In the Mahdi's Grasp, by George Manville Fenn. 

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A young army officer has been captured during the wars in Soudan, and isbeing held as a slave in the stronghold of the Mahdi. For years it hadbeen thought that he was dead. His friends in London decide to go andtry to rescue him. One of them is a well-known and proficient surgeon. They arrive in Cairo, and proceed on down into the Soudan, where theyget in contact with an influential Sheikh. They establish themselves bydoing many cures, where it is possible, and gradually work themselvesnearer and nearer to the place where they estimate the missing Harry tobe. Eventually they are able to make contact. Harry breaks his own armin order to be brought to the surgeon, or Hakim, for a cure. 

Eventually they are able to escape with him, but to do so they have torun right through a battle. They had brought out with them a personalmanservant, at his own request, and he had been in a semi-disguise, bystaining the skin a very deep colour. This very nearly results in hisbeing killed on the battlefield through which they are escaping. 

An informative book, quite a long one, in a good Manville Fenn style, which is well-known for sustained tension. 

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IN THE MAHDI'S GRASP, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. 

CHAPTER ONE. 

IN WIMPOLE STREET. 

Sam--or, as he liked to be called, "Mr Samuel, " or "Mr Downes, "holding as he did the important post of confidential and body-servant toDr Robert Morris, a position which made it necessary for him to openthe door to patients and usher them into the consulting-room, and uponparticular occasions be called in to help with a visitor who had turnedfaint about nothing--"a poor plucked 'un, " as he termed him--

To begin again:--

Sam, who was in his best black and stiffest white tie, consequent upon"the doctor" having company to dinner that evening, had just come out ofthe dining-room of the dingy house in Wimpole Street, carrying amahogany tray full of dish covers, when cook opened the glass door atthe top of the kitchen stairs, thrust her head into the hall, lookedeagerly at Sam, as she stood fanning her superheated face with herapron, and said--

"Well?"

There was a folding pair of trestles standing ready, and Sam placed thetray upon them, raised a white damask napkin from where it hung over hisarm, and was about to wipe his perspiring forehead with it, when cookexclaimed sharply--

"Sam!"

"Forgot, " said that gentleman, and he replaced the napkin upon his armand took out a clean pocket-handkerchief, did what was necessary, andthen repeated cook's word--

"Well?"

"Did they say anything about the veal cutlets?"

"No, " said Sam, shaking his head. 

"Nor yet about the curry?"

"No. And they didn't say a word about the soup, nor half a word aboutthe fish. "

"My chycest gravy soup, _ar lar prin temps_" said cook bitterly, "and_filly de sole mater de hotel_. One might just as well be cutting chafffor horses. I don't see any use in toiling and moiling over the thingsas I do. Mr Landon's just as bad as master, every bit. I don'tbelieve either of 'em's got a bit o' taste. Hot as everything was, too!"

"Spesherly the plates, " said Sam solemnly. "Burnt one of my fingerswhen the napkin slipped. "

"Then you should have took care. What's a dinner unless the plates anddishes are hot?"

"What, indeed?" said Sam; "but they don't take no notice of anything. My plate looked lovely, you could see your face out o' shape in everyspoon; and I don't believe they even saw the eighteen-pen'orth o'flowers on the table. "

"Savages! that's what they are, " said cook. "But they did eat thethings. "

"Yes, they pecked at 'em, but they was talking all the time. "

"About my cooking?"

"Not they! The doctor was talking about a surgical case he had been tosee at the hospital. Something about a soldier as had been walkingabout for three years with a bit of broken spear stuck in him out in theSoudan. "

"Ugh!" grunted cook, with a shudder of disgust. "That was over the vealcutlets, " said Sam thoughtfully. 

"And what did Mr Landon say? He ought to have known better than totalk about such 'orrid stuff over his meals. "

"Him?" said Sam, with a grin of contempt; "why, he's worse than master. "

"He couldn't be, Sam. "

"Couldn't? But he is. Master does talk about live people as he doesgood to. Mr Landon don't. He began over the curry. "

"Made with best curry paste too, and with scraped cocoanut, a squeeze oflemon, a toemarter, and some slices of apple in, just as old ColonelCartelow taught me hisself. Talk about throwing pearls! And pray whatdid Mr Landon talk about?"

"Mummies. "

"Ugh!" ejaculated cook. "I saw some of 'em once, at the British Museum;but never no more! The idea of bringing a mummy on to a dinner-table!"

"Ah, " said Sam, "it's a good job, old lady, that you don't hear all thatI do. "

"So I suppose, " said cook, with a snort. "And he calls hisself aprofessor!"

"No, no, he don't, old lady. It's other people calls him a professor, and I suppose he is a very clever man. "

"I don't hold with such clever people. I like folks as are cleverenough to understand good cooking. Professor, indeed! I should like toprofessor him!"

"Well, master's no better, " said Sam. "Look at the trouble I have withhim to keep him decent. If I didn't watch him he'd put on anything. Ican't even keep a book out of his hand when I'm cutting his hair. Onlyyesterday he gives a duck down to cut the leaf of his book just at anawk'ard moment, and of course in goes the point of the scissors. "

"Serve him right!" said cook. 

"And what do you think he said?"

"Oh, don't ask me. "

"Nothing; and I dabbed the place and put a bit o' black court-plaisteron his ear, and I don't hardly believe he even knew of it. "

"I'm not surprised, " said cook indignantly. "Them two read and readtill they're a pair of regular old scribums. Anyone would think theywere old ancient men instead of being--How old is master?"

"Six years older than me. "

"And you're six-and-twenty. "

"Yes. "

"And a fine, handsome man too. "

"Thankye, cook, " said Sam, smiling. 

"Get out! I don't mean you. Master. How old's the professor?"

"Oh, he's thirty-five, " said Sam, in rather a disappointed tone. 

"And looks it, " said cook. "Well, I wish he'd go abroad again to hisnasty grave-digging in the sands, and then praps master would havedecent people to dine with him. Oh! There's the front bell. "

Cook dived down into the lower regions, and Sam opened the folding innerdoors to go and answer the street door bell, frowning the while. 

"Wanted for some patient, " he muttered sourly. "I do wish people wouldhave their accidents at decent times. "

CHAPTER TWO. 

"NEWS! NEWS!"

On the other side of the dining-room door Doctor Morris, athoughtful-looking man of goodly presence, and the better looking for acalm ignorance of his being handsome, was seated opposite to his thin, yellow-skinned, and rather withered, nervous-looking old college friend, both partaking slowly of the good things the doctor's domestic hadprepared for them, as if it came perfectly natural to them to follow outthe proverbial words of the old Greek philosopher who bade his pupils, "Live not to eat, but eat to live. "

As Sam had truthfully said, they had been talking very learnedly abouttheir investigations in the particular branches of science which theyhad followed up since their old school and college days when they hadbegun their friendship, in company with another companion, missing now;and the doctor had said, with a far-off look in his large dark eyes--

"No, Fred, old chap, I don't want to settle down here yet, because Iknow how it will be. Once I regularly begin, the practice willcompletely swallow me, as it did the dear old dad. People came from farand wide to be treated by him, and he had hardly an hour to call hisown. Of course I shall be glad to do the same, for it's a duty to one'sfellow-creatures; but I want to leave it all to old Stanley for anothertwo or three years while I travel and see more of the world. I shouldlike to go with some army if I could. "

"Yes, " said his guest, "I see; as a volunteer surgeon. "

"Exactly; the experience and confidence I should gain would be so great. After that, here is my place, and I could relieve Stanley till heretires, which he says he shall do as soon as I like to take the oldpractice fully in hand. "

"Hah! Yes, Bob, " said the visitor. "There's nothing like travel--seeing foreign countries, with some special pursuit to follow. I'm likea fish out of water now, with all this trouble in Egypt. Oh, hang theKhalifa, or Mahdi, or whatever they call him!"

"That's what a good many people would like to do, " said the doctordrily. 

"Like to? I should like to do it myself, " cried Landon, with his yellowface flushing. "The wretch, the impostor, the cruel, heartless brute!Poor Harry Frere! as handsome, manly, true-hearted a gentleman as everbreathed. "

"Hah, yes!" said the doctor, sighing. "Don't talk about it, old fellow. It makes me miserable every night as it is. "

"Miserable? Yes, for if ever friend was like a brother poor old Harrywas. He had only one fault in him, and that was his blind faith andbelief in poor Gordon. "

"Fault?"

"No, no, not fault. You know what I mean; but it is so pitiful to thinkof. Only the other day we gave him that dinner on his appointment tohis regiment in the Egyptian army, and he is off to Cairo. Then thenext thing is that he goes on the expedition to join Gordon up thecountry. "

"And the next news, " said the doctor sadly, "is that he and all with himhave been massacred, fighting in poor Gordon's defence. "

"Horrible! Horrible!" said Landon passionately. "So bright, so brave alad, with, in the ordinary course, a good manly career of fifty yearsbefore him. "

"Think there is any possibility of his having escaped after all?" saidthe doctor, after a pause. 

"Not a bit, poor lad. I was red-hot to go up the country somehow orother last year when I was about to investigate those buried tombs ofthe Ra Sa dynasty. I wanted to give up the search for those mummies andthe stores of old incised inscriptions. "

"Yes, and you applied for permission, " said the doctor. 

"Like an idiot, " said Landon angrily, "instead of keeping my own counseland going without saying a word. I might have found poor old Hal aprisoner, or a slave, or something. But what did the authorities say?"

"That they were quite convinced that there were no survivors of the lastexpedition, and that they must debar your proceeding up the country. "

"Debar!" cried Landon, with a peculiar laugh. "Splendid word for it. Bar, indeed! Yes, and they politely bundled me out of the country justwhen I was on the scent of some of the most wonderful discoveries evermade, connected with the ancient Egyptian civilisation. "

"You must wait a few years, and when the country is settled try again. "

"I was willing to give up further researches then, but they wouldn't letme go in search of poor Harry. "

"Their belief was that the attempt would be fatal. "

"But they did not know; I was the best judge of that. See what aknowledge I have of the people and their language. I believe I couldhave gone anywhere. "

"That was young Frank's belief. "

"Yes, but that was different. The boy did not know what he was talkingabout. He'd have been murdered before he had gone fifty miles up thecountry. "

"It was very brave and true of him, though. "

"Of course, " said Landon, "and I should have risked taking him with meif I could have obtained permission. But perhaps it was better that heshould stick to his chemistry. "

"Yes, " said the doctor, with a sigh, "and that you should have been senthome. "

"Nonsense! I say it was a disgraceful thing that a scientist likemyself should be so treated. "

"But the result is that Harry's brother is safe at home, Fred, and thatI have not lost another companion. "

The doctor stretched out his hand to his rather excitable friend, whograsped it directly. 

"That's very good of you, Bob, old fellow. Thank you; but I felt itbitterly not being allowed to go in search of poor Harry. "

"Yes, but so did Frank. "

"Of course, poor boy. He would. Ah, well, I tried my best. I feel it, though, and I am very miserable doing my work in the museum instead ofin Egypt amongst the sand. I suppose the upper country will becomesettled again. "

"Sure to, " said the doctor, "and in the meantime why don't you go andtry Nineveh or Babylon?"

"No; I can't take up an entirely fresh rut. I must give years uponyears yet to the sand-buried cities and tombs of Egypt. Ah! what anendless mine of wonders it is. "

"Yes, I suppose so. "

"With everything so preserved by the drifting sand. "

"But the ruins of the Tigris and Euphrates must be equally interesting. "

"They can't be. "

"But look here: you can't go to Egypt now, and you could to Nineveh. Have a trip there, and I'll go with you. "

"You will, Bob?" cried Landon excitedly. 

"I will, Fred, on my word. "

"Then we will, Bob, " said the professor enthusiastically. "We'll startand--No, we won't. Egypt is my motto, and much as I should like to haveyou for a companion, no, sir, no. As the old woman said, `Wild horsessha'n't drag me from my original plans and unfinished work. ' I must getback to the sand. I'd give anything to be there digging. "

"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor. "After all, it is a nasty, ghoulishbusiness: moleing in the old tombs and unrolling mummies. "

"It may seem so to you, but to me it is intensely interesting. Besides, much as you condemn it, this is the only way to find out the history--the manners and customs of the people two and three thousand years ago. "

"The bell!" exclaimed the doctor. "I hope no poor creature wants meto-night. "

"So do I, " said Landon, "for my own sake as well as for his or hers. Iwanted a long chat with you as soon as this tiresome dinner is at anend. "

"Hark, " said the doctor. "Some one has come in. Yes, I'm wanted, and--Hullo, Frank, my dear boy, how are you?" he cried, as a youthful-lookingyoung man, who appeared flushed and excited, threw open the door withoutwaiting to be announced, and strode in, to nod to first one and then theother. 

"Why, there is something the matter!" said the doctor quickly. "Youwant to see me?"

"To see you? Yes, of course, " said the young man shaking handshurriedly. "No, no, not professionally. I hurried on to Old Bones, butthe servant said he had come to dine with you, so I jumped into a caband made the fellow canter here. "

"Then you have come for a snack with us. Wish I'd known, and we'd havewaited. Sit down, my lad. Why didn't you come sooner?"

"Dinner?" cried the young man, ignoring the chair, and beginning tostride up and down the room, swinging his arms excitedly; "don't talk tome about dinner!"

"Very well, little man, " said the professor, smiling; "but don't jumpquite out of your skin. "

The newcomer turned upon the speaker sharply, and stopping short stoodpointing at him. 

"Hark at that fellow, doctor, " he cried. "That's Old Bones all over. He's as cool as one of his dry mummies. Why, my news is enough to makeany fellow with a heart jump out of his skin!"

"Sit still, Bob, " said the professor quietly; "the boy has made adiscovery. "

"Yes, a discovery, " cried the newcomer--"a discovery!" and he broughthis hand down so heavily upon the dining table that the glasses jumped. 

"That's it, " said the professor; "metaphorically speaking, he has beenpouring sulphuric acid upon the carbonate of lime of his composition, and all this effervescence is the consequence. He'll be better soon. Now, Frank, boy, what is the discovery--something that will set theThames on fire?"

"Have you got a good appointment as chemist, Frank?" said the doctor. 

"Discovery--appointment!" cried the young man, with his voice breakingfrom the emotion he felt. "Something a thousand times better thaneither of those. It's the news of news, I tell you--Hal!"

His two hearers sprang to their feet and rushed at him excitedly, eachseizing a hand. 

"What about him?" cried the doctor. 

"Not dead?" shouted the professor. 

"No--no--no!" cried the young man wildly, and then his voice thoroughlybroke, becoming almost inaudible as he tried to declare his news. 

"I can't bear it, " he panted; "I can't bear it. Morris--Landon--don'ttake any notice of me--I've kept all this in for days, and now--now--Oh, tell me--is it true, or am I going mad?"

The young man sank heavily into the chair to which his friends helpedhim, and then he lay back quivering, with his hands covering his face, while the doctor made a sign to his companion and went hurriedly intohis consulting-room, where he turned up the gas and then opened acabinet, from which he took down a stoppered bottle and a graduatedglass, into which he carefully measured a small portion, half filled theglass from a table filter, and then hurried back into the dining-room. 

"Drink this, Frank, my boy, " he said. 

"No, no; let me be. I shall soon come round. "

"Drink this, my lad, " said the doctor sternly; "it is for your good. "

The young man caught the glass from his friend's hand, tossed down thecontents, shuddered, and then drew a deep breath, pulling himselftogether directly. 

"I'm better now, " he said. "It has all been such a shock, and I've beentravelling night and day. "

"Where from?" said the doctor, so as to give the young fellow time forthe medicine to produce its effect. 

"Berlin, " was the reply. 

"Berlin? That accounts for it. I was wondering why you had not beenhere. I thought you were in Paris about some mineral business. "

"I was there, but I heard some news about--about poor Hal. "

"Indeed?" said the professor, growing excited now. 

"Yes, it was from a gentleman who had escaped out of Khartoum. "

"Go on, my lad; go on, " said Morris. 

"Yes, yes, I can go on now, " said the young man calmly. "Don't thinkany more about what I said. "

"No, no, of course not, Frank, my lad, " said the doctor; "but pray speakout. Landon and I are suffering pain. "

"Of course, and I've travelled night and day as I told you, so as tobring you the news myself. This German gentleman has been a prisonerever since Khartoum was taken by the Mahdi, and only managed to get outof the place in disguise six months ago. "

"Yes, yes, " said the doctor excitedly, and the professor took up acarafe and made it rattle against a glass as he hurriedly poured outsome water and drank it with avidity. 

"He knew poor old Hal well by sight, and spoke to him twice, and heardwho he was. He was alive, and seemed to be well the last time thisgentleman saw him; but he was a miserable slave in irons without theslightest prospect of getting away. "

"Hah!" exclaimed the doctor, dropping into a chair and beginning to wipehis forehead. 

"Oh!" groaned the professor, sinking back in his chair, but only tobecome excited directly after, as he turned upon the bearer of the news. 

"But he's alive, Frank, boy! he's alive!" he cried, in a peculiarlyaltered voice. 

"Yes, thank Heaven!" said Frank Frere softly; "he is alive. "

No one spoke for a few moments. Then the professor began againexcitedly--

"Look here, " he cried, "both of you; that German sausage is a fool!"

The others turned on him with wondering eyes as if they doubted hissanity, a notion quite pardonable from his manner of speaking and thewild look he had given himself by thrusting both his hands through hisrather long, shaggy black hair, and making it stand up on end. 

"Well, " he said sharply, "what are you two staring at?"

"Well, Fred, " said the doctor smiling, "I suppose it was at you. "

"And pray why were you staring in that peculiar way at me? Here, youanswer--you, Frank. "

"I was staring on account of the sausage, " said the young man, sinkingback in his chair and laughing aloud. 

"Here, Bob, " said the professor excitedly, "what have you been givingthis fellow--ether? It's too strong for him. Got on his nerves. "

"Nonsense, " said the doctor, joining softly in their young friend'smirth. "What makes you think that?"

"Why, you heard. He doesn't know what he's talking about--staring onaccount of the sausage!"

"Well, that's why I was looking at you so hard. "

The professor stared now in turn, passed one hand across his forehead, stared again, and then said gravely--

"I say, you two, has this glorious news sent you both out of yourminds?"

"No, " cried both heartily. "It only sounded so comical and so differentfrom your ordinary way, " continued the younger man, "when you called myGerman friend a sausage. "

The professor's face was so full of perplexity that in the reactionafter the pain of the sudden good news, his friends began to laughagain, making the clever scientist turn his eyes inquiringly upon thedoctor. 

"Well, it's a fact, " said the latter. "You did. "

"What!" cried the professor indignantly. "That I didn't! I said thatGerman gentleman was a fool. "

"No, no, no, " cried Frank, half hysterically. "You said sausage. "

"Frank, you don't know what you're talking about. "

"Yes, I do, " cried the young man. "Sausage, sausage, sausage. "

The professor drew lines horizontally across his forehead from hiseyebrows to the roots of his hair, and shook his head slowly andpiteously at the speaker. 

"Well, really, Fred, old fellow, " said the doctor, "I must take Frank'spart. You certainly did say sausage. I suppose it was suggested by thecommon association of the two words, German sausage. "

"Humph!" ejaculated the professor slowly; "suppose then I must. Germansilver--German band--German tinder--German sausage. But I meant to sayGerman gentleman, upon my word. "

"Nobody doubts you, " said Frank; "but why did you call him a fool?"

"Oh! for saying that Harry couldn't escape. Do you both mean to tell methat an Englishman, and such an Englishman as our Harry Frere, couldn'tdo what a German has done?"

"I don't, " said the doctor, bringing his fist down upon the table. "Come, Franky, lad, what have you to say to that?"

"Hah!" sighed the young man sadly, "it is easily accounted for. MyGerman friend managed to gain the confidence of the Khalifa from hisknowledge of Arabic, and was freed from the chains he first wore. PoorHarry was wearing heavy irons up to the day when my new friend left. "

"Oh!" groaned the professor, "that's bad, that's bad. Frank, boy, I begyour German friend's pardon. He isn't a--"

"Sausage!" put in the doctor quickly. 

"A fool, " said the professor, shaking his fist playfully at his oldschool-fellow. "Well, I feel ten years younger than I did half an hourago, and this settles it at once. "

"Settles what?" said the doctor. 

"Settles what!" cried the professor, in a tone full of mock disgust. "Hark at him, Frank! Settles this, sir, " he continued, flashing hisfierce eyes upon the doctor, clenching his fist menacingly, and shakinghis shaggy hair. "I'm off back to Egypt as soon as ever I can get aberth in a steamer, and then I'm going right up the country with toolsin every pocket on purpose to file off those chains. "

"Bravo! bravo!" shouted the other two. 

"An Englishman in chains, " continued the professor, gesticulating likean orator, though as a rule he was one of the quietest of men, "and ofall Englishmen in the world, our Harry, the merriest school-fellow, theheartiest undergrad, and the truest friend!"

"And brother, " said Frank softly. 

"Yes, " cried the professor excitedly, "and brother, that man ever had. The brother we three have mourned as dead for years, but who lives--as aslave. "

"Britons never shall be slaves, " cried the doctor solemnly. 

"Never!" said Frank through his teeth, and with a look of sterndetermination in his eyes which meant more than words could haveexpressed. 

"Never!" cried the professor, bringing his fist down with such a crashthat this time a large goblet leaped off the table, was smashed upon thefloor, and the next moment the door was thrown open and Sam, thedoctor's butler, as he called himself, looking white with anxiety, rushed into the room, to stand staring wildly from one to the other. 

This quelled the professor's excitement at once, and he dropped back inhis chair and began mopping his face. 

"What's the matter, Samuel?" said the doctor sternly. 

"That's what I've come to see, sir, " cried the man piteously. "I didstop in the hall, sir, in aggynies, waiting to know. First in comes MrFrank when I opens the door to him and hits me in the chest hard, justlike a patient as has got rid of the strait w. Into the dining-room hebangs, before I could announce him, and without a bit o' pollergy, slamsthe door after him. Then master goes into his consulting-room in ahurry and comes back with a something to exhibit, looking as he alwaysdo when there's anything serious on; and ever since it's been gettingworse and worse, and you never rung for me, sir. Fancy my feelings, sir! First s'posing as it was fits with Mr Frank, sir; then it seemedto be you, sir; and then the professor went on, having it worse thaneither of you, sir, till it got to the smashing of my glass, and Icouldn't bear it no longer. "

"No, no, of course you couldn't, Sam, " cried Frank; "and you must knowat once. It's news, Sam--glorious news--the best of news. My brotheris alive after all!"

"What!" cried the man. "Mr Harry, sir?"

"Yes, alive, Sam--alive!"

"What, him as was dead, sir?"

"Yes, alive, I tell you. "

"What, him as was killed out in the Soudan--our Mr Harry, sir, as wegive the dinner to in this very room, when he made that speech as Istood and heared to the very end?"

"Yes, Sam; yes, yes!" cried Frank, as excited now as the man, who nowdashed at him and seized him by the hand and shook it with all hismight. 

"Then--then--then, " he cried. "Oh, Mr Frank--oh, Mr Frank--oh, MrFrank!"

Dropping the young man's hand, he seized the professor's and shook atthat for a few moments, before rushing at his master's, to pump thatwildly up and down before dashing to the door, flinging it open, andyelling--

"Here! hi! cook! Mary! everyone! He isn't dead after all. Hooray!hooray! hoo--"

From a tremendous emphasis and sonorous roar over the first hurrah, Sammade a rapid diminuendo to the first syllable of the last, which trailedoff and would have died away but for Frank, who, touched by the man'sshow of devotion, finished it heartily, and led off with another cheer, in which the others joined, the shouts having an accompaniment in thepattering of feet upon the floor-cloth of the hall. 

Sam's fit of exaltation was over, and he stood shamefaced and troubled, wiping his damp hands upon the white napkin. 

"I beg your pardon, sir, " he said humbly. "You see, I knowed Mr Harryso well. He was always such a gentleman to me, and it was such an upsetwhen he died that--that now he's come to life again, sir, it seemed likemaking a man forget himself, sir, and--"

"Show that he felt a genuine attachment to our very dear friend, Samuel, " said the doctor quietly. "Thank you. My friends thank youtoo, for we know it was all perfectly sincere. "

"Hah!" said the professor, as the door closed. "I always liked yourSam, though as a bit of a linguist I must say that sometimes his use ofthe Queen's English does rather jar upon my feelings. "

"But his heart's in the right place, " said Frank warmly. 

"And a good heart too. But as we were saying when he burst into theroom, Britons never shall be slaves, and I'm going back to Egypt afterall to file off those chains. "

"That's right, " said the doctor warmly, "and just what I knew you wouldsay. You are a man, Fred, who has found out things that have puzzled agood many--"

"Better ones, " said the professor modestly. "Well, I have. "

"And you've made out many an Egyptian hieroglyphic in your time. "

"Yes, and I hope to find out more, " said the professor. 

"And will, " cried Frank. 

"But, " said the doctor, "you are forbidden to go up the country--by theEnglish and Egyptian authorities; and the Soudan is in the power of asavage and cruel impostor, who vows death to the white. How are yougoing up there to use those files?"

"Hah!" said the professor gravely; "whenever I have a difficult problemto solve I always put on my old red fez and have a thorough good think, and then the way seems to come. "

"Yes, " said the doctor, while Frank listened eagerly to what was said, "but--"

"Yes, but--" said the professor, taking him up sharply. "We've got ournews, thank Heaven! and that's enough for to-night. "

"And you can't put on your old red fez, " said Frank, "because--"

"Exactly, " said the professor; "because it is at my rooms in FountainCourt. "

CHAPTER THREE. 

PERFECTLY SANE. 

"Good morning, Frank, my lad, " said Doctor Morris, shaking hands uponthe young man entering his study. "Ready for business?"

"Ready, yes, " was the reply, made with feverish haste. "Am I late?"

"Late? No, " said the doctor, glancing at the clock on the studymantelpiece. "Half an hour before the time. "

"Oh, nonsense; that thing's wrong. Ever so much slow. "

"Don't you insult my clock, my boy, " said the doctor. "It keeps as goodtime as any one in London. It's you who are too fast. Keep cool, mylad, keep cool. "

"Who can keep cool at a time like this?" said Frank impatiently. 

"You, if you try. Surgeons have to. Important work requires coolheads. "

"I'll try, " said Frank briefly. 

"Fred Landon was right last night in putting matters off till thismorning, so that we could all have a good night's rest. "

Frank looked quickly up at his brother's old school-fellow withsomething like envy, as he sat there softly stroking the great, darkbrown beard, which flowed pretty well all over the breast of the heavyblue dressing-gown, tied with thick silk cords about his waist, andthought what a fine-looking specimen of humanity he was; while thedoctor at the same time scanned the rather thin, anxious face before himand mused to himself--

"Poor Frank! the boy looks pulled down and careworn, and this hascompletely upset him. I must take him in hand a bit. He has beenworking too hard, too, over his chemistry. "

Just then their eyes met, and Frank coloured a little, as ifself-conscious. 

"I was afraid Landon would be here first, " he said hurriedly, "and thatyou would both be waiting for me. "

"You ought to have known him better, " said the doctor, laughing. "FredLandon never is first at any meeting. I always allow him an hour'slatitude. "

"Oh, surely he will not be late this morning?" cried Frank anxiously. 

"I hope not; but he may be. Of course he meant to be punctual, and Ihave no doubt he got up and breakfasted extra early; but anything takesoff his attention--a book, a drawing, a note about Egypt--and he forgetseverything else. You should have called in the Temple this morning andbrought him on. "

"Of course! I didn't think of that. Here, I'll go and fetch him atonce. "

"No, no; give him time. Perhaps he will have been thinking so seriouslyabout poor Harry, that for once he will be punctual. "

"Here he is!" cried Frank excitedly, as a thundering knock was heard atthe front door, and he sprang up in his anxiety to go and open to theirfriend himself. 

"No, no; don't do that, " cried the doctor, smiling. "Sam would bedisgusted. "

"Oh, I can't stop to think about Sam's feelings now, " cried Frankhurriedly. 

"But you must keep cool. Look here, Frank, you are eighteen, and prettywell a man grown. "

"What has that to do with it?" said the lad impatiently. 

"Only this, " said the doctor gravely; "we want manly action now, and youare as impatient as a boy of twelve. "

At that moment the professor entered the room, hooked stick in hand, andwith his hat on, closely followed by the doctor's man, who stood withone hand held out and a puzzled look on his face, staring at thevisitor, whose dress looked shabby and aspect wild, the want of whatfashionable young men term "well grooming"--to wit, shaving, hair-cutting, and shampooing--making him appear ten years older than hisreal age. 

"Good morning, dear boys, " he said, shaking hands warmly, and withouttaking off his hat. "Well, what is it?"

He turned sharply upon Sam as he spoke. 

"Your hat, sir, " said the man hesitatingly. 

"Well, what about it? It's mine, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir; of course, sir. I thought you'd like me to take it and hangit up. "

"Then you thought wrong, " said the professor, and he so thoroughlystared Sam out of countenance, that the man shrank from the fierce frownand backed out of the room. 

"Just as if a man can't do as he likes with his own hat, " said theprofessor, with his face relaxing, as he crossed to one of the easychairs, wheeled it forward, sat down, and then slipped off his hat, thrust his hand inside, whisked something out, and placed hat and stickunder the table, before, with a good deal of flourish, he drew a verydingy-looking old scarlet fez over his starting black hair, with the bigblue silk tassels hanging down behind, and settled himself comfortablyby drawing up first one and then the other leg across and beneath him, _a la turque_. 

"There, " he said, with a pleasant smile. "This chair isn't socomfortable as the sand of the desert, but I must make it do. Now I'mready for business. What's the first thing to be done?"

"To make arrangements for your start at once, " said Frank sharply. "Youwill sail for Egypt, and make your preparations for going up thecountry, and I shall go with you. "

"Oh, you've settled that, have you?" said the professor, turning uponthe speaker, and pulling the fez a little more tightly on, for his stiffhair had a disposition to thrust it off. "You two have been busy then, eh, Bob?"

"Certainly not, " said the doctor; "not a word has been said of thisbefore. "

"That's right, " said the professor. "Are you aware of what it willcost, Frank?"

"No. A good deal, no doubt; but I have all that money to come when I amof age, and there is Harry's. There ought to be no difficulty about theexecutors advancing what is required. "

"Bob and your humble servant being the said executors, " said theprofessor. "Of course not; but I did not mean money, Frank, I meantlife. It would cost yours. "

"Well, I am ready to spend it, " said the youth warmly, "so long as I cansave my brother's. "

"Hah!" sighed the doctor. 

"That's very nicely spoken, Frank, " said the professor, leaning forwardto pat the young fellow on the arm, "but it's all sentiment. "

"Sentiment?"

"Yes, and we want hard, matter-of-fact stuff. Now look at me. "

"Well, I am looking at you, " said Frank, half angrily. 

"What do I look like?"

"Do you want the truth?"

"Of course, my boy. "

"Well, you look like a Turk hard up in London, who has bought asecond-hand suit of English clothes that don't fit him. "

The doctor threw himself back and roared with laughter, while theprofessor joined silently in the mirth and then sat wiping his eyes, notin the least offended. 

"Well done, Frank!" he said. "You've hit the bull's-eye, boy. That'sexactly how I do look; and if I went to Cairo and put on a haik andburnoose, and a few rolls of muslin round this fez, speaking Arabic as Ido, and a couple of the Soudan dialects, I could go anywhere with acamel unquestioned. While as for you, my dear boy, you couldn't go amile. You'd be a Christian dog that every man would consider it hisduty to kill. "

"I must risk that, " said Frank stubbornly. 

"Must you?" said the professor. "What do you say, Bob?"

"I say it would be madness, " replied the doctor emphatically. 

"Stick--stark--staring madness, " said the professor. "I, who have beenout there for years, and who can be quite at home with the people, should have hard work to get through by the skin of my teeth. "

"And you would not get through, Frank, " said the doctor decisively. "This business must be carried out wisely and well. "

"What would you do, then, " said Frank impatiently. 

"Make application to the Foreign Office at once. Diplomacy must be setto work, and failing that, force. "

"Oh!" cried Frank, in a despairing tone; "why, it would take years toget that slow machine to work, and all that time wasted incorrespondence and question and answer, while poor Hal is slaving awayyonder in chains! Oh, Morris, what are you thinking about?"

"Acting in the slower and surer way, " replied the doctor firmly. "Thiscan only be done with coolness. We know that Hal is a prisoner outyonder, and we must apply to Government to get him free. "

"Humph!" ejaculated the professor. 

"Hah!" cried Frank. "You don't agree with this, Landon?"

"Of course not. Bob Morris is as clever a chap as any in London atcutting people to pieces and putting 'em together again; but overEgyptian matters he'd be like a baby. Mine is the plan. "

"To get your head cut off, " growled the doctor. 

"Well, if I did, " retorted the professor, "that would beat you. Cleveras you are, old chap, you couldn't get that to grow again. Look here, Frank, you side with me. I'll go at once. "

"And take me with you?"

"No, my boy, I--will--not, " said the professor decisively. "Besensible, and take what is really the best way. I am not bragging whenI say that I am one of the most likely men living to carry this businessthrough. "

"Oh, we know that you are not bragging, " said the doctor. "You meanright; so does Frank. And now let me say this. The first thing lastnight that I thought, was that you, Fred, must go, and that I would gowith you. "

"Impossible, " said the professor shortly. 

"Yes, I thought it well over, and dearly as I long to go and help poorHal, I am obliged to confess that it would be impossible. "

"Hear, hear, " said the professor; "just as impossible as for Frank toinsist upon going with me to stick his head into the lion's mouth, getit bitten off, and spoil my plans as well. Once more, it is impossiblefor either of you two to go; so be sensible and help me to get off, andtrust me like a brother to help and save our brother in distress. "

"I will, " said the doctor firmly. "Now, Frank. "

"I won't, " cried the youth. 

"I ask you as a brother, " said the doctor. 

"Yes, as a little brother--as a boy whom you look upon as wanting inmanliness to help at a time like this. Both of you cry _impossible_. I'm much younger than either of you, but surely I've got some brains. Always up to now, and it was the same when poor old Hal was with us, youthree treated me as if I was your equal, and it made me feel older. Butnow, when there is quite a crisis in my life, and I want to prove to youthat young as I am I can be manly and help to save our poor Hal from theclutches of these savage Arab fiends with their cruelty and slavery, youcombine to fight against me, and it is impossible--impossible. "

"Humph!" grunted the professor, shaking his head at the doctor, whoshook his in turn. 

"You talk too much, Frank, lad, " said the latter, in an injured tone. "Do be cool, and think a little. I'm sure you would see then that youare wrong. What we want in this is calm matter-of-fact planning. "

"No, we don't, " said Frank impatiently; "we want a good plan, of course, but we want plenty of pluck and good manly dash. Impossible, you bothsay, because each of you has his own pet plan, one of you for Governmentinterference, the other for going alone in disguise, and consequentlyyou combine against me for one of you to carry out his. "

"Well, and if you cannot propose a better ought you not to give way tous?"

"No, " said Frank, "because it would be horrible to settle down here athome, thinking of that poor fellow's sufferings. How do you think Icould ever get on with any study? I should go out of my mind. "

"But look here, Frank, " said the doctor. 

"I can't look there, " said Frank. "I can't reason with you two. I wantto act; I want to be up and doing, so as to feel that every day I am alittle nearer getting poor Harry free. "

"That's quite reasonable, Bob, " said the professor, slowly andthoughtfully. "But I say, Franky, my boy, I don't want to be obstinate;I don't want to hinder you if you can suggest a better plan. We onlysay that so far your ideas are impossible. Come, now have you any otherplan?"

"Yes, " said the lad excitedly. "Brother Hal is sitting out there inchains, looking longingly year after year for the help that does notcome, and eating his poor heart out with despair because those to whomhe should look for help do not come. "

"That's all true enough, " said the doctor sadly. 

"But the question is, " said the professor, holding out one hand andapparently putting down every word he said with the other: "How--are--we--to--help--the--poor--boy?"

"Let's all three go, " said Frank hotly. 

"Oh!" ejaculated the doctor. 

"That's more and more impossible still, " cried the professor. 

"No, it isn't, " cried Frank. "I have a plan in my head now that wouldanswer if it were properly done. I haven't been out in Egypt likeLandon here, but ever since poor Hal got his appointment I've read upthe country till I'm regularly soaked with it. "

"Can't be, " said the professor, smiling grimly. "Moisture's too scarcewhen you're away from the Nile. You may be gritty with it. "

"Never mind about that, " said Frank. "I know one or two things aboutthe people, and I know this--there is one man who is always welcomeamong them and their sufferers from fever and eye complaints andinjured, and that is the doctor--the surgeon. "

"Eh?" ejaculated the professor sharply, looking up. "Yes, that's trueenough, boy. "

"Well, " said Frank, pointing, "there he is--the Hakim--the learnedphysician and curer of all ills. Look at him now in that dressing-gown, with his big, long beard, and that handsome, calm appearance. Doesn'the look as if he could cure anything? Just suppose him sittingcross-legged in a tent now, with a big white turban on; what would helook like then?"

"An impostor!" cried the doctor angrily. "Frank, the good news hasswollen your head up till it has cracked. "

"That it hasn't, " cried the professor sharply, "and you would not looklike an impostor, sir. Well done, Franky. I say he'd look like what heis--a splendid specimen of a man, and as good a doctor and surgeon as Iknow of. Impostor, indeed! I should be ready to punch the head of anyscoundrel who dared to say so. Bravo, my boy! The great Frankishphysician--the learned Hakim travelling through the country to performhis cures. "

"Yes, " cried Frank; "and performing them too. "

"To be sure, " said the professor, growing excited. "The news of hiscures would spread through the land, and the people would welcome him, and he could go anywhere. Here, I say, Bob, this plant's coming up. "

"You're as bad as Frank, " said the doctor angrily. "You both take mybreath away. What! me go masquerading through the Soudan, dressed up asa mock doctor?"

"Mock doctor be hanged!" cried the professor; "where's the mockery? Thepeople out there suffer by scores and thousands from eye complaints andother evils, and as to the number you meet with who have been choppedand speared and shot--why, the place teems with them. Couldn't you dothem good?"

"Well, of course I could, " said the doctor thoughtfully. "I should saythat with antiseptic treatment one's cures would seem almost marvellousto the poor wretches. "

"Of course they would. I doctored scores myself when I was out there, "said the professor. "Now, look here; I mean to go out there, of course, and I shall take you with me, Bob. "

"What!"

"No whatting. You've got to go; that's settled. You're the greatFrankish Hakim, and I'm your interpreter. You can't speak a word ofArabic. There's no imposture in that, is there?"

"Oh, no; I can't speak a word of Arabic, but as to the doctoring--"

"Look here, Bob; you'd be doing these people good, wouldn't you?"

"Of course. "

"Well, then, there's no imposture there. We'll go right up to Khartoum, together with our servants, and get the poor boy away. That's settled, so you had better lay in your stock of ointment-pots, bottles, plaisters, and pills. "

"Well, I'm beginning to think I'm dreaming, " said the doctor. 

"But you are not, " said the professor, and he turned to Frank, who wasexcitedly listening to all that was said. "Now then, my boy, " he said, "we've settled that; but I can't see that by any possibility you couldcome with us. "

"I can, " said the lad eagerly. "You talked about having servants withyou. "

"Yes, blacks, " said the professor. "It would not do to take whiteones. "

"Very well, then, I'll go as a black. "

The doctor and the professor turned upon the speaker sharply, and fixedhim with their eyes, as if doubtful about the state of his mind, gazingat him in silence, till he laughed merrily. 

"I have not lost a slate or tile, " he said. "I am quite what Morriscalls _compos mentis_. "

"No, " said the doctor sharply; "I'll be hanged if you can be, Frank, mylad. "

"And so say I, " chimed in the professor. "How in the world can you goas a black?"

"Bah!" cried Frank. 

"What does _Baa_! mean?" said the professor. "Black sheep?"

"Nonsense! Ask Morris if it would not be as easy as easy to tinge one'sskin to any depth, from a soft brown to black. "

"Won't do, " said the professor. "You'd dye your face, neck, and arms, and some time or other you'd be caught bathing. "

"Not much chance for bathing out there when we were away from the Nile, eh?"

"Well, having a sand-bath; and then they'd see that the rest of yourskin was white. "

"Oh, no, they wouldn't, " cried Frank. "I should do as that amateur didwho wanted to play Othello properly--black myself all over. "

The professor took off his fez, laid it upon his knees, and with bothhands gave his shaggy hair a vicious rub, which, however, did notdisorder it in the least, seeing that it was as rough as could bebefore. 

"Yes, " said the doctor; "he has an answer for all objections, Fred, oldfellow. "

"Yes, yes, yes, " cried the professor, putting on his fez again, andmaking a vicious dab at the tassel, which was tickling his neck, butsubsided quietly between his shoulders after it had done swinging. "Hehas something to say to everything. Too much talk. It wouldn't do. The Baggara are as keen as their swords: they'd see through itdirectly. "

"Then I'd dye it blacker, " said Frank. 

"Oh, the colour would be right enough, boy, " cried the professor, "butthat's what would let the cat out of the bag. "

"What do you mean?"

"That tongue of yours, my lad. Your speech would betray you directly. "

"Oh, no, it would not, " said Frank. "Mutes are common enough in theEast, are they not?"

"Oh, yes, but--"

"Well, I would not talk. "

"Pooh!" cried the professor contemptuously. "You wouldn't talk? Why, you've got a tongue as long as a girl's. You not talk? Why, you'd besure to burst out with something in plain English just when our liveswere depending upon your silence. "

"_Urrr_!" growled the young fellow angrily. "Give me credit for alittle more common-sense. Do you think, with the success of ourexpedition and poor Hal's life and happiness at stake, I couldn't make avow to preserve silence for so many months, and keep it?"

"I do think so, " said the professor, clapping one hand down upon theother. "You would find it impossible. What do you say, Bob?"

"Humph!" grunted the doctor. 

"Come, there's no need for you to hold your tongue, " cried the professorpetulantly. "Say something. "

"Very well, I'll say something, " replied the doctor: "I don't know. "

"Yes, you do. You know it's impossible. "

"No, " said the doctor thoughtfully; "I know it would be very hard, butseeing what a stubborn, determined fellow Frank is, I should not besurprised if he succeeded. "

"Hurrah!" cried Frank. "There, Landon. "

"Bob ought to know better, " cried the professor. "It's impossible--that's impossible--the whole business is impossible. Can't be done. "

"Well, I don't know, " said the doctor, taking both hands to his beardand stroking and spreading it out over his breast, where it lay in crispcurls, glistening with many lights and giving him a very noble andvenerable aspect. "I'm beginning to like that idea of going as alearned physician. "

"Oh, yes, that's right enough, " said the professor. "There's noimposition there. The Arabs would have nothing to find out, and theirsuspicions would be allayed at once. Then, too, you could humbug themgrandly with a few of your modern doctors' tools--one of thosedouble-barrelled stethoscopes, for instance; or a clinical thermometer. "

"To be sure, " cried Frank. "Modern Magic--good medicine for theunbelieving savages. An electric battery, too; and look here, both ofyou: the Rontgen rays. "

"Ha, ha!" laughed the doctor, and making his beard wag with enjoyment. "Yes, that would startle them. White man's magic. Fancy, Fred, oldchap, a wounded man with a bullet in him, and I at work with my blackslave, Frank, here, to help me, in a dark tent, while I made the poorwretch transparent to find out where the bullet lay. "

"Yes, or broken spear-head, " said the professor eagerly. "I say, Bob, there'd be no gammon over that: the savage beggars would believe thatthey had a real live magician come amongst them then. "

"Yes, ha, ha! wouldn't they? I say, old fellow, I'm beginning to thinkit ought to be worked. "

"Worked, yes, " cried Frank excitedly. "I could take a few odds and endsfrom my laboratory, too, so as to show them some beautiful experiments--fire burning under water, throwing potassium on the river to make itblaze; use some phosphorescent oil; and startle them with Lycopodiumdust in the air; or a little fulminating mercury or silver. "

"H'm, yes, you might, " said the professor thoughtfully. "You could bothof you astonish them pretty well, and all that would keep up yourcharacter. "

"But of course it's all impossible, isn't it?" said Frank, smiling. 

"H'm! I don't quite know, " said the professor slowly. 

"Look here, " said the doctor rising, to seat himself upon one end of thehearthrug, where he began trying to drag his legs across into acomfortable sitting position, but failed dismally; "I'm afraid I shouldnever manage this part of the business. My joints have grown toostiff. "

"Oh, nonsense, " said the professor sharply; "it only wants a littlepractice. Look here. "

He plumped himself down upon the other end of the hearthrug quite in thenative manner, and seemed perfectly at his ease, while Frank satwatching them both with his eyes twinkling in his delight. 

"You can't do it in those tight trousers. You want good loose, baggybreeches, knickerbockery sort of things. Oh, you'd soon do it. --That'sbetter. "

"Yes, " said the doctor dubiously; "that's a little better; but thesetrousers are, as you say, too tight. I tell you what I'd do, Frank, " hecontinued, perfectly seriously, "I'd have my head shaved clean, and keepit so. "

"Bravo!" cried the professor excitedly. "Splendid! Your bald head overthat grand beard and a very large white turban of the finest Easternmuslin, twisted up as I could twist it for you, would give just thefinishing touches. Just spread the skirts of that dressing-gown alittle. "

Frank sprang to the task, and in arranging the folds uncovered one ofthe yellow Morocco slippers the doctor happened to be wearing. 

"That's good, " cried the professor excitedly. "Fetch those sofacushions, Frank, and put them so that he can rest his arm upon them. Good! Now a pipe. Here, fish out my stick from under the table. That's right, " he continued, as Frank placed the stick upside down inthe doctor's hand, with the ferrule near his lips and the hook restingon the floor, turned up like a bowl. 

"Well, I am!" cried the professor, drawing his legs more under him, andnodding at his old school-fellow seated opposite at the other end of thehearthrug. "Franky, boy, he looks the very perfection of a Turkishdoctor now, while with the real things on and his head shaved, and theturban--Oh, I haven't a doubt of it, he'd humbug the Mahdi himself if hewere alive. I haven't a bit of fear about him. Sit still, old man. --Asfor myself, I should be all right; when I get out there I feel more of anative than an Englishman. It's you who are the trouble, Franky, for Iconfess I am coming round. "

"I shall get myself up perfectly. You may depend upon that, " said thelad confidently, "and all through the voyage out Morris will coach me upabout bandaging and helping him in ambulance work, so that I may get tobe a bit clever as his assistant. "

"Yes, yes, yes, that's all right, " said the professor impatiently. "It's not that which bothers me. Look at Bob. I can see him in hispart exactly. Nothing could be better; but I can't see you at all. "

"Why? Set your imagination to work. "

"I am, my dear boy; I am. It's working till my brain's beginning tothrob; but I can't see you, as I say. "

"But why not?"

"No shape; no form. You're too skinny. A young nigger ought to beplump, and shine like butter. "

"Well, I'll oil myself, " said Frank, laughing as much at himself as atthe doctor seated _a la Turque_ so solemnly upon the hearthrug. 

"But your hair, Frank, my boy. It's brown and streaky. It ought tocurl up more tightly than Bob's beard. "

"I'll put it in paper every night, and dye it at the same time as I domy skin. "

"H'm! Well, perhaps we might work it that way. If we can't, we mustshave your head too. "

"Barkis is willin', " said the young man readily. "As to the sitting--look here: won't this do?"

He seized the tongs from the fender, took a live coal from between thebars, dropped down sitting upon his heels halfway between the pair, butoutside the hearthrug, and completed the Eastern picture in WimpoleStreet by resting upon his left hand and making believe to be holdingthe live coal to the bowl of the Hakim's pipe. 

"Bravo! Splendid!" cried the professor. "A _tableau vivant_, onlywanting in colour and clothes to be perfect in all its details, andthen--"

And then the group remained speechless in horror and disgust, for theysuddenly became aware of the fact that Sam had silently entered with aletter upon a silver waiter, and had stopped short close to the door, tostand staring in astonishment at the living picture spread before hiseyes. These seemed starting, while his brow was lined, the rest of hisface puckered, and his mouth opened, at the same time his musclesrelaxing so that the silver waiter dropped a little and the letter fellupon the soft carpet with a light pat which in the silence sounded loud. 

CHAPTER FOUR. 

THE NEW RECRUIT. 

For a few moments the picture was at its best, actors and spectatorlooking as rigid as if carved in wood or stone. 

Then all was over, the doctor dropping the stick and scrambling up;Frank putting the tongs into the fender, Sam stooping to pick up theletter from the carpet, and the professor tearing his fez off his head, to dash it on the floor. 

"Hang it!" he cried angrily; "destroyed the illusion! There, it's allover, Frank. I can't see it now. "

"Beg pardon, sir. Letter, sir, " said Sam stiffly, and he was as rigidas a drill sergeant, and his face like wood in its absence of allexpression, as he stared hard over the waiter at his master, whosefingers trembled and cheeks coloured a little as he took the missive. 

"Ahem!" said the doctor uneasily, and Sam, who was about to wheel aboutand leave the room, stood fast. "A--er--er--a little experiment, Samuel, " he continued. 

"Yes, sir, " said the man quietly. 

"Er--errum--Samuel, " said the doctor; "the fact is, I--er--we--er--we donot wish this--that you have seen just now--talked about downstairs. "

"Suttonly _not_! sir, " said the man sharply, though the moment before hehad been chuckling to himself about how he would make cook laugh aboutthe games being carried on in the study. 

"Thank you, Samuel, " said the doctor, clearing his throat and gainingconfidence as he went on. "The fact is, Samuel, a confidential servantought to be trustworthy. "

"Suttonly, sir, " said Sam. 

"And hear, see, and--"

"Say nothing, sir, of course. You may depend upon me, sir. "

"Thank you, Samuel. Well, after what you heard last night you will notbe surprised that we have decided to go out to Egypt at once in searchof Mr Harry Frere. "

"Not a bit, sir. Just what I should expect. "

"Exactly, Samuel. To go up the country means, you see, the necessity ofdressing ourselves like the people out there. "

"Yes, sir; much better for the climate. "

"And that is why we were, so to speak, going through a little practice. "

"Suttonly, sir. Quite right. And about luggage, sir. What shall I getready?"

"Ah! That requires a little consideration, Samuel. I'll go into thatwith you by and by. "

"Very good, sir. But I should like to ask one question. "

"Certainly, Samuel, " said the doctor gravely; "what is it?"

"Only this, sir. When do we start?"

"When do we start?" said the doctor, staring. "My good man, I did notpropose to take you. "

"Not take me, sir?" cried the butler, staring. "Why, whatever do youthink you could do without me?"

The doctor stared blankly at his man, and then turned to the professor. 

"Ah! No hesitation, Morris, " said the latter sharply. "I haven't quitecome round yet regarding both of you, though matters have altered me agood deal during the last five minutes; but with regard to this lastphase--the idea of taking your servant--that really is quite out of thequestion. "

"I beg your pardon, sir, " said Sam seriously; "I don't think that itwould be right for master to think of going without me. "

"Well, Samuel, I must own, " said the doctor thoughtfully, "I should missyour services very much. "

"You couldn't do it without me, sir, " said the man sternly. "Ishouldn't like you to attempt it. "

"Look here, Doctor Morris, " said the professor angrily, "do you allowyour servant to dictate to you like this?"

"Well, you see, " said the doctor, "Samuel has always been such a good, attentive fellow, and taken so much interest in his work, Landon, that Ifeel rather puzzled as to whether this is dictation or no. "

"It aren't, sir, really, " cried Sam appealingly. "Is it, Mr Frank?"

"Well, no, I don't think it is, " said the young man. "I take it thatSam is only anxious to go on waiting upon his master. "

"That's it, sir. Thankye, Mr Frank. That's it, but it ain't all. Ifyou three gentlemen are going on your travels to find and bring back MrHarry, it seemed to me that I'm just the sort o' man as would be useful. I don't want to make out as I'm a dabster at any one thing, gentlemen, but there ain't many things I shouldn't be ready to have a try at, fromcatching one's dinner to cooking it, or from sewing on buttons to makinga shoe. "

"Look here, Sam, you can shave, I know, " said Frank, "for you've shavedme several times. "

"Well, sir, " said the man, with a queer cock of the eye, "I've soapedand lathered your chin, and I've run a razor over your face, but I don'tthink I found anything to scrape off. "

"I call that mean, " cried Frank; "just when I was putting in a word foryou. I'm sure there was a little down on my upper lip and chin. "

"Oh, yes, sir, just as if you had had a touch with a sooty finger; butdown don't count with me in shaving; it's what comes up bristly andstrong. "

"Well, leave my beard alone, " said Frank. "Look here, could you shave aman's head?"

"Ask master, sir, " said the butler with a grin, and Frank turned to hisbrother's old companion. 

"Oh, yes, he has shaved the heads of patients for me several times, "said the doctor. "He's very clever at that. "

"I say, Professor Landon, " said Frank, turning to him, "do you hearthis? The Hakim ought to have his barber, and you know what importantfolk they are in the East. "

"Humph! Yes, " said the professor thoughtfully; "there is something inthat. Barbers have become grand viziers, and in such shaving countriesa barber is held in high respect. He would be all right there. But no, no, I cannot be weak over so vital a thing as this. Just think, youtwo, of the consequences if through some inept act on his part he shouldruin all our prospects. "

"Me, sir?" cried Sam excitedly; "me ruin your prospects by committingthat there act as you said! I wouldn't do it for any money. Take aoath before a magistrate or a judge that I wouldn't I don't even knowwhat it is. "

"Oh, you'd do your best, I believe, Sam, " said the professor. 

"I'm glad you do, sir, " said the man, who was almost whimpering. "Itsounds hard on an old servant to be thought likely to do what you said. "

"But look here, my lad; we ought to do all that is wanted for ourselves, excepting such little jobs as we could set the Arabs to do. "

"Arabs, sir? The Arabs!" cried Sam. "Oh, I don't think much of them. I've seen 'em. That lot as come over to London seven years ago. Bed-ridden Arabs they call theirselves. They could tumble head overheels, and fire off guns when they were in the air; but you gentlemenwant a good honest English servant, not a street tumbler and accryback. "

"Tut, tut, tut! listen to me, " said the professor. "Do you know whatthe desert is like?"

"Can't say I know much about it, sir, only what I read in Mungo Park'stravels. Deal o' sand, ain't there?"

"Yes, " said the professor, "there is a deal of sand there, and nohouses, no butlers' pantries, no kitchens. "

"Well, sir, if I made up a box with half a knifeboard for a lid, and mybottle o' blacking, my brushes, and a leather or two and the rouge formy plate, I daresay I could get on. "

"Bah-h-h-h!" snarled the professor. "Why didn't you add a big stonefilter, a plate-rack, and a kitchen boiler? My good man, you'reimpossible. "

"I ain't, sir, 'pon my word. You mean I should have to make more of ashift. Well, of course I would. "

"Look here, then, I grant that you can shave. You can make a fire, boilwater, and cook?"

"Can I, sir?" cried the man scornfully. "I should think I can!"

"Can you cook kabobs?"

"What's them, sir--Egyptian vegetables?"

"Vegetables! Hark at him! Did you ever hear of Kous-kous?"

"Can't say I ever did, sir; but look here, I'll buy `Cookery for theMillion, ' and I'll soon learn. "

"Oh, you're improving!" said the professor sarcastically. "Here, I'lltry you on something else. Could you ride and drive a camel?"

"What, one of them wobbly, humpy things at the Zoo? I never tried, sir, but I've seen the children have rides on them. I could soon manage oneo' them, sir. I'd try an elephant if it came to that. "

The professor shook his head disparagingly, and Sam gave Frank and hismaster an imploring look, which made the former take his part. "Lookhere, professor, " he said quietly; "really I think it might be managed, "and Sam's long face shortened. 

"Managed! Do you think we shall do what we propose if you and Morristake your valets?"

"There is going to be a black slave in the party, " said Frank, "and I donot see why the Hakim should not have a barber who is a white slave. "

"Humph!" ejaculated the professor, in a regular camel-like grunt, and heset up his back after the manner of that animal. 

"Would you mind going as a slave, Sam?" asked Frank--"the Hakim'sslave?"

"Not a bit, sir, so long as Mr Hakim's going to be one of the party. Me mind being a slave? Not I. Ain't Mr Harry one pro tempenny? I'mwilling, sir, willing for anything. I don't want no wages. I want togo. "

"And you shall go, Samuel, " said the doctor firmly. "I'll talk thematter over with Mr Landon. "

"Thankye, sir, thankye, " cried the man joyfully. "And I beg yourpardon, Mr Landon, sir; don't you take against me because it's goingagainst you. I'm willing to do any manner of things to make yougentlemen comfortable all the time. "

"I believe you, Sam, " said the professor. "There, I give way. "

"Thankye kindly, sir!" cried the man excitedly. 

"But look here. It is only due to him that he should be told that weare going upon a very dangerous expedition. We shall have to travelamongst people who would think it a meritorious action to cut ourthroats if they had the merest suspicion that we were going to try andrescue Mr Harry Frere. Then we shall have the risks of fever, dyingfrom thirst, perhaps from hunger, and as likely as not being takenprisoners ourselves and made slaves--are you listening, Sam?"

"Hearing every word, sir. But I say, sir, is it as bad as that?"

"Honestly, my man, " said the professor solemnly; "it is all that andworse, because we shall have to cut ourselves adrift from all Governmentprotection and trust to our own wits. Now then, my man, do not hesitatefor an instant--if you feel that you cannot cheerfully put up with periland danger, and dare every risk, say so at once, for you will be doingyour master a good turn as well as us. "

"Are you gentlemen going to chance it all?" said Sam quietly. 

"Certainly. "

"All right, gentlemen, then so am I, and as soon as ever you like. "

"Hah!" ejaculated Frank, who had been watching the play of the man'scountenance anxiously, and he crossed to Sam and shook his hand, makingthe butler's face glow with pride and pleasure combined. 

"Now then, " said the professor, "one more word, Sam. It is of vitalimportance that you keep all this a profound secret. From this hour youknow nothing except that you are the Hakim's servant till we have leftCairo. After that you are the Hakim's slave, and you hold him in awe. "

"Of course, sir, " said Sam, with his face wrinkling with perplexity. "I'll hold him in anything you like. I won't say a word to a soul. Iwon't know anything, and I hope Mr Hakim will be as satisfied with meas master has always been. "

"And you think I have always been satisfied with you, Samuel?" said thedoctor, smiling pleasantly. 

"I think so, sir, " replied the man. "I've been some years in yourservice, and you're a gentleman as will always have everything done asit should be. "

"Of course. "

"And you never found fault with me yet. And I _will_ say that a bettermas--"

"No, you will not, " said the doctor quickly. "That will do. "

"Certainly, sir, " said the man, looking abashed. 

"You like the doctor as a master, then?" said Frank, with a twinkle ofthe eye. 

"Like him, sir!" cried Sam. 

"Well, I think you will like your new master quite as well. "

"I hope so, sir. I'll do my best. Shall I see him soon?"

"Of course, " said Frank. "There he is. The Hakim, Doctor Morris--thelearned surgeon who is going to practise through the Soudan. "

"Oh-h-h!" cried Sam, with his face lighting up. "I see now, gentlemen. "

"But remember, " said the doctor sternly, "the necessity for silence hasbegun, so keep your own counsel, which will be keeping ours. "

"Yes, sir. "

"Now go and begin putting together the few things you will require onour voyage and journey. "

"Remembering, " said the professor, "that we must take only the simplestnecessaries. I shall have to overhaul every man's bag after you havebrought it down to the lowest state. There, Sam, I agree to your goingfully, for I believe you will not let us repent it. "

"Thank you, sir. Shall we go soon?"

"Within forty-eight hours if it can be managed. Give me my hat andstick. I'll go at once and see if berths are to be had on a P. And O. Boat. You two will begin getting absolute necessaries together in theway of your professional needs, not forgetting your instruments andchemicals, Frank. Take all you said. They will be heavy and bulky, butthey will pay for taking. As for me, as soon as I have settled aboutthe boat I will get my own few things together and see to the arms. Ihave a pretty good selection of Arabian weapons. What more we requirecan be obtained in the Cairene bazaar. "

CHAPTER FIVE. 

SHEIKH IBRAHIM. 

Time works wonders, they say; so does money in able and experiencedhands. 

The professor's were experienced hands, and he had ample funds at hisdisposition. The result of his inquiries that morning was that he foundhe could by starting the next night catch the mail which would bear himand his friends, travelling night and day, to Brindisi--for southernItaly, where the mail steamer would be waiting to take them on toIsmailia. Then in a few days from starting they would have changed intothe not very efficient Egyptian railway, to be set down within sight ofthe pyramids on the borders of the mighty desert, with the south open tothem, if all went as they had arranged, for their journey in search ofthe prisoner gazing northward and hoping still that help might come andhis captivity and sufferings at last be ended. 

It is wonderful what energy will do. 

Now that the plans had been decided upon the professor worked like aslave. Long experience had made him an adept. He knew exactly whatoutfitters to go to, and when there what to select, and it was wonderfulhow little he deemed necessary. 

"You see we hardly want anything here, Frank, lad, " he said. "Somethings we cannot get out there, but the majority of our necessaries wemust buy in Cairo, and quietly too, for if it got wind that we weregoing upon such an expedition we should be stopped. "

"I suppose so. "

"But I can manage all that. I have an old friend or two, sheikhs whowill do anything I ask, and supply me on the quiet with followers andtents and camels. For they love me as a brother, and you shall hearthem say all sorts of sugary flowers of speech. They will bless me, andsay that it is like the rising of the sun upon their tents to see mynoble visage once again. They will kiss the sand beneath my feet in thewarmth of their attachment, and do all I wish for shekels, Franky, allfor shekels. "

"But can you trust them?" said Frank. 

"Certainly. They will keep faith, and be ready even to fight for us ifthe odds are not too great, and the shekels are duly paid. There, Idon't think we need trouble about anything more, after the two leathercases are packed with the conjuring tricks and physic of the learnedHakim and his slaves. The sinews of war will do the rest. Hah! I amglad we are going into the desert once again. We must get to Hal assoon as possible, and somehow scheme to get him free, but you must curbyour impatience. It will be all express till we reach Cairo--all theend of the nineteenth century; but once we are there, excepting for thecivilisation of that modern city we shall have gone back to the times ofthe Arabian Nights and find the country and the people's ways unchanged. And do you know what that means?"

"Pretty well, " said Frank; "crawling at a foot's pace when one wants tofly. "

"That's it; just as fast as a camel will walk. "

Those hours of preparation passed more quickly to Frank than any that hecould recall during his busy young life, and over and over again hedespaired of the party being ready in time, so that he could hardlybelieve it when the carriage-door was slammed, the whistle sounded, andthe train glided out of the London terminus with the question beingmentally asked, Shall we ever see the old place again?

Then sleepless nights and drowsy days, as the party sped through Franceand Switzerland, dived through the great tunnel, to flash out into lightin sunny Italy, and then on and on south, with the rattle of the trainforming itself into a constant repetition of two words, which had beenyelled in the tunnel and echoed from the rocky walls of the deepcutting--always the same: "_Save Harry! Save Harry_!" till Frank'sbrain throbbed. 

Then Brindisi, with the mails being hurried from the train to the noblesteamer waiting to plough the Mediterranean and bear the adventurerssouth and east for the land of mystery with its wonders of a bygonecivilisation buried deeply in the ever-preserving sand. 

And now for the first time Frank's brain began to be at rest from thehurry of the start, as he lay back half asleep in the hot sunshine, watching the surface of the blue Mediterranean and the soft, silveryclouds overhead, while the doctor and the professor sat in deck-chairs, reading or comparing notes, but all three resting so as to be ready forthe work in hand. 

It was one glorious evening when Frank was leaning over the side gazingforward towards the land that they were soon to reach, and where theywould give up the inert life they were leading for one of wild andstirring adventure, that the young man suddenly started out of hisdreamy musings, for a voice behind him said softly--

"Beg pardon, sir. " Frank turned sharply round. "Don't mind mespeaking, sir, I hope?"

"No, Sam, " said Frank, rousing himself and speaking in a tone whichplainly suggested, "_Go on_. "

"Thankye, sir. Don't seem to have had a chance to speak to you in allthis rumble tumble sort of look-sharp-or-you'll-be-left-behind time. "

"No, we haven't seen much of one another, Sam. "

"We ain't, sir, and I don't know as I've wanted to talk much, for it'stook all my time to think and make out whether it's all true. "

"All true?"

"Yes, sir. Seems to me as if I'm going to wake up directly to find I'vebeen having a nap in my pantry in Wimpole Street. "

"Hah! It has been a rush, Sam. "

"Rush, sir? It's wonderful. Seems only yesterday we were packing up, and now here we are--down here on the map. One of the sailors put hisfinger--here it is, sir, signed Jack Tar, his mark, for it was one ofthe English sailors, not one of the Lascar chaps. That's where we are, sir. "

Sam held up a conveniently folded map, surely enough marked by the tipof a perspiring finger. 

"He says we shall be in port to-morrow, and have to shift on to the railagain, and in a few hours be in Cairo on the River Nile. "

"That's quite correct, Sam, " said Frank, smiling; "and then our workwill begin. "

"And a good job too, sir; I want to be at it. But my word! it seemswonderful. Me only the other day in my pantry, Wimpole Street, W. , andto-morrow in King Pharaoh's city where there were the plagues andpyramids. "

"And now hotels and electric lights, and the telegraph to communicatewith home. "

"Yes, sir, it's alarming, " said Sam. "Pity it don't go right up toKhartoum--that's the place, ain't it, sir?"

"Yes, Sam. "

"So as we could send a message to Mr Harry: `Keep up your spirits;we're on the way. '"

"Ah, if we could, Sam!" said Frank, with a sigh. 

"Never mind, sir; we're not losing much time. But who'd ever think it!I used to fancy that foreign abroad would look foreign, but it don't abit. Here's the sea and the sky looking just as it does off the Isle o'Wight when you're out o' sight o' land; and only when we saw themountains with a morsel of snow on their tops did the land lookdifferent to at home. I suppose it will be a bit strange in Egypt, though, sir, won't it?"

