a bird in a nest. She could not fall,
even sleeping, and the ride fatigued her far less than during the
night. The bright daylight gave courage to both children. In Stas'
heart the hope entered that since Saba had overtaken them, the pursuers
might do the same. This hope he at once shared with Nell, who smiled at
him for the first time since their abduction.

"When will they overtake us?" she asked in French in order that Idris
should not understand them.

"I do not know. It may be to-day; perhaps to-morrow; perhaps after two
or three days."

"But we will not ride back on camels?"

"No. We will ride only as far as the Nile, and afterwards go by way of
the Nile to El-Wasta."

"That is good! oh, good!"

Poor Nell, who had previously loved these rides, had evidently now had
enough of them.

"By way of the Nile--to El-Wasta and to papa!" she began to repeat in a
sleepy voice.

As at the previous stop she did not enjoy a full sound sleep, she now
fell into that deep sleep which after fatigue comes towards morning. In
the meantime the Bedouins drove the camels without a rest and Stas
observed that they were making their way towards the interior of the
desert.

So, desiring to shake Idris' confidence that he would be able to elude
the pursuit, and at the same time to show him that he himself relied
upon it as a dead certainty, he said:

"You are driving away from the Nile and from Bahr Yusuf, but that won't
help you, for of course they will not seek you on the banks where
villages lie side by side, but in the interior of the desert."

And Idris asked:

"How do you know that we are driving away from the Nile, since the
banks cannot be seen from here?"

"Because the sun, which is in the eastern part of heaven, is warming
our backs; that means we have turned to the west."

"You are a wise boy," said Idris with esteem.

After a while he added:

"But the pursuing party will not overtake us nor will you escape."

"No," answered Stas, "I shall not escape--unless with her."

And he pointed to the sleeping girl.

Until noon they sped almost without pausing for breath, but when the
sun rose high in the sky and began to scorch, the camels, which by
nature perspire but little, were covered with sweat, and their pace
slackened considerably. The caravan again was surrounded by rocks and
dunes. The ravines, which during the rainy season are changed into
channels of streams, or so-called "khors," came to view more an