ter if she remained. The older gentlemen said
nothing about her."

"But they announced on leaving that Dinah was always to accompany the
little lady. So she shall ride now."

Chamis bowed, placing his hand on his heart and said:

"Let us hasten, sir, for otherwise the katr (train) will set off."

The baggage was ready, so they were at the station on time. The
distance between Medinet and Gharak is not more than nineteen miles,
but the trains on the branch line which connects those localities move
slowly and the stops were uncommonly frequent. If Stas had been alone
he undoubtedly would have preferred to ride camel-back as he calculated
that Idris and Gebhr, having started two hours before the train, would
be earlier in El-Gharak. But for Nell such a ride would be too long;
and the little guardian, who took very much to heart the warnings of
both parents, did not want to expose the little girl to fatigue. After
all the time passed for both so quickly that they scarcely noticed when
they stopped in Gharak.

The little station, from which Englishmen usually make excursions to
Wadi Rayan, was almost entirely deserted. They found only a few veiled
women, with baskets of mandarin oranges, two unknown Bedouin camel
drivers, together with Idris and Gebhr, with seven camels, one of which
was heavily packed. Of Pan Tarkowski and Mr. Rawlinson there was no
trace.

But Idris in this manner explained their absence.

"The older gentlemen went into the desert to pitch the tents which they
brought with them from Etsah, and ordered us to follow them."

"And how shall we find them among the sand-hills?" asked Stas.

"They sent guides who will lead us to them."

Saying this he pointed to the Bedouins. The older of them bowed, rubbed
with his finger the one eye which he possessed, and said:

"Our camels are not so fat but are not less speedy than yours. After an
hour we shall be there."

Stas was glad that he would pass the night on the desert, but Nell felt
a certain disappointment, for she had been certain that she would meet
her papa in Gharak.

In the meantime the station-master, a sleepy Egyptian with a red fez
and dark spectacles, approached them, and, not having anything else to
do, began to stare at the European children.

"These are the children of those Englishmen who rode this morning with
rifles to the desert," said Idris, placing Nell on the saddle.

Stas, handing his short rifle to Chamis, sat beside her, fo