"Oh, yes. Wait a few hours longer, " said Frank, "and then you'll see. "

Sam came to him the next night when they were settled in the Europeanhotel, where the professor was welcomed as an old friend. 

"I've put out all you'll want, sir, " said the man. "Is there anythingelse I can do?"

"No, Sam; I'm just going to bed so as to have a good night's rest readyfor work to-morrow. Well, does this seem foreign?"

"Foreign, sir? Hullo! there's another of 'em. "--_Slap_. --"Missed himagain! Have they been at you yet, sir?"

"What, the mosquitoes? Yes. I just brushed one off. "

"They seem to fancy me, sir. I expected they'd be great big things, butthey're only just like our gnats at home. "

"Indeed! What about their bite!"

"Oh, yes, they bite sharper, sir. I expect it's because they're soprecious hungry, sir. But foreign? Oh, _yes_, this'll do, sir. It'swonderful, what with the camels and the donkeys. My word! they are fine'uns. I saw one go along cantering like a horse. Yes, sir, this'll do. But I suppose we're not going to stay here long?"

"Only till the professor can make his preparations for the start, andthen we're off right away into the desert. "

"Right, sir; on donkeys?"

"On camels, Sam. "

"H'm! Seems rather high up in the air, sir. Good way to fall on to ahard road. "

"Road--hard road, Sam?" said Frank laughing. "If you fall it will be onto soft sand. There are no roads in the desert. "

"No roads, sir? You mean no well-made roads. "

"I mean no roads at all; not even a track, for the drifting sand soonhides the last foot-prints. "

Sam stared. 

"Why, how do you find your way, sir?" said Sam, staring blankly. 

"Either by the compass, as one would at sea, or by trusting to theArabs, who know the landmarks. "

"And sometimes by the camels' bones, " said the professor, who hadentered the room unheard. "Plenty of them die along the caravan tracks. But I daresay we shall find our way, for there is the big river whichmarks our course pretty well, if we were at fault. "

"Thankye, sir; you'd be sure to know, " said Sam hurriedly. "I was onlyasking Mr Frank like so as to pick up a little about the place. "

The man asked no more questions, but made the best of his way to his ownroom. 

"Come down and out into the grounds, my lad, " said the professor. "Thedoctor's sitting in the garden having his cigar. "

"I was just going to bed. "

"Yes, but come with me for an hour first. I've an old friend waiting tosee me, and I thought I'd bring you down. "

"I don't want to meet his old friends, " thought Frank impatiently. Thenaloud, as he followed: "Of course you will say nothing about the objectof our visit here?"

"Trust me, " said the professor quietly. 

"Is your friend staying here?"

"Yes; he comes here regularly at this time of year, expecting to meetold visitors to Egypt. "

"I see, " said Frank drily. Then to himself, "I wish he was at Jericho. I can't talk about anything now but the desert. "

As they descended into the prettily lit-up hall and went out into thegarden among the palm trees, the scene was attractive enough to fix anynewcomer's eyes; but Frank could see nothing but a long wide stretch ofdesert country, at the horizon of which were a few palms overshadowingdingy, sun-baked mud buildings, houses formed of the brick made of strawnow as in the days when the taskmaster-beaten Israelitish bondmen put upsuch pitiful plaint. 

"Where is the doctor?" said Frank. 

"Over yonder on that seat, " replied the professor, as they were goingdown a sandy path towards a group of palms. "Ah, there's my friend. "

Frank looked in the indicated direction, but he saw no English visitor. There was a stately looking turbaned figure, draped in white, standingin the dim shadowy light among the palms, and he seemed to catch sightof them at the same moment, and came softly forward, to stop short andmake a low obeisance to each in turn. 

"Well, Ibrahim, how are you?" said the professor sharply. 

"His Excellency's servant is well and happy now, for his soul rejoicesto find that the dogs told lies. They said his Excellency would notcome to El Caire until the war was over, and the Mahdi's successor--mayhis fathers' graves be defiled--had gone back to the other dogs of thefar desert. "

"Oh, yes, I've come again. Frank, this is Sheikh Ibrahim, of the DhurTribe. And look here, Ibrahim, this is my friend and brother, Mr FrankFrere. "

"And my master, " said the Arab, with another grave and dignifiedreverence, speaking too, in spite of the flowery Eastern ornamentation, in excellent English. "His Excellency has come, then, to continue hissearch for the remains of the old people?"

"Hah!" cried the professor, "that's right. Now let's understand oneanother at once. No, Ibrahim, I have not. "

"Not come, Excellency?" cried the Sheikh, in a disappointed tone, andhis hands flew up to his long flowing grey beard, but he did not tearit, contenting himself with giving two slight tugs. 

"No, not come to explore. "

"But, your Excellency, I and my people have found a fresh temple withtombs, and deep in the sand where no one has been before. "

"Yes, and you know too that the authorities have given strict ordersthat no expeditions are to be made right out in the desert on account ofthe danger?"

"It is true, O Excellency, " said the Arab, with a sigh, "and I and minewill starve. We had better have been driving our sheep and goats hereand there for pasture far away yonder, than waiting for Englishtravellers. All who are here go up the river in boats. There are nojourneys into the wilds this year. I have been stopped twice. "

Frank glanced at the professor, and saw that his eyes were glittering ashe spoke in a low tone. 

"Yes, Sheikh, " he said; "it is very ill for you, and it is bad for me. There are those stones cut into and painted that we left buried in thesand. "

"Yes, Excellency; hidden safely away, waiting for your servants to digthem out. Why not let me gather my people and let us go so many days'journey out into the wilderness and carry them off, before some otherlearned traveller to whose eyes all the mysteries of the past are likean open book shall come and find them?"

"That would be bad, Ibrahim, " said the professor slowly. 

"It would break thy servant's heart, Excellency, " said the man. "Lookhere, Excellency. It is forbidden, but my people are away there to thesouth with the tents and camels, and their Excellencies might come anddwell with us in the tents for days, and then some night the camelswould be ready--the poor beasts are sobbing and groaning for burdens tobear and long journeys into the desert--and some moonlight night theymight be loaded with their sacks of grain and skins of water, and no onewould know when we stole away into the desert to where the old tombs arehidden. Then the treasures could be found and brought away by hisExcellency's servants, who would rejoice after and have the wherewithalto buy oil and honey, dhurra and dates, so that their faces might shineand the starving camels grow sleek and fat upon his Excellency'sbounty. "

"Ah, " said the professor slowly and dubiously, as Frank listened withhis heart beating fast, while he held his quivering nether lip pressedtightly by his teeth; "you think that would be possible, Sheikh?"

"Possible, your Excellency?" said the man, in an earnest whisper; "whynot? Am I a man to boast and say `I will do this, ' and then show that Ihave a heart of water, and do it not?"

"No, " said the professor slowly; "Sheikh Ibrahim has always been a manin whom my soul could trust, in the shadow of whose tent I have alwayslain down and slept in peace, for I have felt that his young men wereready with their spears to protect me, and that their father looked uponme as his sacred charge. "

"Hah!" said the Sheikh, with calm, grave dignity. "They are the wordsof truth. His Excellency trusts me as he has always done. Will hecome, then, into the desert once again? If he says yes, Ibrahim will goaway to-night with gladsome heart to the village close by, and therewill be joy in the hearts of his two young men, who are waitingsorrowfully there. "

"You know the desert well, Ibrahim, " said the professor slowly. 

"It is my home, Excellency. My eyes opened upon it first, and when thetime comes they will look upon it for the last time, and I shall sleepbeneath its sands. "

"Yes, as a patriarchal Sheikh should, " said the professor. "But you andyour young men are quite free from engagements?"

"Ready to be thy servants, to do thy bidding, for no one wants us now;go where you will choose, and work and dig, and find as they have foundbefore. "

"It is good, " said the professor gravely. "Of course I shall pay youwell. "

"His Excellency always did pay us well, " said the Arab, bending low. 

"And my two friends will add to the payment. "

The Arab smiled. 

"You will keep our departure quite private, Ibrahim--no one is to know. "

The man shook his head. 

"And I should want you to lead us wherever I chose to go. "

"You always did, Excellency. "

"But suppose I wanted you to go where some of your people--I mean men ofyour race--would consider it dangerous?"

"There are Arabs of some tribes, Excellency, who are of low breed--menwho are not of the pure blood, who would say the way was dangerous: themen of my tribe, the Dhur, do not know that word. If they said theywould take the English learned one, they would take him. They havetheir spears and their guns and swords, and their camels are swift. Isnot that enough, O Excellency?"

"Quite, " said the professor; "but there would be danger, perhaps, forthe Mahdi's followers range far. "

"True, my lord, and they are many. Mine are but as a handful of sand. His Excellency would not go to fight the Khalifa? It would be mad. "

"A wise man can fight with cunning, and do more than a strong man withhis sword and spear. "

The Sheikh was silent, and stood in the semi-darkness with his eyesreflecting the lights of the hotel strangely, as he glanced from one tothe other as if trying to read their faces. 

"I shall have to tell him all, Frank, " said the professor slowly, inLatin. 

"The risk is too great, " replied Frank hurriedly. "We should be puttingourselves in his power, and if he is not true he would destroy all ourhopes. "

"We can go no further without his help, Frank, " said the professorgravely. "_Tace_. "

"His Excellency's words are dark, " said the Sheikh, in a low, deepvoice. "He speaks of dangers, and of the Mahdi's men, and of fightingwith cunning. Will he not fully trust his servant, and make his wordsand wishes shine with the light of day? Does his Excellency wish toplay the spy upon the new Mahdi's movements?"

"No, " said the professor firmly. 

The Sheikh drew a long breath which sounded like a sigh of relief. 

"I am glad, " he said softly, "for their lives are dear to my young men. They have their wives and little ones, and the followers of the Mahdiseek blood. What would the learned Englishman who loves the stonewritings of the ancient people do amongst the conquering spearmen of theprophet's chosen one?"

"Answer this, Ibrahim: Do you believe this new Mahdi or Khalifa is thechosen one of the prophet?"

The Sheikh laughed softly. 

"Thy servant thought much when he was young, and all his life he has haddealings with the wise men from the west who have come here from manycountries to see and seek out what the old people left buried in thesands of time. He could not help, as he saw the wonders they brought tolight, and sat in the same tent with them, growing wiser and thinking intheir tongue. He has seen, too, again and again, fresh prophets rise toutter the same cry, `Lo, O people, I am the prophet's chosen, sent tofree the country from the heathen Christian dog. ' And it has alwaysbeen the same: the people cry aloud and believe and follow him to thefight always to kill and destroy, to make slaves, and to pass like aflight of locusts across the land, and the new prophet eats and drinksand makes merry till he dies like the thousands he has killed; but hedoes not carry out his boast, and another arises and cries, `Lo, I amthe chosen of the prophet. Upon me does the Mahdi's mantle fall. 'Excellency, I am a man of the desert, but there is wisdom even amongstthe sand, and I have picked up some, enough to know when false prophetscome amongst the people. No; I do not believe the new Mahdi is thechosen one. He is only another man of blood. Why does my master ask?Why does he wish to run where there is danger to him and his friends--danger to us who would be his guides?"

"Listen, " said the professor, and in a few well-chosen words he told theold Sheikh of Harry Frere's unhappy fate. 

"Hah!" ejaculated the old Arab, after hearing the speaker to the end. "Yes; I have heard of this before. With mine own eyes I saw the Germanwho escaped, and it was said that there was a young Englishman outyonder, a slave. And he is your brother, my lord?" he continued, turning quickly upon Frank. 

"Yes; my brother, whom I have come here to save. "

"It is good, " said the Arab slowly. "But I hear that an army is goingsouth to fight the Khalifa. "

"Yes, " said Frank bitterly; "but it will be months or years before theyreach the place, and before then my brother may be dead. Sheikh, " saidFrank, in a low, hoarse voice that bespoke the emotion from which hesuffered "he is a slave, and in chains. I must go to his help at once. "

"The young Excellency's words are good, and they make the eyes of hisservant dark with sorrow; but it will not be freeing his brother fromhis chains if he goes as a young man would, to rashly throw away hislife. It is so easy away out there. Here there is law, and if a mansteals or raises his hand against his brother man, there is the wisejudge waiting, and the judgment bar. But out yonder they make their ownlaws, and it is but a thrust with a spear, a stroke with a sharp sword, and the sand is ever athirst to drink up the blood, the jackals and theunclean birds to leave nothing but a few bones. Has the youngExcellency thought of all this?"

"Yes, " said Frank hoarsely, "and I have seen in the darkness of thenight when I could not sleep, my brother's hands stretched out to me, and have felt that I could hear his voice calling to me to come and savehim. "

The Sheikh stood silently there beneath the palms, and for some minutesno words came. 

At last he repeated his former stereotyped expression. 

"It is good. Yes, " he said, "it is good, and God will go before you onsuch an errand as this, my son. I am growing old now. "

"And you--"

Frank began to utter his thoughts impulsively, but the professor laid ahand sharply upon his arm. 

"Silence, " he said, and the Arab paused for a few moments as if to giveway, but as Frank checked himself he went on--

"--And old men grow to love money and greater flocks and herds, and moreand better camels, as they come nearer to the time when all these thingswill be as naught. I have been much with the wise men from Europe, andit has been pleasant to my soul to take their piastres to make my tribericher every year. His Excellency here has paid me much gold in thepast times, and I and my people have worked justly for him, so that hehas come to us again and again, till his coming has been that of afriend, and my heart was sore when I heard that he was not to be with usthis season of the year. And now he has come for this as to a friend toask the help of me and mine. He has come to me as a brother insuffering, and it is good. Yes, Excellency, you are welcome to thetents of your brethren, and we will do all we can to bring the lost oneback. And what I bid my people do they will do, till I am gathered tomy fathers and my son takes my place. But when I go to my peopleto-night and tell them of your words, they will say `O my father, thisis not work for money. Our master must not give us payment for such athing as this. Of a truth we will go and bring the young man back tothose who mourn for him. If we redden the sand with our blood instead, well, we have died as men, and we shall sleep with the just. '"

The professor caught the old Arab's hand, and Frank snatched impulsivelyat the other, the thin, nervous fingers closing tightly upon the Englishgrip, and they stood in silence for some minutes. 

"Tell him what I feel, " said Frank at last. "I can't find words. "

"Neither can I, " said the professor, "but I must try. "

"Listen, Sheikh, " he said, "you have made our hearts glad within us. For when this news came to England I said to myself that I would seek myold Arab friend and ask him to help me to find our young brother. "

"It is good, " said the Arab softly. "You remembered the far away. "

"How could I forget the man who watched by me in his tent when I wassick unto death, and who rejoiced over me when I was brought back tolife? I looked back upon you as a brother and friend, and now I havecome; but this must not be only a work of friendship. You and youryoung men must be paid, and paid well, for all their risks, for we donot come as poor suppliants. I and my friends are fairly rich, and willgladly spend money over this adventure. "

"Yes, money is as water that we fling upon the sand at such a time asthis, " said the Sheikh. "And you are rich. Well, so are we. Our lifeis simple; we live as we have always lived, in tents, and our riches arein our flocks and herds, our camels and our horses. We have our prideas you have, even if we do work for the rich English for the piastresthey pay. But in such a work as this for our wise brother and friend, take money? No; we go to help our brother. It is for love. "

"But Sheikh--" began Frank. 

"Let your young brother be silent, Excellency; the bargain is made, andwe must have much thought about how this is to be done. As you said, the fight must be with cunning; much wisdom must be brought to bear. Wemust try and find out what the Khalifa desires most. We must go asmerchants, and you will need your piastres to buy enough for a littlecaravan of such things as will be welcome in the enemy's camp. Powderfor the guns of his people for certain he will want. Strong wines andwaters too, for he, like those of his kind, loves to break the prophet'slaws. I will leave you now to sleep and muse upon all this. Mayhap youwill find some plan or scheme, as you English call it, that will bebetter than mine; but something of this sort it must be, and we willgo. "

"Yes, " said Frank eagerly, "and we will go. "

The Sheikh shook his head slowly. 

"No, " he said, "this is no work for such as you. The task is for me andmine. Good-night. "

He turned, and seemed to fade into the darkness at once, just as thedoctor, who had been waiting impatiently upon the seat, strode up. 

"Well, " he said, "have you secured your man?"

"Yes, " replied the professor; "but there is a battle yet to fight. Hedoes not know our plans. "

CHAPTER SIX. 

THE STARTING POINT. 

What with the excitement and the change, as it were, into another lifesuch as he had only read of in books, Frank Frere's was a very poornight's rest, so that after dozing off and waking again and again, hot, feverish, and uncomfortable, he was not sorry to see the first signs ofdawn peering through his blinds. 

Getting from beneath the mosquito curtain, he opened the window wider, and then stayed for a few minutes to wonder that the morning air shouldbe so cool to his heated brows. 

Returning to bed, he lay thinking for a few minutes, and then all atonce thought ceased and he slept soundly for an hour, to start up inhorror, full of the impression that he had overslept himself. 

But a glance at his watch showed that it was still early, as he began todress, meaning to have a look round the place before breakfast. Matters, however, shaped themselves differently, for on going to thewindow and looking out, there to the left lay the hotel garden with itsclumps of palms and orange trees, where beneath the former he saw anearly visitor in the shape of the tall, dignified-looking Sheikh in hisclean white robes and turban, walking slowly to and fro, as if inexpectation of seeing the professor. 

Frank hurried down, too eager to reach the garden to pause and lookabout at the Eastern aspect of everything around; but he found that hewas not first, for there before him were the professor and the doctorjust passing out, and he joined them just as they reached the Sheikh, who greeted them all with solemn dignity. 

"I have slept on the matter, O Excellencies, " he said. 

"And now you think better of it?" said the doctor sharply. 

The Sheikh smiled. 

"I have thought much of it, Excellency, " he said gravely, "but thematter was agreed upon last night. All that remained was to find outthe best way and the safest. I feel that it must be as I said; we--mypeople and I--must journey through the desert to avoid the windings ofthe great river, taking with us such merchandise as the Mahdi's peoplewill be glad to buy, and once at Khartoum or Omdurman we must trust toour good fortune about finding the prisoner. Once we do find him themerchandise must go, and we shall trust to our fleet camels andknowledge of the desert to escape. What do your Excellencies say?"

The professor turned to Frank. 

"Will you tell him?" he said. "It was your idea. "

Frank shrank for the moment, but mastering his hesitancy he turned tothe old Sheikh, and rapidly growing earnest and warm, he vividlydescribed his plans, while the old man stood stern and frowning, apparently receiving everything with the greatest disfavour, merelyglancing once or twice at the doctor and then at the speaker, asallusions were made to the parts they were to play. When the professorwas mentioned the listener remained unmoved, but he frowned moremarkedly when the servant's name was mentioned. 

Frank worked himself up till in his eagerness his words came fast, as hestrove hard to impress the Sheikh with the plausibility of his plans. But the old man remained unmoved, and when at last the speaker had saidall that he could say there was a dead and chilling silence, the youngman turning from his listener to look despairingly from the doctor tothe professor, and back again, "The Sheikh cannot see it, " said theyoung man despairingly; "but it seems easier to me now than ever. "

"Yes, " said the doctor; "I feel that it might be done. The idea growsupon me. "

"But you do not like it, Ibrahim, " said the professor, looking hard inthe solemn, impenetrable face before him. 

"There is the servant--the doctor's man, " said the Sheikh gravely. "Ihave not seen him. "

"You soon shall, " said the professor. 

"Tell me, " continued the Sheikh; "this young man--can he make cures--canhe bind up wounds and attend to an injured or dying man?"

"He has been my servant and has helped me for years, " said the doctor. 

"Hah!"

Then there was silence again, and Frank gazed at the deeply-lined, calmand impassive face before him with a feeling of resentment. 

"He will not do, " thought the young man; "he is too slow and plodding. We want a brisk, dashing fellow, full of spirit and recklessness. "

He turned to the professor, and spoke a few words in Latin. 

The professor smiled. 

"You do not know Ibrahim yet, " he said quietly. "A young Englishmandashes at a thing without consideration; an Arab looks before he leaps, and examines the starting and the landing place. Hush!"

"Yes, " said the Sheikh at last, and he bowed his head again and again ashe spoke, evidently calculating every move in the great game of chesswith live pieces in which he was about to engage. "Yes; his Excellencyhere will be the learned Hakim--he _is_ a learned Hakim, and the peoplewill crowd to his tent. I could take him and his Excellency theprofessor, who speaks our tongue like I speak it myself, anywhere, andthey would be welcome. The idea is grand and cannot fail, but my heartgrows faint when I think of his young Excellency here. Could he bear toact like a slave for all the many weary months in that disguise?"

"Yes, " said Frank firmly. 

"And hold your peace, no matter what may befall?"

"Yes. I _will_" said Frank, through his set teeth. 

"We may come suddenly upon the prisoner in chains; we may see him beatenby his taskmaster. Brothers love brothers, " said the Sheikh gravely. "Could the young Excellency hold his peace and stand by looking on atsuch a time?"

"Yes, " said Frank, in a low, harsh voice: "it is to save my brother'slife. I would not speak to save my own. "

The old Sheikh's face was stern and rugged as ever; not a muscletwitched; but there was a new light in his eyes as they rested uponFrank's, and he uttered a low sigh of satisfaction. 

"The English are a great, brave nation, " he said gravely. "No wonderthey make themselves masters of the world. "

"Then you are satisfied, Ibrahim?"

"No, Excellency, not yet, " replied the Sheikh. "Take off those clothesand put on those that I will get, and you are the interpreter of thegreat Frankish Hakim. That is enough. The people will rush to you andcall you brother. His Excellency here, clothed as I will clothe him, that great, grand head white from the barber's razor, with thatmagnificent beard hanging down over his robe in front, and with thewisdom of the physician to cure the sufferers who will come--even theKhalifa and his greatest officers would come and bend to him. Yes, allthis is grand. "

"Well done, " said the professor, with a sigh of relief. 

"His Excellency here _is_ a great doctor--one who can cure bad wounds?"asked the Sheikh. 

"One of the best in London, " said the professor enthusiastically. "Hecan almost perform miracles. "

"It is good, " said the Sheikh gravely. "He will find much work to do, for the Mahdi's followers die like flocks and herds in time of plaguefor want of help. Now about his young Excellency here. He will be theHakim's slave?"

"Yes; his learned slave, Ibrahim. He is skilled in chemistry andscience. "

"I do not know what chemistry and science mean, Excellency. "

"The power to perform natural miracles, " said the professor. 

"It is enough; but he must do as he said. As he is now he would bewatched by suspicious eyes; I could not answer for his life. As theHakim's black slave who helps his master and is mute, yes, he will besafe too. But this man--this servant? What can he do? Will he beblack and mute?"

"H'm, no, " said the professor, hesitating. 

"Has he a brother in chains and misery whom he would die to save?"

"H'm, no, " said the professor again. "Frank, lad, " he said, in Latin, "I'm afraid Sam will not pass. "

"What will he do, then?" asked the Sheikh. 

"Attend on his master, the Hakim. "

"One of my young men can do that. "

"Hold the wounded when the Hakim bandages their cuts. "

"One of my young men would be safer far. "

"He knows the Hakim's ways, and will sponge the bullet-wounds and fetchthe water bowl. "

"The Hakim's black slave should do all that, Excellency. "

"I'm afraid you are right, " said the professor; "but I want to take himif we can. Come, he is a capital cook. "

"A learned Hakim like his Excellency here would live on simple food, such as one of my young men could prepare. "

"Well, I don't know what to say, Ibrahim. He is a very useful fellow. "

"But his being with us might mean making the Mahdi's followers doubt, and once they doubted it means death to us all. "

The professor's face was a study as he turned to Frank. 

"He's right, my lad; he's right. "

"It may mean ruin to our journey, even as men perish when they make fora water-hole, to find it dry. Can he do anything else?"

"Heaps of things, " cried the professor. 

"But they are as nothing if they are not suited to our task, Excellency. Does he look to be an Englishman?"

"A thorough-paced Cockney, Ibrahim, I am sorry to say. "

"Cockney, Excellency?"

"Well, very English indeed. "

"Would he be painted black, Excellency?" said Ibrahim. 

"He'd only look like an imitation Christy Minstrel if he were, eh, Frank?" said the professor. 

"Would he have his head shaved like his Excellency the Hakim?" said theSheikh. 

"Got him!" cried the professor excitedly. "Here, Ibrahim, you wanted toknow what he can do. He's the Hakim's barber, and can shave a head. "

"Ah-h-h-h!" said the Sheikh, drawing out the ejaculation to aninordinate length. "He can shave--and well?"

"Splendidly! Can't he, Morris?"

"Oh, yes, excellently well, " said the doctor, smiling. 

The Sheikh took off his turban and softly passed one hand over a headwhich was like a very old, deeply-stained billiard ball at the top, butwas stubbly at the back and sides, as if it had not been touched by abarber for a week. 

"May he shave me, Excellency?" said the old man. "I should like to seethe man and whether he is skilful enough to deceive those who will watchhim with jealous eyes. "

"Of course you can see him, " said the doctor. "He will be in my room. "

"Let's go, then, at once, " said the professor. "I say, Ibrahim, thereneed be no disguise about him. He is a Frank, and the Hakim's slave. "

"Yes, that will do, Excellency, " said the Sheikh. "The Hakim's skill asa learned man and curer of the people's ills will cover all. If thisman is clever, too, as a barber every Moslem will look upon him as afriend. Barber, surgeon, and the Hakim's slave. Yes, that will do. "

Five minutes after the party were in the doctor's room, and upon thebell being answered by a native servant, Sam was fetched from hisbreakfast, to come up wondering, half expecting that something waswrong. 

"Sam, " said the doctor gravely, "I wish you to shave this gentleman'shead. "

"Certainly, sir. I'll ring for some hot water. "

"No, " said the professor; "we're going where hot water will be scarce--Imean that sort of hot water. Do it with cold. "

"Right, sir, " said the man, in the most unruffled way, and slipping offhis coat he turned up his sleeves, placed a chair for the Sheikh, openedthe doctor's dressing-case, brought out shaving-box, strop, and razors, and then made the old chief look a little askance as one of the latterwas opened, examined, and laid down, while the brush and shaving-boxwere brought so vigorously into action, that in a very short time theArab's head was thoroughly lathered, and left to soak. 

"I always prefer hot water, gentlemen, " said Sam, confidentially; "it'sbetter for the patient, and better for the razor, for it improves theedge. But these are splendid tools, as I know. "

Whipping open one of the choice razors, and drawing the strop as if itwere a short Roman sword, Sam made the Sheikh wince a little as thesharp blade was made to play to and fro and from end to end, changingfrom side to side, and with all the dash and light touch of a cleverbarbel, being finished off by sharp applications to the palm of theoperator's hand. 

"There we are, sir, " said Sam, who seemed to be quite in his element. "Don't squirm, sir; I won't cut you, nor hurt you either. I was taughtshaving by a first-class hand. "

"Don't talk so much, Sam, " said Frank impatiently. "We want you toshave this Arab gentleman carefully and well. "

"Well, ain't I trying my best, Master Frank? Look at that, and look atthat, and that. Razor cuts beautifully. "

As he spoke he scraped off with long sweeps the white, soapy foam, whichcame away darkened with tiny swathes of blackish-grey stubble. 

"I call this a regular big shave. Don't hurt, do I, sir?"

The Arab uttered a grunt which might have meant yes or no. 

Sam took it to mean the latter. 

"Thought not, sir. That's fine shaving-soap, sir; he--mollient; softensthe stubble and the skin at the same time. My word! this is a primerazor. Only fancy, Mr Frank, being out here, shaving a native!"

"Will you keep your tongue quiet!" whispered Frank angrily. "This is aserious matter. Mind what you're doing, and don't talk. "

"Don't ask a man to do impossibilities, sir, " said the man appealingly;"did you ever know anyone shaved without the operator talking all thetime? It's natural, sir, and seems to make you shave cleaner. I'ma-doing the very best I can. I must talk, or I should get nicking hisskin and spoil the job. "

"Then for goodness' sake talk, " cried Frank petulantly. 

"Thankye, sir; now I can get on, " and with wonderful celerity Samscraped away with light hand till the last line of lather was taken off, a touch or two here and there given with the brush, and this fresh soapremoved, after which the razor was closed, sponge and water applied, anda clean towel handed to the Sheikh, who received it with a grave smileand nod of the head. 

"Good, " he said softly. "Clever barber. It is good. "

"Then you are satisfied?" said the professor eagerly. 

"Quite, Excellency. Now I have no fear. "

Sam smiled too with satisfaction as he carefully wiped and re-stroppedthe razor before placing it in its case. At the same time, though, there was a peculiar, inquisitive look in his eyes. For the wholebusiness seemed to be strange, and he looked longingly at Frank as ifhoping that he would follow and explain, when the doctor said--

"That will do, Samuel. Go and have your breakfast. "

But Frank did not follow, for he was eager to hear what the Sheikh wouldsay as soon as they were alone. 

Little was said, though, the old Arab being anxious to go and rejoin hisfollowers staying in the village half a mile outside the town, promisingto be back during the morning to talk over the arrangements for theventuresome journey. 

"Will he come back and hold to the promise?" said Frank to theprofessor. 

"For certain, " was the reply. 

"But do you think he will prove business-like and go to work heart andsoul in our service?"

"I can only speak from past experience, " replied the professor. "I havealways found him thoroughly trustworthy, and I feel sure he will be sonow. "

"And about the preparations, the dress, provisions, and the many oddsand ends we shall require?"

"All that I shall leave to Ibrahim. What you have to get ready is acouple of portmanteaus that can be swung one on either side of a strongcamel by means of straps. These must contain all your chemical andelectrical apparatus in one, the doctor's instruments and medicines inthe other, with an ample supply of lint, bandages, antiseptics, plaisters, and the like. Chloroform, of course. But there must be nosuperfluities. As to dress, we must place ourselves in Ibrahim'shands. "

"What about weapons?" said Frank. "Swords and revolvers, of course. What about rifles?"

"I have brought two or three antiquated weapons for show; that is all. We are not going to fight. Give up all thoughts of that. "

Frank stared at the speaker anxiously. 

"Surely we ought to carry revolvers, " he said. 

"Surely we ought not. If we go as men of war we shall fail. If we goas men of peace we may succeed. Leave all that to Ibrahim, and we shallknow what is to be done when he comes back this morning. Now then, thefirst thing to be done is to eat and drink. "

Frank sighed. 

"Without this we shall do no work. "

Frank knew the wisdom there was in these words, and he resigned himselfto his fate, accompanying his companions to the hotel coffee-room totake their places at the table set apart for them, to become for thetime being a mere group of the many, for the place was full of visitorsstaying, and others making a temporary sojourn before continuing theirsteamer's route, these to India or China, those back to Europe; whileother tables were occupied by officers awaiting their orders to go upcountry, or go on making preparations for the advance of the troopsalready there, and further arrangements for those coming out by thegreat transports expected; for it was the common talk now that beforelong a large force was to march against the Mahdi's successor, andGordon was to be at last avenged. 

CHAPTER SEVEN. 

BY MOONLIGHT. 

The people at the hotel were too much occupied with their own affairs topay much heed to three ordinary visitors and their servant. It wasrumoured that one of them was a famous Egyptologist, but plenty ofscientists came and went in this city of change, so that in a few hoursFrank's anxiety as to the risk of their expedition being stopped, diedout, and the visits of the Sheikh excited no more notice than those of adragoman or letter of boats and donkeys who waited upon the tourists andarranged to take them to the pyramids, the river, or other objects ofinterest within easy reach. 

When Ibrahim appeared again about midday, he inquired anxiously aboutthe amount of baggage the party intended to take, and seemed pleasedwith the narrow compass into which, under the professor'ssuperintendence, it was to be condensed. He then had a long discussionwith the doctor, and when this was over it was announced that the Arabwas going to be busy in the bazaar for the rest of the day, and that inthe evening he would be at the door of the hotel with four camels andattendants to take the baggage that was ready, the rest being placed inthe care of the manager ready for them upon their return from anexpedition with the Sheikh. 

"That's prompt, " said the professor. "Are you satisfied, Frank?"

"More than satisfied. But about our disguises, our provisions for thejourney, and other preparations? We have done nothing yet. "

"There is nothing to do, " said the professor quietly. 

"But our disguises?" said the doctor anxiously. 

"Ibrahim will see to all that. We don't want to draw anyone's attentionto the task we have in hand. If we did the news would spread, and runlike wildfire amongst the people, perhaps reach the enemy's camp. "

"But can we leave everything to this Arab Sheikh?"

"Everything, " said the professor, "as I have left things again andagain. Here is our position: I am known here, and it is no novelty forme to go upon an expedition with this old guide. So all we have to dois to eat our dinner in peace, and when Ibrahim comes, mount our beastsand go off in the moonlight and silently steal away through the furtherparts of the city, and in a very short time be swallowed up in themysterious gloom, travelling onward over the sand. "

"All night?" said the doctor. 

"Yes, all night, and in good time in the morning we shall have reachedthe tents of the Sheikh, where we shall have an early meal and sleep. When we shall go on depends upon the preparations there. These will beextremely simple, but they will be sufficient. Make your minds easy, and throw all the arrangement of the journey upon Ibrahim and me. Hewill do his best, but as he said to me an hour ago, the success of ouradventure must be left to fate. "

"But our preparations seem so small, " said Frank uneasily. 

"Preparations for desert journeys are small from an Englishman's pointof view. A man here takes his camel, a bag of meal and another ofdates, with a waterskin to fill when it is more than a day's journey tothe next well. The Sheikh expressed himself satisfied with our baggage, but in his eyes it is very large. "

"Well, " said the doctor, "I have said very little, but I share Frank'suneasiness. We seem to be making ridiculously small preparations. Surely we ought to go better prepared if we are to get to our journey'send. "

"We shall never get to it if we do, " said the professor gruffly, "andthe sooner you two try to fit yourselves to the necessities of a desertjourney the better. "

"I'm ready to do anything, " said the doctor, "but I do not want to failfrom doing too little. "

"What more would you do than Ibrahim is doing?"

"I can hardly say on the spur of the moment, but with the exception ofmy medicines and instruments, and Frank's chemicals and things, we seemas if we are going on the march in the clothes we stand up in. "

"Yes, " said the professor coolly, "and those we are going to leavebehind in Ibrahim's tents. "

"Is all this true, Frank?" said the doctor. 

"I suppose so, " was the reply; "but certainly things are moving far morerapidly than I anticipated. "

"It is what you wished, " said the professor. 

"Then all we have to do now is to be ready?"

"Yes, that is all. "

It was in furtherance of this that directly after dinner Frank summonedSam and told him that they were to start in about an hour. 

"So the guv'nor's been telling me, sir; but he says we're to leavenearly everything behind. "

"Yes, Sam; it will be safe enough here. "

"Well, it caps me, sir, that it do! Mr Landon took pretty welleverything away that I thought we wanted, and now he says that we're toleave the miserable little lot he chose himself. "

"Yes, " said Frank quietly. 

"The only thing we're taking plenty of, it seems to me, is physic. "

"But you've packed the shaving tackle, Sam?" said Frank hastily. 

"Oh, yes; that goes in my pockets, sir; but one can't live on a wash andbrush-up, and one wants something else on a journey besides soap. Seemsto me, sir, that the doctor thinks a little physic's the best thing tohave with us, because it spoils the appetite and keeps people fromwanting to eat. He's taken plenty of care of the people out yonder, butI should have liked to see him provide a little more for us. "

"Don't be alarmed. I daresay we shall find plenty. "

"From what the people here tell me about the desert, sir, I don't thinkwe shall; but there, I'm not going to grumble, sir. An hour's time, eh?"

"Yes, in less now. Then the Sheikh will be here with the camels. "

"To take us right away into the desert, sir. Do you think he's safe?"

"Yes, of course. "

"Well, I hope he is, sir; but if he means mischief and plays any gameswhen he's got us right away from the police, I just hope he won't ask meto shave his head again. "

"Why?" said Frank, smiling. 

"Why, sir? Well, because it won't be safe. "

It was about nine o'clock, the moon past the full, rising, richly goldenof hue, in the east, and the air moist and fragrant with the cloyingscent of the orange trees, when with a strange feeling of unrealityabout the whole proceeding, the little English party passed the groupsof visitors smoking and chatting in the garden, or listening to thestrains of a very excellent band. It almost seemed to the doctor thathe ought to go and occupy the seat he had found so pleasant on theprevious night; but the professor was by his side talking earnestly ofthe peculiarities of a night ride in the desert, and Frank was closebehind with Sam. 

In another minute they were in an open court, where, looking mysteriousand strange, were a group of about a dozen camels and their leaders, infront of whom stood the figure of the Sheikh, his white robes and turbanlooking thoroughly in keeping with the strangely formed animals, four ofwhich were keeping up a peculiar, querulous, discontented whining grunt, and turning their heads from side to side in their disgust at beingladen with portmanteaus and bags, while their fellows had been allowedto go scot-free. 

And now all seemed more unreal than ever; and anything less like a startupon so dangerous an expedition it would have been impossible toimagine. 

"Ready, Ibrahim?" said the professor. 

"Yes, Excellency, " replied the Sheikh; "it is past the time, and thecamels are loaded. "

Frank looked round the court, where a couple of servants were standingbeneath an arcade, while the moon was just peering over the house in aone-eyed fashion as if watching what was going on; but no one came fromwithin to see the night start being made, and with the feeling of dreamyunreality increasing, the young man replied to the Sheikh's indicationby stepping to the kneeling camel he was to ride. 

"Beg pardon, Mr Frank, " whispered Sam, coming close to his side. "Am Ito ride one of them long-legged things?"

"Yes, of course. You're not afraid?"

"Afraid, sir? Not me. I've rid most everything, and I meant to havegone up to the Zoo for a lesson in camels, only there warn't time. I'mnot afraid, and I'm going to do it, but I do begin to feel as if I oughtto be tied on. "

However, Sam climbed to his strange saddle, as did the rest, and a fewminutes later the silent-pacing, long-legged animals were followingtheir leader out of the court and into the lighted road, down which theystole on in the moonlight like strange creatures in a picture, passingpeople, but taking no one's attention, while more than ever the wholescene appeared to the party like a portion of some dream. 

CHAPTER EIGHT. 

THE DESERT. 

"How are you getting on, Sam?" said Frank, after they had progressedabout a mile, during which the outskirts of the city had given place togarden, cultivated field, trees dotted here and there, and then hedgeswhich looked weird, ghastly, and strange in the moonlight, beingcomposed of those fleshy, nightmare-looking plants of cactus growth, theprickly pears, with their horrible thorns, while more and more the wayin front began to spread out wild, desolate and strange in the soft, misty, silvery grey of the moonlight, through which the long-leggedanimals stalked, casting weird shadows upon the soft, sandy road, andsave for one thing the passing of the little train would have been in anoppressive silence, for the spongy feet of the birdlike animals rose andfell without a sound. 

"How'm I getting on, sir?" was the reply. "Well, about as bad as a mancan. Look at me, sir; there I am. That's my shadder. I don't knowwhat our servants at home would say to see me going along over the sandthis how. Look at my shadder, sir; looks like a monkey a-top of along-legged shed. "

"The shadows do look strange, Sam. "

"Strange, sir? They _look_ horrid. Just like so many ghosts out for aholiday, and it's us. And look at what makes the shadders. They lookcreepy in the moonshine. Why, if we was out on a country road now indear old England, and the police on duty saw us we should give 'emfits. "

"Rather startling, certainly, " said Frank. "It does look a weirdprocession. "

"Seems a mad sort of a set out altogether, sir: three British gentlemenand a respectable servant going out for a ride in the night in a placelike this a-top of these excruciating animals, along with so many silentblacks dressed in long white sheets. It all seems mad to me, sir, andas if we ought to be in bed. I fancy I am sometimes, and havinguncomfortable dreams, like one does after cold boiled beef for supper, and keep expecting to wake up with a pain in the chest. But I don't, for there we are sneaking along in this silent way with our tallshadders seeming to watch us. Ugh! It's just as if we were going to dosomething wicked somewhere. "

"It's all so strange, Sam, " said Frank quietly. "You are not used toit. "

"That's true enough, sir, and I don't feel as if I ever should be. Justlook at this thing! It's like an insult to call it a saddle. Saddle!why it's more like--I don't know what; and I've been expecting to havean accident with this stick-up affair here in front. How do you get onwith your legs, sir?"

"Pretty well, " said Frank, smiling. "I've managed better during thepast ten minutes. "

"I wish you'd show me how you do it, sir, for I get on awfully, and I'mthat sore that I'm beginning to shudder. "

"It's a matter of use, Sam. Try and sit a little more upright, likethis. "

"Like that, sir?" said the man, excitedly. "No, thankye, sir. It's badenough like this. I suppose I must grin and bear it. Here, I've triedstraightforward striddling like one would on a donkey, but this beastdon't seem to have no shape in him. Then I've tried like a lady, sitting left-handed with my legs, and then after I've got tired that wayfor a bit, and it don't work comfortable, I've tried right-handed withmy legs. But it's no good. Bit ago I saw one of these niggers shut hislegs up like a pocket foot-rule, and I says to myself, `That's the way, then;' so I began to pull my legs up criss-cross like a Turk in apicture. "

"Well, did that do?" said Frank, listening to the man, for the remarkskept away his own troubled thoughts. 

"Nearly did for me, sir. I had to claw hold like a kitten to the top ofa basket of clothes, or I should have been down in the sand, with thiswicked-looking brute dancing a hornpipe in stilts all over me. Ugh, youbeast! don't do that. "

"What's the matter?" said Frank, as the man shuddered and exclaimed atthe animal he rode. 

"Oh, I do wish he wouldn't, sir. It's just as if he don't like me, anddoes it on purpose. "

"Does what?"

"Turns his head and neck round to look at me, just like a big giantgoose, and he opens and shuts his mouth, and leers and winks at me, sir. It gives me quite a turn. It's bad enough when he goes on steady, butwhen he does that I feel just as I did when we crossed the Channel, andas if I must go below. I say, sir, can a man be sea-sick with riding ona camel?"

"I don't know about sea-sick, Sam, " said Frank, laughing outright, "butI really did feel very uncomfortable at first. The motion is sopeculiar. "

"Ain't it, sir?" cried Sam eagerly. "Beg your pardon sir, for sayingit, but I am glad you felt it too. It upset me so that I got thinkingI'd no business to have left my pantry, because I wasn't up to this sortof thing. "

"Cheer up, and make the best of it, " said Frank quietly. "You'll soonget accustomed to what is very new to us all. "

"I will, sir. I'll try, but everything seems to be going against me. Ugh! Look at that now. Ugh! the smell of it!"

"Smell? Why, I only notice the professor's pipe. "

"Yes, sir, that's it. It seems horrid now, and there he sits with thatlong, snaky pipe and his legs twisted in a knot, smoking away ascomfortably as the old Guy Fox in the tablecloth that I shaved. He wentto sleep and nodded, for I watched him, and he keeps on see-sawing andlooking as if he'd tumble off; but he seems to be good friends with hiscamel, for it kept on balancing him and keeping him up. I wish I couldgo to sleep too. "

"Well, try, " said Frank. 

"Try, sir? What, to wake up with a bump, and sit in the sand seeingthis ridgment of legs and shadows going off in the distance? No, thankyou, sir. They tell me there's lions and jackals and hyaenas out here. No, thankye, sir; I'm going to fight it out. "

Just then the professor checked his camel and tried to bring italongside of the pair behind, when a struggle ensued, the quaint-lookingcreature refusing to obey the rein or to alter its position in thetrain, whining, groaning, and appealing against force being used toplace it where it made up its mind there must be danger. 

"That's how those brutes that are carrying the luggage went on, sir, "whispered Sam to Frank. "Groaning and moaning and making use of allsorts of bad language. One of 'em kep' it up just like a human being, and it was as if he was threatening to write to the Society for thePrevention of Cruelty to Animals for them to put a stop to our ill-usinghim and tying heavy things on his back and making creases with ropes onhis front--I mean his underneath, sir. "

Just then one of the Sheikh's followers, who had seen the trouble, camefrom where he was walking beside the baggage camels, and led theobstinate animal to where it was required to go, and it ceased itsobjections. 

"Fine animals for displaying obstinacy, Frank, " said the professor. 

"Yes; they'd beat donkeys of the worst type. "

"I daresay they would; but they have plenty of good qualities to make upfor their bad ones. How do you like the riding?"

"I'll tell you when I've had some more experience. At present it wouldnot be fair. "

"Perhaps not, " said the professor. "How do you get on, Sam?"

The butler groaned. 

"Hullo! Is it as bad as that?"

"Worse, sir, ever so much. Couldn't I have a donkey, sir? I saw somefine ones in Cairo well up to my weight. "

"I'm afraid not, Sam. But you'll soon get used to the animal you areriding. "

"Never, sir, never, " said Sam. 

"Nonsense, man! Once you get used to the poor creatures you will thinkit delightful. I could go to sleep on mine, and trust it to keepambling along. "

"Do what, sir?"

"Ambling gently. "

"Then yours is a different sort, sir, to mine. Ambling's going like alady's mare does in the Park, isn't it?"

"Yes, Sam; that's quite correct, I believe. "

"This one don't, sir, a bit. If you shut your eyes and hold tight, sir, you forget that he's an animal, but begin thinking he must be what heseems like to me--a sort of giant sea-goose with you on his back and himswimming in rough water and going up and down horrid. "

"Oh, that's the peculiarity of the creature's pace. I'm used to it, andI find the elasticity most enjoyable. "

"Elastic, sir? Yes, that's just it, sir; elastic. A bit back he wasgoing on like an Indy-rubber ball; one o' that sort, sir, as is all windand skin. Made me wish he was one, and that I'd got a pin in my hand. "

"Oh, never mind, my lad, " said the professor good-humouredly; "its roughwork to learn riding a horse, but once you've mastered the task it'spleasant enough. What do you think of the desert, Frank?"

"Do you consider that we have reached the desert now?" was the reply, asSam fell back a little, leaving them to converse. 

"Oh, yes; we've left the cultivated ground behind, and right away southand west now, saving a _few_ oases, there's nothing but the sandcovering all about here the ruins of ancient cities. I believe if wedug anywhere here we should find traces--buildings, temples, or tombs. "

"Has there been cultivation, too, here?"

"No doubt. It only wants water, sandy as it is, for it to break outblushing with soft green. "

"Where does the Nile lie from here?"

"Away to the left. "

"Shall we see its waters when the morning comes?"

"No; we are going farther and farther away to a bit of an oasis wherethe Sheikh's people are gathered with their flocks. They find pasturethere at this time of year, and a little employment with the travellerswho come to Cairo. In the summer time, when the city is pretty wellempty, they go right away to some high ground where it is rocky andfairly fertile. We shall reach the present camp before the sun gets hotin the morning. "

"How is the doctor getting on?" asked Frank, after a pause. 

"Pretty well. It makes him a little irritable, so I don't think I'd askhim. He is enjoying the night ride, though. "

Sam sighed and said to himself--

"He says that because he wants to make the best of it, but I'm not goingto believe my poor guv'nor's enjoying this. He's wishing himself backin Wimpole Street, I know. "

"What's that?" said Frank suddenly. 

"What? I see nothing. "

"No, no. I mean that wild cry. "

"Only a jackal. I daresay if you listen you will hear another answerit. Pleasant note, isn't it?"

"Horrible! It sounded like some poor creature in pain. "

"Hungry, perhaps, " said the professor coolly. "Fine, wild, weirdprospect, this, eh?"

"It seems very dream-like and strange. "

"Yes, it impressed me like that at first. After a while you begin tothink of how delightful it is, and what a change from pacing over theburning sand in the daylight with the sun making the air quiver and glowlike a furnace, and your mouth turn dry and lips crack with the parchingyou have to undergo. "

"Shall we have to journey much by night?"

"Oh, yes; we shall do most of our marching then, but we need not troubleabout that. Ibrahim will do what is best. I have had a long talk withhim, and he proposes to go in a roundabout way for the enemy's camp. "

"What! not go straight there?"

"No; it would mean suspicion. We must not go there unasked. "

"Landon!" said Frank appealingly. 

"It is quite right, and even if it takes time it will be the surest way. Ibrahim says that if the Hakim performs a few cures as we get nearer, the news thereof will reach the Khalifa's camp, where men die off inhundreds, and after a time he will be sure to send for us. Just thinkof the difference in our reception. "

Frank nodded. 

"In the one case we should be received with suspicion and most probablyturned back, perhaps be made prisoners; while, if at the new Mahdi'swish we are sent for, we go there in triumph, and are respected and welltreated by everyone. "

"Yes, yes; but the time will be passing away so swiftly, and that poorfellow lying in agony and despair. "

"Yes, but the more reason for being cautious. We must not build thecastle of our hopes upon the sand, Frank. I know it seems very hard, and no doubt I sound cold-blooded for agreeing so readily to this Arab'sproposals, but I speak from ten years' experience of the old fellow. Hehas thrown himself heart and soul into the adventure, and he is wellworthy of our trust; so, even at the expense of going against your ownwishes now and then, give way and follow out the old man's advice, evenwhen he would be ready to give way to you. "

"I'll do my best, " said Frank; "but it seems to me that I have alreadybound _myself_ down to profound obedience in all things by undertakingto go as a slave. "

"Well, yes, that does bind you, certainly, " said the professor. 

"But what about these men that the Sheikh is taking with us? They willbe in the secret. "

"Of course. "

"Suppose they betray what I am. "

"That would mean betraying their Sheikh. You need have no fear ofthat. "

"Well, let's talk about something else. We are bound now for theSheikh's encampment. What is going to be done first when we get there?"

"We put off Europe and put on Africa as far as is necessary. "

"Hah!" said Frank, with a sigh. 

"What does that mean, my lad?" said the professor sternly. "Are youbeginning to repent?"

"Repent!" said Frank between his teeth. "What a question! I am longingto commence, for so far everything has been preparation. "

"And a very brief preparation, " said the professor, "if you come tothink of how short a time it is since you dashed in upon us after dinnerthat evening with your news. "

"Well, don't reproach me, Landon. "

"Not I, my lad. I know what you must feel. All I want of you now isfor you to play the stoic. Make up your mind that you have done yourutmost to set the ball rolling; now let it roll, and only give it atouch when you are asked. Believe me that you will be doing your bestthen. "

"I will try, " said Frank firmly. "Only give me time. I am schoolingmyself as hardly as I can. It is a difficult part to play. "

The professor reached out his hand and gripped his young companion'sshoulder firmly, riding on for some minutes without relaxing his grasp, the touch conveying more in the way of sympathy than any words wouldhave done, while the discomforts of the novel ride seemed to die away, and the soft dreaminess of the night grew soothing; the vast silverygrey expanse, melting away in its vastness, became lit-up with a fainthalo of hope, and with his spirits rising, Frank seemed another man whenthe professor spoke again--

"Bob Morris will be feeling neglected. "

"Go to him, then, " said Frank quietly. 

"No; you go first. But there's nothing like making a beginning atonce. "

"In what way?" asked Frank, for his companion paused. 

"Begin treating him as what he is to be till our task is done--thelearned Hakim; and begin to school yourself into acting as his slave. "

"Now?"

"Why not? I spoke of him just now as Bob Morris. That's the last timetill we are safely under the British flag again. "

"Yes, you are right, " said Frank, and urging on his camel the animalstepped out and passed of its own accord alongside that of the doctor, who uttered a sigh of relief as he saw who it was. 

"That's better, Frank, " he said. "I was beginning to feel a bit lonely, for this ride is not very cheerful, and the bringing of fresh musclesinto play is producing aches and pains. "

Frank raised his hands to his head, and bowed down. 

"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor; "not such a very bad imitation of asalaam. What have you two been talking about?"

Frank raised his hand, and saw that his tall shadow was repeating theaction, as he pointed straight ahead. 

"About our journey's end, eh?" said the doctor. "That's right. I shallbe glad to get there and lie down, if it is only upon the sand. How doyou get on with your camel?"

Frank made a despairing gesture. 

"Same here, " said the doctor. "I wish we could have had some lessonsfirst. But use is second nature, and I suppose this weary, achingsensation of being waved about in the air will soon pass off. But Isay, Frank, my lad. "

Frank turned to him. 

"There, that will do for to-night, " said the doctor pettishly. "Ihaven't cut your tongue out yet, so just talk like a Christian. Thisvast open place seems to sit upon my spirits, especially now that we'remaking this night journey instead of lying comfortably in our beds. Talk to me. You've done acting enough for the present. "

"Very well, " said Frank quietly; "but Landon thinks with me, that thesooner I begin to play my part the sooner I shall make myself perfect. "

"Well, yes, of course, " grunted the doctor; "but leave it till we put onour costumes. I say, I think this Sheikh is all right. "

"Yes; I have perfect faith in him now. "

"So have I. He's a fine old fellow; there is no doubt about that. ButFrank, my lad, I don't think I could have kept this up much longer ifyou had gone on with that dumb-motion business. It only wanted that togive me the horrors, for this night ride seems to be about the mostmysteriously weird business possible to conceive. Just look at theghostly appearance of the camels and their leaders, the long, stronglymarked shadows, and the mysterious light! I can't get away from theidea that it is all a dream. "

"That is how it has been impressing us, " replied Frank. 

"And no wonder. Everything is terribly unreal, and between ourselves Iam beginning to lose heart. "

"You?" said Frank reproachfully. "You, the calm, grave surgeon, accustomed to terrible scenes, to awful emergencies where men's livesdepend upon your coolness and that calm, firm manner in which you faceall difficulties!"

"Yes, at home and in my proper place. But here I seem to bemasquerading--playing, as it were. "

"Playing!" said Frank reproachfully. 

"Well, I hardly mean that, my dear boy, " said the doctor softly; "butall this is so strange and--well, yes--risky. "

"Yes, it is risky, " said Frank sadly, "but--"

"Yes, I know, " said the doctor, interrupting; "I do think of why we aredoing it, and I can't help shrinking a bit and doubting my nerve tocarry it all through. If I break down in any way I shall sacrifice theliberty if not the lives of you all. It is this that makes me feeldoubts about my nerve. "

"I have none whatever, " said Frank quietly. "You know how often youhave talked to me about the operations you have performed. "

"Well, yes, I have talked to you a good deal both before and after someof them. Harry and I always opened out our hearts to one another, andwhen he went away he asked me to make you his substitute--to take hisplace with you. "

"So like Hal, " said Frank softly. "Well, and so you have. "

"Have I, lad? Well, I have tried, and it has been very pleasant to haveyou come to me to chat over your experiences and successes and failures, and to tell you mine. "

"You have made more of a man of me, " said Frank softly; "often and oftenwhen I have felt that I was only an ignorant, blundering boy. "

"I never saw much of the ignorance or blundering, " said the doctorquietly. "You were always too enthusiastic over your studies for that. "

"Never mind about my qualities, " said Frank, with a little laugh; "it islike trying to put me off from talking about you. As I was going tosay, don't you remember telling me that whenever you were going toperform an operation upon some poor suffering fellow-creature you alwaysfelt a strong sensation of shrinking and want of nerve?"

"Of course. I always do. "

"And that you always prayed that your efforts might be rightly guided?"

"Yes, " said the doctor, very softly and slowly. 

"And that the next day when you went into the operating theatre andstood there with the patient before you, the students and surgeons withyour assistants about you ready for the task, you always felt as calmand cool as possible, and that your nerves were like steel?"

"Yes! It is so. "

"Then why should you feel doubt now? I have none. "

The doctor was silent for a few minutes as they rode on through themysterious-looking night, their shadows bowing and undulating on thesand. 

"I suppose it is the same, " he said at last, "with the soldiers goinginto some engagement. There is the feeling of nervousness which theysuffer from till the stern work begins, and then--well, they act asbrave men do act. "

"Even if they are generals in the great fight with disease and death, "said Frank gravely. "I wish I could feel as sure of our ultimatesuccess as I do of your being perfectly calm and self-contained in allyou do. "

"I should be, my dear boy, " said the doctor, "if I could only get rid ofthe feeling that I shall be an impostor. "

Frank laughed pleasantly. 

"That feeling troubling you again?" he said. "How absurd! Are yougoing to cheat the poor creatures you attend with sham medicines?"

"Am I going to do what?" said the doctor indignantly. 

"And play tricks with the wounds they are suffering from?"

"My dear Frank!"

"And make believe to extract bullets and sew up wounds, or set brokenbones?"

"My good lad, are you talking in your sleep? Did I ever do anything butmy very best for the poor creatures to whom my poor skill wasnecessary--did I ever give less attention to the humblest patient than Ido to the wealthiest or highest in position?"

"Never, " said Frank warmly. "That big, generous disposition of yourswould never have allowed it. "

"Then why did you talk in so absurd a strain?" Frank laughed merrily, and for the time being he was the schoolboy again. 

"Please, sir, " he said mockingly, "it wasn't me. Answer me first, " hecried. "Why do you talk about feeling like an impostor? Why, "continued the young man warmly, "I feel as if through my plan I am goingto heap blessings upon mine enemy's head. I am taking you through thiscountry, amongst these cruelly savage people, to do nothing but good. Wherever you go your name will be blessed; they will think of the GreatHakim as long as they live. "

"Look here, young man, " said the doctor playfully, "I've made a mistaketo-night. You began to play your part very nicely, and you were asquiet as a dumb waiter--that old black mahogany one in the dining-roomat home. Then for company's sake I stopped you, and here is theconsequence. You took advantage of the liberty given you, and at oncedeveloped into a base flatterer, putting your adulation into all theflowery language you could muster. Now, no more of it, if you please. There, to speak soberly and well: Frank, lad, I am not the great, learned Hakim of your young imagination, but the hard-working studentwho tries his best to acquire more and more knowledge of our fallenhuman nature so as to fight against death like an earnest man. I knowsomething of my profession, and I work hard, and always shall, to knowmore, so as to apply my skill in the best way. Please God, I hope to doa great deal of good during this our journey, and I promise you that Iwill think only of this application of my knowledge. Yes, I feel nowthat I can go on and face all that I have to do, for I shall not be sucha sorry impostor, after all. "

"Isn't it my turn now for a chat?" said the professor. "You two seem tobe having a most interesting discussion, and it's very dull back here. The Sheikh is fast asleep on his camel, and poor Sam has becomespeechless with misery, in spite of all I could say to him aboutmastering the art of camel-riding. He says he can't get over thefeeling that he is at sea. How are you two getting on?"

"Better, I suppose, " said the doctor, "for I have not thought so much ofthe motion lately. I suppose I'm getting used to it. "

"And you, Frank?"

"I had forgotten it too till you spoke. But I am utterly tired out. How long will it be before we get to the tents?"

"Oh, hours yet, " said the professor cheerfully. 

"What!" cried the doctor and Frank in a breath. 

"Not till well on in the morning, " said the professor; and then, as hiscompanions turned to gaze at one another in dismay, "but we're going tohalt soon, to rest the camels and--ourselves. "

CHAPTER NINE. 

THE HAKIM BEGINS. 

The professor had hardly finished speaking when something dark loomed upthrough the silvery gloom, and the camels began making a peculiar, complaining sound, while they slightly increased their pace and soonafter stopped short, craning their necks and muttering and grumblingpeevishly. 

A water-hole had been reached, where the beasts were refreshed, afterthey had been relieved of their living burdens--those which were loadedwith the travellers' baggage having to be content with a good drink andthen folding their legs to crouch in the sand and rest. 

"Yes, it's all very well, Mr Frank, " said Sam, "but I don't believethat thing which carries me is half so tired as I am. Oh my!See-sawing as I've been backwards and forwards all these hours, till myspinal just across the loins feels as if it had got a big hinge made init and it wanted oiling. "

"Lie flat down upon your back and rest it. "

"But won't the grass be damp, sir?"

"Grass?" said Frank, smiling. "Where are you going to find it?"

"I forgot, sir, " said the man wearily. "No grass; all sand. That comesof being used to riding in a Christian country. "

"That's right, " said the professor, joining them, for Frank had set Samthe example and was lying flat on the soft sand. "I've just beentelling the Hakim to do so. Don't sit down to rest out here; lie flatwhenever you get a chance. It does wonders. Are you thirsty, Frank?"

"Oh no, " was the reply. 

"That comes of travelling by night. If we had come this distance underthe burning sun we should have been parched. "

"Better move, hadn't we?" said Frank, a minute or two later, as heglanced significantly towards Sam. 

"I think we had, " replied the professor, laughing. "I thought it wasone of the camels. "

The sound that came regularly was not unlike that uttered by one of thegrumbling creatures, but it was due to their man's ways of breathing inhis sleep, for not many seconds had elapsed before he had forgotten allhis weariness, and the troubles of the first lesson in camel-riding, ina deep slumber which lasted through the two hours' halt, during whichthe Sheikh and his men had sat together and smoked in silence, whileFrank and his companions had lain chatting in a low tone about thebeauty of the moon-silvered rocks and the soft, transparent light whichspread around. 

At last the Sheikh rose and stalked softly towards them in his longwhite garments, looking thoroughly in keeping with the scene, and madehis customary obeisance. 

"Are their Excellencies rested?" he asked gravely. 

"Oh, yes; let us get on, " said the professor, looking at his watch. "Four o'clock. I did not know it was so late. How are you, Frank?Stiff?"

"Terribly. "

"Yes, " said the doctor, stretching himself. "We have been giving someidle muscles work to do that they had never had before. "

"Their Excellencies will soon be as much used to it as their friend, "said the Sheikh; and he led the way towards where the camels crouched, some moving their under jaws, chewing after their fashion, others withtheir long necks stretched straight out and their heads nestling in thesand. 

"Here, Sam, " cried the professor, breaking the silence that reignedaround, and his words were echoed from the rocks on the far side of thewater-holes. 

But the man's reply was only a gurgling, camel-like snore. 

"Sound enough, " said the professor; and he was stepping towards him, butFrank interposed. 

"I'll wake him, " he said. "The poor fellow feels fagged andlow-spirited. We must not be hard upon him. He hasn't our motive tospur him on. "

"No, " said the professor, "but he must try and brace himself up a bit. "

"Give him time, " replied Frank, and he bent down on one knee--prettystiffly too--and laid his hand upon the sleeper's breast. 

"Come, Sam, " he said; "we're ready to start. "

But there was no reply, and the touch had to be followed up by a shake, and that by one far more vigorous, before there was a loud yawn, and twofists were thrown out in a vigorous stretch. 

"What's the matter? Night bell?"

"Wake up, man. "

"Eh? Who is it?--Where am I?--You, Mr Frank?"

"Yes. Your camel is waiting for its load. Up with you!"

"Oh, Mr Frank, " moaned the poor fellow, "never mind me. I'm about donefor. "

"Nonsense, man! Don't let the professor see how weak you are. "

"But I can't help it, sir. I'm that sore all over that it's just as ifI'd been broken. Go on and leave me; I ain't a bit o' good. "

"Leave you here in the desert to die?"

"Yes, sir; it don't matter a bit. I'm regularly done for. "

"Nonsense! Rouse yourself like a man. "

"I couldn't do it, sir. I only want to lie still and die decently. Daresay the next people who come along will cover me over with a bit ofsand. "

Frank laughed. 

"I do call that unfeeling of you, sir, " moaned the poor fellow. "It'sheartless, that it is!"

"I can't help it, Sam, " said Frank merrily; "the idea is so absurd. "

"What, me dying out here in the desert?"

"No, what you said about being covered over with the sand. "

"I don't see anything absurd, sir. It's very horrible. "

"Not a bit, " said Frank. "There wouldn't be anything to bury. "

"What!" said Sam, rising up on one elbow and staring wildly at thespeaker. 

"You see, there are the vultures to begin with, and then there would bethe jackals. "

"Ugh! Don't, Mr Frank, " cried the poor fellow, shuddering. "I neverthought about them. That's worse than the camel. "

"Ever so much, " said Frank. "Come, be a man. How do you spell`pluck'?"

"I dunno, sir, " whined the poor fellow. "I suppose it would be with avery small `p'. "

"Try and spell it with a big capital, Sam. Come, don't let the doctorfeel ashamed of you. "

"But I don't seem to mind anything now, sir. "

"Yes, you do, Sam. You came to help us, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir, I did, but--"

"Are you going to break down over the first difficulty. "

"No, I ain't, sir. I--oh dear!--oh my!--I--ugh! what a scrunch!--Hah!Would you mind lending me a hand, sir?"

"Not a bit, Sam, " said Frank. "I'll help you in any way, as you willme; but I want to see you master all this. "

"That's right, sir. Here goes, then. "

The next moment the man had made a brave effort, and he walked at onceto his camel and mounted, Frank standing by as the ungainly beastsee-sawed to and fro and sprawled out its legs, and grumbled and snarledas it rose upright. 

"Don't make that row!" cried Sam. "You ought to be used to it by thistime. That's done it, Mr Frank. Don't tell the doctor what I said. "

"Not I, Sam. Bravo! You have plenty of pluck, you see. "

"Have I, sir?" said the man pitifully. "I began to think I hadn't abit. It had got to the bottom somewhere. "

"Yes, " said Frank; "now keep it up at the top. "

In another minute the little camel train was steadily pacing on againover the sands, with the air feeling fresher. The moon, too, wasbeginning to cast the shadows in a different direction, while the wholeparty had become silent, no one feeling the slightest inclination totalk. 

But it did not seem long now before the silvery radiance of the moonbegan to grow pale before the soft opalescence in the east, and thefar-spreading desert sands took a less mystic tint. Then all at oncefar on high there was a soft, roseate speck, which grew orange and thengolden as if it were the advance guard of the gathering array ofdazzling hues which now rapidly advanced till the east blazed with aglory wondrous to behold. 

