistake
it would have been disastrous. Yet--two hundred and eight camels
would have been an acquisition--a great acquisition!"

So my self-esteem departed--like water from a leaky goatskin, and I
lay beside him watching the last dozen camels cross our trail, the
nose of one tied to the tail of another, one man to every two. I lay
conjecturing what might have been our fate had I had cunning enough
to capture that whole caravan, and not another word was spoken
between us until the last two camels disappeared beyond a ridge.
Then:

"Was there any man close by, when you found me?" asked Ranjoor
Singh.

"Nay, sahib," said I.

"Was there any man whose actions, or whose words, gave ground for
suspicion?" he asked.

"Nay, sahib," I began; but I checked myself, and he noticed it.

"Except--?" said he.

"Except that when Gooja Singh came," I said, "he seemed unwilling to
believe you were asleep."

"How long was it before Gooja Singh came?" he asked.

"He came almost before I had laid you under the tree and covered
you," said I.

"And you told him I was asleep?" he said.

"Yes," said I; and at that he laughed silently, although I could
tell well enough that his head ached, and merriment must have been a
lo