"That is no oasis," said Pentuer; "that is the ghost of some region which is wandering about through the desert a region no longer in existence. But over there over there is reality!" added he, pointing southward.
"Are they mountains?"
"Look more sharply."
The prince looked, and saw something suddenly.
"It seems to me that a dark mass is rising my sight must be dulled."
"That is Typhon," whispered the priest. "The gods alone have power to save us, if only they have the wish."
Indeed, Ramses felt on his face a breath, which amid the heat of the desert seemed all at once hot to him. That breath, at first very delicate, increased, growing hotter and hotter, and at the same time the dark streak rose in the sky with astonishing swiftness.
"What shall we do?" asked Ramses.
"These cliffs," said the priest, "will shelter us from being covered with sand, but they will not keep away dust or the heat which is increasing continually. But in a day or two days."
"Does Typhon blow that long?"