see you
know what Manoeel expects to happen."

"Oh, yes, that they'll run after us, thinking that he has followed with
Ourieda, to join our caravan. I do hope the Agha will send his men after
us, for that will make us sure those two have got away. If we hear
sounds of pursuit we'll hurry on quickly. Then the chase will have
farther to go back, and Manoeel and Ourieda will gain time. The more
ground we can cover before we're come up with by the Agha's camels,
who'll be superior to ours, the better it will be, won't it?"

"Yes, for if the Agha lets Djazerta alone, Manoeel may contrive to slip
out of the town sooner than he dared hope, well disguised, in a caravan
of strangers not of Ben Raana's tribe. In that case the Agha of Djazerta
would have no right to search among the women. And Manoeel's splendid at
disguise. His actor's training has taught him that."

"I feel now that he _will_ get Ourieda out of the country. They've
suffered too much and dared too much to fail in the end."

"I hope so; I think so," Max answered. But he knew that in real life
stories did sometimes end badly. His own, for instance. He could see no
happy ending for that.

They pushed on as fast as the animals could go when a long march and not
a mere spurt of speed was before them. Through the mysterious sapphire
darkness of the desert night the padding feet of the camels strode
noiselessly over the hard sand. Sanda asked Max to offer extra pay to
the men if they would put up with an abbreviated rest. Only three hours
they paused to sleep; and then, in the dusk before dawn, when all living
things are as shadows, the camels were wakened to snarl with rage while
their burdens were ruthlessly strapped on again. As Max gave Sanda a cup
of hot coffee (which he had made for her, as Legionnaires make it,
strong and black) she said, shivering a little, "Do you think they'll
have found Tahar yet if--if----"

"Hardly yet! Not till daylight," answered Max. "Are you cold? These
desert nights can be bitter, even in summer. Won't you let me put
something more around you?"

"No, thanks. It's only excitement that makes me shiver. I'm thinking of
Ourieda and Manoeel. I've been thinking of them instead of sleeping. But
I'm not tired. I feel all keyed up; as if something wonderful were going
to happen to me, too."

Something wonderful was happening to Max. But she had no idea of that.
She would never know, he thought.

All day they journeyed on, save for a