om everybody could do as he pleased, and that he was
speeding in spite, of his will on a camel merely because that camel was
driven from behind by a half-savage Sudanese. He felt terribly
humiliated and did not see any way of resisting. He had to admit to
himself that he plainly feared those men and the desert, and what he
and Nell might meet.

He promised sincerely not only to her but to himself that he would
watch over and defend her even at the cost of his own life.

Nell, weary with weeping and the mad ride, which had lasted already six
hours, finally began to doze, and at times fell asleep. Stas, knowing
that whoever fell from a galloping camel might be killed on the spot,
tied her to himself with a rope which he found on the saddle. But after
some time it seemed to him that the speed of the camels became less
rapid, though now they flew over smooth and soft sands. In the distance
could be seen only the shifting hills, while on the plain began the
nocturnal illusions common to the desert. The moon shone in the heaven
more and more palely and in the meantime there appeared before them,
creeping low, strange rosy clouds, entirely transparent, woven only
from light. They formed mysteriously and moved ahead as if pushed by
the light breeze. Stas saw how the burnooses of the Bedouins and the
camels became roseate when they rode into that illuminated space, and
afterwards the whole caravan was enveloped in a delicate, rosy luster.
At times the clouds assumed an azure hue and thus it continued until
the hills were reached.

Near the hills the speed of the camels slackened yet more. All about
could be seen rocks protruding from sandy knolls or strewn in wild
disorder amidst the sand dunes. The ground became stony. They crossed a
few hollows, sown with stone and resembling the dried-up beds of
rivers. At times their road was barred by ravines about which they had
to make a detour. The animals began to step carefully, moving their
legs with precision as if in a dance, among the dry and hard bushes
formed by roses of Jericho with which the dunes and rocks were
abundantly covered. Time and again some of the camels would stumble and
it was apparent that it was due to them to give them rest.

Accordingly the Bedouins stopped in a sunken pass, and dismounting from
the saddles, proceeded to untie the packs. Idris and Gebhr followed
their example. They began to attend to the camels, to loosen the
saddle-girths, remove the suppl