-four hours,
which meant at the present rate of marching but ten miles. There came
an occasion when, at the end of the first day's halt from the last well,
an order was given to put men and horses on a half ration of the
precious fluid. Considering that the full ration was very insufficient,
this caused much suffering, especially as, there being no moon, night
marches were out of the question, and the parched troops had to toil
through the sand in the mornings and evenings, though they were forced
to rest and get what shelter they could in the hottest part of the day.

That night Harry was roused from a dream of plunging in the river at
Harton, which, however, refused to cool or wet him, but seemed to turn
to hot sand at his touch, by a shot and then a volley, a little in their
front. He started to his feet and found Howard standing beside him.

"Some stupid mistake of a sentry, very likely," said he. But presently
the outposts came running in with three of their number missing, and two
others with slight spear wounds, and reported an attack of the enemy.
The force stood to its arms at once, and as it bivouacked in square, in
the order in which it marched, every man was in his place without delay
or confusion, and there was no danger of surprise, and some of the men
would keep firing uselessly into darkness, and it gave their officers
some trouble to stop them. This was done, however, and the waste of
ammunition was left to the Arabs, who kept up a dropping fire till dawn,
wounding a poor camel by chance, but unable to do much damage by
starlight from the distance at which they kept.

"No gun-shot wounds for you at present," said Harry, when he rejoined
the surgeon.

"I don't want any," replied Howard. "I could not attend to a poor
fellow after treating him, in any satisfactory way, on the march, and
without water. Do you know, I am tempted to drink the contents of my
medicine bottles."

"Then you _must_ be thirsty, poor fellow. But, I say, do you call this
being under fire? There! Something struck the ground which I fancy
must have been a bullet."

"Yes; they are making very long shots, but as some of them get into our
neighbourhood, I suppose one may be said to be so. Why?"

"Only because I have never been under fire before, and I expected to be
in a funk."

"There is time enough; I daresay you will get a satisfactory test of
your nerves before long. But courage is a comparative thing, depending