s
which she shed from longing for her papa evidently did not harm her
much. Perhaps her slightly emaciated and bright little countenance was
tanned by the wind, but in the later days of the journey she felt far
less fatigued than at the beginning. It is true that Idris gave her the
easiest carrying camel and had made an excellent saddle so that she
could sleep in it lying down; nevertheless the desert air, which she
breathed day and night, mainly gave her strength to endure the
hardships and irregular hours.

Stas not only watched over her but intentionally surrounded her with a
worship which, notwithstanding his immense attachment to his little
sister, he did not at all feel for her. He observed, however, that this
affected the Arabs and that they involuntarily were fortified in the
conviction that they were bearing something of unheard-of value, some
exceptionally important female captive, with whom it was necessary to
act with the greatest possible care. Idris had been accustomed to this
while at Medinet; so now all treated her well. They did not spare water
and dates for her. The cruel Gebhr would not now have dared to raise
his hand against her. Perhaps the extraordinarily fine stature of the
little girl contributed to this, and also that there was in her
something of the nature of a flower and of a bird, and this charm even
the savage and undeveloped souls of the Arabs could not resist. Often
also, when at a resting place she stood by the fire fed by the roses of
Jericho or thorns, rosy from the flame and silvery in the moonlight,
the Sudanese as well as the Bedouins could not tear their eyes from
her, smacking their lips from admiration, according to their habit, and
murmuring:

"Allah! Mashallah! Bismillah!"

The second day at noon after that long rest, Stas and Nell who rode
this time on the same camel, had a moment of joyful emotion.
Immediately after sunrise a light and transparent mist rose over the
desert, but it soon fell. Afterwards when the sun ascended higher, the
heat became greater than during the previous days. At moments when the
camels halted there could not be felt the slightest breeze, so that the
air as well as the sands seemed to slumber in the warmth, in the light,
and in the stillness. The caravan had just ridden upon a great
monotonous level ground, unbroken by khors, when suddenly a wonderful
spectacle presented itself to the eyes of the children. Groups of
slender palms and pepper tree