"Your first desert sunrise, Frank, " said the professor quietly, as hesaw the young man's rapt gaze. "Ah, we have some splendid sky effectshere to make up for the want of flower and tree! The desert has gloriesof its own, as you will see. "

For the next half hour Frank forgot his weariness, the want of sleep, and his anxieties in the grandeur of the scene around, as the glories ofthe day expanded till the sun rose well above the horizon, sending theshadows of the camels long and strange over the yielding sand. Thenhour after hour the monotony increased, and the silence grew moreoppressive, the heat harder to bear, and but for the calm, contentedease exhibited by the Sheikh and his men, and the example they feltbound to show to their followers, both the Doctor and Frank would haveput in a plea for another halt. 

As it was they sat firmly as they could, swaying to and fro with themonotonous motion of the camels, and growing more and more faint, whileat last Frank spoke to the Sheikh to set one of his young men to keep aneye upon Sam, for he felt at times too much irritated to meet the poorfellow's pleading eyes, and followed close behind the professor, whokept turning in his seat to make some remark to cheer him up. 

Then apparently all at once, after he had been straining his eyes vainlyover the far-spreading, interminable plain in search of theirhalting-place, the Sheikh rode alongside, smiling and apparently asfresh as when they had started, to point away in the direction they weregoing. 

"The tents, Excellency, " he said. 

Frank felt as if he had taken a draught of renewed life, as he raisedhis hand to his brow and shaded his eyes from the sun. 

"I see nothing, " he said. 

"Look again, Excellency. Your eyes are not used to the desert. There, straight past the Hakim's camel. "

"Ah, yes! I can see something like a heap of sand. "

"Look again in half an hour, " said the Sheikh smiling, "and that whichyou see will have changed to something more than a heap of sand. "

"Can you make out the tents, Landon?" said Frank. 

"Oh, no; my eyes are not like Ibrahim's, " was the reply; "but I take itfor granted, and I shall be very glad to get there. I want my breakfastbadly. I say, Ibrahim, there will be some coffee?"

"I sent one of my sons yesterday with two camel-loads of necessaries, Excellency, " replied the old Arab. "They can see us coming, for theywill have been watching, and there will be all their Excellencies need. "

"Come, Frank, that does you good, doesn't it?" said the professor. 

"Oh, yes; and I shall, I hope, make a better show of endurance after aday or two. "

"The young Excellency has done well, " said the Sheikh, smilingpleasantly. "The way is long; he is not accustomed to travelling likethis, and his mind is not at rest. He and the Hakim have borne the ridewell. "

"Does the Hakim know that we are in sight?" said Frank, who was watchingthe bent, weary figure in front. 

"No, Excellency. "

"I'll go and cheer him up with the news, " said the professor, urging onhis camel, while Frank checked his to let Sam's long-legged steed comeabreast, and boldly now met the poor fellow's appealing eyes. 

"It's you at last, Mr Frank, " said the man faintly. "I've been askingthat native chap how long a man could go on like this before he'sknocked over by the sun. "

"And what does he say?" replied Frank cheerily. 

"Only grunted like this beast does. I might just as well have askedit. "

"Feel very tired, then?"

"Tired, sir? I feel as if--as if--as if--"

"As if you wanted rest and a good breakfast. "

"Rest?--breakfast?" said Sam faintly. "Oh, don't talk about suchthings, sir! if it's only to keep me lingering on for another hour, sir. Mr Frank, I used to grumble sometimes in Wimpole Street about mypantry being dark and made mizzable by the iron bars and the old, yellowish, wobbly glass; but it seems a sort of place now as I'd giveanything to get back to--parrydicey, and that sort of thing. Rest--breakfast! There can't be either of them out here, only sand. Oh, sir, you're a-laughing. I know what you're going to say. You're going tomake jokes about the breakfast, and say we're to have the sand which isthere. "

"Wrong, Sam, " replied Frank laughing; "but I'm glad to see that you canthink about jokes. There, sit up, man, and look yonder straight ahead. The tents are in sight. "

"Tents? Where?" cried the man, changing his tone. "I can't see 'em. "

"They are not very plain yet, but there they are. "

"White uns, sir, with flags flying, and that sort of thing? What arethey--marquees, or bell-tents like the soldiers have?"

"I don't suppose they are either, but native tents, " said Frank, shadinghis eyes again. "They look very low and small, right away on thehorizon, and they seem to be brown. "

"On the horizon, sir? Why, that means out at sea, and we sha'n't bethere before night. "

"Well, right away on the horizon of this sea of sand, " said Frankcheerfully; "but I don't think we are above a mile or two away. "

"Oh!" groaned Sam. "Say two miles, then, and chuck in another becauseplaces are always farther away than you think. Three miles, and we'regoing a mile an hour. Mr Frank, sir, have you got a pencil and a bito' paper?"

"Yes, in my pocket-book. Will you have them now?"

"Me, sir, " said the man faintly. "I couldn't write, sir; I want you todo it for me. "

"A letter? Well, when we get to the tents. "

"No, sir, now. I sha'n't live to see no tents. There ain't much, sir;only a silver watch and chain, a bit in the Post Office Savings Bank, and my clothes, as my brother 'll be very glad to have. "

"Oh, I see! you want to make your will, Sam, " said Frank seriously. 

"That's it, sir; and you'd better write it as plain as you can, sir, soas there sha'n't be no mistakes after, and I dessay I can manage to makemy cross. "

"A will made on a camel in the desert, Sam!" said Frank seriously. "Rather a novelty in wills, eh? Better wait till after breakfast. "

"Breakfast, sir?"

"The Sheikh says there'll be coffee. "

"Coffee out here, sir?"

"Yes, and these people know what good coffee is. "

"Yes, sir; it was very good at the hotel. 'Most as good as ours athome. "

"And he said that he sent two camel-loads of necessaries on before usyesterday. "

"He did, sir?" said Sam, whose voice sounded stronger. 

"Yes, and look now: the tents are getting quite plain. They lookpeculiar, and there are camels about them, and there are green trees--palms, I think. There must be a water-hole there, I suppose. "

"Yes, I can see the trees, sir--toy-shop sort o' trees. "

"Here's a man coming to meet us on a camel too--a man all in white. "

There was a pause for a few minutes, during which period the camelsstepped out more freely, as they blinked and looked from under theireyelids in a supercilious way, drooping their lips and sniffing as ifthey smelt water. 

"Think there's likely to be a pen and ink yonder, sir?"

"There is with the doctor's medicine chest, I know. "

"These camels do move about in a dreadful, wobbly way, sir, don't they?"

"Yes; but I'm growing more accustomed to the motion already. "

"That's because you're young, sir, and not set like I am. But I wasthinking that it would be rather hard to write plain, going as we are. "

"Very, Sam. "

"And there are so many troubles about wills when the lawyers get hold of'em, and often just about a word or two. "

"Quite true, Sam, " said Frank seriously. 

"You see, there's a nice bit of money I've saved up, sir--over fiftypound--and I shouldn't rest easy if it all went in law through the willbeing made hasty like. P'r'aps it would be better if we stopped till wegot to the tents. What do you say, sir? Might be a table there for youto write on. "

"Well, I feel very doubtful about the table, Sam; but I can't helpthinking that I could write a good deal more clearly lying on the sandwith the paper on a box or a biscuit-tin. "

"Yes, sir, I feel sure it would be better to wait now, and I'll riskit. "

"Risk what--the writing?"

"No, sir; holding out till we get to the tents. Seems as if we shallget there a bit sooner than I thought for. "

"Oh, yes! we shall be there in less than half an hour. "

"Soon as that, sir?"

"Yes. "

"Think I can hold out till then?"

"If you try very hard, Sam, " said Frank seriously. "You seem terriblyknocked up; but I feel in hope that a good breakfast and a few hours'sleep will do you a lot of good, and then if the doctor takes you inhand, you will feel a different man by to-morrow. "

"To-morrow, sir? Think I shall ever see to-morrow?"

"I hope so. Ah, here's the man from the tents! What a good-lookingyoung Arab he seems, and what a clean-limbed, swift camel he is on--abeauty!"

"Ugh! Don't say that, sir. They seem to me the most unnatural-looking, big, birdy creatures I ever set eyes on; and oh, Mr Frank! do you thinkit's possible for a man to get to ride them and like it?"

"Look at that fellow, " said Frank; "he seems as if he were part of thebeast he rides. "

"P'r'aps he is, sir; being a native. "

"Oh, come, Sam, you're getting better, " cried Frank cheerily. "Look, there's a fire outside that tent--two fires. That means cooking, andcooking means breakfast. I feel as if I shall be ready for some afterall. Look at the place here. "

Sam began to grow interested, for they were approaching an oasis of sometwo or three hundred acres in extent, where, consequent upon the wellingup of a spring of water at the foot of a clump of rocks, a few dom anddate palms rose up gracefully, and the ground was covered prettyliberally with closely nibbled-off herbage, and dotted with sheep andgoats, a few camels lying about here and there close to the group ofbooth-like tents, while for three or four hundred yards the course ofthe flowing water which rose from the spring could be clearly traced, bythe richness of the plants and shrubs which owed their existence to itspresence. 

The clump of tents proved to be more extensive than they had seemed tobe at a distance, and the Sheikh's little patriarchal family greaterthan the travellers had anticipated. Children could be seen staringcuriously at the newcomers; dark-eyed women stole from tent to tent, andquite twenty tall, dark, well-featured men came forward to bid themwelcome and relieve the laden camels of their loads; while when theSheikh led the way to the largest tent, into whose shadowy gloom theparty entered with a feeling of relief, it was to find ample traces ofthe fact at which the old man had hinted in conversation, that he wascomparatively wealthy. For the tent boasted divans; handsome carpetswere spread over the sand, and upon one there was that European luxury, a white linen cloth, upon which was already prepared, simple and good, all that was necessary for the welcome breakfast, while in a little sidetent, greatest luxury of all, there were brass basins, towels, and greatearthen vessels full of clear, cool water. 

"Hah, Sheikh, " said the doctor, with a sigh of relief, "this is grand!I'm coming to life again. "

"I am glad the learned Hakim is satisfied with his servant'spreparations, " said the Sheikh humbly. "There will be breakfast in avery short time. It was hastened by the women as soon as the camelscame in sight. "

"But of course we cannot travel with tents like this, " said the doctor. 

"Oh, no, Excellency, " replied the Sheikh; "only two that will besmaller; but everything necessary for their Excellencies' comfort willbe done. It will be right, and impress the Baggara and others of theMahdi's followers. For the Hakim is not a poor dervish who tries tocure; he is a great Frankish doctor who travels to do good. He does nottreat the sick and wounded to be paid in piastres, or to receive gifts, but because he loves to cure the suffering. "

"Quite right, " said the doctor gravely. 

"Then it is right and fit that he should travel with good tents andcamels, and such things as suit his dignity. "

"But this will be travelling like an eastern prince, " said the doctor, who was beaming with satisfaction, after a refreshing sluice in somecool water. 

"A learned Hakim such as his Excellency Landon assures me that you are, is greater than any eastern prince, " said the Sheikh, handing a freshbath-towel; "and I have a petition to make to his Excellency. "

"A petition? What is it, Ibrahim?"

"I have a son here, Excellency; he is my youngest, and the light of myold eyes, but he is weak and sickly, and there are times when I feelthat I am fighting against fate, and that it would be better that Ishould let him die in peace. But I love him, and I would have him live. Will the Hakim see the boy and say whether he is to live or die?"

"Yes. What is his ailment?"

"It was through a fall from a camel. A fierce old bull rushed at theyoung one he rode, and fell upon him and crushed him. "

"Ah, I see, " said the doctor. "That is in my way. "

"Then the learned Hakim will see the boy?"

"Yes, at once. Where is he?"

"No, no, not at once, " said the Sheikh. "Poor Hassan has waited threeyears; he can wait another hour till the Hakim has eaten and rested. Then his Excellency will be refreshed, his eyes will see more clearly, and may be then he will be able to make an old man's heart rejoice. Ifit is not to be--well, His will be done. "

"Yes, " said the doctor gravely, as he laid his hand upon the Sheikh'sarm. 

"And there are other sufferers here, Excellency, who would pray to youfor help, for we are not free from the ills which afflict mankind. Amother would ask you if her little one will live. There is a littlegirl whose sight is nearly gone, and one of my young men whose brokenleg does not grow together again. Shall we be asking too much of theHakim if we say, look at these sufferers and give them words of comfortif you can give them nothing more, not even hope?"

"I am a learned Hakim, you say, Sheikh, and I have come out here to usemy knowledge without fee or reward. Heaven helping me, I hope to domuch good, and I place myself in your hands. You will lead us where youthink best, and you will bring the people whom I ought to see. That isenough. "

"Yes, Excellency, and as soon as your friends are ready the breakfastwaits. "

CHAPTER TEN. 

AN OPERATION. 

The meal prepared by the Sheikh's people astounded the little party--there were crisp cutlets, freshly made cakes, bowls of a porridge madewith fresh milk and some kind of finely ground grain, and fruit inabundance, while all pronounced the freshly roasted coffee to bedelicious. So appetising did it prove in the pleasant, subdued shadowof the tent, that the weariness of the past night was forgotten by morethan one, for before the meal was at an end Sam made his appearance, washed and refreshed, to help attend to his master's wants, and say inanswer to Frank's inquiries that he couldn't have believed he could feelso much better in so short a time. 

Frank smiled to himself, but he did not allude to the will. It was soonevident, though, that the man had his words upon his conscience, for hekept on giving Frank peculiar, meaning looks, one and all of which wereignored, the only words that passed being later in the afternoon, whenSam suddenly edged up close to his confidant and said--

"It's wonderful what a good rest does for a man, Mr Frank, sir, isn'tit?"

"Wonderful, Sam, " was the reply. "I feel very little the worse for mynight's ride. "

"That's just about like I am, sir, and--"

"I can't stop Sam, " said Frank, interrupting him; "your master wants meagain. "

Frank hurried back to the doctor's side to resume his position ofassistant, for he had been pretty busy making his first essays at thetask which was to be his for many months to come. 

For the Sheikh's son had been seen, examined, and an operationperformed, one of a very simple nature, but sufficient to give instantrelief; while the Hakim's instructions that the lad was to remain lyingdown for a month were not hard for one who had not stood up, save inacute agony, for three years. 

"I am well paid for this operation, Frank, my lad, " said the Hakim, whenhe left the lad's tent; for the old Sheikh had gone down on one knee totouch the hand extended to him. 

"It is a miracle, Excellency, " he said; "but tell me that he will live. "

"It is no miracle, Sheikh, " replied the doctor, "only the result ofstudy and practice. Oh, yes, the boy will live and grow strong. Don'tkneel to me; I am but a man like yourself, and glad to help one who hascome forward so nobly to help us. "

The visit to the sick child was not of so happy a nature, for the Hakimtook the mother's hand sadly, and the Sheikh interpreted his words, thattold how hopeless was the case, and how much better for her that sheshould cease to suffer soon. 

In another tent, though, the Hakim brought light and hope, for thefailing sight, though it would soon have become hopeless, was at a stagewhen a slight operation and the following treatment of keeping the girlin darkness, were sufficient to ensure recovery. 

The next patient was the young Arab suffering from the broken limb, andover this the Hakim's examination, after the poor fellow had limped bythe help of a stick to a rough couch in one of the smaller tents, waslong and careful. 

"The youth is healthy and strong, " the doctor said to the Sheikh and theyoung man's brother, "but the leg will never mend while it is like this. There is diseased bone. "

"Then the Hakim cannot cure him?" said the Sheikh sadly, and thesufferer lay watching anxiously, gazing from one to the other, longingintensely to know the meaning of the words spoken in what was, in spiteof the people of his tribe being so much in touch with the English whocame to Cairo, an unknown tongue. 

"Oh, yes, I can certainly cure him if he is willing to bear some pain, which I will alleviate all I can, and will undertake to wait patientlyafterwards until the broken bones have knit together. "

"Ah, then, " cried the Sheikh, "cure him. He must bear the pain. "

"Ask his consent first, " said the doctor. 

"His?" said the Sheikh, looking wonderingly at the doctor; "he is one ofmy people. I give you my permission. "

"Never mind that. Ask him if he is willing. Who is this?"

"His brother, Excellency. "

"Ask him too. "

The words were interpreted, and the anxious look on the brothers' facesgave place to one of eager hope and pleasure as they heard and replied--

"Yes, Excellency, we beg that you will do what is right, no matter whatpain he suffers. He prays you to make him a man instead of the uselesscripple he remains--useless to himself, a trouble to his friends. "

The Hakim bowed and turned to Frank. 

"You will have to help me, " he said. "I will not ask you if you havethe nerve. There is diseased bone, which must be removed, and he mustbe kept under an anaesthetic, for he could not bear the pain, and hissufferings would hinder me. "

Half an hour later, by the Sheikh's orders, everyone was sent to adistance from the tent, into which the Hakim was watched with looks fullof awe, as he disappeared therein, followed by Frank and the Sheikh, thebrother sitting by waiting, and both looking reverently at the man whoseknowledge was something tremendous in their eyes. 

"Are you going to stay, Sheikh?" said the Hakim. "It would be betterthat you and this young man should go. "

"I should like his brother to stay and see what is done, Excellency, while I--I am the father and chief of my tribe; the people look to me, and it is through me that you are going to do this thing. My peoplewould not be contented if I did not stay. "

"Very well, " said the doctor quietly, and for the next half hour he wasbusily employed, finishing the securing of the last bandage within thattime, while when the patient had fully recovered his consciousness, thecalm look of content and satisfaction with which he smiled up in hissurgeon's face on being told that all was done, augured well for a quickrecovery. 

The Hakim's reputation had been planted that day like so much seedthrown into fertile soil; and as they left the tent after the lastpatient had sunk into a calm sleep, Frank, who had seen the brothersteal out before, now noticed how the people of the tribe were standingabout waiting to see the Hakim return to his own tent, one and all eagerto catch his eye and make obeisance after their fashion to this man, whoseemed greater to them than any chief. 

CHAPTER ELEVEN. 

THE NOMAD LIFE. 

It was settled that a stay of three days was to be made at theencampment, a period that seemed grievously long to Frank; but therewere excellent reasons for the delay. 

The Sheikh said it would take that time to make all the preparationsnecessary for the start; and he advocated the wisdom of the three whowere not accustomed to camel-riding, going out twice each day with someof the young men, so as to grow more at ease. 

On the other hand, the Hakim said that it would be absolutely necessaryfor him to stay that time with his patients, so as to ensure goodfollowing his operations, and this was unanswerable. 

"We shall not be losing time, Excellencies, " said the Sheikh, "for youmust now take at once to the native dress, and assume the characters ofthose you are to represent. "

"But your people here, " said Frank quickly; "is it wise for them toknow?"

The Sheikh smiled. 

"Oh, yes, " he said; "why not? They must know. It is to ensure thesafety of you all from the wild and savage followers of the Mahdi, Ihave told them, and they feel that it is good. No harm can come fromtheir knowing all this. "

"Forgive me, " said Frank quickly. "I feel now that my suspicions wereunworthy. "

"Only natural, Frank, " said the professor quietly. "You do not knowIbrahim and his people as I do. "

"That is my misfortune, " said the young man, smiling. "I am going toknow them as well. "

That evening Sam came to the Hakim's tent to ask if he could do anythingfor his master. 

He found him sitting at the tent door talking with Frank and theprofessor, and the three exchanged glances. 

"Well, no, Samuel, " said the Hakim quietly. "You are tired out withyour long ride. "

"Yes, sir; I ache all over, and my hands are quite shaky. "

"I shall want nothing more. Go and rest yourself, and go to your bed ingood time, so as to get a long night's rest. "

"Thankye, sir; I'm much obliged, sir. I think that is about what I wantto set me right. "

Sam went back to the little tent set apart for him, and lost no time inthrowing himself down upon a rug, to lie listening to the bleating ofthe sheep and goats, mingled with which came at times the moaning andcomplaining of the camels. 

As soon as his back was turned the doctor had laughed softly. 

"I meant to have set him to work to-night, " he said, "over my head; butI don't think his touch would have been very light after his lastnight's work. "

"Oh, no, " said the professor; "besides, you ought to have daylight forthat job. Between ourselves, I shall not be sorry to take to the nativedress again. It is much more suitable for the climate than ours. Ihave used it in a modified form ever since I first came out. The soonerwe begin the better. "

The conversation then turned upon the doctor's patients. 

"So you found them patient patients, " said the professor, smiling. 

"Poor creatures, yes. They seem to have the most unbounded faith inme. "

"Of course, " said the professor; "and a fine thing for them that theyhave, Robert my son. "

"Yes, Fred, old fellow, I suppose it is, for it means quick recovery. Ialways like to have to do with a patient who looks relieved as soon as Icome into the room. He little knows how he is helping me towards hiscure. "

"Poor fellow! he doesn't think, then, of what is to come?"

"His sufferings?" said the doctor. "No, only about how I may be able torelieve them. "

"Didn't mean that, old fellow, " said the professor. "I meant his mentalsufferings over the fees; eh, Frank?"

"Don't try to joke, Fred, " said the doctor; "this place makes me feelsolemn--the gentle calm of the oasis, the trickling of the water in thisthirsty land, and the simple, patriarchal life of the people. "

"Ha, ha!" laughed the professor softly; "hear this Frank?"

"Hear what?" said the young man, in a tone or voice which suggested thatthe calm of the desert was influencing him too. 

"Bob Morris talking as if it wouldn't take much to make him give upcivilisation and take to a nomad life. "

"Well, " said the doctor quietly, "I confess that already I feelsomething of its fascination, and I am glad we have come. All this isgrowing irresistibly attractive. "

"And when I've been at home and have vaunted the beauty of the old, simple, patriarchal life, and told of how I enjoyed it during myEgyptian explorations, you laughed at me, and as good as called me alunatic. What do you say to that?"

"That I spoke in ignorance, old fellow, " said the doctor quietly. "Ofcourse I should not like to give up our civilisation, but for a timethis has a great charm. I feel, too, that we have done very wisely infollowing out Frank's plan. "

"Thank you, " said the young man eagerly. 

"I shall get on famously with these simple people, who will all proveexcellent patients, and the result will be that we shall get in touchwith poor old Harry, and bring him safely away. "

"Yes, we're going to do it, Frank, my lad. It looks easier to me everyhour. "

No more was said for a time, for they all felt the fatigue consequentupon their exertions of the past night, and that it was very deliciousto lounge there in the soft sand, watching the fall of evening with thepaling glories of the most wonderful sunset two of the party had everbeheld. And this was made the more agreeable by the respect with whichthey were treated, their part of the encampment being kept, as it were, sacred, and everything sordid hidden from their sight. 

CHAPTER TWELVE. 

A FIGHT WITH A BLACK. 

Now it so happened that Sam soon ceased to congratulate himself upon hisgood luck. He had thrown himself upon the couch provided for hisresting-place. He had discovered by turning it up that sheep-skins werestretched beneath it to make it soft, and that beneath these the sandwas yielding and dry. But all the same the couch felt hard, and sleepwould not come. 

He tried this side and that side, front after back, and returned to theback; but it was no good, for the fact was that he was over-tired; andover-weariness, that is to say, exhaustion, is one of the worstopponents to a calm and satisfying sleep. 

The evening came on cool and soft after the ardour of the afternoon, andhe began thinking about the proceedings of that time, and felt a littlehurt that the doctor had not called upon him to come and act as hisassistant, and these thoughts lasted him for about an hour, but did notweary him into dropping off to sleep. They seemed to have the contraryeffect, making him irritable; and though he made up his mind to watchthe stars peer out through the opalescent sky--he did not call itopalescent, for the simple word dusky took its place--even their softlight had no effect upon him, and to come to the result at once thewould-be sleeper gave it up at last for a bad job. 

"I'll go and get something to eat and drink, and then try what I cando. "

In this spirit he rose from his couch, feeling stiff and awkward, grunted, stretched, and then stood in the tent door looking out upon theglorious, star-spangled sky, noting that it was lighter towards theeast, where the moon was about to rise. 

"Ought to be able to sleep, " he said. "Nice fine night, and it's allquiet and cool. "

Then his attention was taken up by the soft light which came from thegentlemen's tent, in which a lamp was burning, while some twenty yardsaway another was lighting up the opening of the Sheikh's big tent, showing the figures of the chief and his visitors seated comfortablysmoking, as they conversed in a low voice. 

Sam made up his mind at once. There would be drinking water in a brassvessel in the gentlemen's tent, and perhaps something to eat--somethingto refresh him and give him the night's rest of which he was so sorelyin need. 

Walking across the open space, he turned his head for a moment, attracted by a complaining voice as of some one in trouble, and he wasabout to run off to find out what was the matter. But a repetition ofthe sound made him jerk himself angrily away. 

"One of those beauties!" he muttered. "Talk about a bad-tempered horse, why he's an angel compared to a camel! Of all the disagreeable, whining, sour, vicious things that ever breathed, they seem about theworst. Gritty, that's what they are. Get the sand into their temperswhen they're young, I suppose. --Oh, he's quiet now. Well, it is abeautiful night after all, and the cool air seems to do one good. Iexpect I shall get to like it when I've learnt to ride that brute of acamel, so long as there's no stabbing and spearing and that sort ofthing. "

Sam shook his head very solemnly as these last thoughts came into hishead in company with recollections of scraps he had read in the dailypapers about encounters with the dervishes, and the horrible massacresthey had perpetrated. 

"Seems to me, " he said, "that these people ought to be stopped. If Iwas Government I wouldn't let people go about carrying swords andspears. With things like them fashionable it stands to reason thatthey're sure to want to stick them into somebody. --Ugh! It's veryhorrid. There ought never to be any other fighting than what is donewith a fist. "

Sam had by this time sauntered up to the opening into the gentlemen'stent, and there he paused to look round at the figures by that of theSheikh, before stepping inside in search of what he required. 

The low murmur of conversation came softly to his ears as he looked andthen turned back to enter. 

"Shouldn't a bit wonder if they've got a nice hot cup of coffee there, and that's just the thing that would suit my complaint exactly. Ishould be all right if I was at home, but I sha'n't get it here, and--"

By this time he was half across the roomy, booth-like tent, where hestopped short as if turned to stone in his surprise. For dimly seen bythe light from the hanging lamp, he could see a figure stooping down--through the opening into the inner tent where the water and brass basinsstood ready for washing. 

It was within this place that the leather cases containing thetravellers' clothes and various necessaries had been placed, and overone of these open portmanteaus the dimly seen figure was bending, andfrom the slight noises he made it was evident that he was ransacking thecase in search of something. 

"Oh, " thought Sam excitedly, "that's why I couldn't sleep--sort o'warning like to do my dooty. Thieves, eh? and not a policeman on thebeat!"

Just at that moment the figure straightened itself up, and quick asthought Sam stepped close back to the entrance and behind a hanging rug, which hid him from the figure but enabled him to watch its proceedings. 

Sam's first idea was to shout for help to capture the thief, but hechecked himself. 

"Wouldn't do, " he thought. "This sort's too slippery. He'd be off overthe sands and gone before anyone came. I've got to catch my gentlemanmyself. Wonder whether he has a knife. "

Sam's heart beat fast, but it was with excitement, for there was noleaven of fear. A marauder was robbing his master or one of hismaster's friends, and he felt it to be his duty to capture thescoundrel. At the same time he intended to do this without injury tohimself. 

"Bless him!" he muttered; "if he'll only come close and turn his backI'll have him down on his face in a jiffy, and sit upon him as if he wasa camel. It will be time enough to holloa then. "

Those were exciting moments, and Sam's heart beat faster still as theman stepped softly out of the inner tent and stood for a few momentswhere the dim light of the lamp fell upon him, showing him to be alight, active-looking black in white cotton jacket and short drawers, his arms, breast, and legs from mid-thigh being bare, and glisteningsoftly as he moved, while his eyes rolled and the whites stood outclearly against the dark skin. 

"He'll be hard to hold, " thought Sam, "and I mustn't trust to that thincotton stuff. He'll tear away in a moment. But he hasn't a knife, asfar as I can see. What's he got in his pockets, I wonder. "

Sam wondered more the next moment, as he saw the black dart softly backinto the inner tent and disappear, his bare feet not making a sound. 

"Is there a way out behind there?" the man asked himself, for all wasquiet and the minutes glided by till he was just on the point ofstepping forward to make sure of the enemy's presence, when the blackappeared again, carrying an armful of clothes, which he threw down onthe carpet, and to Sam's great delight dropped upon his knees in thevery position he would have placed him, while the object of his visitwas plainly shown, for he began to rummage the pockets of the garmentsand transfer their contents, the chink of money being heard, and a faintgleam was apparently given forth by something metallic, evidently awatch. 

As Sam saw all this he softly raised his hands to his lips after thefashion of a boy about to moisten them so as to get a good grip. But itwas only in form, and as he did so he stepped softly from behind thehanging rug and then onward slowly to within springing distance, whenwith extended hands he crouched and sprang at the black, landed upon hisback, driving him forward, and gripped him tightly. 

"Got you!" he muttered to himself, and this was perfectly true, but theblack did not lie quiet like the camel Sam had settled himself to ride. For he began to act at once as if made of a combination of steelsprings. He swung himself sidewise as he felt Sam upon his back, disorganised the butler's holding, and behaved in a thoroughly eel-likefashion as he struggled hard to get away. 

It was many years since Sam had engaged in such a struggle, but he hadnot quite forgotten old, boyish encounters. The resistance stirred upthe latent temper within him, and though his holding was not what he hadmeant it to be, it was fast, and he made it tighter, locking arms andlegs about his captive, and the next minute they were rolling over andover, twisting and twining on the carpet, and panting hard as eachstrove for the mastery. 

Sam's intention had been to shout for help as soon as he had seized theblack, but he was too busy holding him, and all recollection of hisplans passed from his memory at once. All he could think of now wasthat he must keep his prize, while it was perfectly evident that hisprize did not mean to be kept, but fought for his liberty with might andmain, while at the first encounter the writhing pair had come in contactwith one of the poles which supported the tent, the lamp had fallen, andthe place now, save for the dim starlight seen through the doorway, wasin utter darkness. 

It was only working by touch, but Sam made good use of his muscles, forgetting all about his stiffness, and for quite a couple of minutesthe panting and scuffling of the wrestling pair went on, till Sam foundhimself upon his back with the black sitting upon his chest and a pairof hands in close proximity to his throat. 

But in spite of his being in the worse position Sam was not beaten. Hehad fast hold of his enemy with his hands, and had thrown up his legs soas to tighten them round those of his foe, and in this position bothheld on as if trying to recover breath. 

Then all at once Sam felt the grip of one of the black's hands loosen, and a horrible thought flashed through his brain--

It was his adversary's right hand, and he was about to seek for hisknife!

"Look here, you black hound, " panted Sam. "If you stab me you'll behung. "

"Sam!" came in a hoarse voice, and the grip slackened. 

"Who are you?" panted Sam. "Why!--what I--'Tain't you, is it, MasterFrank?"

"Oh, you idiot! you fool!"

"But I don't under--I say, Mr Frank, I took you for a nigger. "

"You've dragged me all to pieces, and I'm so hot I--"

"But is it you, Master Frank, dressed up?"

"You knew it was, " cried the young man angrily, as the grasp beingslackened he struggled up, to stand breathing hard. 

"'Strue as goodness, sir, I didn't!" said Sam, rising to his knees. "Oh, just wait till I get my wind again. I say, Mr Frank, you arestrong--strong as--as a donkey. "

"I? Come, I like that!" panted Frank. "I'm a donkey, am I, sir?"

"'Pon my word, Mr Frank, I beg your pardon. I came into the tent andsaw, as I thought, a real nigger robbing the place, and though I feltscared about his having a knife, I went at him, and it was you all thetime. "

"Yes, it was I all the time, " cried Frank angrily. "Why didn't youspeak?"

"Never thought about it, sir. Seemed to me that I ought to catch thethief, and I caught a Tartar instead. "

"It is most vexatious! Oh, how hot I am! Have you got a match?"

"Yes, I've got a box somewhere. "

"Look sharp, then, and light the lamp. "

"All right, sir, " said Sam, fumbling in his box, and proceeding tostrike a light. "I 'spose you've made me in a pretty mess, sir. "

"What! Have I made your nose bleed?"

"Oh, no, sir. I meant the lampblack. I suppose I shall be covered withit. "

"Wait till you get the light, and see, " said Frank sharply. 

_Scratch_! The little wax match flashed, the lamp was picked upuninjured, and after a little trying, burned freely, so that theadversaries could gaze in each other's faces. 

But prior to doing this Sam examined his hands twice over, and thenpassed them over his face. He next took out a pocket-handkerchief andrubbed his face well, bringing away plenty of perspiration, but thelinen remained white. 

"It hasn't come off, sir, " he said, in a tone full of wonder; and then, moistening his handkerchief with his lips, "Beg your pardon, sir, wouldyou mind?"

Frank, whose annoyance was dying out, being driven off by a feeling ofamusement caused by the man's looks of wonder, stood fast while Sampassed his handkerchief over the back of one hand and then drew back, laughing softly. 

"Well, Sam!" he cried. 

"I say, sir, you do look rum! I shouldn't have known you. I don't knowyou now, and I don't believe your own mother would. "

"Then you think the disguise is perfect enough?"

"Disguise, sir? You can't call that a disguise! It's the real thing. Why, you're a downright genuine nigger, that you are!"

"That's right, Sam, " said Frank, smiling now. 

"And the best of it is, sir, that you're regular fast colours. "

"I hope so, Sam. "

"Think you could bear to wash yourself, sir?"

"Oh, yes. It will take weeks to make this look lighter. "

"Well, I call it amazing, sir. There ain't no need for you to mindwhere you go. No dervish could take you for a white man, unless he wasmad. But am I to be painted that colour?"

"No; you will go as you are--the Hakim's white servant. "

"Well, just as you like, sir; I don't mind. I'll be touched up like youare if you think it will be safer for a man. It's wonderful, sir. Andno fear of its showing the dirt. But pst! here's some one coming. Thedoctor and Mr Landon, sir. I thought you were sitting along with them. Have they seen you like this?"

"No, Sam; I was just getting ready for them. "

"Did they know it, sir?"

"No. "

"Then I'll go in yonder. You stop and let 'em catch you sudden like. Just to try if they'll know you. "

Frank nodded, and Sam darted into the inner tent, just havingdisappeared as the professor sauntered in with the doctor, and both drewup short. 

"Hullo, you, sir!" said the professor gruffly, in Arabic; "what businesshave you here?"

Frank made no reply, but edged a little to one side, while at the samemoment the doctor caught sight of the clothes lying on the floor, anduttered an exclamation. 

"Yes, see!" cried the professor. "Robbers, eh? Help me, and we'll tiethis fellow up. "

"Quick, then, " said the doctor. "Look out for his knife. Bah! howabsurd!" he added the next moment, calming down from the excitability hehad displayed. 

"What do you mean?" cried the professor sharply. 

"Don't hold back. Why!--what!--My dear Frank, what a metamorphosis!"

"Yes, " said Frank quietly. "I have passed muster with three of you, soI suppose it will do. "

"Do!" cried the professor. "Why, it is simply admirable. Stop aminute, I'll fetch Sam from his tent and try him. --Eh? You here, sir?"he added, as Sam came out of the inner tent. --"You've seen him, then?"

"Yes, sir, and felt him too!" said the man, and the newcomers heard whathad taken place. 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN. 

BEN EDDIN. 

The Hakim was carefully prepared the next morning for his visit to hispatients, Sam making the preparations, even to the extent of having abrass pot of boiling water for the razors. 

"Seems a pity, sir, " he said, as the three gentlemen sat together in thetent, a turned-up case forming the barber's chair, upon which the doctortook his seat; "master's got such a fine, thick head of hair. "

"Operate, Sam, operate, " said the doctor; and the next minute, comb inone hand, scissors in the other, the man was snipping away, and thedoctor's crisp, dark hair fell rapidly over his shoulders and down abouthim upon the cloth that had been spread. 

Sam's cutting was clever enough, and a pretty good transformation wasproduced even with the scissors, while, when the razor had done itspart, and the finishing touches had been given, the doctor passed hishands over his head and then drew them over his long beard. 

"Like a looking-glass?" said the professor drily. 

"No, thanks. I know my features pretty well, " was the reply. "I shallnot forget them. "

"But don't you want to see the Hakim?"

"No, " said the doctor quietly. "How many years older do I look, Frank?"he added quickly. 

"Twenty, " was the prompt reply. 

"Quite, " said the professor. 

"The clothes the Sheikh sent in, Sam, " said the doctor, after giving anod of satisfaction. "Now then, let me finish the work, so that you maysee whether it will pass muster. "

"I'll keep you company, " said the professor, and he followed his friendinto the further tent, leaving Frank walking thoughtfully up and down, passing and repassing the doorway, till his attention was caught by thetall, stately figure of the Sheikh who was coming across from his ownplace. 

Frank hesitated a moment or two, and then he drew himself up and stoodwaiting with folded arms till the Sheikh reached the entrance, and saidquietly--

"May I enter, O Excellency?"

"Yes, come in, " cried the doctor from the inner tent, and the old Arabbent a little as he came in, and then raised himself erect as he took astep or two into the half light of the shady place, and stopped shortface to face with Frank, at whom for the first few moments he stoodstaring without the slightest sign of recognition in his countenance, while the youth resembled an ebony carving more than a living being. 

"Hah!" said the Sheikh at last. "It is very good, Excellency, verygood. It would deceive me. I should not have known. But the darkstain? Will it come off?"

Frank shook his head. 

"Not if you used water?"

There was another shake of the head. 

"It is good--more than good, " said the Sheikh. "I have come over towalk with the Hakim to see his sick people. Is he ready to go?"

Frank shook his head, and raising a hand slowly pointed to his mouth. 

"Ah, I forgot that, " said the old man, smiling gravely. "It is verygood indeed; but can you keep this painful silence?"

Frank bowed his head slowly, and pointed to the divan for the Sheikh totake his seat, the young man preserving his erect position of respectthe while. 

"It is soon to begin, Excellency, " said the Sheikh smiling, "but youmust be Excellency no more till our work is done; only in my heart. What name will you bear?"

"Frank!" cried the doctor from the inner tent, and the Sheikh smiled, but the young man shook his head violently. "Tell the Sheikh I shall bewith him in a minute. "

"I am waiting patiently, Excellency, " said the old man aloud. Thenturning to Frank, "Suppose we say Ben Eddin?"

Frank nodded and smiled. 

"Let it be so, then, Ben Eddin, my son, slave to the learned Hakim, withwhom you have been so long that you understand his Frankish tongue. Ihave lain awake thinking many hours about the Hakim's other slave, and Ifeel that it would be wise that he should be his Frankish slave. Therewill be no mistake then. He can wear our burnoose and haik; they willbe enough. It is quite right that he should have brought a servant fromhis own country. What say you, Ben Eddin?"

Frank bowed his head gravely at once, and the Sheikh smiled hissatisfaction, before springing up quickly, and forgetting his gravemanner he clapped his hands together, applauding, and then bowing low tothe grave and reverend Hakim who entered the tent slowly in flowingwhite garments and voluminous turban, in front of which was fastened alarge, dark green scarab, a genuine treasure found by the professor inthe tomb of a man who was supposed to have been physician to one of theEgyptian kings. It had been intended to form a brooch, and the doctorhad had it set in gold. This he had taken from among his curios asbeing most suitable for the purpose in hand, and it took the Sheikh'sattention at once. 

"Well, Ibrahim, " said the doctor, slowly removing his turban as if toplace it more comfortably, but holding it long enough for the Arab tosee his closely shaven head; "do you think this will do?"

"It is perfect, Excellency, " said the old man warmly. "It far exceedsall I could have thought possible. "

"So say I, " cried the professor, entering now in travel-stained Egyptiangarments and muslin-covered fez. 

"Excellent, too, Excellency, " said the Sheikh. "And now you will keepto this?"

"Of course. The Hakim is ready now to go round and see his sick. "

The Sheikh bowed, and feeling a little nervous the party set off atonce, leaving Sam watching them from the door. 

It was rather an ordeal, for they had not gone many paces towards thefirst tent they were to visit before they were seen, and word seemed tobe passed quickly through the encampment, so that as they reached thisfirst tent several of the Sheikh's people appeared, while when they cameout of it again nearly everyone of those occupying the place had hurriedforth to stand watching. 

But there was no look of wonder, no vestige of a smile, only respectfullooks and bending down as the little party passed on. 

That first visit was a solemn one, for it was to the tent where theywere met by the mother of the little child, who led them to where herlittle sufferer lay in its last sleep. She reverently pressed theHakim's extended hand to her forehead, her tear-filled eyes andtrembling lips seeming to say that she accepted patiently the blow whichhad fallen during the night, and that the Great Physician was very wise. 

Frank Frere felt more at his ease by the time the next tent was reached, and perfectly satisfied when all was done. For he had played his partof slave and assistant easily and well, holding water vessels, passingbandage and lint, and standing by the sufferers while the Hakim tendedhis patients with the greatest care. 

For there was no wondering gaze. It seemed quite natural and right tothe sufferers, who were all doing well. The change in the dress of theHakim and his friends was only what might have been expected now thattheir journey there was over, while Frank, the black slave, had thesatisfaction of feeling that he was not even recognised by those hetended. He was the Hakim's dumb, black slave. The white assistant whohad helped the doctor the previous day was not present--that was all. 

A couple of hours were taken up over the invalids, and they were leftout of pain and comforted by the Hakim's gentle hand, while when theirown tent was reached the Hakim was able to say that nothing could bebetter than the state of his patients. With a couple more days'attention they might be left to nature, and would soon be well. 

That afternoon Sam set aside his English clothes and blossomed forthinto a showy-looking Arab, evidently feeling rather proud of his dress, the most conspicuous part of which was a scarlet scarf broadly spreadaround his waist, one which in an ordinary way would have been prettywell hidden by the loose outer cotton robe, but which the man took amplecare should not have its brilliant tint eclipsed more than he couldhelp. 

Naturally enough he sought the first opportunity he could find ofgetting Frank alone in the tent, and began at once in rather a consciousway. 

"Beg pardon, sir, " he said. "I mean, Ben Eddin. May I say Ben forshort?"

There was a short nod, and the man continued--

"I say, sir--Ben. It's very awkward, but the professor says I'm totreat you as if you're my fellow servant. You won't like that?"

There was a quick, eager nod. 

"Well, I sha'n't, Mr Ben. I can't help it, but it makes me feelashamed like, and as if I'd lost all respect for my master's youngfriend. "

Frank held out his hand with a smile, and kept it extended till, in aslow, hesitating way and with a peculiar grimace, Sam took it, and feltit held in a firm, manly, friendly grip. 

"Oh, well, Mr Ben, if it's to be like that I can't help it; but pleaserecollect that however disrespectful I seem through this business my'eart's in its right place, and I think just the same of you as ever Idid. "

There was a quick, eager nod and a smile, which made the man look morecheerful for a moment; but as he drew back his hand, he raised his whitegarment involuntarily and began to wipe the fingers, passing the whitecotton over them two or three times before he realised what he wasdoing. 

"Oh, " he exclaimed hastily, "what a hidiot I am! I beg your pardon, MrBen, I do indeed. It seemed to me as if your hand must have come offblack. Eh?--Never mind; that's what you look as if you was saying. --Thankye, sir. That's very good of you. Now you look as if you meantthat I should soon get used to it. --Ah, you nod again. --Well, I'mblessed, sir, if I don't think it will begin to get easy after a bit ofpractice. --There's another of your nods. Thankye, sir. Yes, it willcome right after all. I never thought anyone could get through so muchbusiness with a few nods and shakes of the head. --Beg pardon, sir. --Hullo, that's a shake! I'm doing wrong. It takes a bit of time. --Younod. So it does, sir--I mean Mr Ben. --What's that wrong? Why, whathave I said?--I know: it's the `mister. ' Thought so. --Ben, then, or BenEddin. I shall get it soon. Well, I don't want to be a nuisance, butit's very lonely for me, Ben, and if you wouldn't mind, as we are to bea bit together, I should like to come to you when I feel in a bit of afix. "

Frank nodded and Sam's face lit-up with pleasure. 

"That's very nice of you, Ben Eddin, " he said eagerly. "You see, Iwanted to have a word or two with you about these things. I want to doit right and look proper. "

Frank nodded. 

"'Tain't vanity, mind, sir. I ain't a bit conceited, but I should liketo feel that I look decent. "

There was a decisive nod. 

"Thankye, Ben Eddin. You see, they're so fresh to me. The bit o'scarlet looks right, don't it? Thankye Ben. You don't think it a bittoo sojery, do you? No; you don't. Well, I'm glad o' that, for I feltas it took off a bit of the washer-womany, night-gowny idea. Then youthink I shall do, Ben--Eddin?"

Frank nodded approval. 

"Hah! Makes a man feel a deal better. For between ourselves, BenEddin, I got an idea in my head that everyone was a bit on the grin assoon as I came out, and if you could lay your 'and on your 'eart now andsay to me with one of your straightforward looks without blinking youreyes that it was all my fancy I could go on as comfortable as could be, for they are out and out nice and cool. "

Frank gave his companion the asked-for steady look, and smilingly laidhis hand upon his breast. 

"Thankye, Ben Eddin. You always were a pleasant gentleman that it was atreat to have staying at Wimpole Street. Wimpole Street!--Ha, ha, ha!"said Sam, laughing softly. "My word! how comic it does seem. Whatwould they say in Wimpole Street if they could--"

Sam stopped short, and a look of pain crossed his face. 

"Beg pardon, sir, " he whispered. "Well, Ben Eddin, " he said aloud. "Mr Landon said I was never to whisper, and I won't do it again. But Iwanted to say I was sorry. It isn't comic, or queer, or anything. Iknow--I know it's all terrible real, and I'm going to try and help likea man through it all. I was a fool and a hidiot to speak as I did--andyou'll forgive me, Ben Eddin? Thankye. "

For Frank's hand rested lightly on the man's shoulder, and for a fewminutes there was silence in the tent. Then Sam's face brightened, andhe said eagerly--

"I've had two goes on the camel, Ben, in these things, and somehow itseemed to me as if the grumbling beast took to me more in them. He wenteasier. I shall do it: I know I shall. I didn't feel half so much likepitching on to my nose as I did before. It's rum work, though, all thesame. "

CHAPTER FOURTEEN. 

FRANK'S FIRST MILESTONE. 

It was just before daybreak on the fifth morning that everyone in thecluster of tents was astir. Much had been done over night to advancethe preparations, so that nothing remained but the loading up of thecamels. 

This last was being rapidly carried out in an orderly way. This onewith the water-skins, that with the meal; another bore personal effects;while again another carried two English-made portmanteaus slungpannier-fashion across its back, the carefully packed contents being theHakim's selected store of medicines, instruments, and surgicalappliances, reduced to the smallest compass possible for efficacy. Theother leathern receptacle contained instruments and bottles that wereheavy and cumbrous, Frank's own selection; and at the last minute, as hesaw the extent of the preparations and what a caravan their party madefor the long journey, he proposed to the Hakim and the professor whenthey were alone that the scientific apparatus should be left behind withtheir clothes, and other articles deemed unnecessary, in charge of thelittle tribe. 

"After all, they are only to play scientific conjuring tricks with, "said Frank. "The idea occurred to me at first, but on more thinking thematter over I don't fancy that they will pay for taking. "

"I don't agree with you, Frank, lad, " said the Hakim. "What you callscientific conjuring tricks are really displays of the wonders ofnature, and are likely to impress the ignorant quite as much as any cureI can effect. "

"Quite so, " said the professor; "they appeal at once to the eye. For mypart, I would not on any account leave the apparatus behind. "

"As you like, " said Frank. "I only thought our load was getting toogreat. "

A few words followed with the Sheikh respecting the extent of their_impedimenta_ and the number of camels required, for others had to bearthe gear of two tents, including several handsome rugs, and one way andanother, with those devoted to riding, there were fifteen of the beastsof burden, while the party was increased to twelve by sturdy young menof the Sheikh's tribe. 

"His Excellency the Hakim thinks the caravan too big?" said the Sheikh, smiling. "Oh, no. It ought to be larger. So great and wise a man musthave a good following, or the people will think he is of no importance. The train is very small, but the tents are good and the camels the bestwe have in the tribe. "

"And suppose we are attacked by some wandering tribe or a party of thenew Mahdi's ruffianly followers. They may strip us and carry off thecamels; what then?"

The Sheikh smiled and shook his head. 

"No, " he said; "they may come, but they will not rob us. There wereplagues in Egypt once, and there are plagues in Egypt still. The wilderthe people we meet, the less likely they will be to interfere with alearned Hakim. They will come to him for help. They know that he cantake away disease, and they will think he can give disease amongst themlike a curse. I know what the people fancy, and what they will do. No, the caravan is not too large, Excellencies. I should have liked it tobe larger, for there are many things that would have been useful when weare far away where food and water are scarce; but there are the camelsto feed, and the more we are the slower we travel. Like this we can gofast. "

"Fast?" said the professor, with a dry look; and the Sheikh smiled. 

"Fast for the desert, Excellency, " he said. "No one expects to travelhere faster than a camel walks when left to itself. "

So at daybreak on that morning the last camel was laden, the lastnecessary attached, and amidst the farewell cries of the tribe assembledto bless and thank and pray for a safe journey to all, the leadingcamels started off, moaning and complaining, and apparently directingangry cries at those of their kin more fortunate than themselves who, instead of having to tramp over the burning, shifting sand, beneath thescorching desert sun, were to stop and browse around those pleasantwater-holes, and tend their young, watched over by the women andchildren of the tribe the while. 

The moaning and grumbling went on for some time, as the long line ofungainly beasts stepped out through the cool grey, and a runningconversation seemed to be going on, as if the camels were comparingnotes about their loads and the unfairness of the masters, who had giventhis a load too bulky, that, one too heavy, and another, moistwater-skins to carry, instead of a Hakim or chief. 

But as the stars paled out and the light increased, the camels settleddown and shuffled silently along, while the silence extended to theparty, who all had their feelings of sadness to bear. 

For doubts arose as to the success of the dangerous adventure. TheSheikh felt that he was an old man, and that this journey, which mustinevitably last for many months, might be his last. His followersthought of wife or child, and were ready to sigh as they pondered on theperils and dangers ahead; while Hakim, professor, servant, and Frank, each had his feeling of heart-soreness and doubt as to how the adventurewould end. 

Frank's greatest suffering was from the thought that time went on sofast while they went on so slowly. Already five days were dying outsince they reached the temporary home of the tribe, and now that thestart was made at last, how were they moving? In that long line ofanimals and pacing men advancing like some gigantic, elongated, crawlingcreature, whose home was the desert sand. Creeping patiently along, step by step, as if time were nothing, while probably the distance mightprove to be a thousand miles before they reached, in the neighbourhoodof Khartoum, some town or village which might be the prisoner'stemporary home. 

But there was no thought in any breast there of turning back. The starthad been made, and there was to be no looking northward again till thetask that had been set was achieved. 

"Off at last, Frank, " said the professor, who came up to where the youngman was riding alone; "we are going splendidly. "

"Splendidly?"

"Yes. Everything is beautifully packed; the Sheikh's men are alltrained camel-drivers; and I never saw a finer set of animals since Ifirst came to Egypt. "

"But hark at them, " said Frank. 

"What for? It is their nature to, my lad. Your camel is a creaturethat seems to have been born with a grievance. I was talking about itto Morris just now, and he actually tried to make a joke about them. "

"The doctor did?" said Frank, smiling. 

"Fact, my dear boy. He says it is on account of their having so manystomachs. "

"I always understood it was Nature's blessing to them to enable the poorbeasts to exist in these waterless regions. "

"That's what I said to him, " replied the professor; "but he said thatmight be a great benefit, but his medical experience of patients wasthat most of their troubles from early childhood arose from disorderedstomachs, and if human beings suffered so much from only having one, what must it be to have a plurality of these necessary organs like acamel! Enough to make anything ill-tempered, he said. Well, you don'tlaugh. "

"No, " said Frank sadly; "my spirits are too low. "

"The time of day, my lad. I always feel at my worst about daybreak. You'll be better soon. I say we are getting on capitally, and I feel nofear about our plan. "

"I do, " said Frank sadly. 

"Why, what fresh doubts do you feel?"

"Over this dumb business. There seem to be always fresh difficultiescropping up. "

"Seem, " said the professor coolly. "Things that seem are generally likeclouds: they soon fade away in the sunshine. What is the new `seem'?"

"About the Sheikh's men. Now, for instance, they must notice that I amtalking to you. "

"Of course they do, my lad. You may take it for granted that they knowquite as much as we do, and that they grasp the fact that we are playingparts to deceive the dervishes. "

"And sooner or later, out of no ill-will, but by accident, they willbetray us. "

"Take it for granted that they will not do anything of the sort. TheseArabs are narrow-minded, and there is a good deal of the savage aboutthem in connection with their carelessness regarding human life. But myexperience of the Arab is, that he is a gentleman, and I would as soontrust one whom I had made my friend as I would a man of any nation. Nowthen, I've knocked that difficulty on the head. What is the next?"

"There are no more at present, " said Frank, smiling. "I suppose, then, that I need not keep trying to play my part while we are in company withour own party only?"

"Certainly not, my dear boy, " said the professor. "Your greatdifficulty really is to contain yourself fully when strangers are withus. "

"I shall try my best, " said Frank. 

"Yes, my fine fellow, you had better. Now then, we've made our start, and you don't feel so glum, do you?"

"No. "

"There's the reason, " said the professor cheerily, as he pointed to thesun peering over the edge of the desert. "Nothing like that golden ballfor sweeping away clouds of every kind. The only objection to his workis that he is a bit too thorough at times, and treats people out here asif they were meant to cook. Now then, look back as well as forward; thecamels march like a line of grenadiers. Just as if they had beendrilled. "

"But so slowly--so slowly, " said Frank, with a sigh. 

"Here, look sharp, Sol!" cried the professor. "Get higher; there'sanother cloud. "

"How can you be so light-hearted at a time like this?" said Frankbitterly. 

"Because `A merry heart goes all the day; your sad tires in a mile-a, 'as Shakespeare says. Because we should never carry out our plans tosuccess if we went at them with sad hearts. I found that out over manyof my searches here. An eager, cheery captain makes an eager, cheerycrew who laugh at wreck. Now then, I am going to demolish--with thehelp of the sun--that great, dense black cloud that has just risen aboveyour mental horizon, my sable friend. Your fresh cloud is the slow one. Now, you must remember that we have given up civilisation, steam, electricity, and the like, to take up the regular and only way oftravelling here in the desert. Some day, perhaps, we shall have therailway and wires from north to south; but until we do we must travel bycaravan, and to travel by caravan you must travel in caravan fashion, inthe old, long proved style. You would like to hurry on and do fiftymiles the first day, instead of ten or fifteen. "

"Of course, " said Frank, "with such things at stake. "

"Exactly, my dear boy, and very naturally. Well, we'll say you'd liketo go forty miles to-day?"

"Yes. "

"Couldn't be done. Men can't walk forty miles over hot sand under adesert sun. "

"Then why not have had more camels?"

"Because camels can suffer like men. You would knock up your desertships, and make them sore-footed the first day, have great difficulty ingetting them half the distance the next day, half that the third, and nodistance at all the fourth. "

"So bad as that?" said Frank. 

"Most likely a good deal worse. Now we have old Ibrahim and his men, who know camels exactly, understand their constitutions, how much theycan do, and how to get them to do it. You see, we are not going on aweek's journey. "

"A week's!" said Frank bitterly; "at this rate it will be six months. "

"Perhaps a year's, " said the professor quietly. 

"A year's?"

"Possibly; and if a camel should break down we can't send round to thelivery stable in the next street, or order a fresh one from the Stores. No one knows that better than the Sheikh. He is making the caravantravel so that it can go on for a year if necessary, and at the end ofthat year the camels, which mean life to us, will be fit to go on foranother year. "

"But Harry--Harry--Harry!" sighed Frank sadly. 

"Harry is in Egypt, my dear boy, where things go on as slowly now withthe people as they did in the days of the old Pharaohs. Harry mustwait, and you must wait, till we can reach him. Try at once to realisewhere you are, and that this is the only way in which we can achieve ourplans. "

"I'll try, " said Frank sadly. 

"That's right, for if left to yourself you would press on, and in lessthan a month all that would be left of my dear lad would be a fewwhitening bones in the desert, and Harry still gazing northward andwestward for the help that did not come. "

"I'm afraid you are right, Landon, " said Frank sadly. 

"I'm sure I am, my dear lad. Experientia has dosed me. Africa is aproblem, solemn and slow as its great deserts, and the people here, muchas we look down upon them, have been Nature-taught, educated, as itwere, from the failings of those who have gone before, how to live, howto travel, in short, how to exist in such a land. "

"Forgive me, Landon, " said Frank. 

"Of course, my dear boy. I know exactly how you feel. I was just asbad when I first came out here. The men maddened me with their slowmovements when some glorious slab covered with hieroglyphics or paintedpictures cut in, lay at the bottom of a hole into which the sand keptcrumbling and trickling back. I was ready to give up over and overagain when tired out at night, but a good rest made me ready to go onagain in the morning with fresh patience, and in the end I won. "

"There, " said Frank, "say no more; I know you are right. This all comesof your talking to me. If you had not spoken I should have gone on insilence, so you have yourself to thank for my display of discontent. "

"Then I am very glad I have spoken, " said the professor warmly, "becauseI can feel that you will take the right view of matters. "

"Yes, I shall try hard to. "

"That's right, and the best thing you can do is to enter into thejourney from a keen observer's point of view. Now look before you. What can you see?"

"A wide expanse of sand baking in the sunshine. "

"Nothing else?"

"No. "

"Ah, that shows how uneducated your eyes are, and how much they have tolearn. I'm not very clever over such things, being best when I getscent of a buried temple, tomb, or city. But this waste of nothingnesscontains plenty to interest an observer, and I can help you a little ifyou will try to make the best of our journey. "

"I have told you I will, " said Frank. 

"Yes; so we'll begin at once, for you may believe me that we are notgoing to journey fifteen or twenty miles to-day without seeing somethingmore interesting than sand. Here's my little binocular. Take it, andwe'll begin. "

"First of all, though, " said Frank, "are we bound for some particularplace this evening?"

"Of course. For another patch of water-holes. Ibrahim says they arenothing like so good as those by the encampment, but they will do forthe night's halt. To-morrow we shall have to halt right in the desertand depend upon the water we take with us. The next day we journey onto fresh wells. "

"I see, " said Frank; "our journeys are regulated by the supplies ofwater. "

"Exactly. Water means life. "

"And Ibrahim can trust to his knowledge of the country to go straight tothese places?"

"Yes; I have proved him over and over again. Now then: try the glass. "

"Yes, " said Frank, opening the case; "but tell me, do you mean tocollect birds, insects, fossils, and plants?"

"Certainly, everything we can find; but only to examine at the end ofthe day. We must keep nothing; only make a few notes. Well, can yousee anything?"

"Not yet. It is rather awkward to get a steady look with the camelmoving. "

"If you catch sight of anything worth looking at you can check yoursteed. "

"Yes, there's something moving yonder--a dog. "

"I doubt it, " said the professor. "Try again. "

"It looks like a dog. What is it then--a fox? Ah, it is gone behindthose heaps yonder. "

"Then the desert is not quite empty, Frank. Your dog or fox must be ajackal; but I wonder at your seeing him in the daylight. Let me look atyour heap of sand. "

"One minute; there are two somethings upon it. Two of those jackalssitting on a heap, I suppose, by their holes. No; one of them hasstretched out two wings. Why, they're vultures. "

"Better still. Now I'll look. --Thanks. Your eyes require a differentfocus from mine. Yes. What I expected, " said the professor, handingback the glass. "Have another look at your sand heap; it will repayobservation; it is one of the milestones of the caravan roads, only theyare not placed at regular distances. Have you caught it again?"

"I keep catching glimpses, " replied Frank, with the glass to his eye;"but the whole thing seems to be dancing about. --Now I've got it. --No;gone again. --That's better. The vultures have hopped off the heap andare spreading their wings. We have scared them away. Yes, there theygo--a few hops, and they are rising sluggishly. No, I can't follow themwith the glass. "

"Can you see anything else?"

"Yes, I've got the heap again, and there are three of the littledog-like creatures scurrying right away. I say, this is a good glass!I can see the dusty sand rise as it is kicked by the jackals. Here, let's stop the camel. "

"No, " said the professor; "there's nothing worth stopping for. "

"But I want to make out something lying by that little heap. It lookslike a curved bone. "

"It is a curved bone, " said the professor. 

"You can't see with the naked eye. "

"No, " said the professor, smiling; "but I have been along such a trackas this before. "

"But there is no track, " said Frank. "We are going over smooth sand, and making a fresh one. "

"Which will all be obliterated in a few hours. It is a track, though, as your heap proves. "

"I should have liked to examine it, though. "

"Well, you will have plenty of chance, for we shall go pretty close toit--but on the windward side. "

Frank lowered the glass to look inquiringly at the speaker. 

"Look here, " he said; "you mean something by the way you just spoke. "

"Certainly I did. "

"What?"

"Take your glass, and sharpen your powers of observation, my lad. Thesooner you learn the desert the better for you. "

"I begin to have my suspicions, " said Frank sharply. 

"If you wait a little longer, and go by there with your eyes shut, mylad, you will have something more than a suspicion. "

"Horrible!" said Frank shortly, as he once more raised his glass to hiseyes. "You have given me the clue. I can make it out clearly now. Some poor camel that has strayed and lost its way, I suppose. Died fromhunger and thirst. "

"More likely from old age or overwork, " replied the professor; "amilestone, only one of the many that mark the caravan tracks across thedesert. Some one must have passed here within forty-eight hours. "

"How do you know?"

"By the appearance of that milestone. If we came by here to-morrowthere would be nothing visible but some whitening bones. Look yonderwithout the glass. Look straight past the leading camel, low down atthe horizon, and now raise your eyes. What can you see?"

"Glare, " said Frank. 

"Try again. "

"Nothing but more glare, and the atmosphere quivering as it rises fromthe sand. "

"Try once more, " said the professor. "I can see one--two--three. Lookhigher. "

"Ah, I've got it now; a mere speck, " said Frank eagerly--"a crow. "

"Make it vulture, and you will be right. I can make out three--four ofthe loathsome creatures on their way to the feast. They are making acircuit so as to drop down after we have gone by. "

"They fulfil a duty, though, I suppose, " said Frank. 

"Yes, and a very necessary one, " replied the professor; and this wasevident a short time after, although the leading camel passed towindward of the heap, and it seemed to Frank that the animal he rodeturned up the corners of its pendulous lips with a look of the mostsupreme disgust, as it turned its head slightly in the other direction. 

"That's fancy, Frank, " said the professor, as the young man drew hisattention to the camel's aspect. "I believe the poor beasts are soaccustomed to the sight that they take it as a matter of course. "

"Is it so common, then?"

"Horribly common, and I hope we shall encounter nothing worse, but fromwhat has been going on farther south I have my doubts. "

Frank rode on silently, and the professor did not speak for a fewminutes. Then--

"Human life has always been held cheap out here. If we were travellingto examine the old records I could show you them cut in stone, as youcan see them in the museums in Cairo, or in London when we return, thebragging, boasting blasphemies of this or that conquering king, all tothe same tune--`I came, I saw, I conquered; I slew so many thousands ofthe people--I took so many thousands into captivity--I built this templeto the gods--I raised this obelisk or that pyramid'--and all by handlabour, with the miserable, belaboured slaves dying by their thousandsupon thousands under their taskmasters' lashes, to be cast afterwardsinto the Nile, or left to the jackals and vultures. These and thecrocodiles have always been wanted here, Frank, and as it has been so itis now. There is always an `I'--a very, very big capital `I'--who isglorifying himself with slaughter. "

"No conquering king now, though, " said Frank, "to leave his victoriescut in the stones. "

"No, the slaughterers here nowadays are more barbarous. Not thecity-building monarchs, but the nomadic chiefs who force themselves tothe height of power with their horrible religious despotism--yourMahdis. It is a wonder that they find so many followers, but they do. "

"Fanaticism, I suppose, " said Frank. 

"Yes, that and the love of conquest, with its additions in the shape ofplunder. For years past these vast tracts of fertile land bordering theriver have gone back to waste, village after village of industriouspeople having been massacred or forced to flee for their lives. "

"But--I have read so little about the Khedival rule--why has not theEgyptian Government put a stop to all this frightful persecution?"

"From want of power, my lad. The country has been too big, the army toosmall, and the invading tribes from the south too warlike a fightingrace to be withstood. There is the consequence--a smiling land, irrigated by the mighty river which brings down the rich tropic mud fromthe highlands of the south, utterly depopulated, and strewn with thewretched people's bones. "

"And how long is this to last?" said Frank, as he thought of hisbrother's fate. 

"Till England stretches forth her hand to sweep the blasphemous invaderfrom the land he destroys. It is coming, Frank, but the old lion movesslowly and takes some time to rouse. "

"But when he does make his spring--!"

"Yes, when he does! The Indian tiger learned his power then. But thesun is getting too hot for a political lecture, my lad. Come, use yourglass again. There's another enemy about to cross our track. "

CHAPTER FIFTEEN. 

RECEIVING THE ENEMY. 

As Frank was about to raise the glass to his eye, the doctor, who wassome little distance in advance, checked his camel for them to come upalongside, and pointed the while away to where in the distance about adozen column-like clouds were spinning round as if upon pivots, whilethey advanced as if to cross their course. 

"A sand-storm, " said the professor. "Not much, but unpleasant enough ifit comes upon us. Hi! Ibrahim; will those pillars cross before we getnear them?"

"I cannot say, Excellency, " replied the old man. "I fear not. It willbe better to halt. "

The preparations for the storm were soon made, the camels crouching downwith their necks fully outstretched, while their riders knelt downsheltered by the animals and their packs, and held their thin cottonrobes ready to veil their faces should the storm come near. 

It was a strange sight, the tall, pillar-like clouds sweeping along overthe level sand like so many parts of a vast machine preparing warp andweft for spinning a garment to clothe the earth, and there were momentswhen the pillars were so regular in distance and motion that it seemedimpossible not to believe that they were artificial. 

All was still where the travellers stood and knelt, the sun pouring downupon them from a clear sky, and as the Sheikh kept scanning theapproaching storm Frank watched him to try and read what he thought. 

