and the girl really looked like a little bird in a nest; even if asleep she could not fall out. This ride fatigued her less than the one during the night, and the bright daylight gave her and Stasch courage. The lad’s heart was full of hope; as Saba had overtaken them, might not the rescuers also be able to do so? He immediately mentioned this to Nell, who now smiled at him for the first time since they had been carried off.
“And when will they overtake us?” she asked in French, so that Idris would not understand.
“I don’t know. Maybe to-day, maybe to-morrow, maybe in two or three days.”
“But on the return journey we shall not ride on camels?”
“No. Only as far as the Nile, and then on the Nile to El-Wasta.”
“Oh, that’s good, that’s good!”
Poor Nell, who used to be so fond of riding on camels, was now evidently sick and tired out.
“On the Nile—to El-Wasta and to papa!” she began to repeat in a sleepy voice.
As she had not rested long at their last stopping-place, she now fell asleep, the heavy sleep that comes in the morning after great fatigue. Meanwhile the Bedouins drove the camels ceaselessly on without letting them stop for an instant. Stasch noticed that they were going toward the interior of the desert.
To make Idris less confident that the party would be able to elude the pursuers, and also to show him that he felt certain of their being found, Stasch said:
“You are leaving the Nile and the Bahr Yoosuf, but that will be useless, for they will not search for you on the banks, where there is one string of villages, but in the interior.”
And Idris said:
“How do you know we are leaving the Nile? The banks can not possibly be seen from here.”
“Because the sun, which is now in the east, warms our backs; that means that we have turned off toward the west.”
“You are a clever boy,” said Idris approvingly.
And after a while he added:
“But the pursuers will not overtake us—neither will you escape from us.”
“No,” he answered. “I shall not run away, unless it is with her.” And he pointed to the sleeping Nell.
They raced along until noon, scarcely making a halt. When the sun stood high in the heavens and it began to be very warm, the camels, although it is not their nature to perspire profusely, were dripping with perspiration, and went along much more slowly. Once more the caravan was surrounded by rocks and sand heaps. Ravines, which served as beds of rivers called “Khori” during the rainy season, were seen oftener than before. At last the Bedouins made a halt in one quite hidden between the rocks. But scarcely had they alighted from the camels than they began to yell and run forward, bending down and throwing stones. Stasch, who had not yet dismounted, saw a strange sight. From between the dried shrubs that grow plentifully at the bottom of the “Khors” appeared a large snake, which wound its way through the clefts of the rocks as quick as lightning and glided off to a hiding-place of its own. The angry Bedouins followed it, and Gebhr hurried to their assistance with a knife. But the unevenness of the ground made it as difficult to strike the snake with a stone as to stab it with the knife, and in a little while all three returned with terror on their faces, and the usual cries of the Arabs were heard.
“Allah!”
“Bismillah!”
“Maschallah!”
Then the two Sudanese looked at Stasch with a penetrating and questioning glance. But he had not the least idea why they did so.
Meanwhile Nell had dismounted, and though she was not so tired as the night before, Stasch spread a cloth rug over a shady, level spot and told her to lie down, so that, as he said, she could stretch out her feet. The Arabs walked about eating their mid-day meal, which consisted only of zwiebach, dates, and a drop of water. The camels were not given a drink, as they had been watered during the night. The faces of Idris, Gebhr, and the Bedouins bore an anxious look, and the time of rest passed in silence. At last Idris took Stasch to one side and began to question him in a mysterious and troubled manner:
“Did you see that snake?”
“Yes.”
“Was it you who bid it appear before us?”
“No.”
“Some misfortune will surely come upon us, for these clumsy fellows were not able to kill the snake.”
“The gallows await you.”
“Silence! Perhaps your father is a sorcerer?”
“Yes,” answered Stasch without hesitation, immediately realizing that these savage and superstitious beings regard the appearance of a snake as a bad omen—an augury that the flight would not be successful.
“So your father sent it to us,” continued Idris. “He ought to realize that we might take revenge on you for his witchcraft.”
“You will do nothing to me, for Fatima’s sons would pay you back for every wrong done to us.”
“Did you understand? Remember that if it had not been for me, not only you, but the little girl, too, would have bled to death under Gebhr’s scourge.”
“I shall intercede only for you. Gebhr will be hanged.”
Thereupon Idris looked at him for a while in surprise and said:
“Our lives are not in your hands yet; you talk to us as if you were our master.”
After a pause he added:
“You are a peculiar boy; I have never seen any one like you before. I have always thought well of you until now—but take care, do not make any threats.”
“God punishes traitors!” answered Stasch.
It was quite evident that the tone of authority with which the boy spoke, together with the bad omen in the form of the serpent which had escaped, made Idris feel exceedingly uneasy. Even later, when mounting his camel, he frequently repeated: “Yes, I have more than once been kind to you!” as if he wished at all events to impress this on Stasch’s mind; then he began to finger the nut-shell beads of his rosary and to pray.
Toward two o’clock in the afternoon the heat—although it was winter—became unbearable. Not a cloud could be seen in the sky, but the edges of the horizon had become gray. Over the caravan soared several hawks, which from their great height cast black shadows on the yellow sand. In the heated air there was a smell as of something burning. Although the camels did not change their pace, they began to sniff. One of the Bedouins now approached Idris.
“There is something bad coming,” he said.
“What do you think it can be?” asked the Sudanese.
“Evil spirits have awakened the wind, which sleeps in the western part of the desert, and it has risen out
