The gripe of Mr. Leach, whose fingers almost entered the flesh of his arm,
and a hand pointed towards the bushes on the other side of the opening,
silenced the captain's whisper, A human form was seen standing on the
fringe of the bank, directly opposite the jib-boom. It was swaddled in a
sort of cloak, and the long musket that was borne in a hollow of an arm,
was just discernible, diverging from the line of the figure. The Arab, for
such it could only be, was evidently gazing on the wreck, and presently he
ventured out more boldly, and stood on the spot that was clear of bushes.
The death-like stillness on the beach deceived him, and he advanced with
less caution towards the spot where the two officers were in ambush, still
keeping his own eye on the ship. A few steps brought him within reach of
Captain Truck, who drew back his arm until the elbow reached his own hip,
when he darted it forward, and dealt the incautious barbarian a severe
blow between the eyes. The Arab fell like a slaughtered ox, and before his
senses were fairly recovered, he was bound hands and feet, and rolled over
the bank down upon the beach, with little ceremony, his fire-arms remaining
with his captors.

"That lad is in a category," whispered the captain; "it now remains to be
seen if there is another."

A long search was not rewarded with success, and it was determined to lead
the camel down the path, with a view to prevent his being seen by any
wanderer in the morning.

"If we get the lower masts out betimes," continued the captain, "these
land pirates will have no beacons in sight to steer by, and, in a country
in which one grain of sand is so much like another, they might hunt a week
before they made a happy landfall."