It was pretty plain, for the old man's eyes brightened and he seemed tobreathe more freely, since it was evident that if the whirlwind kept itscourse the dust pillars would pass across the track they were makinghalf a mile away. 

"But these storms change about so, Excellency, " said the Sheikh. "Thismay suddenly turn back or rush off right away from us. It will, Ithink, go onward towards the great river away to our left, and sweepacross it. No!" he thundered out. "Be ready; it comes, " for suddenly ahot blast of air smote the party, fluttering their robes, and thewhirling pillars, so distinct and clear a few minutes before, grew mistyas if seen through a dense haze; for by one of its sudden changes thestorm had swept round almost at right-angles, and the next minute thesky was obscured, the camels were groaning as they buried their heads inthe loose sand, and the storm of hot, suffocating dust, borne on amighty wind, was upon them, shrieking, tearing at everything loose, andbuffeting its victims, who could hardly breathe, the dust choking everytiny crevice in the cotton cloth held over the face. 

The roar and rush were horrible, the confusion of intellect strange andpeculiar, and Frank, as he cowered down behind his camel with hisforehead pressed against the saddle to keep his veil in its place, feltas if he were breathing the scorching air out of some open furnace door, while the choking, irritating sensation in the air-passages seemed as ifit must soon terminate in death. 

Doubtless that would have been their fate if the storm had lasted; butas quickly as it had come upon them it passed over, and in a few minutesthe air about them was clear again, the sky blue, and the sun beatingdown, while the dust-cloud pillars were careering along, distinctly seena quarter of a mile away. 

"Yes, " said the Sheikh calmly, "they are terrible, these hot whirlwinds. Their Excellencies would be glad to bathe and clear their faces andhair from the thick dust, but there is no water save for drinking. Wehave never had a worse one than this, Excellency, in our travels. "

"Never, " said the professor, who knelt in the sand trying to clear hiseyes from the impalpable brownish dust, "and I don't want to meetanother. This is one of the experiences of a desert journey, Frank. Why, lad, you are turned from black to brown. "

"And you the same, but from white, " replied Frank, smiling. 

"I suppose so. It's bad for the Hakim's white robes, too. I say, Ibrahim, when shall we strike the river?"

"Not for many days, Excellency; but we shall halt at fountains among therocks. "

Five days' monotonous journeying across the sandy plains, and then fivenights of travelling, with the days devoted to rest, had passed beforethe river was approached at a bend which brought it near the line oftravel which the Sheikh had traced out for himself by the stars. Theway had been marked by the bones of camels, and in two places otherbones scattered here and there told their horrible tale of suffering orattack, one skull displaying a frightful fracture that was unmistakable;fountain after fountain had been reached, and refreshing halts had beenmade where the waters gushed from some patch of rocks, to fertilise asmall extent around, supporting a few palms and prickly, stunted bushesof acacia-like growth, before they started away again into the sand; andin cases where the next water-hole was too far, one, two, or threecamels bore away water-skins well filled, to carry the party over thenext halting-place. 

The necessity of keeping up the supply forced their guide to adopt azigzag mode of progression, and to make his little caravan traversenearly double the distance that would have been necessary could theyhave taken a bee-line towards the south. But experience had taught alltravellers who journey by the desert, instead of by the great waterwaywith its vast cataracts, where the pressure of the earth forced thewater springs to the surface, and naturally these were the goals forwhich all tired travellers made. 

There were but few incidents during a fortnight's travel, and more thanonce Frank's heart sank as he pondered upon the little advance they hadmade; but as the professor said, they were two weeks nearer theirjourney's end, and all was well. 

But it was sadly monotonous. The morning and evening skies wereglorious, but their beauties soon began to pale, while on the hot daysthe journeys were most exhausting, and the travellers welcomed the clearnights when the stars blazed on high, for these were the times theSheikh selected for progressing. 

"There is no fear then of going far astray, " he said; for he knewnothing of the use of the compass, and the adventurers had never thoughtof bringing such an aid. 

In company with the doctor and professor such natural history objects aspresented themselves were examined--lizards among the rocks, a fewsnakes, harmless, and the poison-bearing cobra; but away from the river, birds were rare, save those of prey, and as to animals they were heardmore than seen. A gazelle or two, little and graceful, bounded acrossthe track, but it was at night that the howling of the jackals and thelong, hideous snarling of hyaenas taught the travellers that there wereplenty of these loathsome creatures hungrily waiting for the weaklingsof such caravans as crossed the sandy plains. 

Twice over irregularities were pointed out by the Sheikh--places wherethe dead level was broken--as being the sites of former occupancy ofthat part of the country, the professor discoursing learnedly about thepossibility of changes in the surface having taken place and renderedthe country barren, while he talked eagerly of how interesting it wouldhave been to encamp at such spots, gather together a score of thefellaheen with shovel and basket, and explore. 

"But there could never have been cities there, " said the doctor. 

"But there were, " replied the professor. "Egypt _is_ not half exploredas yet. Out yonder where we passed to-day the land lay lower, and therewas the trace of a wady, one of those irregular valleys which doubtlessran towards the Nile. That was once filled with water, but theencroaching sand has filled up and covered everything. Ah, I shouldlike nothing better than to begin digging there. It would not be longbefore I began to learn who the people were who formed that colony. "

At last, on the morning of the fifteenth day, when, after a longernight's journey than usual, a halt was made, the faint dawn began toshow that the face of the country had undergone a change. Sand therewas in plenty, but it was diversified with patches of rocks, some ofwhich were of great elevation, while where the camels began to increasetheir ordinary rate of speed, a ridge crossed their path, and as it grewlighter the travellers' eyes were greeted by the relief of green bushes, patches of trees, and various traces of this being a place frequented byman. 

As the sun rose, right across the east there were clouds, which seemedto be very different from those to which they were accustomed, and thereason was soon made plain by a remark from the Sheikh, who explainedthat the river ran from north to south, about a day's journey eastward, and that if they continued their march a few miles in that directionthey would soon come upon signs of cultivation, and a scattered villageor two. 

"And shall we go that way?" asked Frank. 

"Only as far as the first village, where we can buy grain--corn, anddhurra. Then we strike away again into the desert, along whose borderswe must keep. It is safer, and we are less likely to meet withwandering dervish bands. We only come near the river when it isnecessary to refill the sacks and give the camels better feed than theycan get near the water-holes and fountains. "

"I see, " said Frank, as he glanced at the professor. "To get to theneighbourhood of the Mahdi's people quickly we must go slowly. "

"Yes, Excellency, it is better so. We stay here two days while three ofthe young men and three camels go out to buy corn in the villagesyonder. There is generally food to be purchased there, for the Nilefloods run out widely a little way beyond, and the Khalifa's people havenot reached so far as yet. "

"Is there not the ruin of a great temple somewhere in this direction?"

"And of a city too, Excellency--El Gaebor, " replied the Sheikh. "Fewpeople have gone there, for it is half a day's journey from the riverbank. But his Excellency will not stay to visit it now?"

"No, Ibrahim; not now, " said the professor. "It is very tempting, butduty first. We must come and see the ruins after we have fetched myfriend out of the new Mahdi's grasp. Not before. "

"Yes, not before, " said the doctor quietly; for he spoke little on theway, passing long hours in a thoughtful silence, as if dreaming over theduties he had to perform, and acting always as if he felt that he reallywas the learned Hakim he assumed to be. 

There was a great charm about the wild, rocky place they had reached, the first rays of the sun as it rose lighting up a most picturesquescene made glorious by that which was so rare. For at the foot of aperpendicular mass of grey, grand, sun-scorched rock, there was a poolof limpid water quite fifty yards across, and below it another intowhich the surplus ran, forming a place easily accessible for the camelsand leaving the upper water unsullied for the use of man. 

The tent was soon pitched and a fire made for the coffee and rough cakesthat were soon in progress of being made, while after drinking heartily, the camels were left browsing quietly upon the abundant foliage of thelow-growing bushes, their burdens being stacked against the rocks whichformed the back of their little encampment. 

"We ought to find some specimens here, Frank, " said the professor, atthe end of an hour, as they sat dallying over the last drops of theircoffee. 

"Yes; the place looks delightful after the bare sand, " replied Frank. "I am ready. Shall we have a wander round at once?"

"By all means, " said the professor. "We'll take the guns. By the way, do you keep that revolver of yours loaded?"

"Oh, no, " said Frank. 

"But you carry it under your jacket. "

"Yes, I do as you suggested that I should. But I thought we were totrust to cunning and not to force?"

"Of course; but the fact that we are getting nearer to human beings setsme thinking that there's no harm in being prepared. Load up. You havecartridges in your pocket?"

"No, " said Frank, smiling. "What should a black slave be doing withcartridges?"

"Be ready to stand upon his defence in a case of emergency. Here, takesome of mine and fill the chambers. "

As he spoke the professor handed six of the little central-firecartridges, while Frank drew the small revolver he carried out of apocket within the breast of his cotton jacket, and began to thrust themin. 

"Going shooting?" said the doctor, looking up. 

"Yes, " said the professor; "we may get a few birds worth eating, asthere is water and growth here. "

"Better lie down and have a good rest, " said the doctor. "You bothrequire it. We must be careful about our health. "

"Time for that too, " said the professor. "We have to stay till the menhave been and fetched the grain, and they must have a good restafterward. "

Just at that moment one of the Sheikh's men, who had been to fetch acouple of camels which had strayed farther from the camp than seemednecessary, came hurriedly, driving them before him, to leave them withtheir fellows, and turn towards the Sheikh, making signs. 

"What does that mean?" said the doctor, springing up. "Is somethingwrong?"

The others followed the doctor's act the next moment, for somecommunication, evidently of great importance, was made to the Sheikh byhis follower, with the result that the old man came quickly to wherethey stood, while all the men went quietly to their camels. 

"What is it, Ibrahim?" cried the professor. 

"A strong party of the Baggara are coming to the fountain, Excellency. The Hakim must take his seat at the door of the tent. Put away thoseguns and be in attendance upon him, as we have arranged. Ben Eddin, bewaiting upon the Hakim with his pipe. Be calm, everyone, and show noappearance of trouble at their coming. You must leave all to me. "

CHAPTER SIXTEEN. 

A BAD WOUND. 

Those were startling minutes, and though the incident was nothing morethan had been anticipated as one of possibly many, it had taken them bysurprise, being long before it was expected. 

It was hard work too, for everyone was startled; but the advancing enemywere hidden somewhere beyond the piled-up rocks, and with what, underthe circumstances, was marvellous rapidity, the Hakim, berobed andturbaned, seated himself in Eastern fashion upon one of the rugs laidfor him at the tent door, while Frank brought him his long pipe, filledit, and was ready with a light. Then the professor and Sam began to puttogether the breakfast things, Ibrahim stood respectfully by as ifawaiting the wise man's orders, and the Sheikh's followers stood about, feeding and watering the camels. 

It was a picturesque group, but ready none too soon, for hardly werethey prepared before the head of a mounted party of fierce-looking armedmen rode into sight, and pulled up short in surprise, while theirnumbers were quadrupled before an effort was made to advance. 

Then, with fully a hundred in sight, a shout was uttered and with a rushthey galloped up, spear and sword in hand, to form a semicircle aboutthe halting party, shutting them in from all chance of escape, and thenseemed about to charge home, but they were checked by another shout andreins were drawn, the fiery horses they rode champing their cruel bitsand tossing the foam in all directions. 

It was a critical minute, and the slightest display of resistance wouldhave meant indiscriminate slaughter, its hopelessness being shown by therapid increase of the savage force, more and more riding into sight tillfully two hundred were making for the water pools. 

But no one stirred save Frank, who calmly held the glowing piece of fuelto the Hakim's pipe, while the latter sat unmoved, calm, and grand ofaspect, slowly inhaling and exhaling the fragrant smoke and gazing atthe warlike crowd which surrounded his little tent. 

By this time horse, foot, and camel men, the whole party, had pressedclose up to the advance, and a burst of eager talking arose, the aspectof the savage warriors indicating that they believed they had comesuddenly upon a prize. But they were evidently under the strong hand ofsome form of discipline, for they waited while a couple offierce-looking leaders, whose shaggy black hair stood straight up andoutward like some kind of cap, pressed the sides of their horses andwalked them forward, to be met by Ibrahim, who advanced with greatdignity, and in response to a fierce question as to who and what theywere, saluted them gravely and announced that they were in the presenceof a great Frankish Hakim travelling through the land upon his greatmission to heal the sick and wounded. 

To this, the younger of the two burst into a mocking laugh and saidsomething to his fellow leader, who responded by laying a hand upon hiscompanion's rein as he spoke haughtily in his own tongue to Ibrahim, hiswords having a threatening sound. 

The Sheikh's voice sounded as haughty and as firm, and he waved his handaround, while to Frank it seemed that the old man was repelling someaccusation and saying--

"If we were enemies to you and yours should we come unarmed and in peacelike this?" Then his voice grew sterner and his eyes flashed, as, uncomprehended by those for whom he was spokesman, he cried--

"Retire your men ere you disturb the great Hakim's repose. Has he notjourneyed through the night on his way to the south to heal and cure, and as you see, he is resting before he takes his sleep. Beware how youanger him, for as he can heal so can he bring down upon all the diseaseand death he has removed from others. "

The younger man made a scornful gesture, but his elder was evidentlyimpressed, and Ibrahim continued--

"You have come for water for your horses and camels; take it silently, and leave the great Hakim in peace. Anger him not, lest at a word and awave of the hand he turn the sweet water into bitterness that shallwither all who drink. Horse, camel, or man shall perish if he speak theword. "

The Sheikh's words were heard and understood by many; and a low, angrymurmur arose, which ran right to the rear. 

"Is it peace?" said the Sheikh calmly, as he noted the impression he hadmade; "if so the pool of water is sweet for all; and if you have sick orwounded men among you, bring them to the Hakim that he may make themwhole. "

They were veritable words of wisdom that Ibrahim boldly spoke, and fullof force, for though it was extremely doubtful whether, in case of aninimical display, the doctor would have either been able or willing tomake use of his power, he had with him that which would, if deftlydistributed, have poisoned the water so that it would have beendangerous to man or beast. 

They were words of wisdom, though, for they went direct to theunderstanding and interests of the superstitious tribe, whose readinessto believe in any so-called prophet or learned doctor was easilyawakened, while as it happened, Ibrahim's last command had gone home toits mark at once. 

For by a fortunate accident, the chief who seemed of the greaterimportance, turned sharply to his companion and handed to him the shieldand two leaf-bladed spears he carried, and then threw himself from thebeautiful Arab horse he rode, giving the bridle to one of his followers. 

And now for the first time it was evident that his left arm, which hadbeen covered by the shield, was injured, for it was supported by a broadscarf passed round his neck. 

He strode forward haughtily, taking his steps slowly with head thrownback, and as Frank gazed at him with heart throbbing painfully andheavily under the stress of his emotion, he could not help thinking hownoble and fierce a warrior the Baggara looked, with his simple whiterobe, and how dangerous an enemy with the curved dagger in his girdle, and long, keen, crusader-like sword hanging from a kind of baldric fromhis right shoulder. 

As he approached Morris, Frank turned his eyes for a moment upon hisbrother's friend, and a pang shot through him, for the doctor satcross-legged holding the pipe, in his studied pose, slowly exhaling alittle smoke, but his face looked fixed and strange, his eyes were halfclosed, and he seemed to be unconscious of all that was going on. 

"He has lost his nerve!" thought Frank in agony, and he drew his breathhard. "What shall I do?"

The next glance, though, was at the Baggara chief, who in a contemptuousway snatched the sling from his left arm, and as if to display his scornof wounds to his followers he lightly threw back the loose cotton sleeveof his robe to his shoulder, and held out the roughly bandaged armbefore the seated surgeon, saying scoffingly in his own tongue--

"There, if you are a learned Hakim, cure that. "

There was utter silence now, and necks were craning forward and flashingeyes eagerly gazing all around, but to Frank's horror, Morris did notpay the slightest heed, merely raised the amber mouth-piece of his pipeto his lips and inhaled more smoke, his eyes still half-closed, while helooked as if he were about to sink into a trance. 

The words were on Frank's lips to say quickly, "Pray, pray rouseyourself, or we are lost!" but he had presence of mind enough left topress his teeth firmly together and gaze fixedly at the Baggara, whosedark eyes flashed angrily as he stamped one foot and advanced a littlemore, to repeat his words. Still Morris did not stir, and it was onlyby the most determined effort that Frank kept himself from turningsharply to dart a look of horror at Landon and Sam. 

But it was the thought of his brother that gave him the strength, andthe next moment he breathed a sigh of relief, for the Sheikh steppedclose up to the doctor, raising a hand warningly to the Baggara. 

"The learned Hakim, " he said, "is deep in thought upon the wisdom withwhich he heals;" and then, bending towards the doctor's ear, he said ina low, distinct voice, in English--

"A great chief is here, O learned one. He is wounded and in pain, andasks your aid. "

As Ibrahim spoke the doctor slowly raised his eyelids and gazed at thespeaker, turning to him the while as if ignorant of the presence of thechief and the crowd around. 

Then bending his head slowly as if in assent, he turned to gaze full inthe Baggara's scornful eyes, his face lighting up with keenintelligence, and continuing his fixed look till the chief made an angrygesture and for a moment lowered his eyes. 

It was only for a moment, though, and then he looked fixedly at thedoctor again, the scornful smile upon his lip growing more marked as hekeenly watched all that was done. 

"Splendid bit of acting, " said the professor to himself, as he stoodwith folded arms a little behind his friend's left hand, and he too drewa breath of relief as with calm dignity Morris handed his pipe to Frank, whose black face glistened as he took it with a solemn bow and handed itto Sam with a sign that he should take it into the tent, noting how theman's hand trembled, but avoiding his eyes, and turning sharply to thescene being enacted behind him. 

As he turned, it was to see the Hakim raise his strong, white hands tospread his great dark beard over his chest, and then sign to the chiefto kneel. 

This was met by an angry look of resentment, and the younger chiefuttered a sharp ejaculation, which was followed by a murmur behind him. 

It was a critical moment, but the natural superstition in the Baggaraproved too strong. He yielded to the powerful gaze which completelymastered his, and went slowly down on one knee, still holding out hisinjured arm. 

As this was done the doctor threw back the sleeves of his robes, turnedup his beautifully clean shirt-sleeves, and displayed his strong whitearms. Then raising his hands he removed his jewelled turban and passedit to the professor, who was ready to take it in his hands, to hold itwith reverent care. 

Once more a low murmur ran round the crowd, as with increased curiositythey stared at the noble white head of the grand-looking man seatedbefore them, while their curiosity was raised to the highest pitch. 

The Hakim's movements were rapid now; he took the chief's swarthy handin his, and his fingers were cool and soft to the burning skin hetouched. Then raising his right he laid it upon the biceps, to find alltensely swollen and fevered. 

The next minute he had taken a glittering little knife from the satchelhe wore at his waist, and passed the keen point beneath the coarsecotton bandage, dividing it twice, so that the edges sprang apart, forthe cloth was cutting deeply into the swollen flesh. 

With deft fingers then he quickly unrolled the bandage, letting thefoul, badly stained cotton fall upon the sand at his feet, laying bareto the sunlight a terrible cut running up from just above the wrist tothe elbow joint, evidently caused by the thrust of one of theleaf-bladed spears, and now from long neglect horribly inflamed, andthreatening danger, while the suffering it must have caused haddoubtless been extreme. 

The Hakim's examination was quick, and as he ran his eyes over the woundand touched it here and there, he spoke without turning his head. 

"Basin, sponges, plenty of water. Lint, bandages, dressings, antiseptics, and my instruments. "

Frank bowed, and hurried into the tent, while the Hakim supported theinjured arm and raised his eyes to the Baggara chief, whose gaze wasfixed upon him searchingly, and gave him a calm, reassuring smile, as ifsaying, "Wait, and you shall be cured. "

There was another low murmur now, and the crowd was pressing closer in, but Ibrahim's lips parted as he raised his hands in protest, and at aharsh command from the second chief the men stood fast. 

The next minute Frank came out, followed by Sam bearing the doctor'ssurgical case and the necessaries he had ordered to be brought, everyeye watching as these were opened out. 

"Come and help, Landon, " said the doctor quickly, and the great turbanwas handed to Sam to bear into the tent, while the professor took up thebrass basin and held it ready for Frank to fill, the latter then placinghis hands ready to support the patient's arm. 

During the next quarter of an hour the Baggara looked curiously on whilehis festering wound was manipulated by the light touches of one ofLondon's most skilful surgeons, armed with the newest discoveries ofscience. And formidable as the task was, and severe the treatment, those firm white hands, and the cleansing, cooling applications gavemore relief than pain, so that the stoical patient, when the touchesfrom glittering knife and keen needle had ceased and given way tomedicated cotton wool, lint, and tenderly applied supporting bandages, uttered a sigh of relief, and the scornful look of contempt gave way toone of perfect satisfaction, for to him this was a miracle indeed. 

A few minutes later the scarf was retied from the shoulder so that thewounded arm rested comfortably and free from pain, the Baggara smilingat his leech as he rose, and in an instant a tremendous shout rent theair. 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. 

THE SURGEON'S FEE. 

The Hakim's patient was evidently a man of stern determination--of ironwill; but he was only human after all, and he turned slowly to hisbrother chief, to lay his uninjured hand upon his shoulder to supporthimself, evidently making a brave effort to master the almost inevitableconsequences of the long operation. 

But Morris was watching him keenly, and quite prepared. A few words toFrank resulted in a small glass of water being placed in his hand incompany with a bottle and graduated measure; a small quantity of acolourless fluid was transferred to the glass, and the Hakim rose andwalked with dignified pace to where the two chiefs stood, the youngerscowling fiercely now as he saw that his companion was beginning tototter upon his legs and swaying slightly as if to fall. 

But the Hakim paid no heed to his fierce glances, and held the glass tohis patient. 

"_Bibe_, " he said, in a tone of command, using medical Latin inpreference to English. 

At the sound of his voice the Baggara, whose countenance had turned of apeculiar, muddy hue, revived and turned to him sharply, saw, andstretched out his hand eagerly for the glass, but shrank back directlywith a look of suspicion. 

The Hakim smiled, raised the glass to his lips, and looking frankly inhis patient's eyes drank about a third of the liquid slowly, and wouldhave gone on, but the Baggara signed to him to desist, took the glass, and swallowed the remainder, to stand for a few minutes with his eyeshalf-closed and his hand clutching his brother chief's arm desperately. 

"Why doesn't he make him lie down?" said the professor in a low tone toFrank, who was standing by his companion's side as if waiting for theHakim's next command, but watching everything keenly the while. 

"Afraid it would have a bad effect upon the people, " said Frank in thesame low tone. "He has given him a dose of ammonia. "

"If he goes down, my lad, I'm afraid that it will be bad for us. "

"Afraid?" replied Frank. "We have made our plunge, and nothing mustmake us afraid. "

"That's right, " said the professor; "but I wish that stuff would beginto act. "

"It is beginning to act, " said Frank. "Look!"

He was right, for the chief drew a deep breath, his muscles seemed to begrowing more firm, and he stepped back from his companion, then signedfor his shield to be handed to him, placed the loops over the bandagedarm, took his two spears, beckoned to the follower who held his horse, and stood for a minute or two making believe to pat its beautiful, arching neck and arrange its mane before placing a foot in the stirrupand springing into the saddle, when another shout arose from hisfollowers, and Frank breathed more freely. 

"That's about as savage, bloodthirsty a brute as his younger companion, "said the professor softly; "but he's a brave man. "

"Yes, " said Frank laconically, as he kept his eyes fixed nervously uponthe chief. "Think he'll be able to keep his seat?"

"I hope so. "

"So do I, for if he comes off with a thud I won't give much for ourlives. Hah! he has mastered it. "

"Yes, he has mastered it all, " said Frank. "He must have been horriblysick and faint. "

"And that ammonia is not a very exhilarating draught to take. I knowthe abomination pretty well. Soap and water is delicious in comparison, especially if it is scented. "

All this time the Hakim stood motionless, watching his patient gravely, and waiting for the result which soon came. For the peril had passed, the Baggara chief drawing himself up in his saddle, making his beautifulArab charger rear up, and then letting him gallop for a hundred yards orso in full sight of his men, who began to shout frantically. Thenpulling the horse down upon its haunches, he turned, galloped back, andchecked the graceful creature again in front of the Hakim, to bend overand say a few words before rejoining his brother chief. 

"What said he, Ibrahim?" asked the doctor in a whisper, without movinghis head or seeming to speak. 

"That the Hakim is a great prophet, and that it is peace. Excellency, they will not hurt us now. "

This was soon made evident, for the younger chief began to give orders, and the men dismounted and formed themselves into a camp about a hundredyards away from the Hakim's tent. Then in fairly regular order thehorses and camels were led up to the water, allowed to drink, and thenled away, all being done so as not to interfere with Ibrahim's train ofcamels, which were now pastured on the other side of the tent, to whichthe Hakim had returned, and where Frank, the professor, and Sam werebusy replacing the various articles that had been brought out. 

Here a little conference was held around the doctor, who had resumed hiscalm and thoughtful attitude, but who, beneath his solemn aspect, was asexcited as the rest. 

"Well, Frank, lad, " he said, "did it go satisfactorily?"

"Of course, " replied the young man; "how could it be otherwise. It wasreal. "

"Splendid, " said the professor. "Robert, old fellow, I was proud ofyou. "

"I don't think you would have been, Fred, if you could have seeninside. "

"What do you mean--not nervous?"

"I was never worse in my life. I wonder I got through it as I did. Youboth noticed how my hands shook. "

"That I did not, " said Frank warmly. "You seemed to me as firm as arock. "

"Appearances are very deceitful, " said the doctor with a quaint look. "Well, I did my best for him. He was in a terrible state. "

At that moment the Sheikh, who had been giving orders to his young mennot to let the camels stray, rejoined them, and he gave the doctor alook full of reverence. 

"It was a great, a noble cure, O Hakim, " he said. "That wound wasdangerous, was it not?"

"He would have been delirious by this time to-morrow, Ibrahim, " said thedoctor. 

"Delirious?" said the Sheikh, hesitating. "Oh, yes, I know--mad. "

"And blood-poisoning would have set in. Without attention he would havebeen a dead man before a week had passed. "

"But now, O Hakim--now?"

"With care and attention to his wound he will soon recover. "

"Hah! It is good. His people would have slain us if he had fallen. "

"But what about now, Ibrahim?" said the professor. "He said it waspeace, but will he keep his word and let us go?"

"Hah!" said the Sheikh quietly; "I think not yet. If their Excellencieslook around without seeming to notice they will see that men have beenplaced in five places at a distance like sentries of the Khedivalguard. "

"To keep a look out for the approach of enemies, " said Frank quickly. "Well, it is soldierly. "

"It might be to keep us from stealing away, " said the Sheikh drily. 

"Yes, of course, " said the professor. "But look here, Ibrahim, who arethese likely to be?"

"One of the wandering bands of the desert, Excellency, who rob andmurder all they come across. "

"Pleasant neighbours!" said the doctor quietly. 

"But are they likely to be connected with the Khalifa--the Mahdi, or anyof that party?" said the professor. 

"I think so, Excellency, " replied the Sheikh. "These people travel farand wide. Perhaps this is one of the Khalifa's chiefs. "

"Well, then--listen, all of you, " said the professor. "If thesesentries are to keep us in bounds we are prisoners, Ibrahim?"

"Yes, Excellency. "

"And we shall have to go where they go, for they will never stay here. "

"It is right, Excellencies. "

"And you think it possible that this may be one of the new Mahdi'swandering bands?"

"Yes, Excellency; sent forth to see if the English and Egyptian forcesare advancing, as well as to gather plunder. "

"Then by and by they will rejoin their leader far away yonder atOmdurman or Khartoum?"

"It is most likely, Excellency. "

"Then so long as they treat us decently it seems to me that nothingcould have happened better, " continued the professor; "they will lead usexactly where we want to go, and see that no other party takes a fancyto our heads. "

"That is exactly what I thought, Excellency, " said the Sheikh; "but Iwas afraid to speak. "

"Why?" said the doctor sharply. 

The old man shrugged his shoulders. 

"Their Excellencies took me to be their guide, and placed themselves inmy hands. They said, `We have faith in you and your young men, who willprotect us. '"

"Yes, " said the doctor. "Go on. "

"Well, Excellency, I have failed. "

"How failed?" said the professor sharply. 

"I have brought you into danger--into the hands of the enemy at once. "

"Then you feel that we are prisoners?" said the doctor sternly. 

"I must be truthful with those who have trusted me, Excellency. I fearthat these sons of evil will not let us go. "

"I'm afraid you are right, Ibrahim. No, I promised you, Frank, that Iwould not be afraid of anything now. I feel, then, that you are right. But look here, so long as they treat us well nothing could have happenedbetter for us. "

"Nothing, Excellency, for at some time or another we shall be brought tothe heads of the invading tribes. "

"And sooner or later if we tried we might escape. "

"Yes, Excellency. "

"Then where is the cause for fear?"

"I feared that their Excellencies would not look upon it like this, "said the Sheikh humbly. "I knew that they must find out before manyhours that we were prisoners, and then I felt that they would turn andreproach me for what I had done. "

"When you know us better, Ibrahim, " said the doctor quietly, "you willfind that we are not unreasonable. Then as I see it now, _if_--I say_if_ these ruffians treat us well we are on the high road to the placewe seek to reach. "

"Yes, O Hakim. "

"But on the other hand, as we have found out this morning, everythingdepends upon my treatment of my patients. "

"Yes, O Hakim, it is so, " replied the Sheikh sadly. 

"Pleasant for a weak man, " said the doctor drily. "If I cure I am aprophet; if I fail--"

"You'll be a Hakim without a head, old fellow, " said the professor. "Ergo, as Shakespeare says, you must not fail. It was rather a closeshave, too, this morning--there, I wasn't alluding to you, Sam, " hecontinued, turning to the man, who was looking ghastly, as he stoodclose by hearing every word. "There, pluck up, my lad; your master didcure this time. Well, Frank, you are silent. How do matters strikeyou?"

"It seems to me that we have thoroughly fallen upon our feet, and havenothing to mind. "

"So long as these people use us well, " said the doctor. 

"Well, if they do not we have still our old plan to fall back upon. Wemust take to the camels and flee for our lives, even if we leaveeverything else behind. "

"And with our task undone, Landon, " said Frank bitterly. 

"Who said anything about leaving our task undone? Nothing of the kind. It will only mean starting afresh, and from right up the country insteadof from Cairo. "

"Well, " said the doctor, "as everything depends upon their treating uswell, and I occupy so critical a position, I must do my best. "

"Which we know you will, " said the professor, "of course. But they arenot likely to keep us long, are they, Ibrahim--only while their chiefswound is bad?"

"It is impossible to say, Excellency. It is a dangerous position. "

"Then if we get a chance of leaving it we must seize it. They don'tseem very grateful or friendly even now. "

"Your Excellency is not quite right, " said the Sheikh gravely. "Behold!"

He pointed to four of the Baggara coming towards the tent, and all wellladen. One bore a fine young kid, another half a dozen chickens in anopen basket in one hand, while slung over his shoulder were a largebunch of bananas and a bunch of dates. The others bore each a large bagof meal. 

These they set down at once at the Hakim's feet, bowing solemnly and lowthe while, and went off without a word. 

"Come, doctor, " said the professor merrily, as soon as the men were outof hearing, "you never had such a fee as that before!"

"And look at its value as a token of friendliness on our captors'behalf!" cried Frank eagerly. 

"It's splendid!" said the professor. "All that payment in kind, farbetter than guineas out here, for medicine and attendance to one man. "

"If his Excellency looks yonder, " said the old Sheikh drily, "he willfind that it is not for curing one wounded man. The great Hakim's fameis spreading fast. "

"One, two, three, four--why, there must be over twenty patients coming, Bob!" cried the professor, looking quite aghast. "You've got to do yourbest now, old fellow, and no mistake. But they can't be all chiefs. "

The professor was well within bounds in saying twenty, for coming slowlyon, for the most part walking, but several on horse or camel, and inmore than one case supported by companions, came the whole of the sickand injured of the tribe, the Hakim's treatment of their chief havingbrought those who had suffered during their wandering raid in thedesert; and the calmness for a few moments deserted the Hakim'scountenance. 

But he was soon himself again, and ready for what he saw at a glancemust be a long and heavy task--one that would call forth all hisenergies. 

"It is fortunate that I am a surgeon, and not a doctor pure and simple, "he said quietly, "for these seem to be all injuries received in fight. Come, Frank, Landon, our work is waiting. "

"Yes, " said the professor. "You, Sam, look after the commissariatdepartment. "

"The which, sir?" said the man, staring. 

"Well, the provisions, and clear away--for action, eh, Frank?"

"Yes, and it's fortunate that the Hakim has had his breakfast. "

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. 

STOLEN FOOD. 

The Hakim, even if looked upon by the semi-savages of the desert as aprophet, was human enough to require a second meal before he hadfinished what to ordinary people would have been a loathsome task; butfortunately for suffering humanity the great profession of the surgeonbecomes to him of such intense interest, and so full of grand problemsin the fight against death, that he forgets the horrors and seescomparatively little of that which makes the unused turn half faintingaway. 

In this instance the Baggara chief and his followers had been for manyweeks away from the main body of the invading tribes, fighting, plundering, destroying, and leaving devastation plainly marked in theirlocust-like track. But all this had not been accomplished withoutsuffering and loss to the tribe. Many had perished from disease; othershad been cut down in some onslaught. More had been sick or wounded andhad recovered, but there was a numerous remnant of sufferers, active menwho had once been strong, but now, weakened by suffering, retained justenough force to enable them to keep in their places, held up to a greatextent by the cruel knowledge that if they failed ever so little morethey would be left behind in a region where people, the wild beast, andNature herself, were all combined against them. For the wounded man iffound by the suffering villagers was remorselessly slaughtered; thebeasts and birds soon spied out the weakling and followed him night andday till the morning when he was too much chilled by the cold night dewsto rise again to tramp on in search of water or solid food; and thenfirst one and then another rushed in from the sands, or stooped fromabove, to rend and tear, and soon enough all was over, and the carrionseekers had had their fill. 

It was a knot of these--sick and wounded--that were led or tramped up tothe front of the Hakim's tent, and there paused or were set down, adreadful row, horrible of aspect, bandaged, unkempt, vilely dirty, feeble, and hopeless. They made no complaint, sent up no appeal, butsat or lay there gazing at the handsome, polished gentleman seatedblandly before them, the mark of all those pleading, imploring eyes, silently asking him to give them back their lost health and strength. 

"Look at them, " said the doctor sadly; "one is bound to pity and tohelp, when hard, matter-of-fact self says, Why should they be helped--why should they be made strong again, to go on indulging in destructionand dealing death?"

"It's our way of doing things, " said the professor. 

"Yes, Heaven be praised!" replied the doctor. "No one would change itif he could. "

"But, " said Frank, "there is not a wounded or suffering man here who hasnot brought all his trouble upon himself. If he had given up the swordand spear and stayed in his own country to cultivate his own lands hewould have been healthy and well. "

"Of course, " said the professor; "and therefore you would let themiserable wretches die out of the way?"

"Nothing of the kind, " cried Frank indignantly. "They are human beings, suffering terribly, and I would do all I could to help them. "

"Don't get excited, " said the doctor smiling, "or you will have some ofthem noticing that you are not the Hakim's dumb slave. Come, our workis waiting. "

It was, and they worked on hour after hour at the terrible task; but itwas impossible not to see the impression the doctor made upon hissavage-looking patients, who for the most part hesitated doubting andhalf resenting his acts; but in a few minutes to a man they resignedthemselves to his influence, and when at last they crawled or were borneaway by companions, there was not one who was not ready to sing thepraises of the Hakim, not from being cured, but from the change wroughtby a skilful surgeon upon neglected wounds, and the sensations of restand relief afforded by a doctor who looked upon the ailments from whichthe patients suffered as the simplest forms of disease, caused byneglect, and treated them accordingly. 

In the Baggara camp that night there was but one theme of conversation. It was not with regard to the plunder taken in the last village that hadbeen sacked, and the great amount of corn that it was impossible tobring away, and consequently had to be destroyed, but of the wondrousholy man--this prophet--this inspired Hakim, whose touch to the fiery, throbbing wound was softer than that of a woman, and who caused a gentlesleep to fall upon him in whose flesh that ragged bullet lay deep, or inwhom the broken spear-top was rankling and stabbing at every movement, while it refused to give way to the cutting and poulticing of their ownwise men. 

It was wonderful, the Baggara said, and they declared that they did notcare whether he was a follower of the Prophet or of any other belief;all they knew was that he was inspired; otherwise how could he make menbreathe against their will and then fall into that deep sleep, sufferingpain before, and then waking up how long after who could tell, with thebullet taken away, the rankling spear-point no longer imbedded in themuscle, the fever gone, and instead a cool, soft bandage and a feelingof rest. 

Oh, the Hakim was a great, an inspired prophet, they said; and had onetold them that this inspiration was that of science and patient searchto win a knowledge of the wonders of our great creation, they would havelaughed him to scorn. 

On the other hand, in the Hakim's little camp of a couple of tents, there was the knowledge of some five-and-twenty men lying down to restas they had not lain for many weary days, and that the chief was likeanother man, for he had been to the Hakim's tent himself, to bend low tothe man of wisdom, and tell him, through the lips of Ibrahim, that thecalm that had come over his spirit was marvellous, and that the woundonly throbbed now and ached, but in a way that he was man enough tobear. 

At this the Hakim had looked grave, and bidden him recline upon the rugoutside the tent door, taking the arm in hand once more and gentlyunfastening the bandages before bathing and applying a soothingantiseptic application upon fresh lint to the wound, and bandaging lesstightly once again. 

After this the savage warrior arose, to bend with more reverence thanever over the Hakim's hand, bidding Ibrahim tell him that now he was atpeace, and ask him if there was anything he needed for himself andfollowers. 

It was after the chief had returned to his own rough tent that thediscourse took a strange turn. 

Naturally enough further gifts for the present had been declined on theground that they had an ample supply of their own, to which he had madeso thoughtful an addition. But now that the last sufferer had left theneighbourhood of the tent, and the Hakim and his aides had preparedthemselves for their well-earned evening meal. Sam and one of theSheikh's young men had been busy over a fire, and there was ready forthe Hakim's repast one portion of the roasted kid, the other beinghanded over to the Sheikh's party. 

The cleverly cooked and browned meat sent forth an appetising odour, theevening was cool, and the sky of a delicious hue; and spread upon acloth upon the level sand all was ready, including the newly bakedcakes, with the additional luxury of fruit--rich, golden-yellow, butterybananas such as are not known in Europe, and the cloying but wholesomehoney-flavoured date. 

All looked tempting, for the cool draughts of clear water from thespring and the restful bathe had taken away the weary sensation ofnauseating distaste for food consequent upon the ordeal through whichthe doctor and his companions had passed. 

But then just as the party had taken their seats, the professor, in agrimly malicious way, proceeded to spoil the feast. 

"Such a shame, " he said solemnly; "that kid and the luscious fruit weare going to eat must have been plundered by these savage ruffians fromsome village. I don't think we shall either of us have the heart totouch a bit. "

A blank silence seemed to fall upon the group, the Hakim thrusting awayhis knife, Frank, who half knelt behind him, as a slave should, waitingfor such morsels as the Hakim might condescend to pass, darted a fiercelook at the speaker, and the Sheikh, who shared their table now and wasin the act of behaving, in spite of his intercourse with Europeans, in avery ungentlemanly way--for he was trying the edge of his knife--droppedit as if he had cut his thumb, and stared as angrily as Frank. 

"But, Landon, old friend, " said the Hakim at last, "I am hungry! Surelyit is not our fault that the food was stolen--if it was. "

"No, but we should be encouraging the Baggara to go on plundering if weate these things. "

"Do you think so really?" said the doctor; and then a change came overthe professor's face which made Morris shake his head and attack themuch needed food at once. 

CHAPTER NINETEEN. 

THE EMIR'S SON. 

It was a strange experience to sit outside the tent door that night, breathing the soft moist air which seemed so different from the dry, harsh, parching wind of the desert. There was the pleasant scent ofgrowing plants, too, rising from wherever the overflow from thefountains permeated the sand, quite unseen in the broad sunshine, butshowing its effect in a blush of green which gradually grew less andless, till at a few hundred yards from the rocks and pools it died rightaway and all was arid barrenness once more. 

Now and then a wailing howl came from a distance, to be answered hereand there by the prowling animals which scented the food of the camp, and hung about waiting till the caravans had passed on to make a rush insafety for the scraps that were left, with the result that theneighbourhood of the pools and wells was found free from all refuse bythe next comers. 

The Hakim's party was too weary with the nervous excitement and hardlabour of the past day to talk much, finding it pleasanter to sit orrecline and listen to the various sounds that reached their ears fromthe Baggara camp or far out in the desert, till after being absent forsome little time the Sheikh came softly up to the tent and waited to bequestioned. He did not have to wait long, for the professor attackedhim at once. 

"Well, Ibrahim, " he said, "what news?"

"Little, Excellency. The Baggara have sentries out all round the camp. "

"And ours?"

"Yes, Excellency; we are prisoners. "

"But in no danger?"

"No, Excellency. It is peace between us and the fighting men. But ifthey are attacked in the night or just before daybreak we are in badcompany, as you would say, and we shall perish with these tribesmen ifthey are beaten. "

"That sounds bad, " said the professor. "But look here, who is likely toattack their camp?"

"Who can say, Excellency? Like the people of old, their hand is againstevery man, and every man's hand is against them. They are wanderingabout harassing villages, plundering, and making slaves. Some of thevillage people may take heart and join together to slay them; or theKhedive's men may hear of their being in the neighbourhood, and comefrom boats upon the river. There may be soldiers of your own journeyingsouth, who, hearing from spies that a party of the Khalifa's men havecome so far north, would be sure to try and scatter them like the sandbefore the storm. "

"But, on the other hand, " said the doctor quietly, "none of these thingsmay happen, and we may sleep in peace and trust that all will be well. "

"Yes, Excellency; that is what we must do always. "

"Then let us sleep while we can, " said the doctor. "I am very weary, and there is sure to be plenty more hard work to-morrow. "

The Hakim's words were taken as law, and as there were very fewpreparations to make, a short time only elapsed before all were sleepingsoundly, it being deemed superfluous to attempt to watch, since theywere utterly helpless in the enemy's hands. 

At such a time restless wakefulness might have been expected, but sleepcame, deep and refreshing, out in the desert whenever they were in theneighbourhood of water. Frank lay thinking of the day's work with itsrisks and chances, and then of his brother far away to the south; but inabout a quarter of an hour he was sleeping soundly as the rest, tillhours had passed, when, as if conscious of something being near, heawoke suddenly, to find that all was dark and so still that, settingdown his feelings to imagination, he sank back, with a sigh, and wasdropping off to sleep again when from far away out in the desert therewas the shrill neigh of a horse, and he started up again, to hear thechallenge answered from where the Baggara horses and camels werepicketed or lying about. 

This was startling, suggesting as it did the approach of other horsemen, who might be inimical and about to attack. On the other hand, though, he reasoned that a single horse might have broken away from where it wastethered. He recalled, too, what the Sheikh had said about sentriesbeing scattered about so that no danger could approach without an alarmbeing given, and he was settling down once more when, plainly enough andincreasing in loudness, there came through the darkness of the night thedull, rustling trampling of horses coming at a sharp canter over thesand. 

But for a minute or so there was no warning uttered--no cry of alarm. Then all at once there was a shout and a reply. Silence again, andFrank lay wondering whether this was a good or evil sign, since a sentrymight have been cut down at once. 

Then voices were plainly heard as of people talking loudly, and itseemed to be impossible that this could mean danger. So he lay still, making out by degrees that a large body of horsemen had ridden up, andfrom the talking that went on there seemed to be no doubt that earlierin the night this party must have gone out upon a reconnaissance whilethe Sheikh's party slept, and that this was their return. 

Certainly there was no danger, for by degrees the various sounds diedout, and all was still. 

Frank's eyes closed once more, and his next awakening was at broad day, to find that a fire was burning and that Sam and his help from thecamel-drivers were busy preparing for the morning meal, while the Sheikhand his men were as busy seeing to the camels, after being in doubt asto whether they would be there. 

But there had been no interference with anything belonging to theHakim's party, and the old man was evidently fairly contented in mind ashe made his report about what he knew of the night's proceedings. 

His first and most important announcement was that the Baggara chiefsforce had been nearly doubled during the night, it seeming probable thatthe water-holes had been made the place of meeting for a divided force. The question that troubled the party now was whether the newcomers wouldprove well disposed; but they were not long left in doubt, for quiteearly in the morning the Baggara chief made his appearance for his woundto be dressed, and smiled with satisfaction at the change in its state. 

"Tell the Hakim, " he said, "that he is great, and that he can stay hereto rest his camels till to-morrow, and then he shall come with us. "

This was as he was about to leave the Hakim's presence, with his injuredarm resting comfortably in its sling, and he turned away at once. 

"_Nolens volens_, Frank, " said the professor; "but so far nothing couldbe better for us. Look here, another present. "

For three men were approaching with a kid, dates, and bananas, and inaddition one of them bore a handsome large rug, evidently intended forthe Hakim's use. 

The men approached with the same deference that they had displayed onthe previous day, and then departed; but before they were half over thespace which divided the two camps, a party of five men were seenapproaching, one of whom was mounted upon a cream-coloured horse, twoothers supporting him as he swayed to and fro, apparently quite unableto retain his seat. 

It was the _avant-garde_ of the patients the Hakim was to treat thatday, and coming as it did on the Baggara chiefs announcement that theywere to accompany him the next morning, quite settled what, for at allevents the present, was to be their position in connection with theforce. 

"You are to be surgeon in chief to the tribe, Robert, " said theprofessor merrily, "so you had better make the best of it. "

The doctor did not pause to reply, but gravely prepared to receive thefresh patient, shaking his head solemnly at Frank the while. 

"It looks bad, " he said. "The poor fellow seems to be beyond help. "

The Baggara appeared to be a finely built, manly young fellow as he wasallowed to subside into his followers' arms, and then borne to where theHakim waited. There they laid him upon a rug which Frank dragged readyfor his reception, to leave their burden lying flat upon his back, whilethe bearers drew back, but the horse advanced, to lower its soft muzzleand sniff at its rider's face, before raising its head and uttering ashrill neigh. 

The four men stood looking at the Hakim, as much as to say, "He is dead, but you must bring him to life. "

The doctor's broad white brow was as a rule wonderfully free from lines, but as Frank glanced at him it was to see them gather now as straightand regular almost as if they had been ruled, from his eyebrows high upto where the hair had been shorn away. 

But no time was wasted, and no search was needed. The young chief--forsuch he seemed to be--had received a terrible thrust from a spear justbelow the collar-bone, and to all appearance he had bled to death. 

But as the doctor busily did what was necessary to the frightful wound, a slight quivering about the eyelids announced that life still lingered, and as the busy hands checked all further effusion and administered arestorative, the failing spirit's flight was for the time being stayed, though whether this would be permanent was more than the Hakim dared tosay. 

"He must have been bleeding all the night, " the doctor said, "andjolting about on a horse. The man's constitution is wonderful, or hewould have died long before now. "

"Can you save him?" asked the professor. 

"I fear not, but I'll do all I can. Ask the men how this happened, Ibrahim. "

The information was soon obtained. 

"It was in a skirmish, Hakim, a day's journey from here. The men whojoined us last night came in contact with a body of mounted men armedwith spears, and from their description they seem to have been Englishtroops. Many of the Baggara were killed, others wounded, and this man, their leader, was as you see. He will die, Excellency, will he not?"

"It all depends on the way in which he is treated, " replied the doctor. "He is in a dying state, but no dangerous part is touched. I may savehis life. "

"It would be a miracle, Excellency, " said the Sheikh slowly. "Look:there is a dark cloud coming over his face. "

"No, " said the doctor gravely; "that is because the spirit in him is solow. He is falling into a sleep that is almost death, but he stilllives. Tell these men that he is not to be moved, and that their chiefmust send a tent here to place over him. Let two of your men come nowto spread a cloth above him to keep off the sun until the tent is setup. "

The message was given, and the men hurried away to rejoin their people, while in a very few minutes the Baggara chief and his companionappeared, walking hurriedly, and made their way to the side of thewounded man, to look at him anxiously and as if his condition was agreat trouble to them, the elder going down on one knee to lay a handupon the sufferer's brow. 

The next minute he was up again, and the two chiefs were chattinghurriedly together, before the elder turned to Ibrahim and spokeearnestly, his voice sounding hoarse and changed. 

"O Hakim, " said the Sheikh, "he says that this is his son, whom heloves, and it will be like robbing him of his own life if the boy dies. He says that you must not let him sink. Sooner let all the wounded menwho are coming to you die than this one. You must make him live, andall that the chief has is thine. "

"How can I make the man live?" said the Hakim sternly, and frowning atthe chief as he spoke to the interpreter. "Has not all his life-bloodbeen spilled upon the sand as they brought him here? Tell him at oncethat I am not a prophet, only a simple surgeon; that I have done allthat is possible, and that the rest is with God. "

The Sheikh reverently translated the Hakim's words to the Baggara chief, and those who heard him fully expected to hear some angry outburst; butthe chief bent humbly before the Hakim and touched his hand. 

In a short time, under the Baggara chief's supervision, a tent was setup over the wounded man, and by then two large groups of patients werewaiting patiently for the Hakim's ministrations--those whom he hadtended on the previous day, and about a dozen wounded men who had comein during the night. 

It was a new class of practice for the London practitioner, howeverfamiliar it might have been to the surgeon of a regiment on activeservice; but wounds are wounds, whether received in the everyday life ofa mechanic who has injured himself with his tools or been crushed bymachinery, or caused by shot, sword, and spear. So the Hakim toiledaway hour after hour till his last patient had left the space in frontof his tent and he had leisure to re-examine the chief's son, the fatherlooking anxiously on in spite of an assumed sternness, and waiting tillthe keen-eyed surgeon rose from one knee. 

"Tell him, " said the Hakim gravely, "that it will be days before theyoung chief can be moved. "

The words were interpreted, and the chief seemed to forget his owninjury as he said in an angry tone that the little force must start atdaybreak the next morning. 

"Then the young man will die, " said the Hakim coldly. 

Ibrahim again interpreted, and the chief suggested that a camel littershould be prepared. 

But the Hakim shook his head. 

"Can't you give way?" said the professor softly. "A fairly easy couchcould be made. "

"The man will certainly die if he is moved to-morrow, " replied Morrissternly, "and if I lose a patient now a great deal of my prestige goeswith him. "

"Yes, I know, " said the professor; "but we are making an enemy insteadof a friend; this man is not in the habit of having his will crossed. "

"We shall lose his friendship all the same, " said the doctor, "if hisson dies in my hands. I can save his life if he is left to me. "

"Dare you say that for certain?"

The doctor was silent for a few minutes, during which he bent over hispatient again, took his temperature, and examined the pupils of hiseyes, and at last rose up and stepped from beneath the shade of therough little tent. 

"Yes, " he said; "I can say, I think for certain, that I will save hislife if he is left to me. "

"What does the wise Hakim say?" asked the Baggara of Ibrahim; and thequestion was interpreted to the doctor. 

"Tell him, No! That his son must not stir if he is to live. If he isleft for say a week all may be well. "

There was no outburst of anger upon the interpretation of these words, the Baggara hearing them to the end and then walking away, frowning andstern, without once looking back. 

About an hour later some half-dozen men came up leading a couple ofcamels laden with a larger tent and other gear. This was set up a shortdistance from the small one in which the young chief lay, and soon afterit was done the chief rode up once more to see his son, looking anxiousand careworn upon seeing the young man lying apparently unchanged. 

The Baggara went away without a word to the Hakim, but signed to theSheikh to follow him. 

Meanwhile the rest of the sufferers came or were carried to take theirturn before their surgeon, who was busy with his two aides, easingbandages, and where necessary redressing the wounds; while to theprofessor's surprise two of them, instead of being carried or supportedaway by their comrades were helped into the large tent. 

In all seven were placed there, and just as the long line of sufferershad been gone through, the Sheikh returned and said that the chief'sorders were that the worst sufferers were to stay at the tent so as tobe under the Hakim's eye. 

The doctor's was evidently to be no sinecure appointment, but he took itquite complacently, giving a few orders for the comfort of his stayingpatients, and without further incident the night fell, when a smallhand-lamp was placed in the little tent, and the doctor announced thathe was going to watch beside the young chief for the night. 

Accordingly a rug was placed for him, as well as such requisites asmight be needed for his patient, and saying good-night, and refusing alloffers to share his vigil, the doctor glanced inside the larger tent tosee that all was going on right there, and then stood in the open for afew minutes to breathe the cool night air and listen to the low murmurgoing on in the camp, before entering the smaller tent and startingslightly. 

"You here, Frank?" he said quickly. 

"Yes, I am going to share your watch. "

"There is no need, my dear boy, " said the doctor warmly. "Go and get agood night's rest. You must be tired. "

"I have not done half the work you have, " was the reply, and after alittle further argument the doctor gave way, and the watch wascommenced, first one and then the other taking the lamp to bend over theinsensible man, and make sure that he was breathing still. 

It was about an hour after midnight that Frank's turn had come, and ashe had done some three times before, he took the lamp from where itstood, shaded from the sufferer's eyes, and went behind him, to kneeldown and watch for the feeble pulsation, breathing deeply himself withsatisfaction as he found that the respiration still went on, when as herose, lamp in hand he nearly let it fall on finding himself face to facewith a tall figure in white robes, who looked at him sternly, took thelamp from his hand, and bent over in turn. 

Frank neither spoke nor moved, but drew back a little, watching the faceof the Baggara chief as the light struck full upon the swarthy, aquilinefeatures for a few minutes, before the visitor rose and handed back thelamp, gazing full in the young man's eyes. Then, thrusting his handinto his waist scarf, he freed the sheath of a handsome dagger from thefolds, and without a word handed it to Frank, motioning him to place itin his own belt, after which he went silently out of the tent, vanishinglike a shadow. 

Frank stood motionless for a few minutes before setting down the lamp, and he was about to return to his place when the doctor's voice saidsoftly--

"Well, Frank, how is he?"

"Just the same, " replied Frank. "You heard the chief come in, ofcourse?"

"The Baggara? No; surely he has not been again?"

"Yes; looked at his son, and went away a few minutes ago. Were youasleep?"

"No, I think not--I am sure not, " said the doctor. "I turned my faceaway from the light when I lay down; but I heard you rise, and saw themovement of the lamp over the tent side when you took it up, and againwhen you set it down. Well, I am not sorry that he has been. It showsthat even such a savage chief as this--one who lives by rapine andviolence--has his natural feelings hidden somewhere in his heart. "

The pair were silent for some little time, and then the doctor rose tolook at his patient in turn. 

"These are the anxious hours, Frank, " he said, "before daylight comes. Much depends on our getting well through the next two. If the poorfellow is alive at sunrise I shall feel quite satisfied that he willrecover; but if he does it will be by a very narrow way. "

The pair sat then and listened and watched, with the patient stillbreathing slowly and softly, seeming very calm at last when the firstfaint dawn appeared; and soon after the doorway was shaded by theSheikh. 

"How is he, Excellencies?" he said in a whisper. 

"He will live, Ibrahim, " replied the doctor. "Come and watch now whilewe go to my tent and snatch a few hours' rest. "

"I have some coffee ready for you, Excellency, " whispered the old man. "You will take that first?"

"Yes, it will be very welcome, " said the doctor. 

"I suppose you heard them go?" said the Sheikh, as they stepped out intothe soft grey light. "Go? Heard whom go?" said Frank quickly. 

"The Baggara, " replied the Sheikh. "About two hours ago. "

"No!" said the doctor. "Not a sound. "

"They have all gone, Excellency, excepting the wounded in the next tentand twelve mounted men who are stationed round to act, I suppose, as aguard. "

"But they will come back?"

"I cannot say, Excellency, " replied the old man; "I only know that theyhave gone. "

"`And fold their tents like the Arabs, '" said Frank softly to himself, "`and as silently steal away. '"

CHAPTER TWENTY. 

PRISONERS INDEED. 

Before the sun rose Frank's rescue party fully realised their position--that they were prisoners, guarded by about twenty of the Baggara chief'sfollowers, and in charge of a temporary hospital, with the leader's sonas the principal patient. 

"We must look our trouble, if trouble it is, straight in the face, Frank, my lad, " said the professor, "and hope all will turn out for thebest. "

"Yes, " replied Frank, with a sigh; "but of course we cannot stir fromhere, and the time is going so fast. "

"But we reckoned upon meeting with obstacles, and this one may prove tobe a help in the end. "

"I hope so, " said the young man despondently, his manner seeming tobelie his words. "But what about the future--I mean when these men needno more attention?"

"My idea of the future is that the chief has gone with his men upon someraid already arranged, and that we shall have them back before long. "

"Yes, " said Frank, "he is sure to return on account of his son. Then wemust wait. "

"Yes, and as patiently as we can, my lad. "

"And have as good an account to give the father as we can on hisreturn, " said the doctor, who had been listening in silence. "It isvery trying, Frank, to be checked like this, and so soon; but one thingis certain, the Baggara chief means to keep us to attend to his wounded, and this being a warlike excursion it will sooner or later come to anend, and we shall be taken pretty swiftly in the direction we want togo. "

"I'll try to think as you do, " said Frank sadly, "and murmur as littleas I can. "

"Fortunately we shall have very little time for brooding over ourtroubles, " said the doctor, "for I can see nothing but hard work fordays to come. "

"Yes, " said the professor grimly; "you are getting far more professionalduty, though, than we bargained for. "

As the day wore on there was little change visible in the young chief, who seemed to be alive, and that was all; but the Hakim was satisfied, and the other patients had certainly improved. 

The Sheikh reported having talked to the head of their guard, but he wasfar from communicative. He would not say anything about his chief'sproceedings, nor even allow that he would return, but told the Arabsternly that no one must stir from the little camp; at the same time, though, he showed Ibrahim that he was left with a supply of provisionsfor many days to come, and that he was ready to furnish the Hakim'sparty with meat and corn. 

"Then we must wait, Ibrahim, " said Frank wearily. 

"Yes, Excellency, " replied the old man, "and have patience. Thesepeople have it in their power to turn us back, or make slaves andprisoners of us; while if we resist--well, Excellency, I need not tellyou what would come. They are masters, and if a servant does not dotheir bidding, the sand drinks up his blood, and he is no more. Theylook upon us now, though, as their friends, and sooner or later theBaggara chief will return, if he does not encounter some of the Englishtroops and have his people scattered. "

"Which is hardly likely yet, " said the professor decisively. 

"No, Excellency, not yet; and I feel sure that after he has swept thecountry round of everything worth taking he will retreat south. "

"Where?" said Frank quickly. 

"There are but two places at all likely, Excellency, " replied the oldman; "Omdurman and Khartoum, one of which will be the headquarters ofthe new Mahdi's force, and that is where you wish to be. "

As had been said, there was too much to do for the English party to havemuch time for brooding. The Hakim was deeply interested in hispatients, forgetting everything in the brave fight he made to save everylife; and Frank strove manfully to hide the heart-sickness and despairwhich attacked him as he worked away over what soon settled down intofield hospital work, being conscious all the while that he and hisfriends were carefully watched, but not in a troublesome way, for theBaggara guard had formed a little camp of their own and kept rigorouslyto themselves, their duty being to mount guard night and day and seethat the prisoners and patients were supplied with all that was needed. 

And so the time glided by, with Frank daily growing more careworn andsilent. He did not even revert to the object of their journey unless itwas mentioned by his companions, but worked away, helping the doctor, and having the satisfaction of seeing first one poor helpless wreckbecome convalescent and then another. For there was no shirking ormaking the worst of wounds or sickness, the men being only too ready toleave the hospital tent with its occupants, so as to join the guard intheir little camp. 

Consequently as the days sped quickly by the number of patients rapidlydecreased, while the principal sufferer, after lying as if between lifeand death for a week, began to mend, his terrible wound healing rapidly, and signs of returning strength gradually appearing. 

At first he lay quiet and sullen, submitting to all that was done forhim, watching the Hakim with what appeared to be a suspicious dread, forhis mind did not seem to grasp the possibility of this Frankishphysician wishing to save his life. He scowled, too, at the professor, and at first gave the dumb, black slave Frank fierce looks whenever inhis ministrations he approached and touched him. But during the courseof the second week, as his strength began to return, he appeared moregrateful, and once or twice smiled and nodded after being lifted or fed, or having his position changed. 

One day when the Sheikh came to the tent the patient began to speak, andasked him questions about the Hakim--why he was there, and what paymenthe would require for all he had done; and looked surprised when toldthat the learned Frankish physician did everything for the sake of doinggood. 

It was a problem that lasted him till the next day, when he signed forsomething, and the professor found that they could make one anothercomprehend after a fashion, enough for the Englishman to grasp that thewounded man wanted Ibrahim, who was summoned. 

It was for a mere trifle. He wanted to question him about Frank--how hecame to be the Hakim's slave, and why he could not speak, the old Arabmaking up the best explanation he could over the first, and referring tothe professor for an explanation as to the latter, the young chief beingevidently under the impression, and bluntly expressing the belief, thatthe Hakim had cut out the young slave's tongue so that he should notreveal any of the secrets of the magic by whose means he performed hiscures. 

There being visible proof afforded, to Frank's disgust, that the Hakimhad not treated his slave in this barbarous way, the young chief feltcertain that the silence was the result of some magic spell, and hebegan to display a certain amount of pity for the young man, and lay andwatched him curiously. 

From that day Frank found that he was an object of interest to the youngchief, who noted every movement with a sort of pitying contempt, whileat the same time, in spite of the result of the Hakim's ministrations, he displayed an unconcealed dislike for him that was manifested inmorose looks and more than one angry scowl. 

This was talked over when the friends were alone, and the doctor smiled. 

"It does not matter, " he said. "I shall not be jealous, Frank. It isall plain enough to read. The poor fellow is weak as a child mentallyas well as bodily, and I expect that as soon as he gets better he willbe offering you your freedom from the cruel slavery to which you havebeen reduced. "

"Yes, that's it, " said the professor, laughing; "but don't you listen tothe voice of the charmer, my boy. There is an old proverb about jumpingout of the frying-pan into the fire. "

"It may all work for good, " said the doctor, "and there is no harm inmaking a friend; but it is of no use to try and foresee what willhappen. A sick man's fancies are very evanescent. Go on as you havedone all through. One thing is very evident: he is mending fast, andcan be moved when his father returns. "

"If he ever does, " said the professor drily. "The lives of thesefighting men are rather precarious, and if we never see him again Ishall not be surprised. "

Another week glided by, and the large tent was taken down by the Baggaraguard and set up again in their own camp, for the last of the Hakim'spatients had expressed a wish to join his fellows, though far from beingin a condition to leave, so that the young chief was the only suffererleft, while he was now sufficiently recovered to watch what went onaround. But for the most part his eyes were fixed upon the desert, hisgaze bespeaking the expectation of his father's return, though he neversuggested it in his brief conversations with the Sheikh--brief fromtheir difficulty, the old Arab confessing his inability to understandmuch that was said. 

But if the young chief was watching in that expectation he fixed hiseyes upon the distant horizon in vain. The clouds appeared everymorning, to hang for hours in the east along the course of the far-offriver, and then die away in the glowing sunshine, while to north andsouth and west there was the shimmering haze of heat playing above thesand, till Frank began to be in despair. 

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. 

FOR A FRESH START. 

One evening after the young chief had lain watching the desert in vainhe signed for the Sheikh to come to him, and in a stronger voice badehim fetch the leader of the men left on guard. 

The man came, and a conversation ensued, the result of which was thatthe Baggara went away to join his companions, with whom a longconsultation was held, followed by certain unmistakable movements whichbrought the Sheikh to his friends. 

"They are going to march, " he said. "Their tents are being struck, andeveryone is preparing. I saw four men seeing to the water-skins; othersare packing, and soon after midnight they will leave. "

"And what about the young chief? He is not fit to go, eh, doctor?"

"Unless he is carried, " was the reply. 

The Sheikh smiled. 

"They are preparing a camel for him so that he can share it with one ofthe wounded men--a litter such as they use for the women. They canalmost lie, one on either side, Excellencies. I expect that they willsay nothing, but that we shall wake in the morning and find that we arealone. "

The Sheikh had hardly spoken when the party saw the head of the Baggaraguard approaching. 

As the man came within reach he signed to the Sheikh to join him, andhis words were very few before he turned upon his heel and strode away. 

"What does this mean, Ibrahim?" said Frank. "Did he tell you that theyare going?"

"Our tents are to be struck, Excellency, and everything loaded upon ourcamels before daylight. "

"Ah!" said Frank eagerly; "to march to the south?"

"Yes, Excellency. His orders from the chief were that if he did notreturn in the number of days now passed we were to be taken south. "

"Whereto?"

"Omdurman, Excellency. He has been waiting for the young chiefsspeaking to say that he was strong enough to go. The time was past theday before yesterday. The young man told him an hour ago that he couldbear it now. "

"Then the suspense is over!" cried Frank eagerly. 

"Mind, Excellency!" said the Sheikh, laying his hand upon the youngman's arm; "the young man is trying to look round this way. He must notsee your lips moving, nor hear you speak. "

It was a slip on Frank's part, but the young chief did not seem to havenoticed anything, and mentally resolving to be more careful the speakerdrew back a little as if waiting for orders. 

"Yes, " said the professor; "the suspense is over, and we are once moreabout to start. This time it will be direct to our goal. "

"But how is it the Baggara chief has not returned, Ibrahim?" said thedoctor gravely. 

"Who can say, Excellency?" replied the old Sheikh, with a shrug of theshoulders. "He took his young men on what you English people call araid--to kill and plunder, and perhaps, as his son did, he has met witha stronger force. Instead of sweeping away he has perhaps been with hispeople swept from the face of the earth. He may have been only drivenaside from his path, but there must have been some serious encounter, orhe would have returned, for he showed us that he loved his son. "

"Going?" said the professor, for the Sheikh drew back. 

