her mother's money; and because he wished to
contribute something toward his daughter's keep, rather than because she
needed it, he always paid for her education and her board. What she had
of her own, from her mother, must be saved for her _dot_ when she
married; and half unconsciously he had hoped that she would marry early.

After he saw her--the lovely young thing who had run away to him, as her
mother had--all that had been changed in an instant. His heart was at
her little feet, as it had been at the feet of the first Sanda, whose
copy she was.

His time for the next few months was so mapped out that he could not
have the girl with him for more than the first few days of joy, for she
could not be left in Sidi-bel-Abbes while he was away on duty. He had
done the best he could for his daughter by giving her a romantic taste
of desert life in the house of a tried friend whom he believed he might
trust; but he thought tenderly and constantly of _la petite_, and of
future days when they might be together--if he came back alive from
those "maneuvers" near El Gadhari. Approaching Touggourt, the first
scene of his life's great love tragedy, he could hardly wait for the
letter he hoped for from Sanda. He expected another event, also the
pleasure of meeting Richard Stanton, whom he had not seen for years, and
who would be, he knew, at Touggourt, getting together a caravan for that
"mad expedition" (as every one called it) in search of the Lost Oasis.
But if Stanton had cared as much for his old friend as in past days, he
had protested, he would have given a day or two to go out of his way and
visit the Colonel of the Foreign Legion at its headquarters. He had not
done that, and though DeLisle told himself that he was not hurt, his
enthusiasm at the thought of the meeting was slightly dampened. He
looked forward more keenly to Sanda's letter than to an encounter with
his erratic friend. It was good to have something heart-warming to hope
for in a place so poignantly associated with the past.

There was plenty for the Legionnaires to do in Touggourt. Having come by
rail, their first camp was made in the flat space of desert between the
big oasis town and the dunes. They were to stay only a few hours, for
the first stage of their march would begin long before sun-up, and most
of their leisure was to be spent in sleep. Yet somehow there was time
for a look at the sights of the place. One of these was a large Arab
cafe on the