em, I should not be here now. I will tell you the tale. Two
hundred of us had been despatched to seize some of the leading sheiks,
who were said to be holding a meeting in some place fifteen miles away
from where we were encamped. We had a squadron of horse and a hundred of
our men. We afterwards found that the whole story was a lie, invented to
get us into a trap. We were guided by a villainous-looking rogue on a
camel, and beyond the fact that we were marching south-east, we had no
idea where we were going. Half the cavalry kept ahead. We had marched
four hours, when, on coming on to the crest of one of the sand-hills, we
saw about half a mile away a little clump of mud huts. Near the foot of
some high hills to the right were some tents.

"'There it is,' the guide said, pointing to the tents. And the cavalry
set off at a gallop, followed by the guide, who soon fell far into their
rear. Just as the cavalry reached the tents, we saw two great masses of
horsemen appear from behind the sand-hills on either flank, and with
loud yells ride down upon them. With a shout of fury we were about to
break into a run, but the major who was in command said, 'It is useless,
comrades. There is but one hope. Make for that village. We can hold
that; and there, if any of our comrades escape, they will find shelter.
Double, march.' Off we went, but it was against the grain. We could hear
the cracking of pistols, the shouts of our brave fellows, the yells of
the Arabs, and our hearts were there; but we felt that the major was
right. There must have been fully a couple of thousand of the Arabs, and
we should have but thrown away our lives. It was a terrible run. The
heat was stifling; the dust rose in clouds under our feet. We could
scarce breathe, but we knew that we were running for life. As we neared
the village, we heard yells behind us.

"'A hundred yards further, lads,' the major shouted. We did it, and when
we reached the first house we halted. Three hundred yards away were a
dozen of our troopers, followed by a mob of Arabs. The Major faced
twenty men about, and ordered the rest of us to divide ourselves among
the huts. There were but nine of these. The villagers, who had seen us
coming, had bolted, and we had just got into the houses when we heard
the rear-guard open fire. There was a young lieutenant with the
troopers, and, as they rode in, he ordered them to dismount, and to lead
their horses into the huts. A moment later the rea