"Yes, Excellency; I must see that our preparations are made. My youngmen must be ready. You will give orders for your baggage to be packed, and before the time for starting my people shall bring up the camels andload them. The tent can stand till an hour before the time, and youwill all doubtless lie down and rest. "

"No, " said the professor; "it would be driving things too close. Sendyour young men to strike the tent, and we will have everything ready forthe camels. We should none of us sleep, and if we have any time tospare it will be pleasant enough to lie down on the sand. One minute:have you any idea which way we shall go?"

"I do not quite know, " said the old Arab. "I asked the men, but theyshook their heads. It will not be by the regular caravan track. "

"How do you know that?" asked the doctor. 

"Because, Excellency, there is water nearly as good as this at the endof the day's journey. "

"Well? What of that?"

"These men must know the tracks as well as I do, Excellencies--perhapsbetter. If they were going by the regular road they would know that weshould reach the wells. "

"I see, " said the professor, nodding his head; "and they are fillingwater-skins?"

"Yes, Excellency, and I am told to do the same. "

"Then we are going to strike right out into the desert, of course. "

"Yes, Excellency, to take the shortest ways; and it looks like flight. "

That evening the Hakim visited his one patient, and found him makingexcellent progress; but the young chief made no attempt to communicatethe change that was to take place, contenting himself with bowing hishead slowly by way of thanks, and then closing his eyes and turning awayhis head. He made signs to Frank, though, soon after, to bring himwater, and the latter noted at once that the young man's eyes lookedpained and anxious, and that his brow was a good deal lined. And it wasplain enough to read the meaning of the anxious glances northward whichhe kept on giving, as if hoping against hope that the delay was notserious. 

But there was not a sign upon the distant horizon, though the air wascool and clear, so that the sky-line where the sandy sea joined the airwas perfectly distinct, till night closed in over a busy scene, for themen of both parties were working hard packing and preparing. The tworows of camels crouched munching away contentedly after being watered, and as their loads were finished each was placed near the camel whichwas to be its bearer, and glanced at by the animals as if they quiteunderstood. 

This took the attention of Sam, who seized the instant when he wasmaking the final arrangement with Frank over the Hakim's leather cases, once more carefully packed, to whisper a few remarks. 

"They seem rum things, don't they, sir? Just look at that one how hekeeps turning and rolling his eyes at these two long portmanteaus!Don't you tell me that they don't understand, because I feel sure thatthey do. That big, strong fellow's saying as plainly as he can, `Fortwo pins I'd bolt off into the desert and strike against that load, onlyit would be no good; they'd fetch me back; and I don't like leaving mymates. '"

"Well, there is a peculiarly intelligent look about the beast certainly, Sam, " said Frank, smiling. 

"'Telligent, sir? I should think there is! Look how he keeps onlicking his lips and leering at us now and then. Beautiful and patient, too. Why, he's quite smiling at us, and as soon as they begin to hanghis load upon his beautiful humpy back he'll begin moaning and groaningand sighing as if there never was such an ill-used animal before. Oh, they're queer beasts, and no mistake. I'd like to drive that fellow;that's what I should like to do. He'd taste the whip more than once. "

"Why?" asked Frank, for Sam stopped short and looked at him as much asto say, "Ask me. "

"Because, as the people say, I've got my knife into him, and I want topay him. "

"Well, go on, " said Frank. "I am waiting to hear your reasons. "

"Because he's an ugly, supercilious, contemptuous, sneering, ill-behavedbrute, sir. Last time I went near him he called me names--a dog of awhite nigger, or something of that kind. I can't say exactly what. "

"Absurd!"

"Oh, but he did, sir, in his language, which of course I could notunderstand; but he did something insulting which I could. For there wasno doubt about that--he spat at me, sir--regularly spat at me, and thensnarled as much as to say, `Take that! You come within reach, and I'llbite you!'"

"They're not pleasant creatures, " said Frank quietly, glancing round. 

"No, sir, they're not, indeed; and that isn't the worst of it. "

"Then what is?"

"Why, this, sir: instead of going comfortably to one's night's rest, I've got to mount one of the ugly, sneering brutes, and he'll play atsee-saw with me and make me as miserable as he can, turning my poor backinto a sort of hinge. Ugh! I haven't forgotten my last dose. "

"Don't talk to me any more, " said Frank, in a low tone of voice; "hereare some of the other men coming. "

"To take down the patients' tent, I suppose, sir. "

Frank made no reply, but Sam was right, for they quickly and quietlylowered and folded the young chiefs tent, leaving him only a rug to lieupon, after placing the tent ready to be fetched by one of their camels. 

Seeing this, Frank went to where the weak, helpless man lay exposed tothe cool night air and turned one side of the rich rug gently over him, receiving for thanks a gentle tap or two upon the arm. 

"I was going across to do that, Frank, " said the doctor, as the youngman returned to his own party. "It is not good for him to be exposedlike this, but these people are so accustomed to the desert life thatthey bear with impunity what would kill an ordinary Englishman. "

"How much longer have we to wait, Ibrahim?" asked the professor. 

"We shall begin loading in less than an hour, Excellency, " replied theSheikh, "so as to have plenty of time. "

"Is everything packed?"

"Yes, Excellency. "

"Nothing forgotten?"

"I have been over the baggage twice, Excellency, and nothing has beenleft; the camels are all in beautiful condition, and there is an amplesupply of water, for I have had four extra skins filled. We may wantit, for the journey to-morrow will be over the hot, fine sand. Idaresay, though, we shall halt for a few hours in the middle of theday. "

Soon after there was the busy sound of loading going on, the softsilence of the night being broken by the querulous moaning andcomplaining of the camels as burden after burden was balanced acrosstheir backs, the uncanny noise sounding weird and strange, the weirdnessapplying, too, to the dimly seen, long-necked creatures, which rapidlygrew into shapeless monsters writhing their long necks and snaky headsas seen in the darkness, till they looked like nothing so much as thestrange fancies indistinctly seen in some feverish dream. 

So well had the preparations been made that an hour amply sufficed forthe loading up, and at the end of that time the two troops of camelswere standing, each with its own drivers, a short distance apart, andnothing remained but for those who rode to mount and the order to begiven for the start. 

It was just then that a tall, dark object, the one for which the doctorhad been anxiously looking, loomed up from the Baggara camp and stalkedsilently up to where the Baggara chiefs son lay waiting upon his rug. 

As it reached his side, attended by two men, the great camel wasstopped, and its load was more plainly to be seen, shaping itself into acouple of rudely made, elongated panniers, out of one of which, while itwas held, a man leapt lightly out, the other being occupied by one ofthe weakest of the wounded. 

The doctor and Frank then superintended the lifting in of the chiefsson, who bore the movement without a sigh, and the great camel, afterthe rug had been laid across like a form of housing, was led back to itsfellows, some twenty yards away. 

Then from out of the darkness an order rang out, and the waiting camelswere mounted, after which there was the snorting of horses, and half adozen graceful creatures trotted by to take the lead as advance guard, the troop waiting till they were a little distance ahead. At last theshadowy looking line of camels, horses, and men were awaiting the orderto start, for some reason unaccountably delayed, when suddenly theSheikh laid his hand upon Frank's arm. 

"Hark!" he whispered excitedly. "Listen! Do you not hear?"

Frank shook his head. 

"It is quite plain, " continued the Sheikh. "Horses--the trampling ofmany men. Keep close together, Excellencies, while I warn my people. "

"Warn them of what?" said the doctor calmly. 

"Danger, Excellency. These may be friends coming, but it may mean anattack or the coming of strangers. If it is either of the latter Ishall try to lead you all into safety. So at a word follow me at oncestraight away into the desert. We may be able to escape. "

The Sheikh's camel glided silently away into the darkness, and the partysat straining their sense of hearing to the utmost, making out plainlyenough now the dull sound of trampling hoofs, the jingling of trappings, and every now and then an angry snort or squeal as some ill-temperedbeast resented the too near approach of one of its own kind. 

Then all at once, as the sounds came nearer, there was heard plainlyenough the muttering, whining cry of a camel, followed by more and moreproofs then that the coming party was one of greater strength than ithad seemed to be at first. 

Just then the Sheikh came back out of the darkness, to halt his camelclose up by the professor's. 

"It is not English cavalry, Excellencies, " he said, "but a native force. I think it must be the Baggara chief and his men returned. "

At that moment a peculiar cry rang out from a couple of hundred yards orso away--a weird, strange whoop that might have come from some nightbird sweeping through the darkness overhead. 

But it was human, and answered directly by the Baggara train close athand, and directly after there was a loud shout, and a crowd of horsemengalloped up out of the mysterious-looking gloom, to mingle with theparty about to start on their desert ride. 

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. 

NEARING THE GOAL. 

It was more from hearing than seeing that Frank Frere gathered the factthat the Baggara chief had returned, for after a short pause the cameltrain was once more in motion, and they were ordered to keep steadily inline in the advance to the desert in the opposite direction to that bywhich the newcomers had arrived. 

At first the two parties formed the train alone, for the fresh arrivalshad halted to water their horses and camels, quite an hour passingbefore the sound of approaching horsemen announced that the whole forcewas in motion, overtaking them at a sharp canter, but only to subsidedirectly into the regular, slow camel pace, which was kept on hour afterhour till the dawn, when, looking back, Frank made out that the trainextended for nearly half a mile to the rear, being made up of a longline of camels, followed by a troop of many horsemen. 

It was nearly all surmise, but judging from the number of camels, whichwere certainly double those that the Baggara had before during theirstay by the fountains, they had been engaged in some successful foray, for as the light grew stronger the baggage animals seemed to be veryheavily laden. 

This idea naturally suggested that the wild horsemen had been engaged insome desperate encounter, and half laughingly the professor bantered hisfriends about their prospects. 

"It means a revival of professional practice for you, " he said, "andthat looks prosperous. You only lost your last patient a few hoursago--that is, if you have lost him--and now a score or two will cometumbling in. "

"Very well, " said the doctor coolly; "it shows that they approve of mytreatment. I suppose we shall know at the first halt. "

This was many hours in coming, for a long, monotonous march was maderight away to the south-west, with the pile of rocks they had leftgradually sinking till quite out of sight, and then, with the sungrowing hotter and hotter, there was nothing visible on any side but thelong, level stretch of sand. 

The halt was not made till near midday, when the heat had becomeunbearable, and horses and camels were growing sluggish, and showedplenty of indications of the need of whip and spur. 

Then, apparently without orders, the little knot of horsemen, led by theBaggara who had had charge of the prisoners, drew up short and facedround, when taking them as the extreme limit the rest of the trainformed themselves up into a well ordered group as they came on, till, with the Sheikh's party and their guards as a kind of centre, and thecamels with their loads behind, the horsemen closed them in as if forstrategic reasons, and for the next half hour there was a busy scene, the camels being relieved of their loads as if the stay were to be ofsome hours' length. 

This was evidently intended, for fires were lit and food was prepared, many of the horsemen after picketing their horses settling down at onceto coffee and pipes. 

It was while Frank and his friends were partaking of an _al fresco_lunch, hastily prepared by Sam, that they had their first intimation ofthe Baggara chief being with the horsemen, for he cantered up to theirtemporary camp in company with his fierce-looking companion, leaped fromhis horse, and walked up to the Hakim at once, to give him a smile ofrecognition and hold out his left arm, which he tapped vigorously as ifsaying: "Look! Quite well again. " Then turning round to the Sheikh hesigned to him to approach, and said a few words hastily, before noddingto the Hakim again, returning to his horse, mounting, and canteringaway. 

"Well, Ibrahim, " said the professor; "what does it mean?"

"That the chief's arm will soon be well; that the young chief his sonwill soon be well; and that the great Hakim and his slaves are to haveno fear, for the Baggara are their friends. "

"Yes, and mean to keep the Hakim and his slaves as prisoners as long asthere are any cripples to cure, " said the professor merrily. 

"I suppose that is what it means, " said the doctor quietly. 

"That's it, sure enough, " said the professor; "and we shall reachKhartoum, Frank, in half the time we should have managed it in if we hadbeen left to ourselves. "

Frank shook his head sadly. 

"What! you doubt?" cried the professor. "Here, Ibrahim, what do you sayto that?"

"His Excellency is quite right, " replied the Sheikh. "We should havehad to wander here and there, and have met with many hindrances byhaving to stay to perform cures of the sick people. Yes, it would havebeen a journey of many weary months. "

"It will take much time now, " said the professor, "but it looks as if wewere really bound due south. "

"I suppose there is a party of wounded men on the way?" said the doctor. 

"Yes, they follow the chief's visits, " said the professor. "My word!learned one, your post is going to be no sinecure. Hah! here comes thefirst instalment. "

For a roughly contrived litter was seen approaching, and directly afterthe chief's son was borne up to them by four of his followers and setdown in front of the doctor, who attended to his patient, finding him noworse for his journey. 

He was carried away again as soon as the Hakim had seen that his woundwas healing well, and the arrival of the newly injured was expected; butnone appeared, for the simple reason that the fresh tale of wounded wasonly imaginary, the Baggara chief, as was afterwards learned, havingbeen successful in obtaining a large amount of plunder and many camelsin his first raid after leaving the prisoners at the wells. These hehad despatched under a small escort while he made for another villagewhich had been marked down. Here, however, he met with a severereverse, his men having to gallop for their lives, leaving their deadand wounded behind. 

Hence it was, then, that the Hakim's burden became light for the rest ofthe march, which was continued day after day, week after week, till soslow was the progress that months had passed and the despair in Frank'ssoul grew deeper. 

The party were well treated, and won the respect of the whole force fromthe many kindly acts they were able to perform. For sickness was morethan once a deadly foe which had to be fought, while help was oftenrequired after occasional raids made during the journey, in which thedesperate dwellers in village or camp fought hard and mostly in vain fortheir lives and property, as well as to save those whom they held dearfrom being carried off as slaves. 

"It is horrible!" Frank used to say. "These tribes are like apestilence passing through the land. The atrocities of which they areguilty are a hundred times worse than I could have believed. There cannever be rest for the unfortunate inhabitants till they are swept away. "

"Never, " said the professor gravely. "The land will soon be one widedesolation, for the smiling oases where irrigation could do its partwill soon be gone back to a waste of sand. "

"And by the irony of fate, " continued Frank bitterly, "here are we--somany English people, whose hearts bleed for the horrors we are forced tosee--doing our best afterwards to restore to health and strength thewretches who have robbed and murdered in every peaceful village theyhave passed. "

He looked, and spoke, at the Hakim, as these utterances passed his lips, and his brother's old school-fellow shook his head at him reproachfully. 

"Don't blame me, Frank, my lad, " he said. "I often think as you do, andit is only by looking upon the wounded men brought in as patients that Ican get on with my task. Then the interest in my profession helps me, and I forget all about what they may have done. But I get very weary ofit all sometimes. "

"Weary, yes!" cried Frank; "but you must forgive me. It was all mydoing, and I must be half mad to speak to you as I did. "

"You are both forgetting why we came, " said the professor quietly; "andbetween ourselves, you two, isn't it rather childish to talk as you do?"

"I don't know, " said Frank impatiently; "all I can feel is that we seemas far from helping poor Hal as ever. "

"Oh, no, we are not, " said the professor. "We must be getting very nearto the Khalifa's strongholds now, and we are going to enter withpass-keys, my lad. Once there, it will be hard if we don't find poorold Hal. "

"Hard indeed, " said the doctor, with energy; "but we must and will. "

"Well said!" continued the professor. "I think we have done wonders. Such good fortune can never have fallen to anyone before. "

"Good fortune!" said Frank bitterly. 

"Ah, you want your pulse felt, young fellow. You've got a sour insteadof a thankful fit upon you. Give him something to-night, doctor. "

Morris bowed his head solemnly, as if he were playing Hakim still to hisfriends, and Frank made an angry gesture. 

"Look here, " continued the professor; "you can ask old Ibrahim again ifyou are in doubt. He'll tell you that it would have been impossible tohave got on at such a rate as we have come, and that the difficultiesover supplies would have been insurmountable at times. While here, though we have often been scarce of water, we have never wanted once forfood. "

"And how has it been obtained?" said Frank bitterly. 

"I don't know--I don't want to know. "

"You do know!" cried Frank angrily. 

"I tell you I won't know!" said the professor, almost as shortly. "Iknow that we have done nothing but good all the way--that we could nothave done it without food--and that it was given to us in payment forwhat we have done. Be sensible, my lad. We did not let loose thesemurderous human beasts who have made us prisoners, and whether we eat orstarve ourselves it will make no difference to their actions. Go oneating, then? Why, of course we do. You talk as if it were our missionas Christians when we came upon a wounded man to put him out of hismisery. "

"No, no!" cried Frank. 

"But you and Bob Morris seem to think so. You can't take one of hisbottles of hydrocyanic acid and pour it into one of the desert wells, and then call the whole band up to drink, can you?"

"Don't talk nonsense, Landon!" said Frank angrily. 

"Then don't you, my dear boy. Can't you see that this is all outside ofour plans?"

"Yes, of course, " said the doctor. 

"We never meant to be taken prisoners and to be forced to be chiefsurgeon-physician to a band of murderous cut-throats. "

"No, " said Frank, "but we are. "

"Granted; but is it our fault?"

"No, " said the doctor firmly. 

"Can we escape from them, Frank?"

There was no reply, and the professor repeated his question. 

"I do not see how. "

"Neither do I, and if I did I wouldn't try it now that we are so nearthe brave old lad we came to save. --Oh, here's Ibrahim. "

"Your Excellency wanted me?" said the Sheikh. 

"Yes. How far do you think we are now from Omdurman?"

"As far as I can make out, Excellency, by asking some of thecamel-drivers, about four days' journey. "

"Hah! That is getting near. But have you found out yet whether we arereally going there or farther on to Khartoum?"

"No, Excellency, and I have tried hard. No one really does know exceptthe chief. Some say we are going to Omdurman, while others say forcertain that we shall make a sweep round into the desert and then aimfor Khartoum. While others--"

"Opinions are various, " said the professor drily. "_Tot homines_--_totsententiae_, which being interpreted, my dear Frank, you being a lad whoalways hated your Latin accidence, means, some think a tot of one thingis good; some think a tot of another is better. Well, Ibrahim, whatdoes the other set think?"

"That the chief is going straight to Omdurman before passing on toKhartoum to dispose of his plunder. "

"Then let's hope the last are right, and then we shall have the chanceof searching two places. There, cheer up, Frank, and try and think ofnothing else but our own important mission. "

"Of course, " said the doctor. "We did not come for the purpose ofpunishing these predatory hordes. "

"No, " said Frank sadly; "I know. But have a little compassion upon me, and forgive my irritable ways. Look at me, " he said, holding out hisblackened hands, and then pointing with them to his face. "Can't youthink how great an effort it is to keep up this miserable masquerade--what agony it is to go about feeling that at any moment I may forgetmyself when in the presence of our masters, and speak?"

"Yes, yes, I know, Frank, my dear boy, " replied the professor; "andwhenever I think of it I begin to wonder. I used to be in a constantstate of fidget. `He'll let the cat out of the bag as sure as eggs areeggs, ' I used to say to myself; and then I lay awake at night and triedto think out the best way of helping you till the idea came, and it hasacted beautifully. "

"What idea?" said the doctor sternly. "You never mentioned any idea tome. "

"Of course not; that would have spoiled the charm. Even Frank does notknow. "

"Then it's all nonsense, " said the doctor. 

"Is it? Well, we'll see. I did help you, didn't I, Frank?"

"You have always helped me in every way you could, and been like anelder brother towards me, and I can never be sufficiently grateful. "

"Bother! Nonsense!" said the professor curtly. "But you mean to say Idid not specially help you over the dummy business?"

"Well, I really cannot recollect any special way. "

"Ingrate! And you talk about being grateful. "

"Well, out with it, Fred, " said the doctor. "What was your plan?"

"One of my own invention, " said the professor, smiling proudly. "You, Frank, haven't I always lain down beside you every night when all wasstill?"

"Oh, yes, of course. "

"And didn't I always say that I had come for a quiet chat?"

"To be sure, " said Frank. 

"And did I ever have it?"

"Yes, we had one every night, carried on in a whisper. "

"False!" cried the professor. 

"True!" said Frank. 

"False!" cried the professor. 

"No, true!" said Frank. 

"I say false, sir, for from the time I lay down every night till you, being tired with your hard day's work, dropped off to sleep, I neverhardly said a word. "

"Well, now you mention it, " said Frank, "I don't think you did, for Ioften used to think you had gone to sleep. "

"Yes, and you used to ask me if I had. But I never had, eh?"

"Never once, " said Frank quickly; "and I often used to feel ashamed ofmyself for being so drowsy and going off as I did. "

"But look here, " said the doctor, "what has this got to do with yourpatent plan for keeping Frank from betraying himself?"

"Everything, " said the professor triumphantly. "That was my patentplan. I said to myself that sooner or later Frank would be letting--"

"Yes, yes, of course, betraying himself, " said the doctor impatiently. "But the plan, man--the plan?"

"Well, that's it, my dear Hakim, " cried the professor, "I said tomyself, that poor fellow cannot exist without talking; the words willswell up in him like so much gas. He must have a safety valve. Well, Iprovided it. I lay down beside him every night and let him talk till hefell asleep. "

"I never thought it meant anything more than a friendly feeling, " saidFrank wonderingly. "Well, perhaps there is something in what you say. "

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. 

A TRIUMPHAL ENTRY. 

It was one bright evening, just about dusk, that, utterly exhausted by along day's march, the head of the long line of horses, camels heavilyladen, and marching men, came within sight of the city that was theirgoal, and in the glimpse the English party had of the place before nightclosed in it seemed to be one of the most desolate looking spots theyhad ever seen. 

"But it is not fair to judge it, " said the professor quietly. "We cansee next to nothing; it is fully two miles away; and we are all wearyand low-spirited with our long march. Wait till morning. "

It had been expected that they would march in that night, but a halt wascalled in the midst of a great, dusty plain, and preparations forcamping were at once begun. 

Frank lay wakeful and restless for long enough. In his excited statesleep refused to come. Now that the goal had been reached it was hardto believe that they were there, and had succeeded in making their wayto the neighbourhood of the far-famed cities of the Soudan with solittle difficulty. Of physical effort there had been plenty, but he hadanticipated bitter struggles and disappointments; attempts to reach theprison of his brother in one direction, and being turned back, toattempt it again and again in others. Instead all had beenstraightforward, and their ruse had succeeded beyond all expectation. 

But now that they were at one of the late Mahdi's strongholds on theNile the question was, Would Harry Frere be there after all, or takenfar to the south to the home of someone who held him as a slave?

Now for about the first time the adventurer fully realised the magnitudeof the task he had taken in hand. The desert journey had impressed himby the vastness of the sandy plains and the utter desolation they hadtraversed; but that only appeared now to be the threshold of the placehe had come to search. All the vast continent of Africa seemed to bebefore him, dim, shadowy, and mysterious, and as he sank at last into afeverish sleep, it was with his brother's despairing face gazing at him, the reproachful eyes sunken and strained and looking farewell before allwas dark with the obscurity of the to-come. 

"Hadn't you better rouse up now, sir?" said a familiar voice; but Frank, after his long and painful vigil, was unable to grasp the meaning of thewords, far more to move. 

"Mr Frank, sir--I mean, Ben--Ben Eddin. Humph! what an idiot I am!"came softly out of the gloom. "It was bad enough to make such a slipout in the desert, where there were no next door neighbours; but to goand shout it out here, just beside this what-do-they-call-him's city wasabout the maddest thing I could have done. S'pose some one had heardme; it would have taken a great deal of lathering and scraping, morethan ever a 'Rabian Night's barber ever got through, to make peoplebelieve I was the Hakim's slave. 

"Mr--Bother! What's the matter with me this morning? I believe I'mhalf asleep, or else my brains are all shook up into a muddle by thatbrute of a camel. Here, Ben Eddin, rouse up and put on your best whitesoot. Here's the Sheikh been with a message to say that we're all goingto form a procession and march through the town to camp in the groves onthe other side. It's to be a triumphal what-do-they-call-it? and theBaggara chief is going to show off all his prisoners and plunder, andwe're to make the principal part of the show. I say, Ben, do wake up;the coffee's nearly ready, and you ought to do a bit o' blacking, forthe back of your neck where the jacket doesn't reach is getting quitegrey with the sun burning it so much. "

Procession--show--triumph--coffee--and the rest of it, made not theslightest impression upon Frank's torpid brain; but those words aboutthe black stain and the bleaching caused by the scorching sun somehowsuggested the risk he might run of being discovered, and that meant thefrustration of his plans to rescue his brother. In a moment now hisbrain began to work. 

"Is that you, Sam?" he cried hastily. 

"I suppose so, sir, but there are times when I get pinching my leg towake myself, expecting that I shall start up to find myself back in mypantry. But I don't, even when I make a bruise which turns blacker thanyour arms, and with a bit of blue touched up with yellow outside. Isay, are you awake now?"

"Yes, yes, of course; but the sun is not up yet. "

"No, he ain't as industrious as we are out in these parts, and doesn'tget up so early. Now you understand about looking your best?"

"Yes, yes, I understand, Sam. "

"But do you really, Ben? Don't deceive me, and go to sleep again. Ifyou do I know how it will be. "

"How it will be?" said Frank impatiently. 

"You'll say that I didn't call you. Come, now, recollect where you are, and what we've got to do. Mr Abraham--"

"Ibrahim, man! I've told you so half a dozen times before. "

"Then it's all right, Ben Eddin. You are wide awake. "

"Yes, yes, of course. But what about the Sheikh?"

"He says we are to go to the Emir's palace. "

"Emir's palace? What Emir--what palace?"

"That fierce old chap as had such a bad arm. He's an Emir. MrImbrahim says he's just heard, and that an Emir's a great gun out here. Sort of prince and general all in one, I suppose. He told me his name, but I forget what it is. It's very foreign, though, and there's a goodlot of it. He's a great friend, and a sort of half brother of the otherfellow. "

"Other fellow? What other fellow?" said Frank, half angrily. 

"Oh, you know, sir, the other big man that followed the Mahdi in takingthe Soudan. "

"You mean the Khalifa?"

"That's right, sir. I'm not good at all over these Egyptian chaps. I've one name for them all--the bad lot, and that's enough for me. Now, sir--bah! Ben Eddin, I mean; breakfast will be ready in ten minutes, solook sharp. I like to see you have a good meal in the morning, just asI like one for myself. It's something to keep you going all day. Itmakes a deal of difference if you start fair. "

"I'll be there, " said Frank. 

"Recollect you're to put on your clean white cotton jacket. MrIbbrahim says his chaps have been seeing to the camels so that theyshall look their best, and that it's very important that the Hakimshould be dressed out well, and he will. "

Frank's toilet in those days was very simple, and within the time he wasat the door of the Hakim's tent, to find him dressed and waiting tobegin his morning meal, the professor coming from the tent directlyafter, ready to greet both and enjoy the excellent repast that waswaiting, the Emir having kept up his attentions in that direction to thedoctor who had saved his arm from mortification, and consequentlyhimself from death. 

There was the loud hum of voices right away through the camp, from whichthe fragrant smoke of many fires arose through the grey dawn, and anunwonted stir indicating great excitement prevailed and rapidlyincreased with the coming light, for the orange and gold streamersannouncing the rising of the sun were beginning to flush in the easternsky, illumining the far-spreading city, and turning the sands where itwas built into sparkling gold. 

As the sun rose higher the three Englishmen gazed wonderingly at thecity which lay stretching to right and left--the place into which theywere to make their triumphal entry that morning, as soon as the Emir'slittle force, which seemed to have grown unaccountably during the night, was marshalled; and the professor pretty well expressed the feelings ofhis two friends as he stood and gazed at the place, their eyes dwellinglongest upon a white dome-like structure that towered up, and which theylearned was the Mahdi's tomb. 

"And so this is Omdurman, is it?" he said. "Then I suppose Khartoumwill be just such a city of mosques and palaces. Why, there isn't aredeeming feature in the whole spot! It's just a squalid collection ofmud-houses and hovels, built anyhow by people accustomed to live in atent or nothing at all. Why, if you took the trees away--and itwouldn't take long to do that--it would be fit for nothing but to bewashed away as so much mud, if the Nile would flood as far. "

"But surely poor old Harry can't be here!" said the doctor, in a low, troubled voice. 

"Who knows?" said the professor softly, after glancing at Frank's painedfeatures. "We must see, and--cheer up, everybody--we will, for we shallhave splendid chances. Do you hear, O Chief Surgeon and SpecialPhysician to the Emir?"

"But look, " said the doctor; "I thought the place miserable enoughyesterday evening, while now, though the sun does give it a sort ofgolden glaze, the miserable huddle of shabby huts looks ten times worse, for the light exposes its ruinous state. "

"Go on, " said the professor. "You can't speak evil enough of it, saywhat you will. But I say, both of you--I won't bother you much with myhobby--what a falling off there is everywhere; what a difference betweenthe cities of the rule of the past, with their magnificent palaces andtemples, or even the simple, majestic grandeur of the pyramids, and thebuildings of the modern inhabitants! The glory has departed indeed. Ah, here comes Ibrahim again. Well, Sheikh, how goes the world?"

"I have seen the Emir this morning, Excellencies, and he sends yougreeting. He desires that you ride directly after the mounted men. Youare to occupy a place of honour before the camels laden with the spoiltaken by his warriors. "

"As his principal prisoners, " said the doctor coldly. "Well, we willtry not to disgrace the man who has treated us as his friends. But whatabout his son? Am I to see and treat him before we start?"

"No, Excellency. He will ride in a litter borne by two led camels, andthe Emir asks that you will see his son when you reach the rooms he hasordered to be ready for you beside his own palace. "

"And for my friends as well, Ibrahim?" said the doctor quickly. 

"Yes, Excellency; the house is large, and there are gardens and groundswith ample room for your servants and slaves as well as for your pickedsupply of camels. For they are picked, O Hakim. I have been round thecamp this morning and seen the many beasts of burden being loaded readyfor leading to the city. The horses too, and these are splendid beasts. But the camels! Yours, O Hakim, are well fed, young, and healthy, fullof strength. "

"Mine, Ibrahim? Yours. "

"No, Excellency; speak of them as yours, for yours they are. Your nameprotects them. If they were mine they would be taken before the day waspast. If we get safely back to Cairo, as Heaven willing we shall, if itpleases you and you are satisfied with your servant's works you may givethem back to him when their work is really done. "

"We shall see, Ibrahim, " said Frank, smiling, and then turning seriousand resuming his part, for the Emir's men were approaching them, evidently with some message. 

The sun was now well up, and this being the time arranged for, so as togive _eclat_ to the proceedings, trumpets and uncouth sounding hornsbegan to blare out, the excitement in the camp increased, and soonafter, with a certain amount of order prevailing over the barbarousconfusion, the procession was started, a dense crowd pouring out fromthe city into the plain to meet them; when the faint answering sound oftrumpets arose like an echo, accompanied by the dull, soft, thunderousboom of many drums. 

At the first glance it seemed to be a grey-looking mob, all a mixture ofblack and white, debouching upon the plain; but soon after there was theglint of steel, and through the crowd a dense mass of horsemen could beseen approaching. 

This was the signal for a wild shout from the returning raiders, trumpets were blown and drums beaten with all the force their bearerscould command, and the Emir's horsemen rode proudly onward, followingthe trumpeters and drummers; and now several standards made theirappearance in various parts of the procession, around which horsemenclustered, each looking as if he felt himself to be the hero of theday--the triumphant warrior returning clothed with honour from theslaughter of the enemies of the Prophet; and to a man they would havebeen prepared to deal out ignominy and death to the daring teller of thesimple truth that they were nothing better than so many bloodthirstymurderers and despoilers of the industrious builders of the villages ofthe river banks. 

Minute by minute the excitement grew, and the plain in front changedfrom tawny golden drab to grey, black, and white, for Omdurman seemed tobe emptying itself in the desire to give the returning band a welcome. Even the horses appeared to take part in the general feeling, for theycurvetted and pranced, encouraged by their riders, whose flowing whiteheadgear and robes added with the flashing of their spears to thepicturesque aspect of the scene. 

In an almost incredibly short space of time the procession was formed, or rather formed itself. The slight camping arrangements haddisappeared as if by magic, and that which one hour had been a swarmingant-hill of humanity, apparently all in confusion, was the next a long, trailing line of men, horses, and camels, headed by a barbaric band, moving steadily towards the entrance to the city, while the scene of thenight's encampment was the barren plain once more, dotted with the greyashes of so many fires. 

Onward they went in a course which meant a meeting with the horsemencoming from the city, and a passage through the increasing crowd, theEmir's warriors passing on till the head of the guard galloped up as ifin a state of wild excitement, shouting "The Hakim!--the Hakim!"

The Hakim was already mounted upon his sleek camel, in the whitest andmost voluminous of turbans and robes, and sat with his followers, waiting till the last of the main body of horsemen had passed. 

Then came a little knot surrounding the camel litter in which lay theEmir's son, and at a sign from the officer, the Hakim's camel was ledclose behind the litter; Frank and the professor on their camels next;Sam, looking as dignified as his master, followed; with him the Sheikh, leading his men with the Hakim's sleek camels, of which he looked asproud as any member of the procession. 

Following close behind came the Emir himself, a swarthy, noble-lookingsavage warrior, his brother chief by his side; and then in a long linewere the trophies of their swords and spears, the heavily laden camelsfor the most part carrying a heterogeneous collection of objects dear tothe hearts of the raiding band, but many bearing dull, heavy-eyed women, several with their children, slaves of their new masters, torn fromtheir homes, and for the most part seeming apathetic and taking it allas a matter of course--kismet (fate)--which they must patiently beartill the next change in their condition came to pass; one which theyknew might be at any hour, for their careers had taught them that astronger force might at any moment appear in the mysterious desert andcome down like a tempest, to reverse their state, the conquerors ofto-day becoming the fugitives of to-morrow. 

The last of the heavily laden, murmuring and groaning camels wasfollowed by another troop of some fifty mounted men, whose horsespranced and caracoled to the faintly heard blaring of trumpet andbeating of drum in front, while like a gigantic, ungainly serpent thereturning force glided on over the sandy plain, till the musical (?)head disappeared between two long lines of horsemen who formed an avenuewhich kept back the crowd, and were ready when the last camel and therear guard had passed through to fall in behind and follow their morefortunate plunder-laden comrades into the city. 

The Hakim's countenance was dignified and impressive enough tothoroughly keep up his character, and he listened in silence to theremarks made in a low tone from time to time by the professor, who waseagerly noting the crowd in front that they were approaching; but Franksat his camel as if turned into stone, his eyes fixed upon thewilderness of mud-brick buildings, while he wondered which contained theprisoner they had come to save. 

The Hakim's air of dignity was of course assumed; but one of hisfollowers, in spite of his long intercourse with Europeans, took to hisposition proudly and as if to the manner born, and this was the Sheikh, whose handsome old grey-bearded face seemed to shine with a moon-likeradiance reflected from the principal, the Hakim being his sun. 

So manifest was this that after glancing at him several times in ahalf-amused, half-contemptuous way, Sam suddenly burst out with--

"You seem to like it, Mr Abrahams!"

The Sheikh started, and looked at the man riding the camel at his sidein surprise. 

"Yes, " he said; "it is old-fashioned, and not new and civilised likethings in Cairo, but it is grand, and I am proud of the Hakim and mycamels; are not you?"

"Not a bit of it!" said Sam contemptuously. "It's all very well foryou, Mr Abrahams, being a native and used to it. But me, anEnglishman--a Londoner--proud of it! Why, I wonder at you. "

"But, " said the old man, "look at the camel you are riding; how soft, how sleek, how graceful, and how easily it moves! Ah! I see you aregetting proud. "

"Me? Proud? What, of being here?" cried Sam. 

"Yes; you have learned to ride the camel, and you sit it easily andwell. You ride as if, as you Englishmen say, you were born upon it. "

"Oh, do we? Well, I won't say I can't ride it now, nor I won't say itdon't come easy. You see, Mr Abrahams, there ain't many things anEnglishman can't do if he gives his mind to it. "

"You look well, Mr Samuel, " said the old man, smiling. 

"Now, no chaff!" said Sam suspiciously. "No gammon! You mean it?"

"Of course. "

"Well, I'm glad I do. You think these savages will think so too, andthat I am the real thing?"

"Oh, yes. Look at the Hakim. "

"Sha'n't! I've been looking till I feel ashamed of him. "

"Ashamed?" said the Sheikh. "Why?"

"Dressed up like that! Him a first-class London surgeon and M. D. , withPalladium Club and Wimpole Street on his card. I tell you I'm ashamedof him, and I'm ashamed of myself, and I ain't sure now that it isn'tall a dream. "

"I do not understand, " said the Sheikh coldly. 

"You can't, Mr Abrahams. You're a very nice, civil old gentleman, andI like you, and I'm much obliged for lots of good turns you've done me;but you see you've never been to London, and don't know what's what. "

"No, " said the Sheikh; "I have never been to London yet, but I haveoften thought of going with some family, for I have been asked twice. But if I do come I shall try to see you, Mr Samuel. "

"Glad to see you, old chap, any time, " said Sam warmly; "and if you docome I'll show you what our country's like. "

"Thank you, Mr Samuel, " said the Sheikh, smiling pleasantly; "and if Ido come I shall dress as you English do; but I will not be ashamed ofit. "

"Here, you're going on the wrong road, old gentleman, " said Sam. "I'mnot ashamed of the nightgown and nightcap. They're cool andcomfortable. It's seeing the guv'nor dressed up, and him and me and MrFrank and Mr Landon in this procession. Do you know how I feel justnow?"

"Thirsty?" said the Sheikh, smiling. 

"Well, pretty tidy. I shall be worse soon. But if you come to that, I've been thirsty ever since I came to Egypt. I mean I feel as if I'dcome down to a cheap circus, and we were going into a country town wherethe big tent had been set up, and that by and by we should be all ridinground the ring doing Mazeppa and the Wild Horse, or Timour the Tartar;stalls a shilling covered with red cloth; gallery thruppence. "

The Sheikh stared wonderingly, and then shook his head. 

"I do not understand, Mr Samuel, " he said. 

"Of course you don't, sir. How can you, seeing that you've picked upwhat you know by accident like, and not had a regular English education?There, it's all right. It was only a growl, and I'm better now. "

"But you said you were ashamed of the Hakim. "

"I said so, but I ain't, Mr Abrahams. He's splendid ain't he?"

"He is grand, " said the Sheikh earnestly. "His power, his knowledge--itis wonderful!"

"That's right, old man, so it is. "

"And I hope when all the work is done, and we have taken Mr Frank's--"

"Steady there: Ben Eddin's. "

"Yes, Ben Eddin's brother safely back to Cairo, that I may have anaccident. "

"An accident?" said Sam, staring. 

"Or a bad illness, so that the great Hakim may cure me. Hah! what aphysician! It is noble--it is grand!"

"I say, do you mean all that?" said Sam. 

"Mean it?" said the Sheikh wonderingly. "I have been seventy years inthe world, and for forty of those years I have been taking travellers tosee the wonders of my land; but I have never met another man like theHakim, whom I could look up to as I do to him. "

"You do mean it?" said Sam, whose eyes glistened and looked moist. "Thank you, Mr Abrahams. You and me's the best of friends for sayingthat. He is what you say--grand. You like him, and don't half knowhim. "

"I know him to have a great heart, Mr Samuel, " said the old man warmly. 

"Great heart, yes, and a big, broad chest; but it ain't half big enoughto hold it. Why, when my poor old mother was bad--dying of old age shewas--I made bold to ask the doctor to go down to see her, meaning to payhim out of my savings, and feeling as I'd like the dear old girl to havethe best advice. Down in the country she was, forty miles away. "

"How sad!" said the old Sheikh. "Two very long days' journey. "

"Get out!" cried Sam, laughing. "England ain't the Soudan. Forty milesby the express means under one hour's ride, Mr Abrahams. "

The Sheikh looked at him gravely. 

"Mr Samuel, " he said, "the barbers in Egypt and Turkey and Persiaalways have been famous for telling wonderful stories. I thought nowyou were speaking seriously. "

"So I was, and about the doctor being so good to my poor old mother. Twice a week he kept on going to see her till she died, and when Iwanted to pay something, he laughed at me and said he had done it allfor a faithful servant and friend who was a good son. That's why I'mout here to look after him, Mr Abrahams. He's splendid, and you'reright. Just you tumble off your camel and break a leg or a wing, orcrack your nut, and let him put you right. I'll nurse you, and so willMr Frrrr--Ben Eddin. "

"Hah! I think I will, " said the Sheikh, "when we have done; only I mustnot break too much for I am growing old. But two long days' journey inan hour, Mr Samuel? The Cairo railway never does anything like that. "

"The Cairo railway!" said Sam scornfully. "Don't talk about it. Why, Iwent down into the country with the Hakim once, and we rode part of theway nearly twice as fast as I said. Not eighty miles an hour, butseventy; that's a fact. Hullo! what's going on now? They look as ifthey're going to eat us. "

"It is only their way of showing joy, Mr Samuel. "

"But they're a-shouting, `Hay--keem! Hay--keem!'"

"They have heard how the Hakim saved the Emir's and his son's lives andcured so many more. Hark they are saying that a great prophet is come, and they are crying aloud for joy. "

"Prophet!" said Sam grimly, as he made an atrocious joke; "not muchprofit for him, poor chap. Why, they'll bring all the sore places outof the town for him to cure. "

"Yes, he will be a great man here. "

"And him sitting so cool and quiet there on his camel in his robes andturban, looking like one of Madame Tussaud's wax figures out for theday. "

For the excitement had been rapidly increasing, as the returning partywere met and passed through the crowd, who had shouted themselves hoarseby way of welcome to the warriors, their chiefs, and to their plunder. The wild music, the sight of the fighting men and the spoil, had donemuch; but the news, which had spread like fire through tow, of the Hakimand his powers seemed to drive the excitable, wonder-loving peoplealmost wild. It was another prophet come into their midst, and had theprocession lasted much longer the Hakim's career in Omdurman would havecommenced with a long task of healing the injured who had been crushedby the crowd. 

Fortunately for all, the English party and the people themselves, thetwo lines of mounted men helped to keep back the rush of the crowd whopressed forward to see the great man of whose deeds they had just heard, and the length, the intricacy, and narrowness of the streets playedtheir part in lessening the gathering; but it was a weary journey--onewhich grew slower and slower, till the city was completely traversed, and the mounted men rode off to one side, leaving the Hakim's followersto pass through the rough gateway of a high mud wall, over which wereseen the pleasantest objects of the morning's ride. 

For over the wall rose the broad leaves of palms, and as the party rodeinto and under the greenery of a large enclosure, they found themselvesin sight of the Emir's palace, with the camel litter just in front--apalace of sun-baked mud, at whose entrance-gate a dozen mounted men wereplaced to keep back the crowd, among whom were already severalapplicants for help from the Hakim. But these were driven away at once, for the doctor's attention was required for the Emir's son. 

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. 

FREEDOM OF ACTION?

The doctor's patient needed his help badly, for the exertion of thejourney and triumphant entry had taxed his strength too much, and oncemore he was fully under the Hakim's charge, and was carried by hisorders to the quarters assigned to the party and their following, on oneside of the low, rambling place, and quite distinct. 

It was while the doctor was busily tending the sufferer in the shadyroom looking out on the greenery of the court, that the Emir himself, freshly dismounted after seeing to the bestowal of the trophies of theincursion, came in, to stand gravely aside, _waiting_ patiently till theHakim, satisfied that he could do no more, left the coarse divan uponwhich the patient lay, and signed to the father that he might approach. 

The doctor and his assistants drew back with the Sheikh, who stayed inthe rough chamber to act as interpreter, the professor's Arabic beingonly an unsatisfactory mode of conversation, and all save the Hakimlooked away. 

But there was no need for the latter's watchfulness, the Emir seeming tohave a perfect knowledge of what was necessary, and full confidence inthe great man's power. Hence it was that he contented himself withgoing down on one knee by his son's side and laying a hand upon theinsensible man's brow for a few minutes before rising, and turning tothe Sheikh--

"Ask the Hakim if he will live, " he said stoically. 

The answer was given directly. "Yes, but the recovery has been thrownback. "

The Emir uttered a low, deep sigh, and bowed his head. Then turning tothe Hakim he took a great, clumsy-looking ring from one finger, and, bending low, he offered it to his prisoner. 

To his surprise it was declined, but in a grave and smiling way, accompanied too with gestures which seemed to say, "I need no payment; Iam beyond such trifles as these. "

The effect was striking, for the Emir stood for a few moments gazing athis captive with something like awe. Then, catching at the Hakim'shand, he pressed it for a moment against his forehead, and strode out ofthe room. 

"Humph!" ejaculated the professor, as soon as they were alone. "Ialmost wish you had taken that ring, old fellow. It was curiouslyantique. "

"I thought it better not, Fred, " said the doctor quietly. "Let's keepup my character of one who seeks only to do good and heal. "

"Yes, you're right, old fellow; but an ancient gem like that istempting. It may be a thousand years old. "

"And now about obtaining news of Hal, " said Frank, looking from one tothe other. "They surely are not going to keep us shut up here?"

"A little patience, Frank, lad, " said the professor; "here we are, within the walls of Omdurman, and received as friends; it cannot be longbefore we find out whether there are other prisoners here. "

"Whether there are other prisoners here!" cried Frank excitedly. "Why, we know. "

"That poor Hal was either here or at Khartoum months ago. We must notbe too sanguine. He may be many miles away. "

"You may be right, " said Frank wearily, "and I will not be sanguine; butif you begin dealing with probabilities and improbabilities, I may replythat it is quite possible that Hal is here in Omdurman--that he may evenbe in this very house. We know that he was a prisoner, do we not?"

"Of course, " said the professor. 

"Then he would be the slave of some important man?"

"Certainly, my dear boy. "

"Well, this Emir seems to be one of the most important men here; why maynot fate have brought us to the very place?"

"Ah, why not, Frank, lad? But it is too improbable. "

"Yes, " said the doctor, in his quiet, grave way; "far too improbable. Still, it is wonderful that we should have reached the very centre ofthe enemy's stronghold, and, what is more, that we should stand so wellwith this Emir. Be patient, Frank, and let us see what a few days bringforth. The Sheikh will begin at once, and he is a hundred times morelikely to gain information than we are. "

"And the first thing to learn is how we stand. "

They began to find that out directly, for the coming and going of theirguard, and a few questions from the Sheikh, supplied the informationthat this man had them in charge and was answerable to his chief fortheir safety, the Emir having quite made up his mind that the Hakimshould form a part of his household so that he would have medical andsurgical help when it was needed, and also that he might enjoy thecredit of possessing so wonderful a physician, and share that of hiscures. 

The arrangements made were perfectly simple; in fact, they were such asthey would have met with in a tent; the only difference was that therewere solid walls and a roof overhead. 

The Hakim learned, too, as the days glided by, that he was expected tosee as many sick and wounded people as he conveniently could eachmorning, from the time of the first meal till noonday. After that theguard turned everyone away, and as time passed on the friends found thatthe rule was never transgressed. 

"The people have been taught so, O Hakim, " said the Sheikh. 

"Then we are to be at liberty for the rest of the day?" said the doctor. 

"Yes, O Hakim, and you are to have everything you desire. You only haveto speak. It is the Emir's orders. But if at any time you are wantedfor the Emir's people or his friends, you are to see them in the afterpart of the day. What is there that the Hakim would desire now? Thecamels are well supplied, thy servants have good sleeping andresting-places, and supplies are sent in every morning while you arebusy with the sick and wounded. What shall I tell the guard yourequire?"

"Our liberty, " said the Hakim sternly. "My people have been stoppedthree times when they tried to leave the gate. "

"Yes, O Hakim; it was the order given by the Emir to his servant, theguard. "

"Then tell the guard what I say. The confinement here is too great. "

"There is the garden beneath the trees, Excellency, " said the Sheikh. 

"Yes, but we wish to see the town--to go where we will. "

"I will go to the guard and tell him, Excellency, " said the Sheikhhumbly, and he went away. 

Within an hour--a long and weary one to Frank--he was back. 

"I have seen the chief guard, Excellency, and he has taken your messageto the Emir, who sent for me at once. "

"Well?" said the doctor; and Frank and the professor came close to hearthe reply. 

"The Emir Prince sends greeting to your Excellency, " said the oldSheikh, who seemed greatly impressed at being made the medium ofcommunication between two such great men, "and he thanks you humbly forthe great change you have made in his dear son, who seems to be hourlygaining strength. "

"Yes, yes, " said the doctor, rather impatiently; "go on. "

"The Emir Prince says that he is aggrieved because you make so fewdemands for yourself and your people, for he desires that you shouldtreat his home as yours, and have all that you desire. "

"Then he gives us our liberty to go where we please?" said the doctoreagerly, and Frank and the professor gave vent to sighs of satisfactionwhich made the Sheikh's brow wrinkle. 

"The Emir desires me to say that your servants are at liberty to gowhere they please in the city or out into the country round; and that ashe has noticed that the great Hakim has beautiful camels but no horses, he has only to speak and horses will be brought for his servants' use. "

"I shall keep to my camel, Ibrahim, " said the doctor. "I think it willseem best, more in character. What do you think?"

The old man was silent. 

"What does this mean?" said Frank, for he was first to notice theSheikh's troubled look. 

"The Emir Prince bade me say to his Excellency that he could not allowthe great Hakim to go about among the people, for his life would be madea burden to him--he could not go a step without having a crowd ofsufferers following him and throwing themselves beneath his camel'sfeet. "

The doctor frowned. 

"He said that the great Hakim's health and comfort were dear to him, andhe felt that it would be better that so great a man should live asretired a life as the Khalifa himself. "

"Then I am to be kept regularly as a prisoner?" said the doctor, indismay. 

"But if sometimes the noble Hakim desires greatly to ride through thecity and out into the country, if he will send word by the guard, theEmir will summon the horsemen and attend upon his friend and preserveras a guard of honour, and protect him from the crowds that would stophis way. "

"Oh, who wants to be paraded in a show?" said the doctor petulantly. "Iwould rather stop in prison than be led out like that, eh, Fred?"

"Certainly, " said the professor. 

"Well, never mind, " said the doctor cheerfully, the next minute. "Iwill not complain. I have my part to play, and I mean to go on playingit contentedly while you and Frank play yours, and find out where poorold Hal is kept a prisoner. That done, we must begin to make our plansto escape either back to Cairo or to the nearest post of theAnglo-Egyptian army. "

"Or the river, " said Frank. "But I don't like this, for us to be freeand you a prisoner. "

"It is the penalty for being so great a man, " said the doctor merrily. "And really there is a large amount of common-sense in what our friendsays. I should be regularly hunted through the streets, and I could notgo in Eastern fashion and turn a deaf ear to the poor wretches who castthemselves at my feet. "

"But it seems so hard for you, " said Frank. 

"And it takes all the satisfaction out of our perfect freedom, " said theprofessor. 

"But your Excellencies are not to have perfect freedom, " said Ibrahimslowly. 

"What do you mean?" cried Frank. 

"When you go out I and three or four of my young men are to attend youwith the camels. "

"So much the better, Ibrahim. You will be invaluable to us. "

"Your Excellency is very good to say so, " replied the old man sadly;"but that is not all. "

"Not all?" cried the professor. 

"No, Excellency. The Emir Prince says that he feels answerable to thegreat Hakim for your safety; that you are well known to be the Hakim'sfollowers, and that there are wise men, Hakims of the people here inOmdurman and Khartoum, who are dogs, he said--fools and pretenders whocan do nothing but work ill. These people, he says, hate the greatHakim with a jealous hate, and would gladly injure his servants. Therefore he gives the head of his bodyguard, the Baggara who has chargeof us here, orders to attend you everywhere you go. "

"Alone?" said Frank, after a few moments' display of blank surprise andannoyance. 

"No, Excellency; always with eight or ten men; and he is to answer foryour safety abroad and here with his head. "

The Sheikh's words seemed to have robbed the little party of the powerof speech. But at last Frank exclaimed--

"Then we have journeyed all this way for naught?"

"To be as badly off as if we had stayed in Cairo and waited for theBritish and Egyptian advance. "

"No, " said the doctor quietly; "disappointment is making you both go toextremes. We are here on the spot, and we must work by other hands. "

"Whose?" said Frank bitterly. 

The doctor pointed gravely to Ibrahim, who drew himself up with a lookat the speaker full of gratitude and pride. 

"Yes, O Hakim, " he said quietly; "it seems that I and my young men areat liberty to come and go with the camels, and we can mix with thepeople as we please. If, then, their Excellencies will trust theirservant and give him time he will do all he can to search out tidings oftheir friend and brother. Shall it be so?"

"Yes, " said the doctor firmly. 

The old Sheikh bowed, and then turned to Frank. 

"Ben Eddin is black, " he said, with a smile, "and the day or night maycome when I shall say to him, `I have glad tidings for you. Come as oneof my camel-drivers, and maybe I can get you past the guard. '"

"Ibrahim!" cried the young man wildly, "don't promise me too much. "

"I promise nothing, Ben Eddin, " said the old man smiling; "but an ArabSheikh and the black slave with him can go far unnoticed. Wait and see. Till then go on and be a patient servant to the sick man here, theEmir's son. He likes you in his way. Maybe he will be better soon, andwant you to bear him company here and there. "

"Yes, it is possible, " cried Frank excitedly. 

"And it would give you time to search the place or learn by chance wherethe prisoner may be. It is not wise to let the heart sink in sorrow asthe sun goes down amongst the mists of night. Does it not rise againand bring the light? Surely it is better that you are here. "

"Yes, " said Frank eagerly. "I spoke in haste. "

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. 

SAM'S TONGUE. 

As soon as the first disappointment had passed off it was decided tomake the best of their position--one whose advantages soon grew upon theadventurers. So the Hakim settled down steadily to his task of healing, and the Emir's son not only rapidly improved, but grew more friendly ashe gained strength. 

This friendliness was not displayed in his behaviour towards his doctorbut in his dealings with Frank, who in his efforts to help Morrisdevoted himself heart and soul to their principal patient. 

The young Emir had from the first seemed to be attracted by Frank, whilehe was morose to his white attendants, the very fact of the young manbeing a black and a slave to a white seeming to form a bond of sympathy;and finding that the Hakim would take no gifts, he often showed hissatisfaction by making some present or another to his dumb attendant. 

A greater one was to come. 

Advantage was soon taken of the Emir's concession. Notice was given tothe Baggara guard, and one afternoon, guarded by six mounted men, Frank, the professor, and Sam, attended by the Sheikh, mounted their camels androde out of the palace gates to inspect the city and a part of itssurroundings, with which, from the freedom he had already enjoyed, Ibrahim was becoming pretty well acquainted. 

As soon as they started, the guard fell back to the rear, contentingthemselves with following, and leaving the Sheikh to take whatevercourse he chose, so that he led, with Frank at his side, talking to himin a low voice as if describing all they saw to his dumb companion, whoquestioned him from time to time with his eager eyes. 

Long experience as dragoman and guide had made the old man wonderfullyintelligent and apt to comprehend his employer's desires, and that hedid so now was shown at the first start. 

"Which way am I going, Ben Eddin?" he said quietly. "Through the betterparts of the city, where the wealthier people are, who keep slaves, " andin a few minutes Frank was gazing about him with horror as he askedhimself what must the worst parts of the place be if these were thebest. For eyes and nostrils were disgusted at every turn. The heat wasintense, and wherever any creature died or the offal of the inhabitants'food was cast out into the narrow ways, there it festered and rottedbeneath the torrid rays of the sun, while myriads of loathsome flies, really a blessing to the place in their natural duty of scavengers, rosein clouds, and to hurry from one plague was only to rush into another. 

Misery, neglect, and wretchedness appeared on every hand; but thepopulation swarmed, and habit seemed to have hardened them to the powerof existing where it appeared to be a certainty that some pestilencemust rise and sweep them off. 

Frank was not long in discriminating between the free and the enslaved. Those swarthy, black often and shining, sauntering about well-armed, andwith a haughty, insolent bearing and stare at the mounted party; thesedull of eye and skin, cringing, dejected, half naked, and oftendisplaying the marks of the brutality of their conquerors, as they bentunder heavy loads or passed on with the roughest of agriculturalimplements to and from the outskirts of the town. 

"Plenty of slaves, Ben Eddin, " said the Sheikh gravely. "Poor wretches, swept in from the villages to grow the Baggara's corn and draw and carrytheir water. They spare their camels to make these people bear theloads. Plenty of slaves. Look!"

Frank's eyes were already noting that to which the Sheikh drew hisattention, for a party of about a dozen unhappy fellaheen, joinedtogether by a long chain, which in several cases had fretted their blackskins into open sores, were being driven along by a Baggara mounted upona slight, swift-looking camel, from whose high back he wielded along-lashed whip, and flicked with it from time to time at the bare skinof one of the slaves who cringed along looking ready to drop. 

They were on in front, stopping the way in the narrow street between tworows of mud-brick houses, and consequently Frank's party had to slackentheir pace, the driver having glanced insolently back at them and thenfixed his eyes half-wonderingly upon Frank, before turning again andcontinuing his way, quite ignoring the fact that those behind werewaiting to pass. 

When he stopped he had turned his camel across the narrow road, completely blocking the way, and when he went on again, after gazing hisfull, he hurried his camel a little so as to overtake the last of theironed slaves, and lashed at him sharply, making the poor wretch winceand take a quick step or two which brought him into collision with hisfellow-sufferer in front, causing him to stumble and driving him againstthe next, so that fully half of the gang were in confusion. 

The result was a savage outburst from their driver, who pressed on, making his whip sing through the air and crack loudly, as he lashed atthe unfortunates, treating them far worse than the beasts that perish;but not a murmur arose as they stumbled on through the foul sand of thenarrow way. 

But there was one sound, a low, harsh, menacing grating together ofteeth, and the Sheikh, who had long been inured to such scenes, turnedsharply, to see that Frank's eyes were blazing with the rage within him. 

"Yes, " he whispered warningly, "it is horrible; but they are theconquering race from the south. We must bear it. Yes. "

"Hah!" sighed Frank, and he shuddered at the bare idea of his brotherbeing a victim to such a fate. 

Just at that moment the roadway widened out a little, and the Sheikhtook advantage of this to press on, so as to get his party past thedepressing scene. 

The camel he rode protested a little, and at the moaning growl ituttered the Baggara turned a little, and his eyes met those of Frank, looking dark and menacing. 

"Hasten, Ben Eddin, " whispered the Sheikh, and the young man's camelmade step for step with that of the Sheikh; but before Frank's eyesquitted those of the slave-driver the man said something fiercely, raised his whip, and was in the act of striking at the young Englishmanwhen there was a plunge, a bound, and the leader of the Emir's guard haddriven his beautiful Arab horse against the flank of the driver's camel, sending the poor beast staggering against the mud house to the left andnearly dismounting the rider. 

In an instant the savage turned with raised whip upon his aggressor, butthe guard's keen, straight sword flashed out of the scabbard, and thesight of the rest of the party cowed him, while pointing forward, theguard sat watching him sternly till the party had passed the gang, when, with a quick sweep of his sharp blade he caught the whip close to theshaft, sheared it off, and then pressing his horse's sides he boundedon, leaving the brute scowling in his rear. 

"We are to be saved from all insult, Ben Eddin, " said the Sheikhgravely; "but you must not resent anything you see, and this shows youhow careful we must be. "

"Yes, but it makes my blood boil, " said Frank to himself, as he gave theold Arab a meaning look full of promise as regards care. 

They rode on and on and in and out through what at times was a teeminghive of misery and degradation, where filth and disorder seemed to berampant. At times there were houses of larger build, and here and thereattempts had been made to enclose a garden, in which there was therefreshing sight of a few trees; but the monotony of the place wasterrible, and the absence of all trace of a busy, thriving, industriouspopulation was depressing in the extreme. 

"We must ride out from the city another time, Ben Eddin, " said theSheikh gravely, after they had gone on through the crowded ways forfully a couple of hours, their guard following patiently in the rear, and their presence ensuring a way being made through some of thewell-armed, truculent-looking groups. 

"Yes, " said the professor, who overheard his words; "and I am afraidthat we shall do no good hunting among these narrow streets. Can't youtake us amongst the houses of the better-class folk, Ibrahim?"

"That is what I am trying to do, Excellency, " said the old man; "but yousee--wherever there is a big house it is shut in with walls, and thereare so few--so few. It is like one of our worst villages near Cairomade big--so big, and so much more dirty and bad. "

"The place is a horror, Frank, " said the professor. "I wonder thepeople do not die off like flies. "

"Doubtless they do, Excellency, " said the old Sheikh gravely. 

"They must, Frank, " continued the professor. "The dry sand saves theplace from being one vast pest-house. Look at the foul dogs, and yonderat the filthy vultures seated on the top of that mud house. "

"There's lot's more coming, sir, " said Sam, putting in a word, as helooked upward in a disgusted way. "I do hate those great, bald-headedcrows. "

"Hideous brutes!" said the professor, watching the easy flight of abouthalf a dozen that were sailing round as if waiting to swoop down uponsome prey. 

"There is a dead body near, " said the Sheikh calmly. 

"What, on in front?" said the professor quickly; "for goodness' sake, then, let's go another way!"

The Sheikh looked at him half-protestingly, and shrugged his shoulders alittle. 

"Does his Excellency mean to go back the way we came?" he said. "It isvery bad, and if we go by here we shall soon be outside upon the wideplain where we can ride round to the gate near the Emir's palace. "

"Then by all means let's go on, " said the professor. 

"There may be nothing dead, " said the Sheikh. "I think not, for thebirds are waiting. "

There was evidently, though, some attraction, for the numbers of thebirds were increasing as they pushed on, to ride out into an opening allat once--a place which had probably been a garden surrounded bybuildings, now fast crumbling into dust, and here upon one side, not adozen yards away, lay the attraction which had drawn the scavenger birdstogether, at least a hundred more that they had not previously seendotting the ruins in all directions. 

"What a place!" said the professor, halting the beast he rode, which, like its fellows, instead of paying the slightest heed seemed to welcomethe rest; and they all stood bowing their heads gently as if it were amere matter of course, and no broad hint of their fate in the to-come. 

For there, crouched down with its legs doubled beneath, was a largecamel, evidently in the last stage of weakness and disease, its raggedcoat and flaccid hump hanging over to one side, bowing its head slowlyat the waiting vultures, that calm, bald-headed and silent, sat aboutwith their weird heads apparently down between their shoulders--a greatgathering, waiting for the banquet that was to be theirs. 

Frank had hard work to repress the words which rose to his lips, and hesigned to the Sheikh as he urged his beast forward. 

"Hold hard a minute, " said the professor; "it is not nice, but I want tosee in the cause of natural history. I never saw a camel die. "

Frank knit his brows, and in the cause of natural history felt glad thatthe loathsome birds refrained from attacking the wretched beast until itwas dead. 

The poor animal had, however, nearly reached what was for it that happystate of release, for as the professor watched, the camel slowly raisedits head, throwing it back until its ears rested against its hump, gazedupwards towards the sky, shivered, and was at rest. 

"Poor brute!" said the professor; "and what a release. Why, Ibrahim, Ithought the Arab of the desert was tender to his beast, whether it wascamel or horse?"

"Well, Excellency, " said the old man proudly, "look at the camel youride; look at these. I am an Arab: have you ever seen me otherwise thanmerciful to my beasts?"

"No, " said the professor; "but look at that wretched creature! Ugh! howhorrible! Let's ride on. "

It was time, for nearly heedless of the presence of man, the vultureswere dropping down from the ruins, and those in the air were making afinal sweep round before darting upon their carrion prey. The partyrode on in silence for a few minutes, the Sheikh waiting for theprofessor to continue; but he remained silent, and the old man began inprotest--

"An Arab does not leave his beast like that, Excellency. These men hereare not Arabs, but the fierce, half-savage people from high up thecountry, who have descended the river, killing and destroying, tillwherever they stop the land is turned into a waste. Time back, when thegreat general was sent up to Khartoum, we said `Now there will be peace, and the savage followers of the Mahdi will be driven back into thewilds; people will dare to live again and grow their corn and pasturetheir flocks and herds;' but, alas! it was not to be. The great Gordonwas murdered, his people slaughtered, and the country that has beenwatered with the blood of the just still cries aloud for help. Is itever to come?"

"Yes, Ibrahim, and soon, " said the professor. "Who knows of thepreparations being made better than you?"

"Yes, Excellency, I know, " said the Sheikh slowly; "but it is so long incoming, and while they are waiting to be freed from the horrible tyrannyof the Mahdi and his successor, the people wither away and die. "

The old man looked at Frank as he spoke, and the young man gave him anapproving nod, after which they rode on through the squalor and horrorsof the place till the road grew more straight and wide, the hovelsfewer. Then the filth and misery grew scarcer, patches of cultivatedland appeared, from which weary-eyed faces looked up, half wondering, here and there, but only to sink listlessly again as their owners toiledon, with taskmasters ready to urge them on with their labour, as theytortured their sluggish oxen toiling at water-wheel or grinding at amill. 

But for the most part the Baggaras' slaves allowed the passers-by to gounnoticed, never once lifting their eyes from the ground. 

As the party rode slowly on, their eyes carefully searched the buildingsthey passed in these outskirts of the town, till they reached theentrance where they first arrived, and soon after were winding their wayin and out of the narrow streets till they came to their portion of theEmir's palace, and passed the guarded gate, to thankfully throwthemselves upon the rugs of their shadowy room, hot, weary, and chokedwith dust. 

"Well, " said the Hakim, as soon as their guards were out of hearing, "good news?"

"No, " said Frank, "the worst. We might go wandering in and out of thisdesolation of sordid hovels and crumbling huts for years, and see nosign of the poor fellow. "

"And perhaps pass the place again and again, " added the professor. "Weare going the wrong way to work. What do you say, Ibrahim?"

"Thy servant fears that it is useless to go searching in such a way asthis, " replied the old Sheikh. "The city is so big--there are so manythousands crowding the place. "

"Then what can we do?" said Frank wearily. 

