els
began to trot, and when they looked back once more the palm grove was
only a black clump with the vague twinkle of a light somewhere in the
heart of it. As with yearning eyes they gazed at that throbbing red
point in the darkness, they passed over the edge of the depression, and
in an instant the huge, silent, moonlit desert was round them without a
sign of the oasis which they had left. On every side the velvet,
blue-black sky, with its blazing stars, sloped downwards to the vast,
dun-coloured plain. The two were blurred into one at their point of
junction.

The women had sat in the silence of despair, and the Colonel had been
silent also--for what could he say?--but suddenly all four started in
their saddles, and Sadie gave a sharp cry of dismay. In the hush of the
night there had come from behind them the petulant crack of a rifle,
then another, then several together, with a brisk rat-tat-tat, and then
after an interval, one more.

"It may be the rescuers! It may be the Egyptians!" cried Mrs. Belmont,
with a sudden flicker of hope. "Colonel Cochrane, don't you think it
may be the Egyptians?"

"Yes, yes," Sadie whimpered. "It must be the Egyptians."

The Colonel had listened expectantly, but all was silent again. Then he
took his hat off with a solemn gesture.

"There is no use deceiving ourselves, Mrs. Belmont," said he; "we may as
well face the truth. Our friends are gone from us, but they have met
their end like brave men."

"But why should they fire their guns? They had . . . they had spears."
She shuddered as she said it.

"That is true," said the Colonel. "I would not for the world take away
any real grounds of hope which you may have; but on the other hand,
there is no use in preparing bitter disappointments for ourselves.
If we had been listening to an attack, we should have heard some reply.
Besides, an Egyptian attack would have been an attack in force.
No doubt it _is_, as you say, a little strange that they should have
wasted their cartridges--by Jove, look at that!"

He was pointing over the eastern desert. Two figures were moving across
its expanse, swiftly and stealthily, furtive dark shadows against the
lighter ground. They saw them dimly, dipping and rising over the
rolling desert, now lost, now reappearing in the uncertain light.
They were flying away from the Arabs. And then, suddenly they halted
upon the summit of a sand-hill, and the prisoners could see them
outlined p