and they intended to travel only in the cool of the
day. After about an hour's journey, the guard halted at a clump of
bush, the horses were off-saddled, and the little party prepared to
rest until evening. The heat was intense, and the welcome shade of
the trees was like water to the thirsty rider in the desert. To
Helmar, unaccustomed to this mode of travelling, it was an
indescribable relief to sit down on the sandy soil, with his back
propped against his saddle, and watch the shimmering haze of heat
across the sun-scorched plains. It made him think of the stories he
had heard of the weary traveller lost in the desert, no water with
which to moisten his parching throat, his tongue swollen, black, and
immovable in his mouth, with already the first signs of delirium and
insanity showing in his erratic and aimless actions. He shuddered as
the picture presented itself, and thanked his stars that he was
seated, though a prisoner, beneath such a deliciously refreshing
shade.

His escort distributed themselves under the various low bushes
around, one man only, his little guide of the day before, sitting by
his side to guard him. In a few minutes, with this one exception,
they were all asleep. It seemed to George that these men could sleep
at all hours of the day or night; in fact, as far as he could see,
it was their one pastime. Work and watchfulness, except when
compulsory, seemed to be quite out of the native ken.

Hours passed, and at last one by one the men awoke, a fire was
kindled, and food, in a careless, lazy sort of way, was prepared.
After the meal was finished, they again slept, and Helmar was once
more left to his own reflections. The sun was already past the
meridian, and getting well down towards the horizon, but the heat
was still too great for travelling. The little Egyptian again sat
silently beside his charge.

Suddenly, George caught sight of the figure of an Arab approaching.
He was some distance off, and as yet the one wakeful guard had not
seen him. Helmar eyed the stranger keenly as he approached,
wondering who he could be travelling in that intense heat, on foot,
in a country infested with lawless soldiery. The stranger came
steadily on, and as he drew near, Helmar noticed that, although
dressed in flowing Eastern garb, he was a white man, and of
patriarchal age. He had a snow-white beard, that reached to his
waist, and his figure was tall, lean, attenuated, and tottering.
Altogether his appear