ure if he continued in his
obstinacy he had, of course, no warning.

"What a nuisance," said Damaris, as she looked round the great yellow
plain which stretched, a carpet of level sand, to the west and under
her horse's feet and broke to the east into a chain of hummocks, piled
by the last sandstorm which had caused such devastation in the nomad
tribes and such annoyance to the visitors at Heliopolis.

She felt no fear, only an increasing vacuum beneath her waistbelt and
distress for the worry her long absence might cause her godmother.

"And Well-Well will have chewed everything chewable in the car, also
the legs of the _sayis_, by the time I get back," she exclaimed. "And
I can't do anything--I've irrevocably given el-Sooltan his head. It's
no use slipping from the saddle, because I couldn't walk back. I can't
. . ."

She broke off suddenly, rose in the stirrups and waved. And a more
radiant picture of youth you could not have wished to see in a lifetime.

"A village!" she shouted. "Camels, palms, water. An oasis with tents;
women and children and men. Come round, Sooltan, come round." And she
pulled with all her strength, and still to no avail, for, oblivious of
the peaceful, verdant patch, the mighty animal forged ahead.

"Well, I shall have to drop from the saddle, let Sooltan go, and walk
over to them. They are sure to be friendly and . . ."

She had just slipped her foot from the stirrup when, clear and
insistent, there came a ringing cry.

Some way off, the Hawk of Egypt had followed her from the village of
Khankah, with intent, knowing the horse she rode, to watch over but not
intrude his presence upon her. He had known for some time that
el-Sooltan was out of hand, and had decided to call him after a mile or
so more of furious exercise; but, instead, quite suddenly and
instinctively, he cried, "_A'ti balak!--a'ti balak_!" which means, "Be
careful--be careful," and pulled the mare to a standstill.

He too had seen the mirage of the peaceful oasis, thrown by the
atmosphere from a distance of eighty miles, and with his desert-trained
eyes had caught the little movement of the foot; and, connecting the
two, he insistently called the stallion, knowing that a drop from the
saddle at the almost incredible speed at which Sooltan was going might
easily result in twisted ankles or even a broken neck.

"_Irja_!" he called. "_Irja_!" Which means, "Come back, come back!"
And he called again and again