t as he said to me an hour ago, the success of our
adventure must be left to fate."

"But our preparations seem so small," said Frank uneasily.

"Preparations for desert journeys are small from an Englishman's point
of view. A man here takes his camel, a bag of meal and another of
dates, with a waterskin to fill when it is more than a day's journey to
the next well. The Sheikh expressed himself satisfied with our baggage,
but in his eyes it is very large."

"Well," said the doctor, "I have said very little, but I share Frank's
uneasiness. We seem to be making ridiculously small preparations.
Surely we ought to go better prepared if we are to get to our journey's
end."

"We shall never get to it if we do," said the professor gruffly, "and
the sooner you two try to fit yourselves to the necessities of a desert
journey the better."

"I'm ready to do anything," said the doctor, "but I do not want to fail
from doing too little."

"What more would you do than Ibrahim is doing?"

"I can hardly say on the spur of the moment, but with the exception of
my medicines and instruments, and Frank's chemicals and things, we seem
as if we are going on the march in the clothes we stand up in."

"Yes," said the professor coolly, "and those we are going to leave
behind in Ibrahim's tents."

"Is all this true, Frank?" said the doctor.

"I suppose so," was the reply; "but certainly things are moving far more
rapidly than I anticipated."

"It is what you wished," said the professor.

"Then all we have to do now is to be ready?"

"Yes, that is all."

It was in furtherance of this that directly after dinner Frank summoned
Sam and told him that they were to start in about an hour.

"So the guv'nor's been telling me, sir; but he says we're to leave
nearly everything behind."

"Yes, Sam; it will be safe enough here."

"Well, it caps me, sir, that it do! Mr Landon took pretty well
everything away that I thought we wanted, and now he says that we're to
leave the miserable little lot he chose himself."

"Yes," said Frank quietly.

"The only thing we're taking plenty of, it seems to me, is physic."

"But you've packed the shaving tackle, Sam?" said Frank hastily.

"Oh, yes; that goes in my pockets, sir; but one can't live on a wash and
brush-up, and one wants something else on a journey besides soap. Seems
to me, sir, that the doctor thinks a little physic's the best thing to
have with us, because it spoils the appetite