"Back, master!" cried Ali in alarm, a second later. "Dismount from your camel, and cause him to kneel, then creep forward with me, and lie full length among the bushes, for, were we to ascend to the sky-line, our figures would be seen at once. There, look!" he continued a moment later, as they threw themselves upon the grass and stared into the valley beyond. "You can see the mud huts which the Mullah's followers occupy, and there are his herds."
Stretching his arm before him, Ali pointed down the farther slope of the hill into a long winding depression, down the centre of which ran a broad stream of water. Following his finger, Jim saw some hundreds of low mud hovels, nestling close to the bank of the river, and so clear was the atmosphere that he was able to distinguish numerous figures moving about, while herds of camels, sheep, and horses were visible everywhere.
"What is that?" he suddenly asked, pointing in his turn to a dark mass in the centre of the valley. "It looks to me as though there were horsemen there, but I shall soon tell you, for I have brought my glasses with me."
Hastily withdrawing his field-glasses from the case, he raised them to his eyes and looked long and carefully towards the object which he had discovered.
"It is the Mullah's army," he said in an excited whisper, as if he feared that the ordinary tones of his voice would be overheard at that distance, and so alarm the enemy. "I can see a host of horsemen, and more than three times as many men on foot. And—yes, there is someone riding in front of them, who must be the Mullah."
The sight at which he gazed filled Jim with a feeling of excitement, for now, at last, he was within touch of his goal. There, below him, was the man to whom his father was a slave, and there, careering up the valley, were a portion of the following who might even then be on their way to attack the foolhardy Englishman who had come in quest of the prisoner. Could Jim have read the thoughts of that tall man who so proudly rode his charger in front of the gathering of warriors below, he would have learned something that intimately concerned himself. As he sat his horse there before his following, his face was turned in the direction from which Jim and Ali had come, and his mind was engaged with the news which had come to his ears two or three days before.
"An insolent Englishman has dared to cross the Hoad," he was murmuring to himself. "His purpose, as told me by the spy, is to rescue one of my beggarly prisoners. Let him beware. Before many hours have passed I will slay his whole following, and he, too, shall find himself a slave."
Turning his horse with a touch of his heel, the Mullah held his hand above his head and arrested the progress of his following. Then spurring close up to them, he gave them their orders, and stood by as they marched away.
"I wonder where they are bound for?" said Jim, as he watched the movement through his glasses. "Their heads were turned towards the north, and it looks as though they were bent upon a journey which would take some time, for camels laden with baggage are accompanying them, while some followers are driving a small herd of sheep and cattle. I hope it does not mean that they have discovered our camp, and are marching to attack it."
"I cannot say, master," answered Ali thoughtfully. "But their movement looks suspicious. However, should they have gained news of our coming, it will be only as I have expected all along, for how could we hope to enter the country of this man without being discovered, when spies abound, and when news may even have been sent from Berbera? Besides, what of the traitor who induced the tribesmen to attack us? He had fled, so said their messenger, but where or how he did not mention. Perhaps he took advantage of the confusion to steal a camel, and with that to help him, crossed the Hoad, knowing that he would be welcome to the Mullah. If that is the case, we have trouble before us, and perhaps it would be better for us to retire at once, so as to rejoin our companions."