"What shall we do?" demanded Lady Barbara. "We must not let them take us."
"We'll see what they want," said Smith. "They may not be unfriendly. Anyway, we couldn't escape them by running. They would overtake us in no time. Get behind me, and if they show any signs of attacking I'll shoot a few of them."
"Perhaps you had better go out and sit on them," suggested Lady Barbara, wearily.
"I am sorry," said Smith, "that my marksmanship is so poor; but, unfortunately perhaps, it never occurred to my parents to train me in the gentle art of murder. I realize now that they erred and that my education has been sadly neglected. I am only a school teacher, and in teaching the young intellect to shoot I have failed to learn to do so myself."
"I didn't intend to be nasty," said Lady Barbara, who detected in the irony of the man's reply a suggestion of wounded pride. "Please forgive me."
The North Midians were advancing cautiously, halting occasionally for brief, whispered conferences. Presently one of them spoke, addressing the three. "Who are you?" he demanded. "What do you in the land of Midian?"
"Can you understand him?" asked Smith, over his shoulder.
"Yes," replied both girls simultaneously.
"He speaks the same language as Jezebel's people," explained Lady Barbara. "He wants to know who we are and what we are doing here."
"You talk to him, Lady Barbara," said Smith.