"Only try to get news of a white slave who was taken at Khartoum, Excellency, " said the old man calmly. "I am working, but I fear to asktoo much, for fear that I might do harm. "

"Have we gone the wrong way to work, after all?"

"No, " said the doctor decisively. "We are here, and Khartoum is so faraway. You are hot and weary now, Frank; rest and refresh, my lad; theyare grand remedies for despair. "

"Yes, " said the professor; "I feel as much out of heart as you, my boy, but common-sense says that we have only tried once. "

Frank nodded, and rose to go into the room he shared with Sam, too wearyand disheartened to notice that his old friend's servant had followedhim, till he was startled by feeling the man's cool hands busy about himwith a brass basin of cool water and a sponge, when he sat up quickly. 

"Why, Sam, " he cried, "are you going mad?"

"Hope not, sir, " said the man, "though that hot sun and the dust can'tbe good. "

"But what are you doing?"

"What'll set you right, sir, and ready for your meal. "

"But you forget that I am the Hakim's slave. "

"Not I, sir. Keep still, the black won't come off. "

"But I can't let you be waiting upon me. Suppose one of the Emir's mencame in. "

"Well, that would be awkward, sir; but I'd chance it this time. "

"No, " said Frank stoically. "There, I feel a little rested now. Go onand bathe yourself. You want it as badly as I. "

"But let me tend you a bit, sir--Ben. "

"Sir Ben!" cried Frank angrily. "You mean to betray us, then?"

"It's just like me, Ben Eddin; but you will let me give you a coolsponge down? It's quite right, sir, as a barber. "

"No, no, I'm better now, " said Frank sharply, and he busied himself ingetting rid of the unpleasant traces of their ride, feeling the betterfor the effort he was forced to make, and listening in silence to Sam, who, after so long an interval from conversation was eager to make useof his tongue. 

"Hah!" he said; "water is a blessing in a country like this; but oh, BenEddin, did you ever see such a place and such a people?"

"No, " said Frank shortly. "Horrible!"

"Why, our Arabs, sir, with their bit of a tent are princes and kings to'em. Ugh! the horrible filth and smells and sights, and then theslaves!"

"Horrible!" said Frank again. 

"I've read a deal about slavery, sir, and the--what do they call it?--atrocities; but what they put in print isn't half bad enough. "

"Not half, " assented Frank. 

"After what I have seen to-day, not being at all a killing andslaughtering sort of man, I feel as if it's a sort of duty for oursoldiers to come up here with fixed bayonets, and drive the blackruffians right away back into the hot deserts they came from. Did yousee inside one of those huts we passed?"

"I saw inside many, Sam, " replied Frank. 

"I meant that one where the two miserable-looking women came to the doorto see us pass. "

"What, where a man came back to them just before we reached the dyingcamel?"

"Yes; that was the place. "

"I just caught a glimpse of him as we passed. "

"Was that all, Ben Eddin?"

"Yes, that was all. Why?"

"Ah, you were on first, and I was a bit behind the professor, sir, and Isaw it all. "

"What did you see?"

"Saw him go up to first one and then the other, knocking them down witha big blow of his fist; and the poor things crouched with their faces inthe sand and never said a word. "

"The savage!"

"That's right, " said Sam viciously. "I was talking to Mr Abraham aboutit afterwards, and he said he saw it too, and that they were slaves, like hundreds upon hundreds more, who had been taken in some village thewretches had looted, and that he hadn't a doubt that their husbands hadbeen cut down and killed in one of the raids. What's a raid, sir?"

"A plundering expedition, Sam, " said Frank wearily, "such as that theEmir was upon when we were captured. "

"Oh, I see, sir. Big sort o' savage kind o' murder and burglary, wholesale, retail, and for exportation, as you may say. When they wantanything they go out and take it?"

"Exactly. "

"Hah! That's what old Mr Abraham meant when he said that these Soudantribes didn't care about settling down and doing any gardening orfarming, because they could go and help themselves whenever they wanted. He said they were black locusts who came out of the south. "

"He was quite right, Sam, " replied Frank, "and you have seen the effectof their visits; every place is devastated, and the poorer, industriouspeople get perfectly disheartened. "

"I see, sir. Feel it's no use to get together a bit of a farm and somepigs, because as soon as the corn's ripe and the pigs are fat theselocusts come and eat the lot. "

"You are right as far as the corn is concerned, Sam, " said Frank, smiling; "but I don't think you have seen many pigs since you have beenout here. "

"Well, now you come to mention it, sir, I haven't. I was thinking aboutit when I saw some of those bits of farm places outside where the slaveswere at work, and it made me think of an uncle of mine who was in thatline of business away in the country--he's a rich farmer now out in NooZealand. I used to go for a holiday to see him sometimes down inSurrey, and he would say that there was nothing like having a good sowand a lot of young pigs coming on, different sizes, in your styes, forthey ate up all the refuse and got fat, and you'd always something tofall back on for your rent, besides having a nice bit of bacon in therack for home use. He said he never saw a small farm get on withoutpigs. Some one ought to show 'em how to do it out here. But I don'tknow what would be the use of fattening up your pigs for the Mahdi chapsto come and drive them away. "

"There is no fear of either, Sam, " said Frank, smiling. "TheseMohammedan people look upon the pig as an unclean beast. "

"Well, that's true enough, sir; but it is his nature to. He's nasty inhis habits, but he's nice. "

"I mean unclean--not fit to eat--a Mohammedan would be considereddefiled by even touching a pig. "

"Ho!" said Sam scornfully, "and I suppose killing and murdering andgetting themselves covered with blood makes 'em clean! Unde--what doyou call it?--undefiled. Well, all I can say is that the sooner thisholy man and his followers are chivied out of the country the better. "

"Yes--yes--yes, Sam, " said Frank, more wearily; "but don't talk to me. I want to think. "

"I know, sir, about Mr Harry, sir; but don't think, sir. You think toomuch about him. "

"What!" cried Frank angrily. 

"It's true, sir. You're fretting yourself into a sick bed, and thoughI'd sit up o' nights, and do anything in the way of nursing you, sir, wecan't afford to have you ill. "

"Why not, Sam?" said the young man bitterly. "It is all hopeless. PoorHarry is dead, and the sooner I follow him the better. "

"Mr Frank--Ben Eddin, I mean--I do wonder at you! It don't seem likeyou speaking. Never say die, sir! What, talk about giving up whenwe've got to the place we were trying for! There, I know. You're doneup with being out in the sun. But cheer up, sir. You come and havesomething to eat, and then have a good night's rest. You'll feeldifferent in the morning. Why, we've hardly begun yet. You knew beforeyou started that Mr Harry's up here somewhere. Well, we've got to findhim, and we will. "

"If I could only think so, " groaned Frank. 

"Think so, then, sir, " said Sam earnestly. "Why look at me, sir. 'Bouta month ago I used to groan to myself and think what a fool I was toleave my comfortable pantry in Wimpole Street to come on what I called awild-goose chase; but I came round and made up my mind as it was a sorto' duty to the guv'nor and you gents, and though I can't say I like it, for the smells are horrid, and the way the people live and how theytreat other people disgusting, I'm getting regular used to it. Why, ifyou gentlemen were to call me to-morrow and to say that the job seemedwhat you called it just now, hopeless, and you were going back, I shouldfeel ashamed of you all. You take my advice, sir, and stick to it likea man. It's like looking for a needle in a bundle of hay, I know; butthe needle's there, and you've got to pick out the hay bit by bit tillthere's nothing left but dust--it's sand here--then you've got to blowthe dust away, and there's the needle. "

"That's good philosophy, Sam, " said Frank, smiling. 

"Is it, sir? Well, I am glad of it. I only meant it for good advice. "

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. 

A FIGHT AMONG FRIENDS. 

As is generally the case when one's heart feels most sick, a good restbrings light and hope back from behind the clouds, and Frank Frere awokethe next morning feeling ready for any amount more effort, as hecarefully applied more of the water to his skin, after dissolving a fewcrystals, with the result that when the solution was dry he was ready tocompare with the blackest slave in the city, while after breakfast hewas in the best of spirits as he helped the Hakim over his patients--poor creatures half blind from the horrible ophthalmia produced by thedesert dust and sand; wounded men, sufferers from the terrible fevers ofthe country; and as he saw them go away relieved a pleasant sensation ofwhat French people call _bien etre_ stole over him. 

Then the Emir's son came in his litter and was attended to, the Hakimsaying, when his task was done and Ibrahim had been summoned, that thepatient need come no more, at which he frowned and looked displeased, and the next day he came again, contenting himself with seeing Frankonly, and on leaving presenting him with a new white robe. 

The following morning he was back again to see Frank, and when he left, the professor laughingly made the remark that the Emir's son wasevidently a young man of very low tastes, he being a prince among hispeople and taking to the society of a slave. 

Another excursion was made through the city, with the guard followingpatiently, and evidently feeling something like contempt for thesestrange people who preferred wearying themselves in wandering throughthe filthy lanes of the city to sitting comfortably in the Emir'sgrounds, smoking a long pipe in the shade of the trees. But they weresilent and watchful all the same saving the travellers more than oncefrom insult and attack. 

Then days followed days with always the same result: weary hopelessness;and a long conversation ensued, the result of which was that as thenumber of important cases had diminished and the complaints of the poorpatients were for the most part of a kind that their own Hakims couldvery well attend, a petition should be taken to the Emir, asking him tosend the Hakim on to Khartoum with his people to do good there. 

This was announced to Ibrahim, who shook his head. 

"Why do you do that?" said Frank quickly. 

"For reasons, Excellency. I have been much about the city lately. "

"I know, " said Frank, "and supposed that you were still searching now. "

"I was, Excellency. "

"So have we been, as you know, but without result. You have found outnothing?"

"Not yet, Excellency, but I am still hopeful. "

"We are still hopeful, " said Frank, "but we feel that it is time tojourney on to Khartoum and search there. We can come back here if wefail. "

"But the Emir will not let you go, Excellency. "

"How do you know that?"

"I feel sure, Excellency, and then there is the young Emir; he spoke tome yesterday about having you in his household. "

"Having me?" said Frank, aghast. 

"Yes, Excellency; he has taken a fancy to you. Did he not make youanother present yesterday?"

"Yes, " said Frank; "a handsome sword and knife. Of course, I did notwant them, but you know his disposition. "

"Yes, " said the professor; "he would have looked black as thunder andflown in a passion if you had refused them. "

"He did because I hesitated. But we must try if the Emir will consent. "

"We might propose going for a time, " said the doctor, "and promise tocome back, as there is so little to do here for the people. "

The Sheikh shook his head. 

"I daresay you are right, Ibrahim, " said Frank; "but we are doing nogood at all here, and you must try. "

"I am your Excellencies' servant, " said the old man quietly, "and I willdo my best; but I would rather we stayed here for a while longer. "

"Hah!" exclaimed Frank excitedly; "then you have some clue!"

"No, no; not yet, Ben Eddin, " said the old man, who looked startled bythe speaker's manner; "but I have hopes. I have been trying so hard, making friends with several of the better people, and as your EnglishExcellencies would say, feeling my way. When we find your Excellency'sbrother it will be through my meeting some one who knows what slaveshave been kept. But it is very hard. I dare not say much, for fear ofmaking the people doubt that I am a friend. "

"Yes, that is true, Ibrahim, " said the doctor gravely; "and I like yourcaution. But make one appeal to the Emir to let us go to Khartoum for afew weeks. Ask him to send us with an escort--say with our presentguard. "

The old Sheikh shook his head. 

"The great Hakim does not understand, " he said. "The Khalifa has manyfollowers, Emirs and chiefs of tribes who are banded with him to conquerand hold the Soudan. But they are all chiefs in their own right whohave brought their followers, and the jealousy and hate among them isgreat. The Emir, our friend, is one of the greatest, but he has enemieshere. "

"Ah, you know that?" said Frank eagerly. 

"Yes, Excellency, chiefs who hate him, but his son more, for he is rudeand scornful to them. "

"I can understand that, " said the professor. "Go on. "

"These other chiefs hate our Emir for his power and strength, and wouldbe glad to drive him back into his own country, and he knows it. But atKhartoum I hear that he has greater enemies. The Khalifa and one of hisgenerals both dislike him and fear that he is trying to become a greaterruler than they; and knowing this he would not send you with a part ofhis own guard, neither would the Khalifa let him do this; but I will seehim to-morrow, Excellencies, and tell him your wishes. If he gives youhis leave to go he will send messengers to the Khalifa, asking him toreceive the great Hakim and send guards to fetch you. But I fear. Hewill think that you will never return. Shall I go to him now?"

"No, " said the doctor; "wait till the morning, and do your best, for Ifeel that we may do more good at Khartoum. We will return if we find nobetter fortune than here. "

"It is good, great Hakim, " said the old man; "thy servant is alwaysready to obey. "

That day passed quietly on, with the friends eagerly discussing theirplans of action regarding the proposed change, Frank being the mosthopeful and displaying intense eagerness. 

"Ibrahim is a fatalist, " he said. "He has taken it into his head thatwe shall find Harry here, but I feel convinced now that he is a prisonerin Khartoum or the neighbourhood, and I do not think, after all we havedone, that the Emir will refuse us. "

"I don't know, " said the professor dubiously. 

"Oh, don't, don't you take old Ibrahim's views, Landon, " cried Frank. "I doubt whether there is so much jealousy amongst men who are boundtogether for one special object. There is a little, no doubt. Lookhere, let's ask the Emir and his son--or his son alone--to take us therehimself. They may be glad to go, as they seem so proud of Morris andall his cures. For my part, I think he will. "

"And I believe Ibrahim, " said the doctor gravely. "If it is as hethinks, our Emir would not trust himself in Khartoum without all hisfollowing, and--"

"What's the matter?" cried the professor sharply, for just then theirhead guard rushed to the door, sword in hand, followed by three of hismen armed with spears, while for the moment it struck Frank that thepresent he had received was about to prove useful, and he took a steptowards his room where it was hanging in its sheath against the wall. 

The officer said something excitedly as he waved his sword, and theman's manner suggested that he had come with his followers to massacrethe party. 

But at that moment Ibrahim entered, looking wild and strange, and a fewwords passed between him and the guard, while from outside the wallsthere was shouting, the trampling of horses, and hurried rush of feet. 

"For heaven's sake speak, Ibrahim!" cried the professor in Arabic. "What does this man mean?"

"He has come to see that you are all safe, Excellency, " said the oldman. "The Emir sends orders that you are to bar yourselves in the roomfarthest from the wall, for the palace is about to be attacked. You arenot to venture outside in the garden, for fear the enemy may be withinthrowing distance with their spears. "

The Emir's officer only stayed till he was satisfied that his prisonersfully understood the message, and then hurried out, followed by his men, for the noise and excitement outside were increasing fast. Trumpetswere being blown, drums beaten, and there were all the sounds of agathering force. 

"What does all this mean?" asked the doctor. 

"I hardly know, O Hakim, " replied the Sheikh, who was graduallyrecovering his breath, "It is some jealous quarrel between the Emirs, and they will mount and ride out to the nearest part of the desert togallop wildly here and there, firing guns, throwing spears, and shoutingdefiance at one another, till their horses and camels are tired out. Then they will ride back, blowing trumpets and beating drums again, witheach chief riding by his standard, looking proud, and behaving as if hehad gained a great victory. "

"Then it will be a kind of sham fight?" said Frank. 

"No, Ben Eddin; it will be quite real, but they will not do each othermuch mischief, because there is nothing to gain. There is no spoil, andbesides, they are all bound to obey the new Mahdi, who has bidden themto be at peace till the Egyptian forces are driven into the Nile. "

"We are too late, " said the Hakim grimly. 

"What! Do you think our Emir will be conquered?" said the professoreagerly. 

"No, but there will be work for us to-night or to-morrow morning withthe wounded. Then how can we ask the Emir to let us go?"

"The great Hakim is right, " said the Sheikh. "Hark!"

He held up his hand, and plainly enough the reports of guns and theshouting of combatants reached their ears, the fighting having alreadycommenced, and evidently within the city, though as they waited thesounds grew more distant. But the dull trampling of unshod horses toldof the passing of mounted men, and Ibrahim went out to join the guard atthe gate, for he was in an intense state of excitement for fear thereshould be any demand made upon his camels, which were peaceably munchingin the enclosure at the end of the house. 

Then came a couple of hours excited waiting for that which did nothappen. For at every rush of horsemen along the road outside, theprisoners felt that the expected attack had come, and again and againthe Sheikh came in to reassure them by announcing that it was only aparty of the Emir's own men, for the chief had driven his enemies out ofthe city to the plain where the engagement was going on, but had left astrong troop of mounted men to ride to and fro to guard his house insupport of the little party who had charge of the guests. 

"The men think it will not be much, Excellencies, for another Emir isfighting for their chief, and they are too strong. It is like a risingagainst those chosen by the Khalifa, but I cannot tell much as yet. "

But distant as the scene of the conflict was, the firing reached theirears till it was turning dusk, when it suddenly ceased, as if either oneside was conquered or a mutually agreed cessation of hostilities hadtaken place. 

The first definite news of the state of affairs reached the Emir'spalace just when a considerable lapse of time had occurred without news, the last being of a kind to create anxiety, the Sheikh coming in fromthe gate to announce that a messenger had arrived at a gallop to summonthe troop of horse, who had gone off leaving their guard lookingcareworn and anxious, while he forbore to speak. 

And now the messenger who had suddenly galloped up to the entry, dashedin at once, flung his bridle to the Sheikh as he leapt down, and strodein to where the friends were anxiously waiting. All started and glancedat the open window, where a glimpse could be obtained of Ibrahim, towhom and his camels every thought was turned, as, withoutintercommunication, the same thought prevailed--flight, and would therebe time to obtain their camels and make for the open desert before thevictorious enemy arrived?

For the messenger, who came looking wild and excited, his flowing whitegarment covered with blood and dust, was the Hakim's last patient--theEmir's son. 

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. 

ANOTHER PATIENT. 

The young Baggara chief was evidently in a wild state of excitement, andturned at once to the professor, saying something in his own tongue, which the Englishman struggled hard but failed, in spite of his slightknowledge of the Baggara dialect, fully to grasp. 

"I can't make him out, " said the professor excitedly. "It is somethingabout a terrible battle and defeat. "

"He means us to escape for our lives, " said the doctor excitedly. "Yes, look, " he continued, for the young chief pointed to the window, noddedto the speaker, and hurried away. 

"Quick!" said the professor; "stop for nothing. We must get to thecamels, and take our chances. "

As he spoke the young chief dashed in again, followed by the Sheikh, thepanting horse having been handed over to one of the guard; and this timethe young man crossed to Frank, laid his left hand upon the young man'sshoulder, smiling proudly, and waving his right hand in the air as ifcutting with his sword. 

"The Emir's son bears the news, Excellencies, that there has been agreat battle, and that his father and his friends have routed therebellious ones, who have taken to flight, leaving many killed andwounded, and among these there is the Emir's greatest friend. He hasbeen shot by a gun and is dying, but the Emir bids you be ready to bringhim back to life, for he is like a brother and saved him from histreacherous foes. "

"That's a modest demand for one evening, Robert, my son, " said theprofessor, with a quaintly humorous look. "How do you feel?"

"As if I had been raising the expectations of these people till the timehad come for their hopes to be dashed. "

While he was speaking the triumphant blowing of trumpets and discordantbeating of drums, heard faintly upon the evening air, announced thereturn of the victorious forces from what had doubtless been nothingmuch more serious than a slight skirmish. But it was serious enough forthe friends. 

"What is to be done?" said the professor. "We shall have to go to thedying man's place. "

The Sheikh heard what was said, and turned to question the young chiefat once. 

"No, Excellencies, " he said; "the Emir is having his brother chief borneto his own house. He will be brought to the palace here, and will notbe long. "

"Very well, " said the Hakim gravely; "I will do my best. Theinstruments, Ben Eddin, " he continued, "and what is necessary. "

Sam was already at the door, and Frank joined him, to prepare all thatwould be required, while the young chief looked on, eager and smiling, but standing aloof from the Hakim as if in perfect confidence as to theresult, but feeling a superstitious dread of his power. 

There was an interval of waiting then, with the sound of the instrumentspreceding the triumphant warriors coming nearer and nearer, till all atonce the young chief nodded smilingly to Frank, said a few words to theSheikh, and hurried out. 

"What does that mean?" said the professor. 

"He has gone to see how the chief is and will come to see you as soon asthey have brought him in. He says--"

The Sheikh stopped short, and looked from one to the other as ifperplexed. 

"What does he say?" asked the doctor sternly. 

"He said, O Hakim, " replied the Sheikh humbly, "that he hoped hisfather's friend and brother was dead. "

"He said that! Why? Is this an enemy?"

"No, Excellency; it is because others of the chief men and their doctorsdo not believe in you, and he wants to show them how great you are. "

The professor uttered a groan and glanced in a horrified way at his oldfriend, who sat now on a rug, looking perfectly calm in what seemed tobe an emergency. 

"There is nothing to mind, " he said. "The young man is superstitiousand ignorant, but his father is wise and our friend. Let us hope thatthe chief is not dead; but gun-shot wounds are more to be dreaded than agash from a knife or spear. Be perfectly calm, both of you; there isnothing to mind. "

"Of course not, " said the professor, recovering himself now. "I wasstartled for the moment by that false alarm. No, there is nothing tomind, even if the other chiefs are sceptical. You have knowledge enoughto win their respect. "

Further conversation was put an end to by the coming of the Emirhimself, with his son, who entered, hot and covered with dust, to say afew words to the Sheikh, who bowed humbly to hear them. 

"The Emir bids me ask you to come and save his friend, O Hakim, but hefears that it is too late. "

The doctor rose at once, signed to his followers, and then motioned tothe Emir to lead on. 

He drew back, however, and said a few words to his son, who led off atonce, while the father walked quite humbly behind the great man to whomhe owed his life. 

Frank glanced wonderingly round as the little procession passed out intoa kind of hall whose floor was covered with Eastern rugs, and in whichwere grouped about some fifty armed men, who showed plenty of grim signsof having been in a serious fray. Then onward through a couple of roomshandsomely draped with curtains which gave them the appearance of tents, and into a much larger apartment, upon a broad divan in which, dimlyshown by a couple of brass lamps, lay the insensible figure of astalwart Baggara, the blackest they had yet seen, his glistening skinshowing strangely in contrast with the white folds turned back from hisbroad chest, and hideously stained with blood. 

As the party entered several women held their head-cloths to their facesand stole silently out, leaving none there but three grim-lookingMullahs, who had evidently been playing the parts of surgeons to theinjured Emir, and who scowled angrily at the little party that nowentered the room. Standing silently afterwards with their hands upontheir breasts they gazed through their half-closed eyes as ifcontemptuously waiting to hear what this infidel Hakim would say. 

It was a crucial position for the doctor, but he played his part withthe greatest dignity, while the Emir stood near as if in perfectconfidence as to his friend's powers, and the son glanced at Frank witha malicious look in his dark eyes, which he turned directlyhalf-mockingly at the Mullahs. 

The Hakim bowed haughtily to his Soudanese _confreres_, and then turnedto the Sheikh. 

"Stand on my left hand, a little back, " he said, "ready to interpret. "

The Sheikh bowed reverently and took his place, while to Frank the scenein the gloomy, tent-like room resembled some great picture of Easternlife that he had once seen. 

Then throwing back the long white sleeves of his robe the Hakim bentdown over the patient, and with rapid touches of his white hands as ifhe were performing some incantation--so it struck the lookers-on, thoughit was only the _tactus eruditus_ of the skilled surgeon--he soonsatisfied himself that his patient lived, and of the injury which hadlaid the strong man low. 

Frank was ready with all he required, water, sponge, towels, lint, andprobe, while the professor carried bottle, graduated glass, and a pocketfilter slung at his side, furnished with a syphon-like tap. 

The silence was strangely oppressive during those few minutes, and as heexamined his patient the Hakim gave aloud the results of hisexamination, as if speaking expressly for the professor's ear alone. 

"Not dead, " he said, "and he has not lost much blood. A very seriouswound, and the bullet without doubt there. Quite beyond my reach. No:it has not passed through. I dare probe no more to-night. I must waitfor the daylight, and give him some hours to recover a little from theshock. "

Meanwhile the Emir was anxiously watching the Hakim's actions, and whenat last he saw him plug the wound with medicated lint, and then take thebandage offered by Frank, he drew a sigh of relief, grasping the factthat the Hakim would not bind up the injury of one who had passed away. 

The Hakim then raised his head a little and turned to the Sheikh. 

"Tell the Emir, " he said, "that his friend has received a very dangerouswound, but that I hope he will live. "

These words were translated to the chief, but in his interpretation theold Arab omitted the hopeful clause, and said definitely that thewounded man would recover. 

In an instant one of the Mullahs said scornfully--

"The infidel Frank lies unto you, Emir. Thy friend is wounded untodeath. See, even now he dies. "

"The great Hakim never lies, " said the Sheikh proudly. "The Emir willwait and see that the Hakim's words are true. "

"Yes, " said the Emir sternly. "We will wait. "

Frank was standing back with his head humbly now in the shadow, holdingsome of the Hakim's paraphernalia, but with watchful eyes fixed upon thethree Mullahs, and as the Emir spoke he noticed a quick, meaning glancepass from one to the other which struck him as full of malice andcunning. A thought instantly shot through him which chilled him for amoment. That look meant evil, he was sure. Something malevolentagainst the Frankish doctor who dared to intrude upon the ignorance andsuperstition of a trio of Mahometan priests. What would they do?

Frank's thoughts came like flashes of mental light, and in an instant hefelt that they dared not interfere with the Hakim who was so strongly infavour with the great Emir, but in an underhanded way they might bringall he had done to naught and contrive that the wounded, helpless man'slast chance of life should fail. 

The idea was horrible, but he knew for certain that in their vilebigotry the followers of Mahomet would stop at nothing in their effortsto destroy the so-called infidel, and with his pulses beginning to beatfast in his excitement he planned how he could counteract any of themachinations these people might set going. 

For the more he thought the more convinced he felt that he was notmisjudging these people. His memory brought up things that the oldSheikh had said about the jealousy the great Hakim had excited, andnaturally enough; but what was to be done?

The first thing, he felt, must be to warn the doctor. But how? Hecould not speak till they were alone. Even if he attempted to whisperto the professor, who was close at hand, it would be observed, for hewould betray himself as an impostor, and in betraying himself he wouldraise suspicion against his companions. 

Those were painful moments, and he shivered and longed for the scene tocome to an end, for his utter helplessness seemed to overwhelm him, andhe felt ready to ask why he had placed himself in so terrible aposition. 

Then he uttered a faint sigh of relief, for the professor reverentlyapproached his friend and whispered a question, to which the Hakim, whostood over his patient, watch in one hand, the fingers of the otherholding the insensible man's wrist, carefully counting the pulsations, replied by a grave bend of the head. 

The professor drew back and whispered to his fellow-assistant to prepareto go, while for his own part he took the bottle, water, and glasses tothe Hakim, and once more stood waiting, while Frank carefully folded uplint and bandage, and replaced the instruments in their cases. 

But the Hakim did not stir, and in the midst of the impressive silencehe stood there bare-headed with the light of the lamps above fallingupon the deep lines in his broad, white forehead and knit brows, carefully marking the pulsations, the three Mullahs still standing withfolded arms, as motionless as statues, and their eyes nearly closed; butthere was a keen flash now and then through the lids as they kept aneager watch upon everything that was going on. 

At last the Hakim softly lowered the wounded chiefs hand and replacedhis watch, turning slightly to the professor, who took a step towardshim and held out bottle and glass, when a few drops from the former werecarefully measured out, a little water from the filter added, and thenthe clear limpid medicament was slowly and carefully trickled betweenthe sufferer's lips till all had passed. 

At that moment there was a faint rustling behind a great curtain whichdraped an opening in the darkest part of the sombre room, and directlyafter a small, dark hand appeared and was waved to and fro. 

Frank, in his watchfulness, saw everything. It was evidently the handof one of the women who had glided out when his party entered--in allprobability that of the favourite wife. 

The young Emir saw it too, for he turned a questioning face to hisfather, who bowed his head, and the young man stepped silently across tothe curtain, drew it a little aside, and stood whispering answers to theeager questions which were asked. 

"The women!" thought Frank, who was ready to snatch at any straw. If hecould only speak to Morris he would order that they should stay and keepwatch by the sufferer's side all night, and so baffle any nefariousattempt that might be made. 

Then with a hopeful feeling arising in his breast Frank went slowly onwith his task, which he could have finished at any moment, and waitedfor his opportunity, while, as if satisfied with the report, theinquirer drew back, a weary sigh sounding plainly out of the darkness, the curtain fell back into its former folds, and the young Emir returnedto his father's side. 

By this time the administering of the sedative was ended, the professorhad withdrawn with the bottle and glass, and the Hakim once more tookhold of the sufferer's swarthy wrist, to remain counting the pulsationsfor many minutes, before laying the hand gently down and rising tostand, with folded arms, gazing at the stern, dark, immovable face. 

"Waiting. How long will he wait?" thought Frank, and his mentalquestion was being asked by the three Mullahs who still stood like somany statues. 

Quite a quarter of an hour passed, and then the Hakim slowly turned hishead and looked at the Sheikh, who bent his head to attention, and athrill ran through Frank as he heard that all his anxieties werecertainly for the moment at an end, for the doctor said quietly, "Tellhis Highness the Emir that his friend is in too dangerous a state to beleft. "

The Sheikh interpreted the words, and received in reply the Emir's wordsthat the women of his household and the wounded man's own wife wouldwatch by his side all night. 

"That is good, Ibrahim, " replied the Hakim, "but their time is not yet. Tell the Emir that I and my people will keep watch till it is safe toleave him. "

The Emir drew a deep breath indicative of his satisfaction as he heardthe Hakim's words, and then crossing to him he reverently took his hand, bent over it, and drew back, said a word or two to his son, who went tothe three Mullahs and repeated his father's message, with the resultthat they whispered together for a few moments and then raised theirheads haughtily and stalked slowly out of the tent-like room. 

The Emir then nodded shortly to his son, who, as he followed theMullah's example, turned out of his way to go close to Frank and pat hisshoulder warmly, as if to commend him for all that had been done. 

The next minute the Emir whispered again to Ibrahim, speaking earnestly, and bending reverently once more to the Hakim, he crossed to the curtainand passed behind it, the low sobbing of a woman being heard directlyafter. Then all was silent as the grave. 

"Yes, Ibrahim, what is it?" said the doctor, for the Sheikh was waitingto speak. 

"The Emir bids me say, O Hakim, that you will please consider his houseyour own, and order his servants to bring everything you desire. Thathe will have refreshing foods and drinks placed in the room throughwhich we came, and divans and rugs are there for those who would rest. That three women of the household will be waiting all night with hisfriend's wife in the room beyond the curtains there. That if you findthe danger increases and his friend the Emir is about to die, you willsend me to the women with the sad tidings, that he and they may come tothe wounded man's side. That he thanks, and prays for your success inbringing his friend back to life. That is all. "

"Then he does not expect me to perform miracles--to do impossibilities, Ibrahim?" said the doctor quietly. 

"No, Excellency, " replied the Sheikh. "The Emir is a half-savage chief, but if he had been born in Cairo and lived amongst the English and theFrench he would have been great. He is wise. He says little, but helaughs in his heart at the fables of the Mullahs. "

"Then he is too sensible to take me for a prophet. "

"Oh, yes, Excellency; he thinks as I do, that you are a great physician, learned in all the wisdom of the Franks. He is a wise man, but his sonis what you English call a fool. But will the Emir's friend live? HisExcellency can trust me. "

"It is very doubtful, Ibrahim, " said the doctor gravely. "There is abullet lodged in a very dangerous part, and I fear that everythingdepends upon its being extracted before bad symptoms arise. "

"But the learned Hakim can do all those wonders I have seen, and cutsand sews, and the people grow well and strong. "

"Yes, Ibrahim, sometimes, " said the doctor, with a sad smile; "but notwhen the bullet, sword, or spear has done too much. The Emir's friendis very bad, and if we had left to-night and these native doctors hadstayed, he would never have seen the light of another day; for his lifehangs upon a thread that I am going to watch and strengthen lest itshould break. "

"Your Excellency is wiser in my eyes everyday I live, " said the old mansoftly. "Yes, he is right; if you had left here to-night the chiefwould have died. "

"What do you mean, Ibrahim?" whispered the professor. 

"Your Excellency knows, " replied the old man quietly. "For one thing, they would not have the wisdom to do what is right. For another thing, Excellency, they are jealous with the jealousy of ignorant, superstitious believers in false doctrines. "

The professor looked at the Sheikh searchingly. 

"I thought I knew you thoroughly, Ibrahim, " he said at last; "but I findyou are a wiser man than I thought. "

"No, Excellency, " said the old man sadly; "I have only tried to be wise;and in a long life mixing a great deal with the people from the West Ihave learned far more than my people could ever know; but what is it?"he said, holding out his hollowed hand as if it contained something. "So little; and there is so much to know. "

"Yes, " said the doctor slowly, "so much to know, Ibrahim, and life seemsso short. I would give even some of that for the greater power ofhealing that would enable me to say, This man will live. "

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. 

A SCIENTIFIC MARVEL. 

The day broke at last, after a long and watchful night of silence, during which the Hakim had never left his patient's side, but he hadinsisted upon his companions taking watch and watch. 

The patient had not stirred, but lain as motionless as if already dead, apparently free from all suffering, and displaying symptoms which madethe lines grow deeper in the doctor's brow. 

Twice over during the night a slight rustling of a curtain had startledthe watchers, and thoughts of treachery had arisen; but in each case therustling was succeeded by a weary sigh, and there was silence once more. 

The daylight which turned the lamp-rays pale was stealing in at thenarrow window, when there was a louder rustle of the curtain, and theEmir entered, to find the Hakim bending over his friend, with Frankkneeling a short distance away. 

The chief glanced round for the interpreter, and then went to the doorleading into the next room, to draw back directly, for the Sheikh andLandon were lying upon divans, asleep. 

The Emir nodded, and went straight to the Hakim, pointing down at thepatient, questioning him with his eyes. 

"Yes, " said the doctor, bowing his head; "he lives still, but I amafraid. "

The Emir seemed to grasp his meaning, and to enforce it Morris took thechiefs hand and separating his fingers, placed two upon the woundedman's pulse. 

There was a faint beating going on, and without another sign the Emircrossed to the curtain and passed out. 

The sun rose soon after, and filled the gloomy room with cheery light;but the hard, drawn countenance of the wounded man suggested thatdissolution could not be far distant; and when a few minutes later theprofessor and the Sheikh came in, refreshed by a couple of hours' rest, the doctor, spoke in a low voice--

"Help me, " he said; "I must make another examination at all risks;" andbusy minutes followed, during which the probe was used, and used invain. 

"He will sink in a few hours in spite of all I can do, " said the doctor. "If I could trace that bullet there might be a chance, and I will try;but everything is against him here. "

"What do you mean to do?" asked the professor. 

The Hakim was silent, standing leaning over his patient, deep inthought, while his friends waited patiently for him to speak. 

It was no longer the calm, easy-going companion now, but the earneststudent of the human frame, straining every mental fibre to theencounter in this emergency. 

A minute later he had turned to Frank, and spoke to him earnestly, withthe result that the young man shook his head. 

"Yes, I know, " said the doctor; "you are unprepared; the difficultiesseem out here insuperable; but a man's life is at stake, so is ourreputation amongst these people, for one failure will balance a hundredcures, just as at home one evil deed stands out strongly against so manygood which pass unnoticed. It is barely possible, but we must try. "

Frank stood for a few moments thinking, and then turned his eyes uponthose of his friend. 

"Think, my dear boy, " said the latter; "it may be a step nearer tofinding Hal. "

Frank still remained silent. He needed no such stimulus as that, though; he was only shrinking for fear that he would fail in his part ofthe experiment that was to be tried. 

At last his face lit-up, and signing to the professor and the Sheikh tofollow him he hurried back to their part of the palace, where a leatherncase that had travelled so far on the big camel, and remained unopened, was rapidly unstrapped, and one by one the carefully packed portions ofsome new scientific apparatus were undone and arranged upon one of therugs placed for the purpose. 

Frank worked hard, and the professor aided him with all the energy hecould throw into the task, first one and then the other uttering a wordor two of satisfaction to find that everything was intact. 

"Is this the apparatus with which you experimented at your place?" saidthe professor. 

They were alone, and Frank answered in a low tone full of excitement--

"Yes, " he said; "again and again with perfect success. "

"But you are nervous about it now?"

"Yes, there seems to be so much at stake. Suppose we fail?"

"The best thing Lytton ever wrote, Frank, lad, " said the professor: "`Inthe bright Lexicon of youth, there is no such word as fail. '"

"Then you would try?" whispered Frank. 

"Try? Yes, and succeed, my lad. Why should you not?"

"I don't know, " sighed the young man, "unless I dread that anythingshould go wrong, for Morris's sake. "

"And he would be sorry for yours. There, work. Everything seems right:battery, wires, vacuum tubes--all looking new and perfect. "

"Yes, " said Frank, whose voice trembled a little; "but if we could putthe experiment off for a while, so as to test it first. "

"It might be wiser, but while we are trying the apparatus that man'slife may ebb away. "

"Then you would not wait?"

"No. Test it upon the patient. It may save him. "

Taking heart as he fully grasped the need for immediate action, Franktoiled away till he was able to say that he was ready, the Sheikhlooking on in silent wonder and admiration the while. 

Before the manipulator of the wondrous adaptation was ready he said aword or two to the Sheikh, who hurried out and returned with a couple ofhis young men, and then in solemn silence and with great care theapparatus was carried as if in procession to the great tent-likesick-chamber, where at the first glance Frank's eyes rested upon thethree Mullahs, who had returned during his absence, and once more stoodtogether silent and scornful, gazing down at the Emir's friend, thepulsations of whose arteries the Hakim was still feeling, while the Emirand his son stood hard by watching and waiting for the end. 

No word was spoken. The Hakim turned and ran his eyes over theapparatus that was brought in and rapidly placed in position, wiresconnected to the battery, and after rapid preparation everything was atlast announced by the professor as being ready, while Frank's black faceglistened with perspiration as he looked firmly now at his brother's oldfriend, who questioned him with a look, and received a quick nod inreply. 

All this while the three Mullahs looked on as such men would--oldpractitioners in fraud and deceit, dealing with the ignorantsuperstitions of their tribes--their swarthy faces darkening incontempt, treating it all as a piece of jugglery on the part of aFrankish pretender to infinite power. 

But on the other hand the faces of the Emir and his son were full ofwonder as well as faith, knowing so well as they did the great wisdomand skill of the man who had saved their lives. 

"Now, " said the Hakim slowly and gravely, "help me, Frederick, my son. I have probed again for the bullet, and know where it must lie. You andIbrahim must carefully turn him half upon his face. "

This was quickly done, and a thrill ran quivering through the Emir as hesaw the Hakim take out a keen knife from the case that hung from hisgirdle, and with a quick movement divide the white garment the patientwore from neck to waist, laying bare the muscular back and side, and asquickly laying the soft white cotton fabric apart. "Now, " said theHakim, "tell the Emir that the thick curtains must be lowered over thatwindow and all the light shut out. That done, whatever takes place noone must move or speak. "

The words were firmly and solemnly uttered, and the place lending itselfwell to the purpose, the heavy rug-like curtains were allowed to fallover the window, the Emir and his son both helping, and then stopping inamaze by the drapery as for a few moments the chamber was in totaldarkness. 

Then a strange, hissing noise arose, and heavy, startled breathing washeard, while the faces of all present were illumined by the dazzlingflashes of light which began to play in a cylinder of glass. 

Nothing could have been more startling to one strange to the wonders ofscience, for the scene was horrible and weird, suggestive to theBaggara--chiefs and Mullahs--of magic in its most awful guise. For asthey stood spellbound there by the strange light which played about asif some hissing, fiery dragon were flickering its lambent tongue in andout of its glistening jaws, not only were the faces and busy hands ofthe Hakim and his assistants seen moving rapidly, but directly afterthere, in a faint glare, was the bare torso of the dying Emir. 

Then, heard above the hissing of the electricity the Hakim's voice washeard, and all eyes were turned to him as the flashes of lightbrightened his stern, firm face. 

"Ibrahim, " he said, "bid the Emir come here to my side. "

The order was interpreted, and firmly and without a moment's hesitation, the swarthy chief walked close up to the divan, noting as he did so thatthe flashes of light in the cylinder glanced from the keen knife whichthe Hakim held. 

"Now, " said the latter calmly, "tell him that as a last effort I amabout to try and find where the bullet which is slaying his friend islying. "

The Sheikh's voice trembled a little as he spoke, but he interpreted thewords clearly, and the Emir said softly--

"The Hakim is wise and great. "

"_Now_!" said the doctor sharply, and wonder of wonders! the upperportion of the wounded man's flank was seen to become transparent, themuscular portions to dissolve in a soft, dull light, leaving the bonesweirdly plain as if he had long passed away, and the awe-strickenbeholders were gazing upon the skeleton remains; while most horrible ofall, amidst the low murmur of dread which arose from the Mullahs andIbrahim, a skeleton hand suddenly darted out, holding a knife andpointed to a small, round, black spot close to the dark backbone. 

"Enough!" said the Hakim loudly. "Quick, the light!"

No legendary Eastern magic ever expressed one-half the marvels of thatscene. One moment the electricity was hissing and the bright flashesplaying about, giving ghastly effects to the faces of all, as, wild withhorror, they gazed at the dull, black skeleton and the horrible pointinghand; the next the hissing had ceased, the vision had died out, and thenthere was a rustling noise as the curtain was torn away and the Hakimwas seen in the bright sunlight, bending over the prostrate man. 

A quick movement or two followed, the knife was thrown down andinstruments used, and the Hakim said shortly--

"Water--sponge. "

The professor had only to take a step, and then with a rapidity that wasalmost marvellous the marks of blood had been removed, a little lint anda bandage applied, and the Hakim was pointing to a large bullet, thatwhich had nearly passed through the wounded man without touching a vitalplace. 

"It is great, " said the Emir simply, as he took up the globe of lead, and then turned to the Sheikh. 

"Ask the great Hakim if now my friend will live. No, ask not, " he said. "I know. "

Then a peculiar smile of contempt played about his stern face as hestood watching the three Mullahs, who, with bended heads, were slowlypassing to the door and leaving the room without a word. 

The Hakim did not even turn his head to look after them, but glanced atFrank and the professor, who were rapidly disconnecting wires andplacing the apparatus ready for sending back to their quarters. Thenfeeling what the Emir must have said, he looked him full in the eyes andsaid in plain English--

"I think your friend will recover now, Emir. Go and tell those who lovehim what I say. "

Then turning to the Sheikh the old man gravely interpreted the words, and the Emir caught at and kissed the Hakim's hand, before hurrying out, followed by his son. 

"Bravo, Ben Eddin!" said the professor excitedly. "Here, Ibrahim, fetchin your men to carry these things back to our rooms. "

"Yes, Excellency, " said the old man quietly; "but truly the Hakim isgreat. Tell me, is this magic--I have long thought all that we havebeen taught was childish tales, but after what I have seen--"

"Believe as you did before, Ibrahim, " said the doctor gravely, as helaid his hand upon the old man's shoulder; "there is no magic, but thewonders of Nature are greater far. This is only another of thediscoveries of science. You have heard at Cairo the voices come alongthe wire?"

"Yes, Excellency, and the machine that speaks. "

"Yes, and this is another of the marvels we have learned. "

"But they will believe it is magic, " said the old man. 

"Well, let them, " said the Hakim calmly. "Now, quick, and get all thisaway. My patient must have perfect quiet if he is to live. "

"Thank you, Frank, boy, " said the doctor, as soon as the Sheikh had leftthe room. "You managed everything to perfection. I little thought Ishould have to operate out here with the Rontgen rays. "

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. 

FRANK'S FRIEND. 

"The young Emir wants you to go out with him, Excellency, " said Ibrahimthe same day, towards evening. 

Frank stared, and not feeling safe, remained silent, but the professorspoke for him. 

"Wants him to go out? What for?"

"It is out of friendly feeling, Excellency, " replied the Sheikh. "Theyare much of an age, and the young Emir says that Ben Eddin iswonderful. "

"But it is so strange, " said the professor; "the one is a chief, and theother a slave. "

"Yes, Excellency, but Ben Eddin is not a white, and he can be friendswith him. "

"I suppose it means friendliness, Frank, and if you refuse it will giveoffence. Ah, here's the Hakim. How is your patient?"

"Calming down into a natural sleep, and certainly better. "

The professor told him of the young Emir's message, and the Hakim lookedgrave. 

"We cannot refuse, " he said, "and it may mean a fresh opportunity forgetting new. You must go, Frank. "

After the first surprise the latter felt all eagerness, for the reasonexpressed by his friend, and going out into the garden he found theyoung Emir impatiently waiting for him, and ready to greet him with awarmth which showed that the object was friendly in the extreme, but hestopped short, frowning and pointing to the young man's side. 

For a few minutes Frank looked at him in a puzzled way, for his wordswere perfectly unintelligible, till signs were made, the young Emirtouching his belt, sword, and dagger, and then pointing to the house. 

After the gift that had been made a short time before there could be nomistaking the meaning, and Frank went back to his room, took down thesword, dagger, and belt from the wall, and walked back fastening themon. 

The young Emir's face lit-up with a boyish look of pleasure, and hestood looking at the young Englishman for a few moments before making asign to him and hurrying off into the building, to return with a finewhite cotton robe, which he threw over Frank's shoulders, and thenstepped back to look at him with satisfaction, before catching him bythe arm and leading him to the gate, where Frank fully expected to seecamels waiting for them. 

To his surprise two of the Baggara were standing there with the guardsholding a couple of fiery Arabian horses, and the young Emir signed toFrank to mount, setting the example by springing up with all theactivity of one used from childhood to the saddle. 

"Takes it for granted that I can ride, " said Frank to himself, and hestepped up to the beautiful animal, glanced at bit and reins, and thenexamined the stirrups, which were after the fashion of those used byArab horsemen, far too short for an Englishman's style of riding. 

He made signs to the man who held the horse, pointing to the stirrupleathers, but in vain, till he began to alter them himself, when thesecond man grasped what was wanted, and smiling rather contemptuously, made the alteration. 

Frank was modest enough in his self-estimation, and as he saw therestless movements of the beautiful little highly bred creature hisfirst thought was, "I hope I shall not be thrown. " For his experienceof riding was connected with ordinary, tamely disposed English hacks andcobs, and his opportunities had been infrequent. Still he had beentaught, and as soon as the stirrups were properly adjusted he took thereins, checked with a touch on the off side the horse's disposition toedge away, and mounted, the beautiful animal making a quick bound assoon as its new rider was in the saddle. 

But Frank was not unseated, and to his great delight he found hissteed's motions easy in the extreme, as it ambled along by itscompanion's side, while to the young man's profound satisfaction his newfriend led him in quite a fresh direction to any in which he hadpreviously been. 

They were in a far more important part of the city, passing betterhouses, some with fair gardens; palm and mimosa trees overtopped walls. Here and there the houses had rough balconies, and he caught a glimpseof the Mahdi's tomb, a white-topped domed building looking like agigantic egg set on end, with four small ones to form corners, someattempt at ornamentation, and for apex what appeared to be a greatgilded spear thrust through a couple of brass balls. 

To his great surprise they passed a busy marketplace and rough-lookingshops, the dwellings of traders and makers of horse trappings and camelsaddles; others displayed cotton fabrics, some even with ornamentationsof silk; then makers of brass work, swords, and spears with the roundshields carried by so many of the fighting men; and as they rode onthrough crowds of busy people he found that his companion was evidentlynoting his surprise and ready to smile with satisfaction at the interesthe displayed. 

In his other excursions he and his companions had been the observed ofall, and at every turn those they passed had turned to gaze, generallywith scowls, at them and their protecting guard, and he had often feltthat it was to the latter that they owed their safety. But now it wasdifferent: his black face and the company he was in made him seem one ofthe people, so that his appearance caused no surprise, and he was ableto ride on perfectly unnoticed by the common folk and the many armed, overbearing, mounted and pacing warriors they passed. 

It was a novel and a wonderfully interesting scene as he hastily noticedhow plain it was that he was riding through a conquered city in whichthe tribes from far south were displaying at every turn their contemptfor and insolence to the humbled people they had mastered, and over whomthey ruled by the sword and spear. He noted, too, the difference intype of feature, darkness of skin, and dress, between the varioustribes, all of whom, however, were at one in their bullying aspect andoverbearing way towards the humbled natives among whom they had taken uptheir residence; and hence it was that for the time being Frank had itforced upon him by the servile actions and harried ways of the men whostepped aside to let him and his companion pass, that he was looked uponas a member of one of the conquering race--one of the feared, instead ofthe contemned. 

Frank's spirits rose as they rode on past rough bazaar and well builthouse, and the disappointment he had felt at the sudden check to theirplans of obtaining permission to proceed to Khartoum died quite away. For he learned in this change of position that the city had not halfbeen searched, and as his eyes wandered here and there it was with thefeeling that at any minute he might come upon the face he so eagerlysought, while in spite of a feeling of shrinking repugnance to hiscompanion he began to realise how valuable a kind of friendship betweenthem might prove, especially if their intercourse meant a freedom intraversing the city unencumbered by their guards. 

It became more and more evident as they rode on, and his manifestpleasure and excited interest in all he saw about the place was noted, that the young Emir was perfectly satisfied, and grasping how heexamined the better homes, paused from time to time for him to noticethe houses and gardens they passed, and the servants and slaves of theiroccupants. 

"It is just out of friendliness, " thought Frank, "a return for mynursing when he was in a dying state. Everyone has some form ofgratitude in him. Would it be possible to find poor Hal, and thenappeal to the Emir and his son to let us buy the prisoner and take himaway?"

Frank's heart sank again directly, for he felt that it was improbable inthe extreme. They were nothing better than prisoners themselves, andthe most to be expected would be that his brother's slavery might beameliorated by a change of masters. 

"Better that than how he is, " thought the young man at last, "for theEmir undoubtedly respects us, and that last experiment must have raisedus all wonderfully in his eyes. "

He was thinking of this as he passed one of the best houses he hadseen--a place where, in a rough courtyard, armed men were grouped withtheir camels and horses. There was a great covered well in the centre, with dejected-looking men busy drawing water, and through the openwindows of the low terraced house he had glimpses of the turbaned, white-robed occupants. 

The place interested Frank for reasons he could not have explained, andhe would gladly have sat watching what was going on; but it wasevidently the dwelling of some powerful dervish Emir, and his companionrode up to one of the armed men seated upon a slightly built, swift-looking camel. Their colloquy was very brief, and the young Emirturned to him, said something, and pressing his horse's sides gallopedonwards towards a wide opening, the steed Frank rode keeping close toits fellow's side. 

A minute later the young Baggara drew bridle again in the middle of theopening, about which were several low buildings, and the place beingwithout interest, save that there were several groups of fighting menabout, and some slight scaffold-like suggestions of building beingcommenced, Frank's thoughts went back to the house they had passed, ashe felt again that it must be the palace of some powerful chief amongthe conquerors, while the open space where they stood was the Soudaneseidea of a yard for his followers. 

Then a sudden thought occurred to him, that it was the home of theEmir's wounded friend, and at once it had a fresh interest; but he hadno time for further thought, for the young Baggara gave his hand a waveround, laughing the while in a peculiar way, and then pointed forward, urging his horse into a gallop, for there was an open, unencumbered roadbefore them. 

Frank's beautiful steed needed no urging, but sprang forward on theinstant, and their gallop was not checked till they were right out ofthe city and upon the open plain beyond, where their horses stretchedout together like a leash of greyhounds, the young chief whooping andshouting with delight as he found that his companion rode easily andwell, while he evidently enjoyed the invigorating rush through the air. 

At the end of three or four miles the horses were turned, and theyambled back then towards the widespreading, drab-looking city, the whitedome of the tomb Frank had before noted standing up glistening and clearin the bright sunshine. 

And now Frank fully grasped how much more important a place Omdurman wasthan he had before imagined, and a feeling of satisfaction came over himat the thought that his ride out had not been for naught, and that itwould have been unwise to have left the place even if they could haveobtained permission. 

"If I could only understand what he says, " thought Frank, for hiscompanion was bright and excited now by the ride. His ordinary sombre, half-sulky manner had passed off, and he chattered away volubly as theyrode on, perfectly contented that his companion was silent, as he seemedto be explaining something and pointing away to their left over theplain. 

Frank was puzzled, but it did not seem to matter to the young Emir, whowent on, evidently giving a vivid description of something, till Frankgrasped all he meant like a flash, and rising in his stirrups he gazedhard in the pointed-out direction, to find endorsement of the idea thathad flashed upon his brain. For there, plainly enough seen through theclear air, and not half a mile away, were dots of white and grey andcream colour, with overhead scores and scores of birds sailing slowlyhere and there, and occasionally dipping down and disturbing others, which rose on sluggish wing. 

It was evidently the scene of the previous night's engagement, and witha look of fascinated horror in his eyes Frank gazed hard at hiscompanion, who nodded eagerly, threw up his right hand to shake theflowing white robe clear, leaned a little on one side, and flashed outhis keen sword. Then drawing back his lips from his white teeth heuttered a fierce yell of "Allah!--Allah hu!" and increased their pace toa gallop, cutting and thrusting savagely the while at an imaginary enemyfor a few minutes, before checking his horse again and bursting into asavage laugh of delight, as he let the reins fall upon his beautifulanimal's neck, and taking up the skirt of his white robe made believe towipe the blood from his glistening sword before returning it to itssheath. 

"And I'm to look at you in a friendly way and applaud you as a bravewarrior, when I feel all the time that you are only a cruel butcher ofyour fellow-creatures, " thought Frank. "But I must not show it, forthrough you I may find poor old Hal, for he must be here after all, andI shall find him yet: I know I shall. Why, who can say but what I mayhave ridden past the very house to-day where he is kept as a slave?"

He meant something far different by the bright look of satisfactionwhich sparkled from his eyes, but the young Emir in his egotism took itto himself, and smiled and nodded as they rode gently on, Frank findingthat they were retracing their steps towards the opening through whichthey had reached the plain, and a very short time after they wereapproaching the open, barrack-yard-like place, which now to his surprisewas crowded with armed men, among whom were groups who could be nothingelse but captives, for to his horror he saw that they were bound. 

CHAPTER THIRTY. 

WILD WARRIORS. 

Frank was puzzled for a few minutes; then he was convinced that the menhe saw were prisoners taken in the previous night's encounter, for therewas no doubt about their being members of a similar tribe. The manner, too, of his companion endorsed the idea, as he spoke to him eagerly andpointed at first one and then another with a scowl of hatred andcontempt, one of the nearest, to whom a few angry words were spoken, turning upon him with a haughty look full of proud disdain and contempt, which made the young Emir clap his hand to his sword and draw it fromits sheath, as he urged his horse forward as if to cut down theprisoner, whose hands were securely tied behind him. 

The dervish, whose garments were stained with blood, did not so much aswince, but stood smiling at him with the same look of contempt, as ifquite ready to meet his fate at the hands of his cowardly enemy, and inanother minute the blow would have fallen, had not one of the mountedspectators shouted something which Frank, whose blood felt chilled, could not understand, and making his horse give a bound, interposed andlaughingly warned the young chief back. 

It was quite enough; the young man nodded, lowered his sword, andthrusting it into its sheath, rode back to Frank. 

"And this is my new friend, " thought the latter, as he strove hard toconceal the repugnance he felt by gazing straight before him; so thatthe change in his countenance passed unnoticed, the young Emir sayingsomething merrily and laughing in a peculiar manner, as he gave his heada sidewise jerk in the direction of the prisoners. 

"Why am I brought here?" said Frank to himself, "and what are they goingto do to these unfortunate wretches?"

But he already knew, and a terrible feeling of dread made his heartcontract as if it stood still; there was a strangling sensation at histhroat which checked his breathing, and the crowd in the open space swamslowly round him, making him feel that in his giddiness he would thenext minute fall off his horse. 

Then his heart began to throb violently, and an intense desire attackedhim to press the beautiful creature he rode with his heels and gallopright away so as to hide the scene from his eyes. But directly afterthe knowledge that he had so much at stake came in reaction, and he feltthat happen what might he must sit there, not showing the slightestemotion, bearing everything, for no effort upon his part could alter thefate of prisoners taken in what was no doubt a revolt against superiorauthority, that authority being one of the most cruel and bloodthirstyrulers of a cruel and bloodthirsty race. 

"It is inevitable, " he thought, and the words he had said rose to hismind, as he felt and knew from all he had heard about the new Mahdi'sfollowers that if the fight had gone otherwise on the previous night theEmir's people who were prisoners would have met with a similar fate. 

"`All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword, '" hemuttered, and then the power to stir seemed to have left him, as he satcold and stony in his saddle to witness whatever might come. 

He was not long left in doubt. 

The prisoners were in three bodies, strongly guarded, each group by acouple of score or so of fierce-looking, well-armed men, some bearinground shields in one hand, three spears of different lengths in theother, while others wore swords only, hanging from a broad baldric, andlooking with their cross hilts and long, straight blades very similar tothose seen in illuminations and on effigies of the old crusaders, savingthat the blade widened out a little towards the point, and narrowedagain. 

The prisoners were all fine-looking young men, fierce and savage ofaspect, and doubtless accustomed to deal out slaughter, torture, andhorrible cruelties amongst the conquered people of the Soudan; but toFrank as he sat there the idea of their being slain before his eyes incold blood half maddened him, filling him with an intense desire to beone of a retributive army whose task it would be to sweep theirconquerors from the land and back into the wild districts from whichthey had flocked in response to the hoisting of the Mahdi's standard ofwar with its promise of blood, treasure, and slaves. 

"They are savages--savages, " he muttered. "Why do such wretches cumberthe earth?"

At that moment he felt the young Emir's hand upon his arm, and hestarted as if from some horrible nightmare to see the young man'ssmiling face before him, and followed the direction of his pointinghand. 

For the horrible scene which he had been brought to see as a pleasantsight, was the execution of some of the men who had risen against theEmir and his friend. 

It was a scene that, but for its truth and that it was but one of themany horrors of its kind which stained the domination of the Khalifa andhis people, were better left unpenned--one of those which show the needfor retributive justice and the strong hand of a power whose strengthshould at once crush down the vile rule of cruelty and crime againstmodern civilisation and peace. 

For as Frank's eyes followed the pointing hand it was to see that thewholesale murder of the prisoners had begun, and that the preparationshe had supposed to be scaffolding for some fresh buildings were but partof the horror he was to witness. Already ropes had been fastened roundthe necks of three of the miserable prisoners, who were drawn up hangingfrom a crossbeam; and as the crowds shouted in their triumph more andmore were drawn up, till quite twenty were suspended, quivering for abrief time and then swinging slowly, becoming motionless and dead. 

Fascinated and helpless, Frank gazed, till a loud shouting drew his eyesto another group nearer to him, and there, bound and kneeling, with aspear-armed man in front and a dozen more behind, were some thirty ofthose who were never to look again upon the glory of the fast-sinkingsun. 

But there was no struggling--no sign of resistance. The prisoners kneltbare-headed, their faces proud and calm, and for the most part silent, save where here and there one turned smiling to his companion to rightor left, as if to say a few words of encouragement, though for the mostpart they gazed straight before them at their guards, and in imaginationit seemed to the young Englishman that they were bidding their enemiessee how brave men dared to die. 

It was the hideous rule of the Mahdi and the sword, for as Frank looked, one who seemed to be an officer, in flowing white garments, rode forwardfrom the young man's left, and, checking his horse close by the kneelingline, shouted an order. 

In an instant the swords of the men behind the prisoners gleamed in theafternoon sunshine, they drew back the white sleeves from their darkarms, and one by one, and in nearly every case at a single blow, following what seemed like a lightning flash, head after head droppedupon the sand, and the quivering bodies fell forward amidst thetriumphant shouts of the crowds around. 

As the last head fell, the last body lay giving out the remnants of itslife, Frank drew a hoarse breath of thankfulness and relief that all wasover. 

It was too soon, for his companion touched him again, to point to theright, where a fresh horror was about to begin, and after watching oncemore the riding forward of the officer, and hearing him shout his order, the young Englishman closed his eyes, with the sickening sensationcoming back, as he asked himself whether it was not some frightfuldream; and with this thought he opened his eyes again that he might besure. 

But it was too true, for there was another score of prisoners who weremercifully spared from death, but were to suffer the new Mahdi'sjudgment against them for revolt against the officers appointed by himto be his vice-gerents in the city while he was away. 

The mercy meted out was that of the tiger, not of the man. For swordswere busy, keen and trenchant blades hewing and hacking at theunfortunate wretches, till all was over, and those who might recoverwould pass to the end of their miserable days crippled and helpless, each with his right hand and left foot shorn from the limbs. 

Frank sat there motionless, for the power of action was completely gone, and like one absolutely stunned and dead to mental and bodily feeling, he looked and looked till there arose a wild, wailing outburst whichthrilled him to the core. It was as if the sound were two-edged, Frankfeeling that it was not uttered by the prostrate, partially butcheredprisoners, who lay as they had been thrown, giving forth no moan, not somuch as watching, with agonised eyes, their life-blood trickling intothe sand; the cry came from the trembling crowd of women and friends ofthe victims, who had been waiting till they might dare to run forward ina body to bear away husband or brother, and see if his life could besaved. 

It was now that a spasm of energy and excitement shot through Frank, ashe gazed for a few moments, and then thought of the Hakim and the needfor his ministrations there. 

He turned quickly to his companion, who seemed to be reading histhoughts, for he nodded, and together they touched the flanks of theirhorses and cantered and then galloped off the field of blood, eager toleave the quivering bodies and headless corpses far behind. 

The young Emir was perfectly silent now, and Frank had ceased to sufferfrom the repugnance he felt, for he could only think of what he hadseen, so that it seemed but a matter of minutes before they had reachedthe gateway of the Emir's palace, though a good half hour had passedaway. 

A minute later he had given the young Emir a quick nod, leaped from hishorse, thrown the rein to one of the guards who followed him in, and runto their quarters at the garden end, where the camels were browsingcontentedly and their keepers looking on, when, finding the rooms empty, the young man looked out. 

Frank felt that the Hakim must be with the Emir's friend, and hurryingthrough the passages and intervening rooms, he found Morris with theprofessor, Sam, and the Sheikh near to an angareb, or bedstead, on towhich the wounded man had been carefully lifted a few minutes before. 

Better still for the young man's mission, the Emir himself was standingthere as if he had been looking on, and he raised his head at the youngEnglishman's entrance and gave him a friendly smile. 

It was very near. Frank almost betrayed himself by bursting outpassionately with his news; but he recalled his position just in time, signed to the Hakim for his tablets, and in a few brief words wrote ofthe mutilated prisoners, and urged that the Hakim should ask for leaveto try and save the sufferers' lives. 

Seeing that something terrible was wrong, Morris leaned over his youngcompanion's shoulder and read off the words he hastily wrote upon thechina tablets he carried in a folding book. 

Then, nodding gravely, he glanced at the Emir, who was gazing at himintently, and told the Sheikh to ask for permission to attend theprisoners. 

The Emir's countenance became very stern and hard as he listened to theSheikh's interpretation, and then replied--

"Tell the great Hakim that his mission is to heal the sick and wounded, and that I know his heart and that of his young black slave are astender and compassionate as those of the angels of light. But I cannotdo this thing. These men rose against the great Mahdi as well asagainst me and my friend whom you have saved. News of the revolt wassent to Khartoum in the night; the Mahdi's chief officer rode over herethis day and gave the orders himself that these prisoners should die. He was there to order each punishment himself. The great Hakim asks meto let him save these men. If I send him there the Mahdi's officer willtake back the news, and my head will fall. Does the great Hakim wishthis, and can he give me back my life?"

The stern-looking chief smiled sadly as he spoke, and his eyes seemed tospeak as the words were interpreted to the end. 

"You hear, Ben Eddin?" said the Hakim gravely, and turning to the Emirhe gravely bent his head in acceptance of his words, and the next minutethose two had grasped hands. 

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. 

A RIDE FOR LIFE. 

"No, my lad, " said the Hakim, as the position was discussed, for thetwentieth time perhaps; "it is horrible, but we have the choice of beingfriends with these people or their foes. As friends they treat usadmirably; as foes it means cruel slavery. "

"And perhaps death, " said the professor. "You must bear it, Frank, though I know it is hard. "

"It is terrible, " said Frank bitterly, "for I have hard work to concealmy dislike to this man. "

"But it has brought about what we so earnestly prayed for, " said thedoctor. "You have won for yourself the permission to go almost whereveryou wish. "

"Yes, " said Frank bitterly; "but I get no farther, and I am once morebeginning to feel that we have come to the wrong place. We must go toKhartoum. "

"Ibrahim has, I know, worked hard for us; but he gets no tidings, " saidthe doctor. 

"None, " said the professor; "but still we must not give up hope. Weshall have to petition the Emir after all. How long will it be beforeyour patient can be left, Robert, my son? Let's see, it is nearly amonth since you performed the operation. "

"Four weeks to-morrow, " replied the doctor; "and he is rapidly gettingstrong. "

"But does not seem very grateful. "

"No, " said the doctor, smiling. "He is ten times as civil to Frank hereas he is to me. "

"You ought to have tried Frank's black dye, " said the professor, laughing. 

"Well, " said the doctor, quite seriously, "if I had known as much as Iknow now I certainly should have followed his example. You see, thebest of us at home look down upon a black skin as being worn by a lowertype of man. "

"Yes, " replied the professor, "while here a white skin is the mark ofthe beast. Fortunately, I am getting of a good, wholesome tan colour. "

"You are as dark now as Ibrahim, " said the doctor, looking at hiscompanion searchingly. 

"Am I? Well, I suppose I am. So much the better. I want to be as freeto come and go as Frank here. I'd say that it is terribly weary workbeing kept in as I am if it were not that the poor Hakim here is tentimes worse off. "

"And bears it all without a murmur, " said Frank, turning to his friendwith a look full of the gratitude he felt. 

