bestowing great care and attention on the saddles, which we were
continually altering, as they were worn out of shape, or as the camels
became thinner--and thin they were, poor things, tucked up like
greyhounds! A few days' rest and feed, fortunately soon puts a camel
right, and such they could have at the little oasis we had reached on
October 5th. In the centre of it lay a splendid little spring, in many
ways the most remarkable feature we had encountered, and therefore I
christened it after one whose love and helpful sympathy in all my work,
has given me strength and courage--my sister Helena.




CHAPTER XII



HELENA SPRING


"My native valley hath a thousand springs, but not to one of them shall I
attach hereafter, such precious recollections as to this solitary fount,
which bestows its liquid treasures where they are not only delightful,
but nearly indispensable."

So spake Sir Kenneth of Scotland in "The Talisman."

Surely the Christian knight, dragging his way across the sands of
Palestine, was not more pleased to reach the "Diamond of the Desert"
than we were to light upon this charming little oasis, hidden away in the