ision. She flung herself from her horse.

"Tell my father that you were not faithless," she pleaded. "They shall not
kill you!"

She clung to Craig's neck. The bullets were beginning to whistle around
them now. All of a sudden she threw up her arms. Craig, in a fury, turned
around and fired into the darkness. Then suddenly, as though on the
bidding of some unspoken word, there was a queer silence. Every one was
distinctly conscious of an alien sound--the soft thud of many horses' feet
galloping from the right; then a sharp, English voice of command.

"Hold your fire, men. Close into the left there. Steady!"

The cloud suddenly rolled away from the moon. A long line of horsemen were
immediately visible. The officer in front rode forward.

"Drop your arms and surrender," he ordered sternly.

The Mongars, who were outnumbered by twenty to one, obeyed without
hesitation. Their Chief seemed unconscious, even, of what had happened. He
was on his knees, bending over the body of Feerda, half supported in
Craig's arms. The officer turned to Quest.

"Are you the party who left Port Said for the Mongar Camp?" he asked.

Quest nodded.

"They took us into the jungle--just escaped. They'd caught us here,
though, and I'm afraid we were about finished if you hadn't come along. We
are not English--we're American."

"Same thing," the officer replied, as he held out his hand. "Stack up
their arms, men," he ordered, turning around. "Tie them in twos. Dennis,
take the young ladies back to the commissariat camels."

The Professor drew a little sigh.

"Commissariat!" he murmured. "That sounds most inviting."

CHAPTER XIII

'NEATH IRON WHEELS

1.

Side by side they leaned over the rail of the steamer and gazed shorewards
at the slowly unfolding scene before them. For some time they had all
preserved an almost ecstatic silence.

"Oh, but it's good to see home again!" Laura sighed at last.

"I'm with you," Quest agreed emphatically. "It's the wrong side of the
continent, perhaps, but I'm aching to set my foot on American soil again."

"This the wrong side of the continent! I should say not!" Laura exclaimed,
pointing to where in the distance the buildings of the Exposition gleamed
almost snow-white in the dazzling sunshine. "Why, I have never seen
anything so beautiful in my life."

The Professor intervened amiably. His face, too, shone with pleasure as he
gazed landwards.

"I agree with the young lady," he decl