that would bring him, he knew!

"Oro! Oro!" came the answer; and like a sandstorm across the desert
came the company of voyageurs, Dan at their head, uttering the
blood-curdling war-whoop with which he had so often awakened the echoes
of the Canadian swamps.

The fierce-eyed Soudanese who had raised his spear to hurl at his
opponent hesitated. He must have thought that all General
Brackenbury's army was upon him. He leaped back with a sharp word of
command; one more yell from the advancing column, followed by the crack
of a random shot decided him; the dark figures took to their heels, and
in the magic way known only to the desert-born, had melted in a moment
over the low hills.

Scotty's head was spinning wildly, and when Dan flung himself upon him
he sank unsteadily upon the ground.

"Hello, Danny," he tried to say, with his usual calmness, "just on
time."

Dan clutched him by the shoulders and shook him violently; his voice
was unsteady. "Be jabers, didn't I hear ye bleatin' like a stray lamb,
half-a-mile back. How did ye happen to have such luck, ye beggar? Aw,
the black-hearted brutes has give ye a bang, Scotty, boy. Hold on to
me now, old man, here, an' we'll fix ye up in no time."

"The other fellow needs it worse," said Scotty, making a motion towards
the man at his feet. Someone struck a light; the voyageurs raised the
wounded man gently. His eyes opened.

"Are you much hurt?" asked one of the rescuers, bending over him.

Scotty looked down at him and was conscious of a feeling of glad
surprise. It was the young naval officer who had spoken to him that
morning.

"Not much," he gasped pluckily. "It's under my arm here. You were
just in the nick of time, Canadian."

Another match was lit to enable the men to see the rough bandages they
were trying to adjust. The light flashed up into Scotty's face, and
the wounded man's eyes brightened.

"Why, was it you, Big Scalper?" he asked, with a faint attempt at a
smile. "The Devil's not so bad as he's painted----" He made an effort
to hold out his hand, but before Scotty could take it the young man's
head fell back and he had fainted in Dan's arms.

The buzzing in Scotty's head grew louder, other sounds became dim and
far away. He was vaguely conscious that the boys were binding up his
head, hurting him most unnecessarily in the process, and that they were
leading him away, away, through the revolving darkness, over an
interminable desert.