women?"

The Colonel shook his head.

"You had better keep it," said he, with a sombre face. "The women may
find some other use for it before all is over."




CHAPTER V.


The camels, some brown and some white, were kneeling in a long line,
their champing jaws moving rhythmically from side to side, and their
gracefully poised heads turning to right and left in a mincing,
self-conscious fashion. Most of them were beautiful creatures, true
Arabian trotters, with the slim limbs and finely turned necks which mark
the breed; but among them were a few of the slower, heavier beasts, with
ungroomed skins, disfigured by the black scars of old firings. These
were loaded with the doora and the waterskins of the raiders, but a few
minutes sufficed to redistribute their loads and to make place for the
prisoners. None of these had been bound with the exception of Mr.
Stuart--for the Arabs, understanding that he was a clergyman, and
accustomed to associate religion with violence, had looked upon his
fierce outburst as quite natural, and regarded him now as the most
dangerous and enterprising of their captives. His hands were therefore
tied together with a plaited camel-halter, but the others, including the
dragoman and the two wounded blacks, were allowed to mount without any
precaution against their escape, save that which was afforded by the