"I don't mind at all, " said the doctor, smiling. "You two need notfidget about me. I pity you. "

"Why so?" said Frank wonderingly. 

"Because I am so busy with my profession that the time goes quickly, andI am always gaining fresh experience in surgery; while you two can donothing but fret and think. "

"Don't speak, Frank, " whispered the professor warningly; "someonecoming. "

It was not the Emir or his son, nor anyone to summon the Hakim to hispatient's side, but the Sheikh returning from one of his rambles aboutthe place, and the professor turned to him eagerly, for the old man'sface suggested that he had something to tell. 

"News, Excellencies; it is the common report that the Egyptian army iscoming up the river. I hear it on all sides. "

Frank shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the professor, who spoke. 

"We have heard that report so often, " he said. 

"Yes, Excellency, but there is a great deal of stir and preparation. Two more Emirs have come into the city with their followers, and thepeople are in despair with the treatment they receive. "

The Hakim looked at him inquiringly. 

"They are being turned out of their houses in every direction to makeroom for the fighting men, and a word or look is enough to bring down ablow from a spear shaft or a thrust. I have seen five wounded men andwomen since I have been out. "

"If ever our troops do get up here, " said the professor, "the commonpeople will bless their coming. "

"Yes, Excellency, for it will mean punishment for their oppressors, andthen peace. Everyone now who is not a fighting man and follower of thenew Mahdi is a slave at the mercy of the invader. Ah, it is horriblewhat one has to see!"

"But have you no news for me, Ibrahim?" said Frank, looking at himappealingly. 

"None, Ben Eddin, though I have not ceased to search and question whereI can. Will your Excellencies get permission for me to go to Khartoumto search?"

"No, " said the Hakim quietly. "We may want you at any hour to help uswith the camels. "

The Sheikh shook his head, with a look which suggested that any attemptto escape would be hopeless, and Frank was quick to read his thoughts. 

"You think we should be stopped?" he said. 

"Yes, Ben Eddin, perhaps before we had gone a quarter of a day'sjourney. We should certainly be pursued and brought back, or perhaps, "he added solemnly, "not brought back--only the Hakim. "

There was a few minutes' silence, and then the old man turned to Frank. 

"I hurried back, Ben Eddin, " he said, "because I feared that you wouldgo out. "

"Yes, I am going, " said Frank quietly. 

"No, " said the old man; "you must stay. The followers of the Emirs whohave come in have left their fighting men to roam about the city as theyplease. They are fresh from far away in the south, and hungry forspoil. Everyone who cannot lift sword or spear is to them one who maybe plundered, and four men were in one house torturing a poor wretch tomake him show where his money was hidden, after they had stripped hisplace of everything that took their fancy. I hurried away, for one casthungry eyes upon my garments, and there was no help near. The youngExcellency must not go out. "

"No one heeds me now, " said Frank bitterly. "Besides, I had made up mymind to go to-day. You know what the Emir said. "

"Yes, Excellency, that you might go about the city if you liked to takethe risk. But that was before the fresh fighting men had come--fierce-looking dervishes these from the southern desert, I think, fardown towards the Abyssinian lands. "

"I shall take the risk, " said Frank. "My face will shelter me again. "

"Why run unnecessary risks?" said the Hakim gravely. 

"Because I am always haunted by the thought that at any time while I amsitting idling here I may be missing an opportunity for seeing Hal. Foraught we know he may be prisoner to one of these newly come Emirs. There, don't try to stop me. The more I am out about the city the lesslikely am I to come to grief. "

"Will your Excellency let me ride with you? I will get the camelsready. "

"No, " said Frank; "I want to be off out. Ah! there is some fresh horroron the way, " whispered the young man excitedly, for the Emir's sonpassed the window and glanced up, entering directly after, and makingFrank a sign he said a few words to the Sheikh. 

"The young Emir wishes you to go out riding with him, Excellency, " saidIbrahim. 

"Yes, " said Frank eagerly; "I will go. There, you see, I shall bemounted now and safe. "

No obstacle was thrown in the way, and shortly after the two young menwere riding through the streets of the city together; but there was nospecial horror on the way. They passed, however, scores of fierce, darkwarriors with closely shaven heads and pointed beards, and wearing largerings in their ears. They were simply dressed in closely fitting whitecotton garbs which left arms and legs bare, looking in their strongcontrast of black and white, mounted as they were upon small, activehorses, wild of mane and tail, and as savage of aspect as their riders, effective looking troops for a desert campaign; and as they rode throughthe streets, loath to give way to anyone, their eyes wandered over everyperson, place, or thing, as if, as the Sheikh had said, in search ofspoil. 

On that particular day, wearied with his ineffective search, irritable, and hot, the young Englishman felt a strange sense of dislike pervadehim as he rode on with his companion, who seemed to share his resentmenton encountering party after party of the desert warriors, fine modernIshmaelites; and before they had gone far there seemed to be everyprospect of an encounter, for the rich robe and turban of the young Emirattracted the attention of one thin, wiry-looking black, while hiscompanion fixed his eyes upon the handsome sword and dagger worn byFrank. 

These two were taking up the centre of the narrow street through whichthe young men passed, and seemed disposed to bar their way; but fear wasnot one of the failings of the Emir's son, and their attitude arousedhis wrath. 

Turning to Frank, he bade him ride faster, the words being familiar now, and knee to knee they pressed on, making the strangers give way byopening out; but they returned fierce look for look, and before thestrangely assorted couple had gone many yards they found that the blackwarriors had turned and were following them. 

The Emir's son turned to Frank, laughed, and touched the hilt of hissword, with a meaning look which the young Englishman interpreted tomean--

"Will you help me if I have to fight?"

The dervish warriors had come upon them at an unlucky time, and theirinsolent, threatening air had roused the quiet British blood in Frank'sveins. The feeling of hatred that had been growing against these peopleconsequent upon the horrors he had seen and heard, and the irritationproduced by inactivity and his disappointments, drove away all thoughtof the risk he might run, and the feeling grew strong that if attackedhe must defend himself. 

A whirl of such thoughts rushed through the young man's brain, and athis companion's question and sign his eyes flashed, he nodded assent, and sharply grasped his own sword. 

The young Emir laughed again, and laid his dark hand firmly upon hiscompanion's arm, disdaining to look back to see if they were followed, but riding forward at a walk towards where the narrow street opened intoa wider part, upon reaching which they saw upon their left a party often or a dozen more of the dark horsemen riding slowly along as if insearch of plunder, for several had various objects thrown across theirsaddlebows, which looked like spoil, and their wandering looks at onceturned to the approaching pair. 

It struck Frank as strange in those exciting moments that the allies ofthe new Mahdi, the followers of friendly emirs, should be parading thestreets as if they were new conquerors of the city, looking upon allwhom they encountered as enemies; but so it was, and he began now towonder what his companion would do, then why it was that he did not feelalarmed, for the time for prompt action had come. 

Neither of the young men saw what took place behind them, but a sign wasmade by one of the two dervishes in the rear, which was answered by theparty in front opening out a little as if to check the advance of Frankand his companion. 

That was sufficient for the latter, who turned to give Frank a rapidglance, as he drew his sword. 

The example was contagious, and for the first time in anger the youngEnglishman snatched his blade from its sheath, hardly knowing in hisexcitement what he was doing, everything being comprehended in the onegreat thought that his life was in peril, and that he must be ready tostrike. 

The rest followed as a matter of course, for his steed, trained andthoroughly accustomed to such encounters, bounded off at the same momentas its fellow, stride for stride, and with the hot wind surging in hisears Frank found himself borne swiftly straight at the party who barredtheir way. 

It was all a matter of a few seconds. He heard a fierce war-cry, sawone of the savage dervishes rising in his saddle with a spear poised todeliver a thrust, which he felt that he must in some way parry, andalmost simultaneously the dervish's horse swerved to avoid the comingshock, the consequence being that the fierce thrust was delivered wildlyin the air, as the chest of Frank's Arab struck just behind the black'ssaddle. The next moment horse and rider were rolling in the sandy dust, while after delivering a fierce cut which took effect upon hisadversary, the young Emir uttered a fiercely defiant cry, and the twocompanions were tearing across the opening, making for a street infront, followed by half a dozen yelling dervishes who had wheeled roundtheir horses and started in pursuit. 

Before, however, they could get their active little mounts into theirstride Frank and the young Emir were twenty yards ahead, the formerresettling himself in his saddle after being nearly thrown, and thelatter half turned, shaking his sword defiantly, seeing with maliciousjoy that his adversary was _hors de combat_, half lying upon the ground, while Frank's was limping after his horse, which stood shaking itselfafter recovering its feet. 

The young Emir shouted something to Frank, who answered it with a nod, taking it for granted that as the enemy were still somewhere about fourto one, their duty was to gallop for their lives, while he, moment bymoment, became more confident as he found that all he had to do was tokeep his seat and leave the future movements to his companion and hishorse. As to escaping, of that there seemed to be no doubt, for theytwo were far better mounted than their enemies, and could easilyoutstrip them unless some unforeseen accident occurred. 

But unforeseen accidents generally do occur at the most awkward moments, and it was so here. 

The streets were encumbered as usual in that teeming hive of misery, andat the sound of the shouting and the dull thud of horses' hoofs, theoccupants of the crowded streets they passed through pressed closely tothe walls of the low houses on either side, but there _were_ some veryclose shaves. One of these was caused by a loaded donkey which wasbeing driven slowly along and partially blocked the way; but at a yellfrom the young Emir the driver threw himself against his beast to forceit close to a wall, leaving just enough room for the fleeing pair topass, though so narrow was the space left that Frank felt his loosewhite robe brush against the house upon his right as they passed theass, their horses taking the centre directly after. Then away they toreagain, but only to see amongst the people in front, towering above them, the figure of a black mounted upon a camel, whose burden projected faron either side. 

There was no riding together past this, so the young Emir drew rein, shouting to Frank to go on singly, the horse comprehending the order andtearing along, passing the camel the next instant, while when his turncame, the young Emir raised himself in his saddle and delivered a quick, cutting blow, whose effect was to divide one of the most important ropesof the camel's harness, wounding the poor beast slightly, and making itfling itself wildly across the roadway, while its burden, and with itthe rider, fell in confusion from the ungainly creature's back. 

The young Soudanese uttered a malicious laugh as he rode on side by sidewith Frank, again turning in his saddle to watch and see whether theirpursuers were checked by the accident. They were for the moment, butfour rushed at the load and leaped their horses over it, while theothers forced their way by the side, and the pursuit was taken up againwith undiminished vigour. 

Frank was accustomed enough by now to the roads to know that hiscompanion was making for the open plain, where they could have a freegallop, so as to leave the enemy well behind before making for one ofthe other entrances and reaching their own part of the city where theywould be safe. And still gaining ground, they galloped on, turning intoa wider way, sending the people flying to right and left, some intohouses or gardens, others to press into doorways, but all turning towatch the exciting chase, for it promised to end in blood. 

The young Emir turned to Frank again, uttering a merry laugh as if theprocess of being hunted was a delightful sensation; but as he did soFrank pointed ahead, and his companion drew rein a little, while hiscountenance lowered, for there, a couple of hundred yards away, was astrong body of the newly come mounted dervishes, slowly riding intoview. 

Frank fully expected him to turn face round to make a dash at thesmaller party who were chasing them, and try to cut their way back, andwith his blood regularly up the young Englishman tightened his grip ofhis sword, ready for everything; but the Emir's son rode right on, straight for the coming band, their pursuers yelling behind, andunconsciously doing the pursued good service, for it warned the peoplein the street as much as the trampling hoofs, drawing their attention tothe flying pair, who waved their swords to them to clear the way. 

The wave of a hand from a galloping horseman has a wonderful effect inthis direction, people darting out of the roadway to right and left insearch of safety; but it is nothing to the wave of a keen sword, flashing in the sunshine, and this being a broader thoroughfare, theflying pair had on the whole a clear course, which kept on opening upmore and more towards the coming body of horse, who so far had seennothing, and in their interested staring about the great city, so new tothese dwellers of the desert, paid no heed. 

In his excitement as the young men rode on knee to knee, their beautifulArab steeds keeping as close as a pair of well-broken carriage horses ina western city, Frank pointed ahead again in the direction of thedervish band; but the young Emir only nodded and laughed, as he gave hissword a wave and rode on. 

"He is mad with excitement, " thought Frank. "We can never do thatagain. They nearly fill the street from house to house. "

Then a wild, strange thought flashed through his brain, as he gazed inthose brief moments straight at the dervishes, and saw their wild eyesclearer and clearer at every bound made by his steed--a thought tellingplainly of the fate he expected, and which he took to be unavoidablenow. 

"Will poor old Hal ever know that I came to save him, and that I diedlike this?"

As this thought came and seemed to make him feel more ready for thecoming shock delivered by those two against the dense body of horsemenahead, the cause of the excitement before them began to dawn upon thedervish band. There was a display of excitement, men rising in theirstirrups and waving their spears, as they saw men of their own tribe inpursuit of the pair, though far behind, and the next minute one whoseemed to be the leader drew and waved his sword, the result of themovement being that the band opened out a little more, so that theirfront extended from house to house, and they began to drive back all thepeople who were in the street. 

The fugitives were now not fifty paces from the walking dervish front, and in less than a minute they would have been right upon them; but in aflash Frank saw the meaning of his comrade's movement, for he turnedtowards him, laughing, waved his sword to the right, and the next momentthe two horses swerved round and darted down a narrow way little widerthan a court, and tore on in obedience to the urging from their riders'heels, chased too now by fresh pursuers, whose yells rang out as if theywere a vast pack of human hounds--as indeed they were, and asbloodthirsty; but they were at this disadvantage: everything about themwas new, while to the fugitives, especially to one, the maze of streetswas familiar, and their horses were quite at home. 

So much so was this the case that after tearing along two or threestreets, at every corner of which as they swung round it seemed as ifthey would come down upon their flanks, the beautiful creatures snortedas they tore on with expanded nostrils and streaming manes and tails, galloping with stretched-out necks as if they knew their goal. It wasso, for at the end of a few minutes' more wild dash they bounded acrossa wide way familiar to Frank, whose heart leaped as the swift animalsdashed into an open court, plunging a group of mounted and foot men intoa frantic state of excitement as the horses stopped by one impulse, andthe young Emir shouted his war-cry, waving his sword above his head andpointing to his pursuers, who came streaming in through the open gate. 

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO. 

"BURNING. "

The wandering tribes of the desert, who exist by their sword and spear, live the life of the wild beast of prey whose eyes are ever on the lookout for the furtive blow or stroke that shall lay them low. Theirswords are ever ready; their spears are constantly in hand; while as anadditional safeguard the majority of them carry a dagger bound to theleft wrist. Danger is to them always lurking and tracking their stepsas closely as their shadow. It is the shadow of their existence, sothat a warning cry, the wave of sword or spear by a flying man, is takenas an alarm at once; and hence it was that the dash into their midst oftwo mounted men, one of whom they knew as the son of a friendly Emir, and the sight of the pursuers was enough. Before the flying horses werechecked, a score of mounted spearmen were to the front to screen them, and in answer to a warning cry a couple of score more were untetheringtheir horses; others were mounting, and a stream of foot, spear andshield armed, came running out of the houses, huts, and tents whichsurrounded the court. And now a slave went running up to a door infront, leading a splendid white horse, just in time for the Emir, hismaster, one whom Frank had only seen at a distance. He stepped out, sprang on his horse, drew his sword, and uttering a hoarse shout to hisfollowers, rode with flashing eyes to their head. 

There was no pause for parleying; an enemy had invaded his place; hismen were gathering round him, eager for the fray; and as the young Emirrode up to his side the dervishes came dashing up to range themselves bytheir leader, and in another minute the fight would have begun had thenewly arrived strangers displayed the same daring in face of the Emir'srapidly increasing force that they had in pursuit of two fugitives. 

As it was, Frank sat upon his panting horse watching while a couple ofthe dervish party rode forward to temporise, and as far as he could makeout by their gestures one of the two explained that they were peaceablyriding through the city, strangers though they were, when they wereattacked by the young Emir and his followers. 

At this the young chief to whom he pointed burst into a mocking laugh ofdisdain, and it seemed to Frank that as he turned to the Emir in whosecourt he had taken sanctuary with his companion, that he pointed to theyoung Englishman and then to himself, holding up two fingers, and thenmaking gesture after gesture as if counting, but giving it up at the endof ten, and holding up his ten fingers over and over again, the Emir'smen bursting into a scornful laugh, which seemed to be the echo of theyoung chief's mirth. 

There was a low, muttering growl amongst the strange dervishes at this, and their leader said something to which Frank's companion replied byriding up to them, sword in hand, and mockingly pointing with it at thevarious articles of plunder hung from the bows and cantrils of theirsaddles, and once again there was a roar of laughter from the Emir'smen. 

Their leader held up his hand for silence, and then turned to thedervish leader as if asking him haughtily a question with the verygesture and air of a schoolboy at home; and exciting though the scenewas, and doubtful whether the next minute the court would not be full ofcutting, slashing, and stabbing combatants, it appeared to the looker-onjust like old times when a school-fellow asked another whether he wantedto fight or no. 

It was something common to human nature, no doubt, for the dervish chieffollowed suit on the same old plan, and seemed to growl out sullenlythat he did not want to fight, but he could. 

The response to this needed no thought or striving to comprehend, forthe Emir waved his sword scornfully towards the entrance and half turnedhis back, while the strangers began to move off slowly and sulkily, amidst the mocking laughter of his men. 

But Frank saw no more as he sat upon his horse, which had begun tofidget about and suddenly turned to inflict a playful bite at itscompanion's mane, making the latter retaliate, when Frank's mount swunghalf round, reared a little, and began to fence and paw at the other. 

The young Emir said something, but even if Frank could have comprehendedhis companion's words he would not have heard, for a strange feeling ofgiddiness had attacked him, there was a singing in his ears, and hisheart beat with slow, heavy throbs which seemed to send the bloodgushing up in painful floods to his throat, as he felt that at anymoment he might fall from his horse. 

Over exertion? The reaction after the excitement of the pursuit? Thehot fit of wild desire to kill the savage enemies who sought his life, causing him to sink back into a state of feebleness that was extreme?

Nothing of the kind. It was the emotion caused by a strange doubt ofhis sanity, for at that critical minute his horse's movements hadbrought him facing the door from which the Emir had hurriedly rushed outdirectly after the alarm was given. 

It was by the merest accident that he turned his eyes in that direction, and when he did it was to notice a camel that had been led out from aside building since the chief came upon the scene, and it struck theyoung Englishman that it was one of the most attractive of the curiousanimals that he had seen. It was of a rich creamy tint and free fromthe ragged aspect so common among its kind, long and clean-limbed, muscular, and looking as if it possessed great speed, while its saddleand trappings, which were of crimson leather, ornamented with gold andsilken fringe, indicated that it was the property of some man of rank, in all probability the Emir himself, and brought out ready for him incase he should choose to ride it in place of the horse. 

The excitement was over, and a peculiar feeling of inertia had come overFrank. He was wearied by what he had gone through, and the self-imposedtask of playing his dumb part troubled him. All he cared for now was toget back to his quarters in the Emir's palace, to rest and think. Hehad come out in the faint hope of passing through some new part of thecity with the friend whose companionship he seemed forced to bear; andhe had not been disappointed in this, for many of the streets he hadtraversed were quite fresh to him; but he said to himself bitterly thathe might just as well have passed the time in the comparatively cool, shaded garden where their camels browsed, for he was no nearer to theobject of his quest than before. 

"How long is this weary, unhappy quest to last?" he thought, and thenwith a faint smile he pondered upon the wild thought that had come uponhim when he believed that they were about to charge the dervishes, and astrange, fierce determination had come to him that he would strike oneblow for his brother's sake, as he wondered whether he would ever knowof his quest. 

"And I'm not to be buried under the hot sand here yet, " he said, as hiseyes wandered over the proportions of the camel, which struck him as onethoroughly adapted for flight across the desert. 

"Just such a one as I should like to see Harry mounted upon, and all ofus making for the north, or for the English advanced posts. "

It was then that the strange attack came on, dulling his faculties andmaking him ask himself whether he was sane or dreaming. 

For as he thought of his brother, the heat of the sun seemed to strikedown upon his head, bringing on a sudden attack of that form of apoplexyknown as sunstroke, and in it he saw his brother step slowly forwardholding the camel's rein and changing from one side of the animal to theother, acting the while as a groom would with a favourite steed that hehad brought out for his master's use, patting and smoothing its coat, examining girth, buckle, and band, and arranging and rearranging thefine material which covered the saddle, before at last standing uprightleaning his head back against the camel, gazing from a few yards awayfull in Frank's eyes. 

A vision--a waking vision, consequent upon the attack from which hesuffered! There he was, Harry, the brother he loved, upright andmilitary of carriage as ever, but so changed. Thin and wasted, his eyessunken and full of a deep, weary, sorrowful longing, arms bare to theshoulder, legs naked to mid-thigh, and all burned of a dull brick-red bythe torrid African sun, and the high forehead deeply marked by the linesof suffering and care. It was Harry as he had pictured him night afternight when he had lain awake thinking of the time when they would meet;clothed, too, just the same as any other camel driver, with thin cottongarments tightened diagonally across the body, and about the thighs, looking more like bandages than ordinary clothes, confined by anotherbroad band about the waist. 

Yes: just as he had so often pictured what he must be like, even to thechanges wrought by suffering and age. But not Harry, for his brotherwould surely have known him at a glance, as he leaned back against hiscamel looking him full in the face, and have acted as he had been aboutto do, till the bitter feeling came home to him that this was all awaking dream brought on by exertion and excitement, and he felt that ifhe gazed long and fixedly the imaginary picture would fade, leaving onlythe ordinary slave camel driver of the desert looking in his direction. 

But the change did not come, and they gazed one at the other still, Frank waiting impatiently for the imaginary resemblance to die out. 

"So like him, " he thought; "but he would have rushed to my arms as I wasabout to rush to his at all hazards, thinking of nothing but our meetingout here in this savage place. I am wild and dreaming from what I havegone through to-day, but he is cool and calm as he stands there. Yes:he would have known me at once. "

A shiver of misery ran through the thinker at that moment, as he graspedthe truth. 

For how should his brother know him? He was a mere youth when theyparted at Southampton, when he saw him last upon the troop-ship--a boywho had just finished school--and what was Harry looking at now? Thecompanion of a Baggara Emir, a black slave, dressed in white, armed withsword and dagger, and mounted upon a splendid Arab horse. One of thepair who had been pursued by the wild dervish band which was committingso many fresh excesses in the city, and looking no better in his wildcostume, and grasping a keen-edged sword, than one of them. 

Another giddy sensation came over Frank Frere, and he gasped for breath, as with his left hand he snatched at his horse's mane and soaccidentally jerked the rein that the horse reared and he nearly fell. 

The demand upon him for action, though, sent a shock through his nerves, and gripping his saddle firmly he sat erect and patted and calmed downhis startled mount, the young Emir pressing up to him and nodding andsmiling as much as to say, "Well done! you ride like a Baggara. "

Frank was himself again, and as soon as he could rein back a little, forhis comrade had come between him and the vision, he looked wildly oncemore at the spot where he had seen, or believed he had seen, hisbrother; but the camel had been led away, and its attendant was nolonger there. 

Was it imagination, or was it not? He felt sick with emotion, and hecould hardly restrain himself from leaping off his horse to go in searchof leader and camel that he might speak and learn the truth at once; butat that moment the young Emir grasped him by the arm, their horsessidled up together, and he was no longer his own master, yielding atonce to the touch and being led away out of the open court, while whenhe wrenched himself round in the saddle to get one wildly eager lookback his view was cut off by a party of some thirty horsemen whosespears glittered in the late afternoon sun as they followed closebehind. For the young Emir had been furnished with a bodyguard by hisfriend, and though Frank turned again and again there was not anotherchance. 

They rode on for a few hundred yards with the young Emir talking loudlyand volubly, his theme evidently being their adventures, and quitecontent with a nod from time to time. For he was in high glee at hissuccess, and the looks, smiles, and pats on the shoulder he gave to hiscompanion from time to time plainly told he was proud of his gallantrythat day. 

Then in an instant all was excitement again, for at a turn they cameonce more in sight of a party of the dervishes, evidently those they hadmet before, and all ready to encounter them with scowling looks. 

It showed the necessity for the escort, and the young Emir laughed, forno attempt to hinder them was made; but the party followed slowly as ifto see where they went, and when at last the escort was dismissed andthe two young men rode through the gates, received by their own guards, the dervishes were still in sight; but they at once turned and rodeaway, for the escort was advancing upon them and seemed as if it drovethem back the way they came. 

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. 

SO NEAR--SO FAR. 

"Frank, my dear boy!" cried the Hakim, when, alone with his friends, theyoung man made his announcement. 

He could say no more, but sat holding Frank's hand, his lip trembling, and moved as neither of them had seen him before. For in all things hehad been the calm, stern doctor, self-contained, and prepared for allemergencies. But now they heard him whisper to himself two or threetimes, as if uttering words of thankfulness. 

As for the professor, he sat listening to the end, and then leaped up. 

"Fancy? Imagination? Nonsense, boy, nonsense; it was as real asanything could be. --What? It must be fancy, or you would have run tohis side and spoken? It would have been fancy if you had. Madness!Folly! Bedlam-ish lunacy. Why, you would have spoiled everything. Poor old Hal--poor old Hal! Thank Heaven! At last--at last!"

He set off then walking up and down the tent-like room they were in, wiping the great drops of dew from his forehead openly as he passed histwo friends; but the moment his back was to them the handkerchief glidedto his eyes, where other salt drops kept on gathering, to be sweptcarefully away each time before he turned. 

"But who is this chief, Emir, or whatever he is?" said the professor, stopping before the doctor and Frank suddenly. "I've never heard of himbefore. "

"I know nothing about him whatever, only what I have told you. He issome friend of the Emir's son, and of course belongs to their party. "

"I suppose so, " said the professor excitedly. "Well, it all seemssimple enough now, Robert, my son. You must set Ibrahim to work thefirst time the Emir comes in, and tell him we have discovered that thisother Emir's slave--Tut-tut-tut! reduced to camel driving! Poor oldHal! But better that than having his head cut off, eh? Let's see; whatwas I saying? I remember: that this other Emir's slave is a very dearold friend of ours, and that he must get him set free--or buy him--orlet us buy him to come and help us. Oh dear! oh dear! Only fancycoming out to the Soudan to buy our old school-fellow! Then when wehave got him we must make our plans and be off some dark night, and--Isay, though, " he said piteously, after a pause, "that won't do. Soundschildish, doesn't it?"

"It would not do, " said Frank firmly. 

"And it does sound childish, my dear Fred, " said the doctor; "don't youthink so?"

"Of course it does, " replied the professor. "It would upset everything;but I'm so completely knocked off my balance that I don't know what topropose. Yes, I do. Look here: I know. The poor fellow has been aprisoner for years, and looks old and thin, Frank says. Then we mustsend Ibrahim at once to tell him help is at hand, and put him out of hismisery. No, no, no; that sounds like putting him out of his miseryaltogether. What do you think, Frank?"

"That we have been _very_ careful so far, and have at last beenthoroughly successful. "

"Yes, yes; of course, " cried the professor excitedly. 

"Now we must be more cautious than ever. "

"Exactly; we must tell Ibrahim not to do the slightest thing to excitesuspicion. "

"I am not going to trust Ibrahim to communicate with Hal, " said Frankdecisively. "I must do this myself. "

"You?" cried the doctor in surprise; and the professor looked at himwonderingly. 

"Why do you both stare at me like that?" said Frank warmly. "How isIbrahim to get leave to speak to my brother?"

"For the matter of that, " cried the professor testily, "how are you tomanage?"

"I don't know yet, but in a way I have been introduced there, and havestood close to the poor fellow. Why may I not manage to go there again?The Emir's son would take me anywhere I wished. "

"That is true, Fred, " said the doctor quietly. 

"We cannot set anyone else to do this, " cried Frank warmly. "This mustbe my task. "

"Well, I daresay you are right, " said the professor; "your black skin isa passport anywhere. But you must act at once. "

"If I can, " said Frank gravely. "There must be no undue haste. "

"There I don't agree with you, my dear boy, " said the professor, "forthese Emirs, even if they have homes in the city, are here to-day andgone to-morrow, in these warlike times. They are wandering people, andit would be horrible to awaken some morning and find that poor Hal wasgone. "

"But we could trace him now, " said the doctor warmly. "Hah! One beginsto breathe freely now that there is a bit of blue sky among the clouds. "

"Well, perhaps you are right, Frank, " said the professor, in a moresatisfied tone. "The lead belongs to you too after this discovery, butyou must be careful, lad. "

"Try and trust me, " was the reply; "but even now I am ready to think itwas all a dream. "

"Here, " cried the professor, "let us tell the Sheikh and poor Sam, " andhurrying to the window he beckoned both in from the grounds, where theSheikh was seeing to his treasured camels and Sam was looking on. 

"Then hadn't I better begin to pack up at once, gentlemen?" said thelatter eagerly, after he had been twice checked in his exuberant joy. 

"Begin to pack up?" said the professor wonderingly. "What for?"

"To get back into a Christian country, sir, " said Sam warmly. "We'vefound Mr Harry, and he's alive. Let's be off at once, I say. Ihaven't grumbled, gentlemen, and I ain't never said a word, but I'vegone to bed every night--if you can say that thing they calls a angerreb is a bed--every night feeling wondering like that I've got a headleft to put on the pillow. Ugh! It's a horrible place, where no one'ssafe for ten minutes together. Hadn't I better begin to pack?"

"When we have my brother safe, " said Frank, smiling. "I'm afraid, Sam, "he added sadly, "that we have a good deal to do yet before we start. "

"Yes, " said the Sheikh gravely, "and the young Excellency must take morecare than ever. If there was the slightest suspicion that we were hereto take his brother away all our heads would fall. "

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR. 

FRESH GIFTS. 

Fortunately for Frank's plans the Emirs who led the late arrivals offorces took up their residence right at the other end of the city, outside which their savage followers were for the most part encamped, and in the various rides about the place which the young man had withhis companion none of them were encountered, though men of another tribewere. For it was evident that forces were being mustered largely withOmdurman as a centre--a fact which gave strength to the rumours theSheikh brought in daily that the combined English and Egyptian forceswere steadily coming up the Nile. 

But to Frank these rumours regarding the army were as if they did notexist. His whole being was concentrated upon the one aim--to obtain aninterview with his brother; and a week had passed with this apparentlyas far off as ever. 

The friends obtained a little information through Ibrahim, and, brieflycondensed, it amounted to this: That Harry Frere--no longer kept inirons--was rather a favoured slave of the Emir he was with, but he wasalways jealously guarded, and constantly in close attendance upon hisowner, having in charge the Emir's horses and camels. But though Frankhad seen him once more during a call which the Emir's son had made uponthe chief who had protected him on that special day, he had not beenable to get half so near as before, and, to add to his misery, hisbrother had not once turned towards where Frank with throbbing breaststrove for a glance. 

Accident, however, often does more than the most carefully devisedplans, and it was so here. 

Pending the arrival of more savage troops, the Emir and his son spent agood deal of time in a kind of rough drilling of the powerful body ofmen who followed their standard, and it became quite a matter of coursefor Frank to accompany the young chief, who made him more and more acompanion; but there were days when they rode about together, and asFrank grew more familiar with the city his Baggara companion willinglyenough allowed him to select the way they went, and naturally enoughFrank arranged that either in going or coming they should pass thefriendly chiefs house. 

It was easily managed, for Frank, who had naturally enough been pleasedwith the beautiful Arabian horse he rode, made this the excuse in a dumbway of displaying a deep interest in horses and camels, taking the youngEmir about among their own, examining the Emir's stud in his company, and finally contriving to make him understand that he wanted to seethose belonging to his friend. 

All happened more favourably than he could have anticipated, and asFrank's companion readily joined in anything that seemed to please hisfriend, it came about that one day Frank found himself in the Emir'splace, inspecting the beautiful horses and camels which formed thechiefs principal wealth. 

They were shown readily enough, the chief looking proud and pleased withthe eager examination and satisfaction expressed by his visitors, havingfirst one and then another saddled for the friends to try, though, whileshowing a smiling face and making much of the various noble-lookingbrutes, there was a weary sickness about the young man's heart as hesought in vain for an opportunity to make himself known to the Emir'sslave. Meanwhile Harry led up horse after horse, saddled and unsaddled, even holding his brother's stirrup, but never displaying the slightestemotion, when Frank was thrilling in every fibre as he made use ofHarry's hand and shoulder unnecessarily while mounting the kneelingcamel which he had been holding when they first met. 

It was something, that touch, and to be so near to his brother. A wordwould have been sufficient to make his presence known, but Frank darednot utter that word, for the Emir was there giving orders to his slave, and his companion was always close by, so that it was impossible to slipthat tightly folded scrap of paper into the young officer's hand. Itonly contained a few words, but they would have been enough if he couldhave given them with a word of warning to Harry not to look at the papertill they were gone. 

"_Cheer up! Friends are near. --Frank_. "

That was all; and those words lay all through the visit ready to Frank'shand, while with patient endurance his brother toiled away, coming andgoing with horse and camel, till the young Emir began to grow impatientand Frank dared not express a desire to see more, nor yet turn to lookafter the slave leading away the last horse. 

But Frank felt that the visit was not in vain. He had gained something, and he said to himself if he could get to the Emir's place some dayalone and under some pretence about the horses, he might manage to havea word or two with the prisoner. 

But what was the excuse to be?--Could he contrive to get there alonesome day when the young Emir was away with his followers?

That seemed very doubtful, for twice of late when he had taken his menout upon the sandy plain away from the river he had invited and takenFrank with him, and the rides had been startling, for the young chief'smanner suggested that since their encounter with the dervishes he hadsome thought of making him one of his followers, a member of a wildtroop of desert warriors. 

Still Frank thought that there must be some way of compassing a meetingwith his brother, one that would excite no suspicion, and one eveningwhen he had been talking the matter over with his friends, and a scoreof ideas had been proposed, each of which possessed some failing spotand caused it to be thrown aside, the right thought came. 

They were sitting together feeling rather despondent, and the Hakim as alast resource began to talk of the possibility of an appeal to the Emirto gain the liberty of the young English slave, but only to make Frankshake his head sadly. 

"He would not do it, " said the young man, "and he will never part withus. See how the sufferers have been coming in these last three days. "

"Yes, " said the Hakim, with a droll look of perplexity in hiscountenance; "no sooner is one cured than another appears. "

"Yes, two, " said the professor; "we did not think you were coming outinto the Soudan to find a tremendous practice waiting, and no pay. "

"But board and lodging, my dear Fred, " replied the doctor, smiling. 

"Exactly, and certainly that is of the best. But by the way, have youquite done with Emir Rontgen?"

"Quite, " said the doctor. "Ibrahim told him that he was well off myhands this morning, and he scowled at me--well, I'll be fair--he lookedat me as seriously as he could, made me a stately bow, and went away. "

"These noble cut-throats pay their doctors' bills very cheaply, " saidthe professor. "Hullo, Ibrahim, what is it?"

"The Emir, Excellency, to see the Hakim. "

"Advice gratis only in the morning, " said the professor gruffly. "Can'tsend him back, I suppose. What's the matter with him now?"

The explanation soon came, for their friend entered at once, followed bythree of his men laden with something, and the next minute Ibrahim wasbusy at work interpreting the great chief's speech, which was to theeffect that his brother Emir thanked the Hakim for saving him from deathby his skill, and begged that the great and wise doctor would accept thetrifles that he sent by the hand of his friend. In addition, he saidthat if at any time the Hakim would change his home, there was one forhim in his patient's tribe, where all his people would live longer andbe happier if they had so wise and learned a man in their midst. 

"But tell the great Hakim, " continued the Emir, "that he must not thinkof leaving me and mine. That I look upon him as a young man might lookupon his noble, learned brother, for he has saved my life and my son'slife, and given health and strength to hundreds who have come to ask hishelp. "

The fierce, rugged face of the Emir grew softer as he spoke these lastwords, and then drawing back he signed to two of the men to lay theirloads at the Hakim's feet, which they did, and then left the room. 

"Tell the Hakim that this is from me for all that he has done for me andmy son. "

At a sign the third man laid his burden upon the rug in front of thedoctor, and passed out in turn, while bending down to take the latter'shand the great chief held it for a few moments in silence, and thenmoved toward the door. 

"Stop!" cried the doctor quickly. "Tell the Emir to stay that I maythank him, Ibrahim. "

The chief turned and shook his head. 

"It is enough that the great Hakim will take my little gifts, " he said, and he gravely passed out of the room. 

"Then they are grateful, " said the professor, "and I beg their pardon, both of them. What have they sent for you? Rich rugs and silk andmuslins, I suppose, and--"

"Never mind them, " cried Frank in an excited whisper. "I have it now!"

"What?" said the doctor earnestly. 

"The idea for getting near poor Hal. "

"Ah!" cried the professor, as excited as the speaker, for Frank's mannercarried conviction. "What is it?"

"A present to the young Emir's friend for saving our lives. "

"But how's that going to bring you into contact with poor Harry?"

"Like this, " whispered Frank eagerly. "He is proud of his horses andcamels--this chief. I will give him the finest and most costly bit andbridle Ibrahim can buy in the bazaar. "

"But are such things to be bought in the city?"

"Oh, _yes_, plenty of them. Fine red or brown morocco, ornamented withsilver or gold. You could get such a one, Ibrahim?"

"Oh, yes, Excellency, or a saddle either. "

"Yes, " said the professor, after a few moments' thought. "Such apresent would appeal to a man like that. Yes, Frank, I like that idea. You could stop and watch while the bridle was put on. Ibrahim must seeabout the gift at once. "

"Yes, Excellencies, " said the old man; "the words are good. To-morrow, then, I shall bring plenty for them to choose. But will not yourExcellencies see now what the great Emir has brought?"

"No--yes, " said the Hakim. "We must not slight his gifts. Open themout. "

Sam was summoned, and costly rugs, pieces of richly woven stuffs, thefinest cotton haiks and burnooses, were spread out before the friends, and they noticed that their Emir's gift was far more costly than hisfriend's. But one and all had another present in their vision, one thatseemed to stand out real before Frank Frere all the time--a rich, well-stitched, red morocco head-stall and reins, ornamented with thickbosses and buckles of gold, and fitted with a silver bit; and that nightwhen he slept the present was the main feature of one long-continueddream. 

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE. 

FRANK'S VENTURE. 

As Ibrahim had said, the task was easy, for the next morning, before theHakim had commenced with his sick and wounded, one of the Soudaneseharness-makers was at the palace gate with his men and a great whitedonkey heavily laden with admirable specimens of leather work, barbaricin style, but for the most part such as would have delighted anyone ofartistic taste. 

The various objects were brought in and spread before the Hakim; butFrank was disappointed, for there was no such bridle as he had designedin his mind's eye--nothing so costly; and not one head-stall that wasornamented with gold. But in the end one was bought profusely decoratedwith heavy buckles and bosses of silver; the steel bit, too, had cheekpieces of the more precious metal, while to hang from beneath the neckof the steed that was to wear it, there was a large glistening ball ofsilver, from which streamed a great tuft of scarlet horsehair. 

The maker asked many piastres for his work, but it was well worth theprice, and his face shone with pleasure as Ibrahim stood solemnly, bagin hand, to count them out; and then the black cleared away hisstock-in-trade and went off rejoicing. 

"So far so good, Frank, my boy, " said the professor; "but how do youmean to get the present delivered?"

"By sheer daring, " said Frank quietly, "and this very day if the youngEmir will only let me be at rest. "

"And how then?" asked the Hakim anxiously. 

"The simplest way possible. I shall order through the guard the horse Iride to be brought round, and Ibrahim will saddle one of his camels tobear the bridle. Then I shall ride straight to the chief's place, Ibrahim will interpret my signs, and I shall give the present myself. After that I shall ask to be allowed to harness the Emir's favouritehorse with my present. He is sure to consent, and it will go hard if Ido not contrive to slip something into poor Harry's hand or a few wordsinto his ear. "

"Yes, " said the doctor, with energy; "and the simplicity of the businessought to ensure its success. "

"I begin to think it will, " said the professor, "if some of our Emir'speople do not stop you as you are going out. "

"I do not think they will, " said Frank quietly; "and I have a feeling ofconfidence upon me which makes me ready to say I shall succeed. "

The professor said nothing, but he looked very grave and glanced atIbrahim, whose countenance was solemn in the extreme, while the Hakimseemed plunged in thought. 

But they had to think of other things soon after, for there had been afierce encounter at daybreak that morning, some miles from the city, forwhat reason the party did not know; but its results were the bringing ofabout a dozen wounded men on horse, donkey, and camel, to be carriedinto the tent-like booth in the grounds, where of late the Hakim hadattended to his patients, and he and his assistants were as hard at workas they could be for hours. 

"You have thought no more about that plan of yours, " said the professoranxiously, as the last wounded man was carried out after he had shownhis thankfulness by kissing the Hakim's hand. 

"On the contrary, " said Frank, smiling, "I have thought of nothing else, seen nothing else but that bridle all the morning, and now I feel that Imust have made plenty of mistakes. "

"But it will be too late to make arrangements now, " said the Hakimanxiously. 

"There are none to make, " replied Frank. "Look here: there has beensome serious fighting, of course, and I believe both the Emir and hisson are away, or we should have seen them here. "

"It's of no use to argue with you, Frank, " cried the professorpettishly. "You have an answer for everything. I'm sure you will bestopped. "

"Never mind, " said Frank. "I am going to try what a bold stroke willdo. If I am turned back I must get leave through our young chiefanother day, and chance dropping a word in Harry's ear. "

"I have done, " said the professor. "Try. "

Frank nodded, and signed to the old Sheikh to come to them. 

He came, looking extra solemn and quiet. 

"You will go to the head guard, Ibrahim, and tell him I want my horse assoon as it can be brought to the door. "

"Yes, Excellency. "

"You will then saddle your best camel and spread upon it, so that theycan be seen, this bit and bridle and trappings. If the guard asks whereI am going you can tell him that I am going to take a present to theyoung chiefs friend. "

"Yes, Excellency. He will be sure to ask. "

"Good, " said Frank, and the old man went out without another word, whileFrank coolly prepared for his short journey by putting on the rich robethat had been given to him, and buckling on his sword and knife, finishing off with a handsome turban of the kind the desert warriorswore. 

"Here is Ibrahim back, " said the professor, as he saw the old manreappear before Frank was ready. "He is coming to say that you cannothave a horse. "

"But he has gone to get his camel ready all the same, " said Frank, smiling, and about a quarter of an hour later the Arab that Frank rodewas led ambling up to the door of their quarters by one of the guard. 

The young man turned to give his friends a calm, smiling look oftriumph, as he walked towards the window to glance at his steed. Thenext moment his countenance fell. For he had seen the gate from wherehe stood, and there, as if ready to accompany him wherever he wentalone, was the chief guard, already mounted, and behind them, ready tooand well-armed, were half a dozen men. 

"Ah!" said the doctor, with a sigh. "I feared there would be somethinglike this. "

"Yes, " said the professor; "they have us safely, and do not mean to letus go. "

"The young chief must have left word, " said Frank bitterly, as he groundhis teeth. 

"Of course, then, you give it up now?" said the professor quickly. 

"No, " said Frank firmly, "I am going to start--at once. "

The lips of both his friends parted as if to utter a protest, but therewas something so determined in Frank's eyes, so stern and set about thelines of his mouth, that they forbore, and the doctor spoke gently--

"Very well, Frank, lad, " he said gravely; "you have had far moreexperience among these people in the city than I have, and you know theneed of caution. Take care; a slip may mean destruction now we haveclimbed so near the pinnacle of our hopes. I will say no more thanthis--Go, and Heaven protect you. "

"Yes, " said the professor earnestly, and he held out his hand. 

Frank grasped it firmly, and that of the doctor, who took his left, allthree standing silently for a few minutes. 

Then Frank turned to go, but hesitated for a moment or two, for theprofessor was running his eye over him critically. 

"What is it?" said the younger man. 

"I was looking to see if there is anything about you that might raisesuspicion. "

"Well?"

"Nothing, my lad. I have had years of dealings with the people, and Ishould never take you for anything but a native of the desert. "

Frank nodded, and was mute again, as he walked out and across the pathto where his horse was waiting the beautiful animal whinnying softly intoken of recognition, and stretching out its velvety muzzle for thecaress that was always given and enjoyed. The next minute the rider wasin the saddle, with the Arab tossing its head and ambling gently beneathhim. 

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX. 

THE REACTION. 

Out by the gate in the dazzling sunshine sat Ibrahim upon his tallcamel, the headgear for the present carefully arranged so as to make abrave show, and the seven mounted guards waiting for the Hakim's learnedslave, who bore the reputation now of being deeply versed in magic tosuch an extent that he could call down lightning from the skies and makeit do his will. A horror this to the ignorant Soudanese, and somethingto make them tremble, but no exaggeration. For to us of this centurywho can send our messages to the other side of the earth and receiveback answers in a few hours; talk with friends at a distance, andrecognise their voices; receive their speeches, their songs, or themelodies of instruments impressed on wax, to reproduce whenever weplease; these and scores of other such scientific marvels are buteveryday matters of business, common trifles, though they dwarf many ofthe magic legends of the Arabian Nights. 

Consequently the Hakim's black slave was greeted with profound reverenceby the Emir's bodyguard as he rode out, stern and thoughtful, upon themission which he felt to be the greatest of his life, and barely notedthat his beautiful horse ambled along as if proud of this rider in theflowing white robes, and whose richly ornamented sword beat softly uponits flank. 

Frank gave one glance back, however, to see that the Sheikh's camel waspacing along a few yards behind, the thick, long, scarlet horsetailplume waving beneath the ungainly animal's neck, while the sevenhorsemen rode, fiercely important, a few yards behind the Sheikh, eachwith his round bossed target and gleaming spears. 

For one moment Frank thought of self, and how strange it all was thathe, the young Englishman, accustomed to London and its ways, the studentof chemistry, full of experimental lore, should be riding there indisguise, the Hakim's slave and assistant--the favourite of a powerfulBaggara Emir and his son--riding through the teeming crowds of that hiveof horror, bloodshed, and misery, and those familiar with his appearancemaking way at once. It was all like a dream for a few moments, or as ifhe were reading with strong imagination some romantic work descriptiveof a scene in the south and east. Then it was all real again--horriblyreal--and he rode gently on, thinking of the part he had to play, andwondering wildly whether he would have the nerve to go through all hehad mentally planned, and whether if he were successful in getting alonewith his brother, Harry would bear the announcement of there being helpat hand. 

"It all depends on me, " thought the adventurer, as he rode on, stern, and gazing straight before him, hardly conscious of the crowd throughwhich he passed, or the whispers of the people who recognised theHakim's follower; for he was busy working out his plans and picturingthe scene in which he was to play that critical part. 

It might be that the lives of all would be at stake if he failed incarrying out what he had devised, and no wonder that his face grew moreset, his eyes darker with thought, till, as it seemed to him, he foundhimself at the entrance to the chiefs enclosure and home, with the courtdotted with horse and foot, camels tethered here and there, somestanding dreamily munching, others crouched down with their long necksoutstretched upon the sand, and their leaders and riders idling about, talking, playing games, or smoking, waiting till their masters neededthem for some mission, perhaps to raid and plunder, or to join otherbands upon some great movement instigated by Mahdi or Khalifa, whosesteps would be marked in blood. 

There was no hesitation. Frank rode boldly in, unquestioned, and notone of the many men scattered about ran to horse or camel, or graspedhis weapons. It did not seem strange to them that the Hakim's followershould ride in to see their chief, followed by a camel and seven of afriendly Emir's bodyguard. What took their attention at once--theybeing men whose lives had been spent in company with the swift horses ofthe desert--were the bright, gaily ornamented trappings spread on theneck of Ibrahim's fine camel, and a low murmur of satisfaction arose asthey gazed at what was evidently a present for their lord. 

Frank rode slowly across the wide, open court, with his eyes wanderingwildly in search of his brother; but he was not visible, and he let themrest for a few moments upon the long, low, shed-like building into whichhe had seen him go at a former visit, that evidently being the placewhere the chiefs horses were stabled when he was in the city, the openheavens being their roof when halting among the wind-swept sands. 

Frank drew rein close to the entrance, his guard halted a dozen yards inthe rear, and Ibrahim, after urging his tall camel close behind, madethe beast kneel down, and then dismounted, leaving the scarlet trappingsfull in view upon the animal's back, before going forward to hismaster's side, fully conscious that every movement was closely watched, and standing respectfully attent while the Hakim's black follower made afew quick signs. 

Ibrahim bowed low, and went up to the house, where a knot of armed menreceived him and listened to the message he delivered, one going in atonce, and the old Sheikh waiting ceremoniously till his messenger cameback and spoke. Then the old man returned as he came, to whisper toFrank, who nodded shortly and then sat motionless and stern, gazingstraight at the door as if deep in thought and ignoring everythingaround. 

He played his part well, knowing what a battery of keen eyes weredirected at him, while horsemen, foot, and camel riders whispered andtold those who did not know, of how this dumb black follower of theHakim was nearly as great a prophet and doctor as his master, and howthey had cured hundreds, from great chiefs dying of their wounds down tochildren going blind from the ophthalmic curse of the desert lands. 

The murmur of this whispering and the loud, ceaseless buzz of themyriads of flies darting here and there over the sand and lighting againand again upon the superheated walls, when they were not torturinghorse, camel and man, fell strangely upon Frank's ears as he grew morecalm, and his doubts and fears died out now that the step had been made, and he felt ready to wonder at the calmness and confidence he displayed. 

The great trouble he had now was to master the intense desire to lookround to see if the face he sought was gazing at him from some window ordoorway, as curiously as were the rest, and he would have given anythingto turn in his saddle and bring his eyes to bear in the search. But hehad well determined upon his course of action: he sat rigidly in hisplace with his eyes fixed upon the doorway about which the chief'sfollowers were grouped, till there was a slight stir and thestern-looking warrior appeared, looking fierce and imperious, as hestrode slowly out and acknowledged Frank's haughty bow, when hiscountenance relaxed a little, but assuming ignorance of the present uponthe camel, he advanced with open hand to greet his visitor, saying a fewwords of meaningless welcome. 

Frank bowed again and turned slowly to the Sheikh, who bent low, andthen in a few well-chosen words spoke of the intense grief felt by hismaster, the great help and chosen friend of the wonderful Hakim, ofwhose miraculous cures the noble Baggara chief must have heard. 

There was a bow from that individual, and Ibrahim went on about hismaster and lord feeling now, of all times in his life, how painful itwas that he, the learned young Hakim, could not thank his highness inwords for the protection given to him when he was pursued by thosedegenerate sons of Shaitan. He would have liked to thank the Emirverbally, but as he could not do this he had come himself to ask hisnoble friend to accept a trifling gift, because he knew how great alover he was of horses, and if he would condescend to accept the littlepresent and place it upon his favourite steed it might bring hisgrateful friend sometimes before his eyes. 

There was a piece of pantomime here. The Baggara chief looked puzzled, and when Ibrahim paused he looked up. Then he looked down, and had toask the old Sheikh what he meant, being quite unable to notice whateveryone else in the courtyard could see plainly, till it was almosttouched. 

Then, and then only, did he cast aside all his formal Arabic, Easternstateliness and assume a rapturous expression, seizing one of the reins, examining it closely, raising the scarlet-dyed, drooping plume, touchingthe bit and broad band with its silver ornamentation, and utteringexclamations of delight the more impressive from their being to a greatextent real, for the gift was a worthy one and such as any lover of ahorse would appreciate. 

Then followed a warm burst of thanks, and a request that the Hakim'sfriend would descend and enter the house for refreshment. 

The critical time was approaching, and Ibrahim, in answer to a grave nodof acquiescence from Frank, turned to the chief to say that nothingcould please his master more, but he had a request to make. He, too, loved horses; he nearly worshipped the steed he rode. 

The Emir smiled and nodded as if to say no wonder, as he patted andstroked the glossy satin skin of the beautiful little creature. Then helistened attentively for the explanation of the petition that he was togrant. 

Ibrahim enlightened him at once. 

It would give the Hakim's friend as great joy as he had felt when by hishelp the Hakim had brought light back to the glazing eyes of one of thewounded Baggara chiefs, for his great desire was to see the bit andbridle upon the head and neck of one of his great friend's noblechargers, so that he might note whether it suited the horse and lookedas well as he wished. 

The Baggara chief smiled pleasantly, and felt highly satisfied that hewas not to give something more valuable in exchange. Then clapping hishands, a follower rode up and was despatched to the side building with amessage; while Frank's heart beat in a way which seemed to threatensuffocation. 

It was hard work, but he sat unmoved, the chief talking, and therecipient of his words congratulating himself that he was not calledupon to speak. 

Finding that he was not understood, the Emir turned to Ibrahim to bidhim say that the Hakim's friend should have the finest barb in hisstable bitted and bridled, and if he would descend and then mount andtry the present himself in a ride round the enclosure, the gift would berendered doubly valuable to its recipient. 

The words had hardly been repeated in English to Frank when a filmcrossed his eyes like a yellow cloud, through which he saw his brotherapproaching, leading the chief's magnificent, ready saddled charger by aleathern thong so that he had no need to touch the bridle which lay uponthe beautiful arched neck. 

For a moment or two Frank felt that his heart was sinking and that hewould break down, while as he turned away his head he saw that theSheikh had noted the change in his countenance, for he was gazing at himin horror. 

Frank felt that all was over, when in an instant something happenedwhich made a call upon him in another direction and gave him time torecover himself; for as his brother led out the chief's charger, itcaught sight of the strange horses gathered in the court and broke outwith a loud neighing challenge, which Frank's answered on the instant, reared up, and then made a bound open-mouthed to savage the challengingbarb. 

Here was the necessary call upon Frank's nerve, and tightening his reinsto retain the mastery over his steed, the beautiful Arab resented thecheck and began to kick and plunge furiously, calling forth all itsrider's skill to retain his seat; and it was not until after a couple ofminutes' hard fight, during which the horse seemed to have been smittenwith a notion that the proper equine mode of progression was upon itshind legs, and the use of the fore was to strike out and fence, that itcondescended to go on all fours, while even then it was only to gainimpetus for a series of stag-like bounds and attempts to dash off in anydirection that seemed open. 

Frank had ridden fairly well at home, while during his stay with theEmir he had had plenty of opportunity for improvement, his companionhaving mounted him upon a splendid steed, and, being a wild and recklessrider himself, had gradually led Frank into thinking little of many amad gallop out into the desert plain. 

Hence it was that instead of feeling startled at this new development ofvice on the part of his steed, the rider, as he grasped the fact thateveryone was watching him as if in expectation of seeing him thrown, felt the blood flush to his cheeks in an angry fit of annoyance whichmade him grip his saddle with all his force, and set to work to regainthe mastery over the excited beast. 

For the next five minutes the latter darted here and there, seeming togrow more and more infuriated as it found its efforts vain, for it wasbitted with a powerful curb, the sharp use of which checked it again andagain, till finding its rider ready to meet it at every turn, it gave upthe struggle as quickly as it had begun, settled down at once into agentle amble in the extreme corner of the court, into which it haddashed, scattering half a dozen camels and looking as if it intended toattempt to leap a low tent and gain its liberty there. 

The next minute Frank was riding quietly back, hot and flushed, butmentally composed, listening to a loud outburst of admiration as hepassed group after group of the Emir's horsemen, men who had, to use acommon term, been almost born in the saddle. 

As Frank reined up close to where the Sheikh and the Emir were standing, he saw that the old man's face looked strangely mottled; but he had nochance of giving him an encouraging look, for the Emir advancedsmilingly, and patted and made much of the Arab, turning directly tospeak to Ibrahim. 

"Tell the Hakim's friend, " he said, "that he is mounted upon a horse asfull of speed as the wind, and that he rides it as a brave man should. "

The words were interpreted, and Frank replied to them with a calmbending of his body, turning directly after to where his brother stoodholding the chief's horse, and finding that he could dare to look at himwithout being attacked by that horrible sense of emotion. 

The chief then gave a haughty command or two, and the horse was ledclose up to Ibrahim's camel, where it stood as if it were some beautifulpiece of statuary, while its bit and bridle were removed and the presentquickly adjusted to its head, Harry Frere taking up a hole or two hereand there till a perfect adaptation was made, when as if proud of itsnew finery the noble charger tossed up its head, making the scarlethanging plume float about in the glowing air, and then stood motionlesswith head erect. Once more there was a loud outburst from the chief'sassembled followers, and he stood looking as proud as the horse. Thenhe walked round it, giving it a caress or two, and finally signed to hisslave to lead it nearer to Frank, whose heart once more began to beathard as his brother obeyed, and the next minute stood so near that hecould have leaned from his saddle and laid his hot hand upon the poorfellow's shoulder. 

Fortunately he was given no time to think, for the chief came alongsideand signed to him to dismount. 

Feeling as if it were all a dream from which he must awake the nextmoment, Frank threw himself lightly from his horse, handed the rein tothe Sheikh, and then stood while the chief's barb was led up to him, striving successfully not even to glance at the leader; but taking upthe reins he thrust a foot into one stirrup, and sprang up, fullyexpecting a repetition of the battle through which he had alreadypassed. But the beautiful creature stood perfectly still until theslave dropped back, and then, in response to the slight pressure of itsstrange rider's heel, started off at a slow walk, Frank sitting upproudly, but breathing hard, for he was panting with excitement onfinding that something which he had foreseen would be the case was justas he wished, for it had everything to do with the _ruse_ he hadplanned. 

A fresh burst of cries arose as the beautiful barb paced along past itsmaster, then at a touch began to amble and curvet, tossing its beautifulhead, while Frank gave and bent to its various motions, feelingperfectly at his ease, for the springy movements were delightful. 

He passed the chief twice, and he could see that the Baggara looked asproud as a boy of his splendidly caparisoned horse. He saw, too, in onequick glance that his brother had gone back towards the shed-like placefrom which he had brought the mount, while the Emir's followers hadgathered to one side of the court, everyone taking the most profoundinterest in the equestrian display, while the other side of the court, opposite to the house near which the chief stood, was vacant. 

Now was the time if the _ruse_ was to be attempted, and Frank drew adeep breath as he advanced towards the Emir, while as he passed him hemade a quick, hurried gesture to the assembled followers, waving hishand to them to give way and leave him room to have a gallop round thecourt, at the same moment pressing the barb's sides so that it brokeinto a canter at once, careering along with the scarlet plume sweepingout, and once again there was a loud, eager cry. 

Frank felt that he was riding well, and the horse sped along till thelast of the mounted men were passed, and directly after he was ridingalong the vacant side of the court, on and on till he was about fiftyyards from where his brother stood, and in full view of the Emir and hismen, when in obedience to a light check the horse stopped short, fallingback almost upon its haunches, and as all gazed wonderingly across atwhere the rider sat they saw him gesticulate angrily at the waitingslave, as if ordering him to approach. 

Harry Frere ran to him at once, and Frank threw one leg out of thestirrup, pointing downward, and in dumb show bade him lengthen thestirrup leather, pointing out that he had been riding with his knees uptowards his chin. 

The Emir laughed to himself, and his followers smiled at the absurd wayin which these strangers loved to ride, while one of the many officerslaughingly pointed to the long stirrup of the visitor's horse, but noone stirred; they only watched what was going on some thirty or fortyyards away. 

For it was simple in the extreme: Frank sat looking down haughtily, andhis brother with deft fingers rapidly unbuckled and readjusted thestirrup leather, looking up once at the masterful black who could notspeak but signified his commands with haughty looks and impatient signs. 

It was all commonplace, and the spectators waited patiently, seeing theglance up of the slave, the trying of the left stirrup, and theimpatient, imperious gesture to the man to adjust the other leather, therider swinging himself round with his back to the Emir as the whiteslave darted under the horse's neck and seized the right stirrup, hisface hidden by the horse from every one in the court, while it wasperfectly natural that the rider with his back to the Emir should benddown as if watching the alteration being made. 

The next moment the obedient slave disobeyed, for a low, soft, impassioned voice said in English--

"For Heaven's sake don't start!"

He started violently, and began to tremble in every limb. 

"Help is near at hand. Do what I say. Fall, have some accident, and bevery bad. Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, " came in a hoarse, trembling voice. 

"Then ask for the Hakim to save your life. "

"Yes, yes, but--but--who are you?"

"Hush! Quick! Alter that stirrup for your life!"

Harry Frere uttered a low groan, and his brother felt that he was aboutto swoon and fall. But he dared speak no more. The time had come toact, and with an angry gesture he rose up in his seat and threw his armover as if to draw his sword and strike with the flat of the blade atthe dilatory attendant who was so long. Then all was over, for theslave jumped back now the stirrup was lengthened, and stood with benthead and extended hands as the horse bounded off along the empty side ofthe court, Frank passing the chief at full gallop, pointing to thelengthened stirrups as he went, and then on and on at full speed to passround the court again, seeing that his brother was standing near theopening of his shed, and as he passed he had ready and jerked towardshim three or four bright piastres, without so much as turning his head. 

The next minute he pulled up short by the Emir's side, sprang from thehorse, and threw the bridle to the nearest man, not daring to stay whilehis brother ran up to take the rein. 

So it was that when the slave took charge of the horse Frank was withthe Sheikh, mounting his own a dozen yards away, but was stopped by theEmir, who hurried up to him and seized upon Ibrahim to interpret hiswords of thanks for the present and for the admirable way in which hehad taught his people how to ride. "But, " he said, with a peculiar, mocking smile, "they will be obstinate; they will not ride with longstirrups like the Hakim's friend. "

And the next minute--

"Tell the Hakim's friend that if he would learn to ride as we do, withthe stirrups short, so that he could get a better hold of the saddle, hewould be as fine a horseman as ever lived. "

Frank nodded and smiled, and signed that he was about to mount. 

"Ask the Hakim's friend to enter and partake of such poor fare as I cangive, " protested the Emir; and upon the words being interpreted Frankshook his head, but pointed to his lips, signifying that he would drink. 

The Emir clapped his hands, and as Frank turned he saw his brotherpassing out of sight, while from the house a couple of slaves camequickly, bearing brass vessels and cups. 

The long, cool draught of some refreshing beverage was welcome toFrank's parched throat, but he kept up the set smile upon hiscountenance, in spite of the agonising mental torture from which hesuffered, and it was with a sigh of relief that at last he rode away, followed by a friendly shout from the party in the court, and reachedthe cool, darkened rooms of the Emir's place feeling more dead thanalive. 

"Well, " asked his friends in a breath, as he threw himself upon therug-covered angareb in his room, "did you succeed?"

"Ask Ibrahim, " he said. "I hardly dare to hope. "

They turned to the old Sheikh, who made a gesture with his hands. 

"Excellencies, " he said, "I stood there with a knife as it were held atmy throat all that dreadful time; but it was wonderful. How could he doit--how could he act like that?"

"Who can say?" said Frank, as his friends turned questioning eyestowards him. "I can't talk now; I feel weak as a child. I only know Icould not do it again to save my life. "

"But we are in agony to know, " said the doctor. "Pray try and tell ussomething of your plans. "

The appeal gave the young man strength, and he told all that had passed. 

"But what will follow?" said the professor, whose voice trembled fromthe excitement he suffered. "Will Harry--can he carry out your plan?"

"Yes, " said the doctor. "He is as firm when put to the test as Frankhere. "

"Ah!" groaned Frank; "firm? I am as weak as water now. I am tremblingwith the horrible thought that the chief saw through the subterfuge, forhe smiled cruelly; and if he did--what of poor Harry's life? I shallhave slain him by what I did, for they have no mercy on an escapingslave. "

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN. 

THE BREAKDOWN. 

There was a fresh patient for the Hakim in the morning. 

He was awakened by Sam, whose face was full of consternation. 

"Do get up and come to Mr Frank, sir, " he said in a hurried whisper. 

Morris sat up at once. 

"What is it?" he said in the calm, matter-of-fact way of a doctor whoalways feels that a sudden awakening means a call upon him for aid. 

"I went to tell him it was time to rouse up, sir, and he began talkingnonsense. "

"What do you mean?" said the doctor, dressing hurriedly. 

"Called me a white-faced dog; and then `The stirrup, ' he says, `thestirrup: can't you see it's too short?'"

"Ah?" ejaculated the doctor. 

"`Stirrup?' I says, `what stirrup, sir?' and then he went on: `YouEnglish are not fit even for slaves. Be quick! Can't you see that yourlord and his friends are waiting to see me ride?' he says, `and don'tdefile those red reins with your dirty white hands!' Of course I knewhe was dreaming, and I shook him, but only made him burst out into a lotmore stuff--telling me I was to fall ill and ask for the Hakim to cureme, and then we should be all together again. But that ain't the worstof it, sir. "

"No? Then what is?" said the doctor, fastening up his long robe calmly. 

"He's quite off his head, sir, and his tongue's running nineteen to thedozen. If you can't stop it we shall have all the Emir's peoplenoticing it. Hadn't you better pretend as you've cured him, sir, andmade him speak? If you don't we shall be having the cat let out of thebag, and all be scratched to death. "

"Let's see, Samuel, " said the doctor quietly, and he followed his maninto the next room, to find Frank talking wildly. 

He seemed to recognise his friend directly, and caught him by the arm. 

"Look here, " he said, "I have no time to advise you, Hal. Be thrownfrom a horse; cut your forehead, or your leg. Do something that theycan see looks bad--something that will stain your white things withblood. They will believe it then, and beg that you may be taken to theHakim. --Ah, what are you doing here? Why are you not curing theBaggara's white slave?"

The doctor had taken his young friend's wrist and laid a cool hand uponhis burning, throbbing brow, with excellent effect, for Frank's loudtalking grew broken, then indistinct, and rapidly sank into a low, incoherent babbling, as he closed his eyes. 

"Hah!" said Sam softly; "it's wonderful, sir. To do that with just atouch of your hands. But what is it, sir? One of those horribleAfrican fevers? 'Tain't catching, is it?" he added excitedly. 

"If you feel alarmed, " replied the doctor coldly, "keep away from theroom. Mr Landon and I will nurse him. "

Sam turned upon him with a reproachful look. 

"Likely, sir!" he said scornfully, and he bent over the angareb andbegan giving little touches to the pillow, making a point of passing hishand over Frank's face and leaning quite close so as to feel his breathplay upon his cheek, before laying a hand upon the sufferer's. "I don'tcare if it is ketching, " he said; "I'm not going to leave Master Frankin a hole like that. If I get it he'll get better and help me. Breath's hot, sir, but it don't smell nasty and fevery. P'r'aps it'sonly being too much in the sun, after all. "

"Thank you, Samuel, " said the doctor, in his quiet, grave way, and hepatted the man gently on the shoulder. 

"Thank me, sir?--Oh, here's Mr Landon, sir. "

"Hullo, there!" said the professor, hurriedly entering; "what's thematter? Don't say Frank's ill!"

"He is saying it for himself, my dear Fred, " replied the doctor. "Youhave had some experience of this sort of thing out here. Look at him. He is calmer now, but he was talking wildly at random a few minutesago. "

"What! Oh! Saint George and the Dragon! he mustn't begin to talk, "cried the professor excitedly. "That would spoil all. "

There was a pause while the professor bent over and examined thesufferer. 

"Well, " he said, "I'm not a doctor, but my journeys out here made medabble a bit, and quack over my own ailments and those of my followerswhen there was no medical man to be had. I don't know, Robert, oldfriend, but I should say it was a touch of brain fever, consequent uponyesterday's excitement in the sun. "

"Ah-h-h!" ejaculated Sam, with a sigh of relief. 

"You be quiet, " said the professor sharply. Then turning to the doctor, "Well, what do you think?"

"The same as you do. Poor lad! His anxiety was horrible, and what hewent through was enough to prostrate a man twice as strong. "

"But you don't think he is going to be seriously ill?"

"I hope not. Stay here while I mix him a sedative. He must have sleep;and Sam, get ready cold water compresses for his head. "

"Cold water, sir?" said the man gravely. 

"Well, a bowl of water, my man. I'll bring in something to make itevaporate more quickly. "

The doctor went to where his case lay in a corner of his room, andrapidly prepared a sedative draught, took up a bottle, and returned tothe professor, to find Sam waiting with bowl of water and cloths. 

"He's babbling about Harry and that plan of his, " said the professor. 

"No wonder, poor fellow! Raise him up a little. I daresay he willdrink this quietly enough. "

"One moment, sir, " said Sam hurriedly. "Me, please, " and with aneagerness evidently intended to fully disabuse the doctor's mind of alldoubts regarding his fear of infection, Sam went behind the head of thecouch and carefully raised the sick man's head and shoulders so that hecould drink easily; and this he did with avidity. 

The next minute the doctor had half emptied a bottle into the water, which gave forth a peculiar, pungent odour on Sam wringing out ahandkerchief; and this was spread across the poor fellow's temples andafterwards kept moist. 

"Just at the most unlucky time, " said the professor, with a sigh, asthey sat near, watching the patient, who had sunk into the desiredsleep; "but we must make the best of it. Here, Sam, we must eat anddrink whatever happens. "

"Breakfast is quite ready, sir, " was the reply; "but I haven't seenanything of Mr Abrahams this morning. "

"Look here, " said the professor angrily, "if you call the Sheikh Abrahamagain I shall throw something at you. Ibrahim, once more, " hecontinued, spelling the name letter by letter. 

"But that's only his ignorant way of spelling it, sir, " protested Sam. "He told me himself it's the same name as we read of. It's Abra--ham, as I told him myself; but he only smiled at me as if he knew better. "

"Well, what about him?"

"He hasn't been near, sir, and his young men--and one of them's tenyears older than me--say that he hasn't been back since he went out lastnight. "

"Tut--tut--tut--tut!" said the doctor. "I hope he has not fallen intoany trouble now. "

But before the breakfast was over--a meal that was interrupted twice bythe doctor's visits to the patient--Ibrahim came to the door, and wastold to enter. 

He looked sharply at the two gentlemen, and then at the door leadinginto Frank's room, and back inquiringly at the doctor. 

"Yes, " said the latter gravely; "he is ill, Ibrahim. "

"The heat of the sun and the dreadful trouble yesterday, Excellency, "said the old man excitedly. "I feared it. The heat made even me feelill. But he will soon be better?"

"I hope so, " said the doctor; and the professor broke in--

"But what of yourself, Ibrahim? You have news?"

"Yes, Excellency. If you listen you can hear them coming. "

"Not the Egyptian Army?"

"No, no, Excellency, not yet. But spies keep coming in, all bringingthe same news, that British forces are slowly and surely coming up theriver to Khartoum, and the Khalifa is sending out his people to gatherin more and more of the wild troops. They are crowding into the cityand camping about outside. There will be war before long. "

"There must not be till we have escaped, Ibrahim, " said the professor. "We being respectable singing birds must not be caught in the net alongwith the black dervish daws. "

"If the British and Egyptians win the battle, Excellency, " said theSheikh gravely. "We must not shut our eyes to the fact that these wildtribes are very brave, while the Egyptians--well, Excellency, we knowthat they have not made a very brave stand in the past. "

"But our British force will be up here in strength?"

"Yes, Excellency, and if it depended entirely upon them I should notfear. "

"Then you do fear?" said the doctor gravely. 

"Hardly fear, Excellency, but I have my doubts, and I am troubled aboutour position in any case. "

"Why?" said the professor. 

"I have been out all night gathering news from such of the people as Ihave made my friends. The city is being filled with wild and lawlesstribes who have come to fight for the new Mahdi, and whose pay is theplunder that they can gather from anywhere. They are their own friendsonly, and think of nothing else but what your English officers callloot. Even so soon as this past night there has been murder and outragewith plundering in the lower parts of the city, and the better peoplehere would take flight at once, for their lives are not safe, and theirwives and daughters seem marked out at once for the slaves of thesesavage men. I tremble for our own fate, and would gladly call my mentogether and risk an escape this very night, before the country round isswarming with the new Mahdi's people and we could not stir. "

"But you will not do this, Ibrahim? You will not forsake us when we areso near success?"

"Alas! Excellency, we have not won success as yet, though we have foundthe young Excellency's brother. "

"Does that mean that you mean to escape and leave us?"

"His Excellency the great Hakim knows that I have sworn to be faithfuleven unto death, " said the old man proudly. "No, I will not leave you. I only speak out and tell you of our peril. If the prisoner we aretrying to save were here I would say, Go this night. But he is nothere, and our position is very bad. "

"What, with the doctor's reputation spread as it is, and such friendsabout us as the Emirs?"

"The Emirs are but men, Excellency, " said the Sheikh, looking theprofessor full in the eyes. "They can do much with their own followers, but nothing with the wild beasts of murdering dervishes who would slayanyone for the handsome robe he wears, or to carry off his wife andchildren for slaves. The great Emir and his people are our friends, butalas! our Emir here, his son, and his son's friend left Omdurman withall their forces last night for the north, to stay the British advance. We are here with only the twenty men of the Emir's guard, while we shallsoon be surrounded by thousands who have never heard of the Hakim'sname. "

"This is bad news indeed, O Sheikh, " said the professor, frowning. 

"Bad tidings of the worst, Excellency, but it is true. These are thegleanings of the past night that I come with sorrowful heart to tellyou. We have had much good of late, and my heart was glad last night asI saw that the young Excellency, Ben Eddin, would soon scheme that hisbrother should join us, and that then we would flee across the desert tothe British camp; but now--"

"Well, Ibrahim; but now?" said the doctor sternly. 

"Now, O Hakim, another sorrow meets me here: the young Excellency, BenEddin, is stricken down, and we have not rescued the prisoner slave asyet. "

"But you have some plans, " said the professor excitedly. "What do youpropose to do?"

"Nothing as yet, Excellency. We must wait till the young Ben Eddin iswell and we can bring his brother here. Till then we must be patient, and trust in God. "

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT. 

FOR FREEDOM. 

The English party had ample proof of Ibrahim's words, for the narrowways of the city were thronged that day with the wild troops that hadridden in from the desert, many too from Khartoum, and the wild blastsand throbbings of barbaric trumpet and drum resounded through the place;but the Emir's house remained undisturbed, though more than once theprofessor noticed that there was an uneasy look in the eyes of the headguard when he came near them, and appeared to be especially devoted tothe care of all in the place. 

That day there were no calls upon the Hakim for help, and he was able todevote himself entirely to Frank, upon whom his ministrations had thebest effect. 

In fact, he woke that night as if out of a long sleep looked wonderinglyat Sam, and seemed puzzled by the bandages laid across his head. Thenas if realising that he had been ill, he lay perfectly still, thinking, till the doctor came to his side a short time later, when he took andpressed the hand which felt his pulse and head, nodded gently, andproved at once that the fit of delirium had quite passed away, for hesaid in a whisper--

"Don't say anything. I know I have been ill. But tell me: any news ofHarry?"

"Not yet, my dear boy. We must have patience. "

"Yes, Frank, lad, " said the professor cheerily, "patience. "

Frank bowed his head softly and let his eyelids drop, lying perfectlystill for some little time. 

"Drowsy, Frank?" said the doctor at last. But there was no reply. Allwas silent but the distant sound of shouting and uproar, as if thenewcomers to the city were quarrelling with their friends. 

The silence startled the professor, who looked from their new patient tothe doctor, and back again searchingly; but the latter paid no heed. 

"Is this right?" he said at last, anxiously. 

"Yes, perfectly right. What I have given him has checked the fever, andhe will sleep from exhaustion for many hours to come. But we must watchby him through the night, in case there should be any relapse. I do notthink there will be, but we will be upon our guard. "

"Of course, " said the professor. "I was going to propose that I shouldsit up with him. "

"Thanks, my dear Fred, " said the doctor gravely; "but I have alreadymade my plans. We will take three hours each. Which watch will youhave?"

"The first, " said the professor. 

"Best so. Watch by him till midnight; then wake up Samuel, and he shallcall me at three. "

The Hakim was master of the position, and everything was carried out ashe proposed, the doctor coming on duty to receive the same report as theprofessor had given to Sam, to wit, that the patient had not stirred. 

It was about six, and the doctor was congratulating himself upon thelong, restful night his patient had enjoyed, when the face of the oldSheikh appeared at the open window, to which the doctor stepped softlyand satisfied the old man as to the sick one's state. 

Ibrahim nodded his satisfaction, and set to work at once upon Sam'sduties, preparing the morning meal quite as a matter of course, butreceiving orders to hurry nothing, so that no one should be disturbed. 

"The young Excellency will be better soon?" whispered the old man. 

"If we could give him good tidings to-day, Ibrahim, he would be nearlywell, " replied the doctor. "Have you anything to tell?"

"Nothing, Excellency, only that the city is full of dervishes, and thewretched people are lamenting that they have not fled to the north. They pray that the Egyptian army may soon be here. One said last night, `If the Khedive's people do not soon come they will find none of usleft. These our masters will either slay or carry us away for slaves. '"

An hour of patient watching ensued, and then there was the sound of manyvoices at the gate, and Ibrahim's grave face looked full of anxiety ashe hurried out, while the doctor aroused his friend and Sam. 

He had just time to return to the side of Frank's couch, to find himsleeping still, when Ibrahim came back to the door with the officer ofthe guard, and their manner set his heart at rest, for they hadevidently no danger to announce. 

The old Sheikh set his face hard, as he spoke in a whisper. 

"One of the chiefs--a friend of our master the great Emir, and friend ofthe new Mahdi, " he said, "sends you one of his slaves, O Hakim, and bidsyou for the sake of your young friend, whom he saved from a dervishband, to heal his hurt. "

The doctor felt as if something had clutched his breast, and he lookedup, fighting hard to be composed, to see that the professor had come tothe inner door and was hearing every word. 

His voice sounded husky as he spoke, but he mastered his emotion andsaid gravely--

"My knowledge is at the service of all who suffer, and I will try andheal the slave of the great Emir's friend. Let the injured man bebrought to the door. What is his hurt?"

"Thy servant cannot tell, " said the old man, and he interpreted theHakim's words to the officer, who retired, and in a few minutesreturned, ushering to the outer door a white figure lying withfast-closed eyes upon a hand litter, which was set down outside. 

The Hakim drew a deep breath, and again had to fight hard to maintainhis composure, for he felt that the critical time had come, just, too, when he who had toiled so hard to bring all this about was lyinginsensible to the success of his plot. 

It was only a temporary fit of nervous agitation, and then the Hakim waswalking gravely and full of dignity of mien to where the injured manlay, the professor following him, trembling with excitement. 

There were about a dozen of the chiefs followers standing about thelitter, all eager to catch a glimpse of the great Hakim, but ready toshrink back reverently when he appeared, leaving only the chief of theguards and one who was their leader. 

These, too, drew back a little, and all seemed to accept as a matter ofcourse that the great Hakim should pass gravely out of the door, walkround the litter, and then stand by its side with his back to them, theprofessor and Ibrahim taking their positions close by. 

"Let the Emir's people say why this man has been brought, " said theHakim slowly, and as he looked down he saw the occupant of the bierstart and tremble; but did not raise his eyelids. 

The Sheikh interpreted the words, and the head man, who hadsuperintended the bringing of the slave, said quickly--

"Tell the great wise Hakim that our master's slave is broken. We knownot how, and he has not spoken since. But he waits upon the horses, andone must have kicked him in the side. "

It was hard work to be calm at such a time, the man's words wheninterpreted by the Sheikh seeming to stab and give the hearers intensepain. 

But the Hakim remained firm, and bending down he laid his left handsoftly upon the sufferer's eyes and the right upon the breast, remainingperfectly motionless for a minute; then raising himself he said in hisdeepest tones--

"Let the young man be taken within. "

The Hakim's orders were interpreted again, and there was a littleexcitement for a few minutes, during which the doctor gravely walkedback to the inner room, leaving the professor and Ibrahim to superintendthe moving, and waiting till the bearers had passed out again and thewindow was closed. 

A deep silence fell upon the group, while the Sheikh drew backrespectfully, to stand on guard by the door of the partially darkenedroom. 

Then the doctor spoke in his low, deep tones. 

"There must be no emotion, no outburst of excitement, Hal. Our work isall to do yet, and our lives depend upon our being calm. Just a word ortwo in the lowest tone. "

"Morris, old friend, " was whispered, in faltering accents, and the thin, careworn object of their mission gazed up wildly in his oldschool-fellow's eyes. "You have dared to come here--for me?"

"Yes, and please God we will take you back in safety. "

"We?" whispered the prisoner. "Who is that brave young black whoventured so much?"

"Your brother Frank, " said the doctor slowly, and he laid his handquickly upon his new patient's burning brow, for as he anticipated, there was a violent start. 

But the prisoner with a great effort mastered his emotion, and saidsoftly--

"I did not know him. And you two have risked your lives like this?"

"We and Fred Landon, " said the doctor softly. 

"Fred Landon!" cried the patient, with a hysterical gasp. "Dear oldFred! How like him!--Tell him--"

"Tell me yourself, Hal, " whispered a voice at the back of his head. "Some time, but not now. I am the Hakim's assistant; there, I may gripyour hand, dear old lad. Anyone might see me do that. "

He reached over to seize the prisoner's left hand, for the right was inthe doctor's, when in spite of a brave effort there was a violent start, the right hand contracted spasmodically upon the doctor's, but the leftlay inert, while they saw the great drops of agony gathering upon thethin, sunburnt face. 

"Hal!" cried the doctor, dropping his practised calm. "Great heavens!you are not really hurt?"

"I could not help wincing, " was the faltering reply. "Not hurt? Howwas I to have been brought here without?"

"We expected some pretence. "

"Pretence!" said Harry Frere bitterly. "You do not know the Baggaras. They are keenness itself. It is real enough, but I am well paid for thepain. "

"But your hurt?" said the doctor eagerly. 

"My left arm. "

"What, kicked?"

"No, " said the sufferer, perfectly calm now. "I broke it myself. "

A deep silence fell upon the group, save that the old Sheikh uttered alow groan, and then the doctor was himself again. This was real--realsuffering to allay, and a word brought the professor to his side, justas Sam came hurriedly to the inner door, fresh from Frank's angareb. 

"Hush! Not a word, " said the doctor sternly; "only help me here. Quick! my case, lint, bandages, and splints. "

But Sam did not move. He stood as if turned to stone, gazing where thelight shone upon Harry Frere's thin, worn face, and reading recognitionin the eyes fixed full upon his. 

"Oh!" he cried, with a sob, and forgetting everything he sprang to theside of the litter and dropped upon his knees. "Mr Harry at last!"

The doctor could not speak, as he saw his old companion raise his righthand and lay it upon the servant's shoulder, while the professor uttereda strange sound, which, if it had escaped a woman's breast would havebeen termed a sob. Then the doctor spoke. 

"That will do, " he said sternly. "Obey my orders at once. The restmust wait till we are safe. "

Sam sprang up to fetch what was required, and the professor made aneffort to recover his composure, the demand made upon him by his oldschool-fellow's condition rousing him to action. 

"One word only, " said the prisoner faintly. "You said my brother--"

"He is yonder, " said the doctor quietly; "ill, but not seriously. Youmust not see him now. His _ruse_ has succeeded, and we have you here. Now I must see to your arm. "

"No, no, not now, " said Harry excitedly; "we must make some plan oranother about escaping. You must not stay here--you will bediscovered. "

"Leave that to us, " said the doctor sternly. 

"No, no, " cried his new patient. "I have nearly been driven mad duringmy long imprisonment, but if aught happens to you all I shall go quiteout of my mind in my despair. "

"Silence!" said the doctor sternly. "You are badly hurt, and yourinjury is telling upon your brain. I will not have you dwell upon ourposition. Look here, you can trust us. We have found our way here, found you, and had you brought to us. Give up to us at once, and trustto our doing what is best. "

"Yes, yes, " said the poor fellow passionately; "but you do notunderstand. Never mind my arm. I will keep still, and the fracturewill mend of itself. "

"Will it?" said the doctor grimly. 

"Yes, yes; but look here, " whispered the sufferer; "we must talk; wemust decide upon some action. "

"No, " said the doctor, "not now. You do not understand our position. "

"I can guess it, " said the poor fellow wildly. "Think then of mine. Iam brought here for you to set my arm; in half an hour at the outside Ishall be taken back to my owner. We may not have another opportunity tospeak--we may never meet again. "

"Now I insist, " said the doctor firmly. "You will have plenty of timeto talk to us by and by. "

"No, no; you do not understand, Morris. "

"But the Hakim does, " said the doctor grimly. "Now I order you to trustto me and wait. "

The poor fellow's head fell back, as he uttered a groan of despair, andthe next minute, with eyes half-closed, he lay perfectly still, suffering acute pain, but making no sign, while the great surgeon's deftfingers felt the injury, commenting upon it from time to time, so thatLandon could hear, and while splint and bandage were handed to him asrequired, by the professor or Sam. 

"A simple fracture of the ulna, " said the doctor calmly; "no splinters, and as far as I can make out, very little laceration of the muscle--easyto set, and it ought to be rapid in the healing. There!" he said atlast, "the broken ends will begin to secrete fresh bone matter almostdirectly, and with care your arm will be as strong as the other. Cup, glass, and number four bottle, Frederick, my son. "

The professor hurried away to the doctor's case, and the latter tookhold of his patient's hand to feel the pulse. 

"A little feverish, Hal, old fellow, " he said calmly. "Did I hurt youvery much?"

"Oh, no. But Rob, old lad!"

"Silence!" was the uncompromising command. --"Ah, that's right, Fred. Bottle, glass, water! Now, Hal, drink that. "

"No, " said the patient angrily. "It is a narcotic. You want to send meto sleep so that I shall not know what you are planning. Is it fair tome after I have broken a limb so as to get myself brought here?"

"Perfectly fair. Listen; it is not a strong narcotic, only something tosoothe the pain you must be in. --There, that's better. Hal, my dear oldboy, you always did trust me; trust me now. "

"Well, I will, " said the sufferer hoarsely. 

"That's right. Now I will set your mind at rest. The great Hakim hasmore power here than you think for. "

Harry Frere suppressed a groan, and his eyes wandered from one to theother, noting how the others present seemed waiting eagerly to obeytheir chiefs slightest gesture or word; while now at a sign he saw theSheikh close up and stand waiting with bended head. 

"Go to the officer who brought our friend, and tell him to come here. "

The Sheikh turned to go, but the professor interposed. 

"One moment, " he said earnestly; "Frank is in there--you know how. Suppose he begins to speak as he did last night. "

"It is not probable, " said the doctor quietly. "Go, Ibrahim. "

The Sheikh passed out of the room and through the door, to where the twoofficers stood waiting patiently, with their men a short distance away;and as a curtain was drawn aside a burst of barbaric music and loudcries of "Allah! Allah!" were borne into the room. 

As the curtain dropped back into its place the doctor took a cushion, and carefully raising the splinted and bandaged arm placed the softpillow beneath. 

"Now, " he said, "lie still and close your eyes. Don't stir while thesemen are here. I need not tell you to try and look bad, for Nature ishelping you there, my dear old fellow. Hal, lad, your arm will soonknit together, but make your mind easy: you are too bad to move. "

"No, no, Rob, you are wrong. I feel a little drowsy, but so free frompain. I could get up and walk. "

"The Hakim thinks differently. Silence! They are coming. Samuel, stand there! Fred, my son, bend over him with those bandages and thatscalpel. --Hist! Close your eyes. "

His orders were obeyed, and as Harry Frere closed his sunken eyes, oldcares and sufferings, combined with the mental and bodily agony he waspassing through, gave his face, in the shadowy, dim, curtained room, alook that was absolutely ghastly. 

Directly after the curtain was drawn aside by the Sheikh for the twoofficers to pass in, both looking awed as they gave a sharp look roundat the strange scene. 

The next moment the Baggara who had brought the injured man startedforward a step to look down at his charge, and then recoiled, to say afew hurried words to the Sheikh, who turned gravely to the doctor andinterpreted. 

"The Emir's servant says, Excellency, that the white slave is dead, andthat he dare not go back with the tidings, lest his head should fall. "

The Hakim turned slowly to the officer and smiled, as he laid a handupon his patient's forehead. 

"Tell him, " he said, "to bear the tidings to his master that the whiteslave will live, and his broken arm will soon be well. "

"Ah!" exclaimed the Baggara. "The Hakim is great. Then we may carryhim back at once?"

The words were interpreted to the doctor, who made his reply. 

"No; if the slave is taken away he may die. Bid him tell his masterthat the Hakim will keep the injured slave here and make him whole, ashe has the Emirs, his master's friends. "

The Baggara officer looked troubled and perplexed. 

"Tell the great Hakim that his servant was bidden to bring the slavehere and take him back. There is nothing for him but to obey. "

"Yes, " said the doctor, drawing himself up proudly and fixing the manwith his eyes, pausing at times to give Ibrahim ample time to interprethis words, "it is his duty to obey till a greater man than his masterbids him do this or that. "

The doctor's words sounded loud and imperious, and he had got so farwhen an impatient voice was heard from the room where Frank was lying, calling first one and then another, and a cold chill ran through allpresent, for the voice sounded as it were the knell of all their hopes. Even the doctor was silenced for the moment, but recalling directly thatonly the Sheikh could understand his words, he called angrily in a voiceof thunder, looking hard at the Sheikh the while. 

"Lie still, Frank, till I come!" Then: "Tell thy master that the Hakimwill keep the white slave here. Take him this from me as my pledge thatI will cure his slave. Enough! Now go. "

As he spoke he raised his hand to his white turban, detached the largeEgyptian jewel he wore, and then gave it to the Sheikh, who took itreverently, and as he interpreted humbly the Hakim's words ended byplacing the rare token in the officer's hands. 

The Baggara bowed his head over the pledge, as he wrapped it carefullyin his fine linen scarf, and saying humbly, "The Hakim is great, " hegave a final glance at the patient and backed slowly out of the room, followed by the officer of the Emir's guard, while the curtain wasquivering still where it had fallen back when Frank appeared in theopening leading to his room. 

"What does all this mean?" he said. Then, catching sight of the ghastlyfigure lying upon the couch, he uttered a cry of joy, and rushingforward fell upon his knees by his brother's side. 

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE. 

TIGHTENED CHAINS. 

Those were minutes of agony to all concerned, for there was the troubleof Frank's calls while the doctor was speaking. It was nothing that thestrange officer had heard them, but the fact that they must have beenheard by the guard, familiar with them all was startling, and theposition was excitedly discussed. The Sheikh said that the officer hadmade no allusion to it since, and the doctor recalled to them the factthat the man could not have recognised the voice, for he had never heardFrank speak. Besides he did not know that Frank was lying there ill. 

"Let him think that there was a mystery about it all, Excellencies, "said the Sheikh; "and when he sees Ben Eddin again going about hisbusiness as of old, making his desires known by signs, he will neverthink that it was he who spoke. "

"But who will he think it was then?" said the professor. 

"Who can say, Excellency? They are superstitious children, these strongfighting men of the desert, and believe in demons, genii, and afreets. He will say to himself that it was the voice of the Hakim's familiar, that he heard the invisible spirit by whose help he works his cures, andbe glad of heart that the djin, or whatever it might be, did not strikehim dead for being there. "

A couple of hours or so later they were startled by the appearance ofthe very man of whom the Sheikh had been speaking, and all fanciedafterwards that he looked very hard at Frank, who was sufficientlyrecovered by the success of his plan to be able to keep about, and hencewas present in the room. 

The chief of the guard had come to announce the return of the Emir'sofficer with a message to the Hakim, and when the Baggara was ushered init was to announce that his master thankfully accepted the Hakim'spledge, but felt that it was not right for so great a sage, mullah, andprophet, to be asked to waste his time over a dog of a white slave. Inconclusion he prayed that the great Hakim, whose very touch bore healingto the sons of men, would deign to accept the gift he sent him by hisservant--the offering being a costly emerald ring, roughly and clumsilyset in gold. 

One difficulty was at an end, for all felt that the doctor might insistupon the prisoner staying till such time as they could ripen their plansfor escape, while in addition that night, the Sheikh learned from theirguard that Harry Frere's master had marched with all his force to jointhe Emir and his son, who were camping out waiting the arrival of otherbands before joining forces with the Khalifa. 

"Many have left the city, Excellency, " he said, "but more have come in, and the streets are filled with strangers who know us not. "

"Then now ought to be the time for us to escape. "

"Yes, Excellency, " said the old man sadly, "but we are watched andguarded here. I fear that our chief guard has begun to doubt us, and hewill watch us more closely still. "

"That is awkward, " said the professor. 

"Yes, Excellency, and it is impossible to journey now with all thesestrangers here ready to stop us, to plunder if not to slay. "

"More awkward still, Ibrahim. "

"Yes, Excellency, for if we started some night, instead of all being ofgood courage, light and rejoicing in our strength and in having savedthe young Excellency's brother, we have two sick men. "

"Most awkward of all, Ibrahim, " said the professor. "But never mind; wehave mastered all difficulties so far, and it will go hard if we do notconquer after all. "

"Yes, Excellency, and we will try. "

The professor went and talked over all he had heard with the Hakim, andas he did so he felt that there was a compensation for it all in thesight of Harry Frere lying upon the angareb, peaceful and at rest, withhis brother grasping his uninjured hand. 

"The sight of Harry did more good, " he muttered, "than all the doctor'sstuff. "

During the next few days the dread of the guard's suspicions died outand was pretty well forgotten in the wild excitements which followed oneupon another. For the Khalifa's troops came pouring into the place andcamping around in all directions, till the poorer inhabitants, and thosewho lived by trade, began to long for a deliverance from their so-calledfriends, feeling truthfully that the occupation of the place by theenemy--British and Egyptian--from the north, would be a welcomeblessing. 

Meanwhile fresh news was always being brought in by spies and scouts. The enemy was approaching fast; he was devastating all before him andcovering the banks of the river with the slain, who were being sweptdown the rapid streams by thousands. 

The enemy had come by boat, by camel, by horse, and by means of thestrange litters which ran on rails of iron. They had advanced in alltheir proud strength, with standards flying and their men playingsavage, barbarous strains upon hideous instruments; and as they came onthey shouted in their pride and folly, little thinking what was to come. For the new Mahdi had come down from Khartoum mounted upon a jet blackhorse whose eyes blazed fire, whose mane and tail streamed out like thewind-swept sand in a storm; and he had with his chosen joined all hisEmirs and wisest generals--a mighty host greater than the desert sands--and then with standards flying and drums beating he had, in the name ofthe Prophet, joined battle with the infidel. He had opened out thefore-front of his host as the Christian dogs cowered back in fear, forming his attack in the shape of the crescent moon, and then to thewar-cry of "Allah il Allah!" they had swept down upon their enemies asthe sand of the desert sweeps down in a storm. The spears and swordsflashed as they drank the infidels' blood and rode on, crushing theminto the sand, till the Mahdi's conquering host stood breathless uponthe banks of the river Nile, into which the Christian and the Egyptianarmies had been driven, and not one was left to tell the tale. 

The Emir's chief of the guard bore the first account to Ibrahim, andtold it stolidly, his forehead in lines; but within two hours he cameagain and told him the second tale. 

But his face bore no trace of elation. He merely told the tale as ithad been brought to him, finishing by saying--

"If the battle is won, my master, the Emir, will soon be back. "

"Then he did not believe the account?" said the professor coolly. 

"I thought not at the time, Excellency. Perhaps he knows what hispeople can say. But what does his Excellency think? The camels are allhealthy and strong; my young men are ready; and the great Hakim has butto give the word. Then we could lift the two brothers upon the swiftestcamels, taking nothing but the few poor things we need, and fly as soonas it is dark, for there is no moon now. "

"Let us hear what my brother says, " said Frank, who was listening to allthat had been said. "What do you think, Hal--could we escape?"

"No, " was the decisive answer. "The country round swarms with armedmen--bloodthirsty savages, panting like the jackal and hyaena for bloodand spoil. We could not go a mile without being stopped, and if we werethe next hour we should all be slaves, or the camels would be driven offwhile the sand was soaking up our blood. "

"You hear, Ibrahim?" said Frank. 

"Yes, Excellency, I hear, and the Excellency your brother speaks thewords of truth. The risk would be too great unless the Khalifa's armyhad been put to flight. "

"But you have heard these two accounts. "

"Yes, Excellency. What does your brother think?"

"I think, " said Harry Frere, "that the first was invented by some Emir, jealous of the Khalifa; the second by the Khalifa himself. All false asthe people themselves. We shall have more such tales. "

"Then you think you would still defer our start, Hal?" said the Hakim, who had sat listening in silence. 

"Certainly, for we should only be riding to our death. We must acceptour position of prisoners until the Khalifa's men have suffered somereal reverse. Then strike off at once for the desert and make a long_detour_ upon the camels before trying to reach one of the Britishpositions on the river. "

"Not make for our army at once?" said the Hakim quietly. 

"No, for we should come upon them in the first flush of victory, and thechances are that we should encounter Egyptian regiments, who would takeus for--what do we look like, Frank?"

"So much like the enemy that we have deceived them so far. Look at us, Morris, Hal and I are as if we were native born; Landon is littlebetter; then there are Ibrahim and his men; while there is not enough ofthe Englishman about you now to save our lives. "

"You are right, " said the doctor. "Ibrahim, we must wait. "

"I think you are right, Excellency; but you bade me be quite prepared, and I am ready to start at a moment's notice. "

"We will wait, " said the doctor; "and meantime go on bringing us news. "

The old Sheikh bowed and left the place, to return in an hour withanother completely different account of the state of affairs, and bynightfall he had brought in eight more circumstantial reports, every oneof which was a tissue of fables, invented to support or weaken the newMahdi's power. 

And so the days wore on in a continuous state of excitement, theprisoners--for such they were now more than ever, with the exception ofIbrahim--being fully prepared to start upon their return journey at anymoment when the opportunity should offer, the madness of any attempt asmatters were being only too evident; and finding that the Emir's officerand the guards were rigorously faithful to the trust placed in theirhands by their master. For as soon as Frank had recovered from hisattack, he determined to have a ride round the city and its suburbs tojudge for himself how matters stood, and gave orders through the Sheikhfor his horse to be brought round; but upon their guardian beingsummoned they were met by a point-blank, though respectful, refusal. 

"I am answerable with my head for the safety of the Hakim and hispeople, " said the guard; "and for the Hakim's friend, Ben Eddin, to rideout now means an attack by some one or other of the wandering bands. Iand my men will defend him to the last, but what are we against so many?I have been left with the twenty men to defend the Emir's house andthose he has left behind, and if the Hakim's friend rides out I and halfmy men must go with him; then what are ten to protect all that is herefrom danger?"

Frank angrily bade Ibrahim to tell the man he exaggerated matters, andthat he was sure that both the Emir and his son desired that theirfriend should be free to go about the city. 

The officer bowed respectfully, but he was immovable. 

The Hakim and his people must stay within, he said. If the Emir or theyoung Emir were angry when they returned he must bear it, but they couldnot blame him much, for he had done his duty, and that he felt he wouldneglect if he let the Hakim's young friend go into danger. 

Frank, feeling how much there was at stake, became more importunate, andthen the officer turned to Ibrahim, after listening to the Sheikh'sinterpretation of Frank's signs, most of which took the form of angrypointings towards the camels. 

"Speak for yourself, " said the officer, "and make the Hakim's friendknow the truth. Tell him whether you think it is safe for him to go outof this place, and whether it is just for him to order me to neglect mycharge by leaving the house unguarded. "

"The man is right, Excellencies, " said Ibrahim at once. "It would belike riding out to tempt death for us all. "

There was nothing for it but to resign themselves to circumstances, andthe expedition was given up, the party being now the closest ofprisoners; but as if to make up for it their guards were more respectfulthan ever, and their head was indefatigable in his endeavours toforestall all their wants. 

As Frank said when they were alone, it seemed as if they were neglectingtheir opportunities by not making their attempt while the Emirs wereabsent, for at any moment they might return and Harry's owner be sendinga party of his men to fetch the injured slave back to his duties. 

But this did not happen, and though much of the information whichIbrahim brought in was simply rumour, he was able to supply facts, andamong these were the announcements that the house of Harry's master wasclosely shut up and guarded by a few men, and that the whole city wasthronged with savage-looking dervishes who plundered as they choseslaying and destroying where there was any resistance, while the wholeplace was in a state of siege. 

"The time has not come yet, Excellencies, " the old man said, "but it mayarrive at any moment, and we will be ready to start. "

"Where for?" said the doctor sternly. 

"Who can say, Excellency? That must depend on fate. If we can, ourplace of refuge must be with the British troops; if we cannot reach themthere is the desert. "

"But why not try for the desert now, striking right away for the openparts, far away from the ordinary caravan routes?" said the professor. 

"Because we should be cut off by some of the wandering bands before wecould reach those distant parts, Excellency; and yonder there are otherenemies: the sun to strike us down, and the dry sand. How can wejourney on through the burning desert where there are not springs orwells?"

"Could we not keep to the river?" said the doctor. 

"If there were none of the dervishes there we could, Excellency, " saidthe Sheikh; "but it is certain now that the British force is steadilycoming on to reach Khartoum, and the Khalifa's men are gathered allalong the river banks, increasing daily like the desert sands. There isnothing open to us but to wait. "

"And the Emir and his friends will return, and we shall be worse offthan ever. "

"Can the young Excellency say for certain that the Emir and his friendswill return?" continued the Sheikh. "Surely it is more likely that thedervish army will be scattered like dust before the desert wind. Thinkof the long preparations that have been made, of the steady, slowadvance of the English army. Every step of the way has been made surewith road and station, where are supplies for the fighting men. Thiswill be the great blow struck at the new Mahdi's power, to put an endfor ever to the bloodshed, pillage, and outrage of his savage bands, andI dare prophesy that this time he and his will be driven back into thedesert from whence they came--a plague of locusts that they are; whileif this great blow is struck--"

"It will be here in this city first, and at Khartoum later on?"

"No, Excellency, " replied the Sheikh; "the men of the desert are men oftents. They do not, like you of the West, make great cities with wallsand cannon; they come from the desert, and they will fight in thedesert. When the time comes they will advance from the city, to striketheir blow in the plain. We must try and make our effort then, forOmdurman will be deserted whichever way the fight may go. Till the timecomes be watchful; help the Excellency Harry to grow strong; it willmake the journey easier for us all. "

"I am ready now, Sheikh, " said Harry gravely; "the strength is comingfast, and as to my arm, it grows less painful day by day. You need notstop for me. "

"That is good news, Excellency, " said the old man, smiling. "We haveonly to be patient, for I have great hopes. We have conquered ineverything up to now, in spite of all, and we shall go on to the end. Only have faith, and trust to me. "

CHAPTER FORTY. 

IN SUSPENSE. 

It was one bright evening after an exciting day, during which theprisoners, shut up as they were within the walls of the Emir's so-calledpalace, had gone through hours of feverish impatience, listening to thetrumpeting and drumming outside accompanying the marching of the troops, but knowing nothing of what was going on save that the Egyptian army wasapproaching. That they had learned through Ibrahim, and it was endorsedby the officer of the guard. 

From him, too, they learned that the new Mahdi had reached theneighbourhood with a force of the finest fighting men led by Emirs ofgreat repute; and he added through Ibrahim that there could be no doubtof the result, for the Egyptian army, the scouts declared, were weak andtrembling, ready to desert or throw down their arms, while the white menhad half perished by disease, and the other half were unfit to fight. 

"But, " said the Hakim through his interpreter, "we have had such reportsas these before, and they were not true. "

"No, they were lies--all lies; but these words are true. "

"And you think the Khalifa will conquer?"

"Oh, yes, " said the man, with a look of calm satisfaction; "he cannotfail. "

"How do you know all this?"

"From the Emir my master, " said the man proudly. 

"Ah! You have seen him?"

"Yes: he rode in last night to see if all was well. "

"What! The Emir came here?"

"Yes, and praised thy servant for all that he had done. He gave him, too, other commands. That the Hakim and his people were to be protectedat all costs, for they were friends; and that if there was danger fromthe wild and fierce dervishes who might attack the palace because it wasnot strongly enough guarded, the Hakim and his people were to be mountedupon camels and were to be taken away. "

"Where to?" said the doctor. 

"To Khartoum, with the Emir's wives and slaves. "

The officer returned to his duties, and soon after Ibrahim announcedthat he was making preparations, two score of camels being got inreadiness for instant flight if the danger should come. 

"Can we escape in the confusion?" said the professor. 

"We will try, Excellency. I have, as you know, everything ready, andnow I will go and learn all I can about the Egyptian army's advance upthe river, for there is no doubt about its being near. Whether sick ornot I cannot say. "

"Sick or well, they will fight, " said Harry, with a warlike flash of theeyes. 

"I pray so, Excellency, " said the Sheikh, and he too left. 

But the day glided by and the night had come, a day and night of wildturmoil and anxiety; and in this great emergency the Sheikh did notreturn. 

His absence at this extremely critical time came upon the party like ashock, for it was only now that they fully realised the full value ofthe services he had rendered, and surmises as to the cause of hisabsence were discussed one after the other. 

One of the first things proposed when night closed in was to consult theofficer of the guard. But here a difficulty arose at once--theirinterpreter was missing. The professor's knowledge of Arabic wasextensive and he had picked up a few words of the dialect used by theBaggara; but he got on with the guard with the greatest difficulty, andthe Sheikh's young men were completely wanting in the lingual powers oftheir chief. 

"You must let me question him, " said Harry. "He seems to have nosuspicion of our having been friends. "

"I don't know that, " said Frank and the professor, almost in a breath. 

"But we have been most careful over keeping up my character of theHakim's patient. "

"Yes, " said Frank, "but this man is wonderfully quiet and observant. Ihalf fancy that he is suspicious, after all. "

"He cannot be, " said Harry. "He knows that I was sent here, and can byno means have the most remote idea of why you came. "

"I don't know, " said the professor, shaking his head. 

"I feel satisfied, " said the doctor. "We did not come here of our ownaccord, but were brought. We had better have him in, and as if by ourorders Hal can question him. "

There was no opposition to this, and one of the camel-drivers wasfetched and sent down to the gate, while Harry lay down with hisbandaged arm exposed, on an angareb close to the door, where he laylooking ghastly and feeble by the light of the lamp. 

The officer came at once, and the professor made him understand what wasrequired, when he turned to the injured prisoner, who soon proved thathe could speak the desert Arabic tongue pretty well. 

"The great doctor, " he said, "is thinking about his servant the Sheikh. Where is he?"

"I fear that he is dead, " was the reply. "I told him when he went outthat he carried his life in his hand. "

"But why should he be slain?" asked Harry. "He was no fighting man. "

"Because no man's life is safe, " was the reply. "He went out upon oneof the Hakim's camels, and any dervish who wanted one of the beastswould have followed him. Hundreds in the town want camels and horsesnow, and if the Sheikh gave his up quietly to the man who asked, itwould be well. If he refused, a thrust from a spear or a blow from aknife would be sufficient. "

"Then I am to tell the Hakim he will not return?"

"No. Tell him that he may return, but that I fear he will not. Tellhim, too, that he is to be ready, for we may have to leave here soonafter it is light. "

Harry signified that he would, and then started, for the officer saidsuddenly--

"How is it that you can speak the Hakim's tongue?"

"Because I was once among the Franks. It is a tongue that is known farand wide. He is a great man, and my arm will soon be well. Is it nottime that my master fetched me back?"

"Thy master has gone to fight the enemies of Allah, " said the officerscornfully, "and has no time to think of thee. "

There was no more information to be obtained of the man, whose wholemanner seemed to have changed, and the sound of the tapping of awar-drum drew him away directly after, leaving the party undecided whatto do. 

One thing was evident, that with the strict guard kept over the placeany attempt at evasion would have been useless, and it was decided thatif they were to escape it must be during their journey to Khartoum. 

"But we must not give up all hope of seeing Ibrahim return, " said thedoctor. "Go to the men, Landon, and find out what they think abouttheir chief. "

The professor left the room at once, leaving his friends listening toevery sound that came through the open windows of the soft night; andthere were many, all going to prove that something extraordinary wasafloat, the little party having no difficulty in making out that a largebody of men were on the move, while when this had ceased and a peculiarstillness began to reign, the distant tap, tap, tap of another drum washeard, followed in due time by the dull tramp of men. 

"I had no idea, " said the doctor, "that these Baggara were in such astate of discipline. Why, they seem to march like European troops. "

"You have not seen so much of them as I have, " said Harry sadly. "During my imprisonment I have had plenty of time to study them, andhave seen pretty well why this is. Of course their leader's positiondepends upon his army more than upon his reputation of being the prophetupon whom the last Mahdi's garment has fallen. "

"I suppose so, " said Frank. "Mahomet's great power came from thesword. "

"Of course, " replied Harry. "No wonder that, with an army to back him, he made so many converts. It was, `Which will you have, the Koran orthe sword?' And it is so now with this man, only it is worse. Brutalviolence of the most horrible description wherever he and his followersgo, and there is more stress laid upon the sword than upon the Koran. "

"And the spear added, " said Frank. 

"Exactly. I don't want to harrow you with the horrors I have beencompelled to witness, and what I have seen and known to occur is but adrop of blood in an ocean. The country has been laid waste for thegratification of this human fiend and his vile followers. "

As he spoke the tramp, tramp of men came through the window once more, and Harry nodded. 

"As so much depends upon the army's efficiency, this Mahdi, like hispredecessor, whose paltry tomb you have seen, has done his best to bringthe tribes up into as perfect a state of discipline as can be managedwith such wild beasts. They have plenty of modern rifles, and they knowhow to use them, and they have been drilled sufficiently to make themdangerous. Of course you know how. "

"By imitating what they have seen in the troops sent against them, " saidthe doctor, as he sat listening intently to the sounds from without. 

"By the help of renegades, " said Harry bitterly. "I might have been oneof the Mahdi's generals--an Emir, by now, if I would have taken some ofthe troops in hand. I had offers enough, and of course it meantbecoming a follower of Mahomet. "

"But you resisted the temptations, " said Frank proudly. 

"And became a groom, " said Harry, smiling bitterly. "I suppose if ithad not been for my love for horses and camels I should have lost myhead like my poor leader. Oh, if it is only true, and the Britishforces are close up! Surely the day of retribution has come at last. "

"I want the day of escape for us to have come, Hal, " said the doctor, reaching over to lay his hand upon his old school-fellow's arm. "Ourwork is done when we have got you away. Let's leave the punishment ofthe dervishes to--Ah, here's Landon back. Well, have they any news forus?"

"None of Ibrahim, and the men want to know what they are to do. "

"Nothing, " said the doctor sadly. "We are prisoners, and resistance tothe Emir's guard would be madness. "

"So I have told them, but they don't want to go in search of him. "

"What, then?" said Frank impatiently. "You mean something else?"

"Yes, " said the professor sadly; "we are to shift our quarters. Ourguard has given them orders to load up their camels with fodder, provisions, and water, in case we have to take to the desert, and tofill the water-skins so as to have an ample supply. They are to beready to start at a moment's notice, and asked me if they are to obey. "

"And you told them yes, of course?" said Frank eagerly. 

"I told them yes, of course, " said the professor sadly; "but I don'tlike going. It is leaving poor old Ibrahim in the lurch. "

"But I suppose we have no option?" said the doctor. 

"None unless we make up our minds to resist. "

"And that would be throwing away our lives, " said Harry gloomily. "Thischief of the guard has his orders, and he is evidently a man who willserve his master faithfully and well. I suppose he will be taking theEmir's household with us?"

"Yes; the other part of the palace is in a busy state of preparation, and the court next to the garden here is full of horses and camels. "

"It is our opportunity, " said Frank, "and if we start before daylight wemay be able to separate from the rest of the party. What are we goingto take with us?"

"I should go away as we came. The Hakim's cures have helped us well, and they may do so again, for who knows how far we may have to travelthrough the desert, or what tribes we may encounter? So let's beprepared. "

Their baggage was so light and so well arranged that there was little todo beyond strapping up a few cases, and at the end of a busy hour theywere quite prepared, while they had hardly finished before the officercame in, cast an eye over the leathern cases lying ready, and then gavea nod of satisfaction. 

"Tell the Hakim, " he said, turning to Harry and speaking sharply, "thatthere are no tidings of his Arab servant and guide. He must have beencut down by some robber for the sake of his camel. Tell him, too, thathe has done wisely in being prepared. I cannot say how soon we start;it may be in an hour, it may be after sunrise, or not at all. But whenI give the order, what he wishes to take must be placed upon the camelsdirectly. You will stay here. "

"No, " said Harry coldly; "the Hakim has not done with me yet. "

"Well, " said the guard, with a grim laugh, "it will be better for youthan staying here. Your white skin may be an invitation to the sword ifthe Khalifa does not win the day. "

The man turned sharply and left the room without another word. 

"Poor old Ibrahim!" said the professor sadly. "I'd give something tosee him walk in safe and sound. "

"And I, "--"And I, " said Frank and the doctor. 

"And I say the same. Heaven help him!" said Harry, "for I owe it to himthat I am with you, and I would say let us hold out here if I thought itwas of any use. But it would be utter folly to resist, and I should notlike to fight against a man who is doing his duty and has proved himselfour friend. "

Frank rose and went into the next room, where Sam had been in prettygood spirits so long as the packing up took his attention, for he waseager to get away; but now everything was done and he was left alone, waiting and watchful, his spirits had sunk below zero. 

He jumped up from where he was seated upon a portmanteau as Frankentered. 

"Orders to start, sir?" he said eagerly. 

"No, Sam, not yet. We must wait. "

"Oh dear!" groaned the man. "I did think we were going at last, sir. Got Mr Harry, the camels all waiting, and the town empty of fightingmen. I say, sir, hadn't we better start, and chance it? Mr Abrams hasgot a camel, and he'll find out which way we're gone. This waiting isthe worst of all. "

Frank explained to him the position, and the man shook his headdismally. 

"Then we're only going to chop one prison for another, Ben Eddin? Butyou surely don't think Mr Abrams has been killed?"

"I only know he has not returned, Sam. "

"Oh, but look at him. Such a fine, long-bearded old Arab as he is. Oh, they wouldn't kill him. He's gone a bit further, sir, to get some news. There, I've been red-hot to start and get away from here, but I don'twant to go now. I say, let's stop till he comes back. We can't go andleave him behind. "

Frank sighed. 

"We are under the Emir's guard, " he said, "and when the order to startis given we shall have to obey. "

"And about now, sir. It's of no use to pretend to lie down and sleep, "said Sam; "I couldn't get a wink. "

"No, nor anyone else, " replied Frank; "there is nothing to be done butwatch and wait. "

CHAPTER FORTY ONE. 

THE LAST STRUGGLE. 

The night glided slowly on, seeming to be as long as several to theweary watchers, and during the latter part, when the bustle ofpreparation had long ceased in the women's part of the palace, even thehorses and camels beyond the dividing wall had grown perfectly quiet. 

From time to time, watchful and silent, the officer of the guard hadbeen to visit them, looking sharply round and then leaving without aword; while after one of his visits Frank and the professor stepped outinto the open to visit the Sheikh's men, who were seated smokingpatiently by their crouching camels, waiting for their chief's return. 

In this look round and another which followed, Frank found that the menof the bodyguard were fully on the alert, and that twice as manysentries as usual were about the place. But all was silent save a lowmurmur from the far-spreading city--a low, strange buzzing burr as iffrom some vast hive, suggesting that the whole place was awake and inexpectation of something about to happen. 

At last there were the faint indications of the coming day, but to thewatchers even they seemed cold and strange, differing from the earlydawns they were accustomed to in their journeys across the vast stretchof sand. 

The light increased, and a strange restlessness, which they could notexplain attacked the watchers. The drowsiness that had been felt fromtime to time had completely passed away, and while the Hakim sat lookingstern and anxious, Sam relieved his feelings by making coffee, feelingsure all the time that no one would touch it, and Frank and theprofessor fidgeted about in and out to look at the camel-drivers seatedas calmly as the quaint animals they tended, and then to see if theguard were still at their posts. 

But there was no further sign of preparation for a start, and the chiefof the guard was nowhere to be seen. 

Sunrise came, and with it the hurrying of feet, which proved to be alarge body of men making for the vast expanse of mud-houses nearest tothe river, where the rough forts, of which Frank had never obtained aglimpse, lay. When the men had passed, the silence became oppressiveonce more, and Frank and his companion went in to find Harry nursing hisarm, which had taken to throbbing violently. 

Just then Sam was ready with the coffee, borne in a steaming brass potin company with a brass tray and so many brass cups. 

"You'll have some coffee, gentlemen?" he said respectfully; "it will beso refreshing, " and setting down the tray he began, though no oneanswered, to fill the little cups. 

At that moment there came from far away the dull, short report of a gun, and Sam nearly dropped the coffee pot. 

"What's that?" he cried, with his eyes starting widely open. 

"A heavy gun, " said Harry, starting up. "Then this is what all thisgathering meant. "

He had hardly spoken before in rapid succession two more reports wereheard, followed by crash after crash, distinct and peculiar, butunmistakable. 

"Bullets, " said Harry, who began to pant with excitement, as he made forthe door. "Hark at that, and that! Oh, it has come at last, and I am aprisoner here!"

At that moment a camel was seen passing the window. One of the Sheikh'smen was leading it, and directly after Frank uttered a cry of joy, and, followed by the professor, ran to the door, just in time to encounterIbrahim, who hurried in, looking haggard and bent. 

The next minute he was shaking hands with all, and eagerly took thecoffee Sam offered to him. He drank it with avidity, after adding to itsome cold water from a jug close by. 

"Hah!" he ejaculated, and then quickly--

"I went out, Excellencies, to make a long round so as to find out allthat was to be known. It has been hard work to avoid being cut off. But I have seen much. "

"Yes, yes; pray speak out, " cried Frank. 

"The Khalifa has gathered his forces together, and yesterday eveningthey made their advance away from the town--an enormous army, seeming todrive their enemies back. "

"Their enemies!" cried Harry excitedly. "The English and Egyptianarmies?"

"Yes, Excellency; they are many miles away, by the river side, and thereare gunboats coming on nearly opposite here. "

"At last!" cried Harry. "Oh, but it has been long, long! This timethey will not be too late. "

"It seemed last night that the great battle was to take place; but atdusk the Khalifa halted his army, thousands upon thousands; their whitegarments seemed to spread for three or four miles, and I felt that atlast the great time had come. "

"Yes, yes?" cried Frank, and the old Sheikh's voice sounded dull andstrange now, overborne by the distant muttering thunder of the firing, which seemed to be on the increase. 

"But I would not come back till I could be sure of the tidings I had tobring, and I lay out with my camel among the hills over yonder, tilljust at daybreak I could see that the dervish army was in motion, and Imounted my camel, keeping to the highest parts I could find. I made acircuit, after seeing the British and Egyptian forces far back by theriver, and the dervishes in one long, white wave sweeping steadily alongas if to lap round and drive their foes into the stream. "

"And that they will never do!" said Harry proudly. 

"I don't know, Excellency. The dervishes looked so many. Your friendsseemed so few. But I had learned all I wanted, for I could see that thegreat fight was about to begin, and I came with the tidings. What willyour Excellencies do?"

He looked at the doctor as he spoke, and the latter replied, "We can donothing while we are here, Ibrahim. Our orders are to wait till ourguard gives the word for us to start. "

"And then we hope to make for the desert if we can shake our guardiansoff, " said the professor. 

The old Sheikh was silent, as if deep in thought. 

"I know not how to advise, " he said. "If the English are beaten--"

"They will not be!" cried Harry excitedly. 

"I pray not, Excellency, but if the day goes against them it would bemadness to take to the desert, for the dervishes will be swarmingeverywhere, athirst for blood. We could not escape, and we should besafer here. Even if the Khalifa's army is routed it will be as bad, forwe should have to mingle with the flying Baggara, while the pursuingEgyptians would be as dangerous as the dervishes themselves. I feelthat we ought to stay. "

"But our orders are, to be ready to start at any time, " said the doctorgravely. 

"Then, Excellency, we must accept our fate. We shall be taken toKhartoum, where the beaten force will rally and defend it to the last. "

"Not rally here, Ibrahim?" said Frank eagerly. 

"No, Excellency. This is no place to defend. The well-drilled troopswould sweep through it after their heavy guns and scatter the mud-housesinto heaps. No, the dervishes will hoist their standards at Khartoum. But we must make a brave effort to avoid being shut in there. "

He said no more, for there seemed to be no more to say, and the desireof all was to listen to the distant thunder, which had been increasingas he spoke, telling plainly enough of the terrible battle going on, while suddenly, and as if close at hand, there came the heavy reports ofguns away to the east. 

"The gunboats, " said Ibrahim quietly, "and the forts answering back. This is the day that the fate of the Soudan must be known. "

How the time went no one could tell in that wildly exciting, agonisingtime of doubt. The firing from miles away to the north continued, andthe cannonading from the river was maintained, but there was no news ofhow the fight progressed, and a feeling of despair was attacking theprisoners when all at once the firing ceased. 

What did it mean? That the collected army of the Khalifa was immensethey were well aware. Had it swept on and on in the great white wavethe Sheikh had described, vastly overlapping the Anglo-Egyptian force, and, curling round its flanks, achieved the Baggara Emir's threat ofsweeping the infidels into the river, now cumbered with the slain?

For the silence was ominous; even the gunboats had ceased firing, andtheir guard had made no sign. 

In the hurried discussion which ensued, the professor drew attention tothis; but it was repelled with contempt by Harry. 

"What of that?" he said. "The forts were so much mud, with a few poorlyserved guns. They have been silenced, and there is nothing more to fireat. Even now the boats may have landed men who are marching into thetown. "

"But the firing on the field!" said Frank excitedly. "Oh, if we onlyknew!"

Almost as he spoke the Emir's officer came in, and there was a look oftriumph in his eyes as he said to the Sheikh--

"There will be no journey to-day, O Sheikh, for the enemies of Allah arebeing swept away. The Emir my master will be back before night, and allmy prisoners are safe. "

He left them, and they saw that he went in the direction of the women'spart of the palace, evidently to give his good news there and set thepoor creatures at rest; but he could hardly have reached their quartersbefore the firing broke out again, certainly nearer and fiercer thanbefore. 

"He spoke too soon!" cried Harry excitedly. "We shall beat the savagewretches yet!"

The firing rose and fell, and rose again, and to the hearers thesuspense grew unbearable, Frank and his brother feeling that at allrisks they must try by some means to get tidings of how the battlefared. 

Again there was a cessation and a long interval of silence. 

Once more the dull thudding of the artillery was heard above the roar ofrifle volleys and the snarling rattle of the machine guns; and when thisceased there was a hurried sound, mingled with wailing, within the wallsof the Emir's house; two of the guards passed quickly by the windows ofthe Hakim's quarters, and the Sheikh's men were seen hurrying towardsthe door, where they were met by the chief of the guard, who rushed bythem, to shout in a stern voice to Ibrahim--

"Quick! to your camels! We leave here now. "

That was enough. No trumpet-blast could have announced in clearer tonesthat the fight was won, and as he passed out a strange murmurous roararose from the streets of the great mud city, a mingling of excitedvoices, those of the fugitives and those of the more resolute whoelected to stay. 

There was a stern look in the officer's eyes as he stood, drawn sword inhand, looking on while the final preparations were made, and within tenminutes the prisoners were mounted on horse and camel and assembled inthe well-guarded court, where the women and slaves of the Emir'shousehold were already waiting. 

Directly after the long train moved out through the gateway with theirwatchful guards; and it was none too soon, for before they had passeddown a couple of streets, a yelling mob of savage-looking armed men madefor the Emir's palace, spreading through to loot and carry offeverything that took their eye. 

It was the same throughout, for the first deed of about three thousandof the dervish army which had fled, routed from the field, was to makefor the palaces of the Khalifa, and those of his chief Emirs, on plunderbent, while, where they dared, the ordinary dwellers of the city joinedin to bear off the garnered stores of corn. 

Frank and his companions knew nothing of this as they were hurried alongthrough the tortuous ways of the vast stretch of hovels, tents, and mudhuts, till they reached the outskirts, and then the wide-stretchingplain, where they had ample opportunity of learning the truth. For onevery side, streaming towards Khartoum, where it lay whitened in thedistance, were the routed dervishes, some in troops, displaying militaryorder, but the greater part scattered and flying for their lives onhorses, camels, and on foot. 

They had need--for the Emir's officer had stayed too long in his blindbelief in the success of the Khalifa's troops--the avenging forces wereclose behind, and the dervishes were falling fast, dotting the plainwith their white garments, while riderless horses and camels careeredwildly here and there. 

The race was for Khartoum--the efforts of the Sirdar's troops, horse, foot, and artillery, to cut them off, and it was not long before theEnglish party grasped the fact that it would be a marvel if they reachedthe distant city alive in the midst of the hurrying crowd. 

But the Emir's bodyguard worked well, keeping their charge together, hurrying on the camels, encouraging the women, and twice over forming upand attacking bands of their fellow fighting men who approachedmenacingly, seeing in the flying party of the Emir's household ampleopportunities for securing plunder, but only to be beaten off. 

Any attempt at escape would only have been to invite recapture. Frankand his brother, well mounted as they were, like the guard, on a coupleof the Emir's magnificent Arabs, could have galloped off with ease, butthe slower going camels on which their friends rode could not have keptup with them, and even if an attempt had been made where were they togo? It was to run the gauntlet amongst the relics of the flying army, to risk being cut down by their friends before they had time to explainthat they were not what they seemed. 

Harry seemed to have forgotten his injured arm, and he and Frank rodetogether, helping the officer of the guard, though it was only inkeeping their own party together, and encouraging the followers of theSheikh, who were losing their calmness in the wild rout, with the gunsof the horse artillery sending forth grape wherever a knot of the enemyhung together, and the cavalry, white and black, charging here andthere. 

It was while Frank was cheering on Sam, and then helping a dismountedman to a seat on a baggage camel, that the officer rode up, meetingHarry, who turned to him at once, to address him in the keen, commandingtones of the British officer, as he pointed towards the open plains andhills. 

"You can never get to Khartoum, " he said. "Make for the desert. "

"Yes, " said the officer calmly, as he fully grasped the position; forrapidly passing their left flank, and gradually cutting off their way, they saw a regiment of the Egyptian cavalry tearing along, riding downscores of the dervishes as they went. 

It seemed to be their only chance, and the two young men joined withtheir leader in heart and soul to hurry the camel train along. 

Turning then at right-angles, the leading man made for the shelter ofsome hills a couple of miles to the west, and as the camels were hurriedalong, there seemed for a few minutes a prospect of getting right away. 

"From Scylla into Charybdis, " cried Harry bitterly. 

"But can we do better?" said Frank excitedly. 

"There is no better, " said Harry sadly, "in a rout. It is every man forhimself now. No one has a friend. "

They rode on as fast as they could get the groaning and complainingcamels along, and were rapidly nearing the hills, when a warning crycame from their leader, in answer to which the guard turned back, leaving the camels to proceed alone, for the Emir's officer had suddenlybecome aware of the fact that a band of at least a hundred of themounted dervishes in full retreat had swooped round, and were dashing atthem, certainly with no peaceful intent. 

"It's all over, Frank, lad, " cried Harry. "Let's get alongside Morrisand Landon. They may make us prisoners, but the wretches' blood is up, and their only thoughts are to plunder and slay. Try and save them;here the wretches come. "

"Look, look!" cried Frank, for from their right front some four hundredyards away there was a gleam of steel, a glimpse of white helmets, andan opening outline of galloping horses racing out of a hollow. 

The evolution was brilliant, and before it seemed possible, the line ofhorsemen with lowered spears were upon the advancing dervish band, whichhad already got amongst the Emir's guard, fighting and dying in defenceof their charge. 

A minute? More likely half a minute, and a couple of squadrons ofBritish cavalry had ridden through the dervishes, leaving the earthcumbered with dead and wounded men, whose horses galloped wildly hereand there. 

On went the cavalry, wheeled, and came back, cutting down all whoresisted, the major portion of the enemy flying for their lives to eastand north, for from the west a second squadron of the British horse wascoming up at a gallop, a detachment checking and capturing the wholecamel train. 

How it came about Frank hardly knew, but somehow, mounted as he was, hefound himself with his brother close to where the Emir's officer, with adozen of his men, had hacked their way from among a crowd of dervishes, just as the British cavalry had wheeled and come back, cutting up theassailants of the Emir's guards, and the next minute had nearly beenFrank's last, for an English lancer rode in the _melee_ at the Emir'sofficer, who must have fallen had not a quick blow from Frank's swordturned the lance aside. 

The man passed on, but an officer dashed in, sword in hand, and Frankwould have been laid low but for his brother's act. 

For Harry turned his horse and rode full at the advancing officer, theirchargers coming together as he shouted wildly--

"Halt! Halt! English--English!"

The officer turned upon him fiercely. 

"What?--Who are you?"

"Frere, of Gordon's, " shouted Harry. 

"But that black?"

"My brother!"

"Yes, " cried Frank, in honest old English. "I was trying to save thisbrave man's life. "

"Then don't black your face first, youngster, next time, " cried theofficer, with a laugh, as he turned to find fresh food for his steel. 

But the enemy were flying fast, scattered, and leaving half their forceupon the field. The recall was ringing out, and shortly after theEnglish squadrons were making for Khartoum, with their prisoners andprizes, the former including the remains of the Emir's bodyguard, theircaptain and six of his followers, wounded to a man. 

That night Frank and his companions rested in Khartoum. 

It was the day of the oft-told scene when the Sirdar and his staff weregathered around with all the thrilling pomp of a military funeral, topay the long-deferred honour at their hero's grave. 

The chaplain had read the solemn words, the volleys had been fired, towaken the echoes from where they had slumbered among the ruins ofKhartoum, and the victorious general and his brave staff had paid theirlast duties of respect. 

As the combined flags floated and waved together with a soft rustle inthe desert wind, the general and his officers drew back from the hero'sgrave and then stood fast, as a thin, worn-looking, sun-burned man intattered white cotton garments, and bearing his left arm in a sling, stepped forward--a dervish slave in dress, but with the bearing of aBritish officer, and closely followed by a black. 

For the moment it seemed like an intrusion, and there was a movementamongst the Sirdar's guard as if to force them back. But an officerraised his hand, and then whispered to another at his side--

"Gordon's friend; a prisoner with him at his death. "

"Yes, but the black fellow?" said the other, in the same low tone. 

"Pst! Tell you after--brother--came in disguise--to seek him out. "

Then all stood watching in the midst of a painful silence as they sawthe rescued victim of the Mahdi's reign of terror sink softly upon hisknees by his leader's grave and lay upon it a leaf freshly taken from aneighbouring palm, while his companion stood reverently close behind. 

A minute had elapsed, and then those present drew back, and a hand waslaid upon the kneeling man's shoulder. 

The latter rose slowly, and he who had silently warned him that it wastime to go heard him murmur--

"Goodbye, brave soldier and truest friend. I did my best. But it isnot Goodbye: for you will be always with us--one of Britain's greatestsons--your name will never die. "

Then turning to his companion with a faint, sad smile, he said softly--

"Our country was slow to move, but at last it has done its duty well. Mine was a bitter time of waiting, but it is as nothing now, for I havebeen here to see. "

He turned and looked up quickly, for there was a sharp fluttering soundas of wings. 

"The British flag!" he said, with a look of pride lighting up his deeplybronzed face. "There, Frank, lad, our work is done, and the way isopen. Now for rest--for the home I never hoped to see again. "

A low murmur of admiration ran along the ranks of the British soldiers, officers and men, as the brothers walked slowly back to where a groupwas standing, one of whom was a good-looking, sun-browned Hakim in snowyturban and flowing robes, attended by a swarthy man in a _fez_--a man inwhite garb with a very English face, and just behind him a venerableSheikh. For all who were present now had learned the facts, and as thebrothers passed, one of the officers of the Sirdar's guard exclaimed--

"By George! and yet there are people who say we have no heroes now!"

THE END.