"It was Saturday evening when I left you," he replied. "I rode all night and all day. My Bisharin mare went splendidly over the ground, which was tolerably level, and on Monday morning I reached our friends. They sent immediately for the beasts you now see, which were at a considerable distance. They came in early on Tuesday. I started at midday. I rode slowly so as not to wear them out, and now we can start at once. And, oh, I had almost forgotten to tell you that your friends, after discussing it with me, went off to the camp on the edge of the desert, to warn their people there to be ready. I promised we would reach the tryst on Friday, or at latest on Saturday after sunset."
"Did you bring bread?" I asked the youth, who was talking away in high spirits. "We have got nothing but dates to eat."
"Good heavens! I forgot that in my haste."
"No matter," I replied, seeing him look rather crestfallen. "Even without dates we could hold out for this short ride."
"Zeki," said Hamed, "saddle the light-coloured camel, go with our friend and brother to the hollow rock, and give the camels water. Wait for me there. I will take the other saddle and follow with my own camel, which has recovered sufficiently to stand this comparatively short march. But it will be better," he added, turning to me, "that you should not go right up to the spring, but remain hidden in some suitable spot near till we fetch you. One never can be too sure. There are so many thirsty folk in the wide world."
I went with Zeki, leading one of the camels, towards the cleft where the water was, and hid myself in a place my guide suggested, among the boulders of rock.
About two hours before sunset, Hamed and Zeki came with the three camels that had just been watered, and the skins all filled. We mounted and rode east northeast across hills, which at times were very steep to climb, till, as darkness gathered round us, we arrived in the plain without having been observed.
Throughout the night, we rode without a halt at a slow trot or a walk, and at daybreak Hamed calculated we had left half the road behind us.
"This is the most critical day of our journey," said my guide. "We come into the neighbourhood of the river, and cross pasture grounds of the river tribes. God grant we reach our destination unobserved."
The aspect of the country does not change. The veldt, as one may call it, is covered with a thin mat of grass, with here and there clumps of half-dried mimosa bushes. The ground is sandy, and at times covered with stones. We rode on without stopping, and ate our frugal meal, which consisted of nothing but dates, as we rode. When the sun was at the zenith, we saw in the distance a flock of sheep with its shepherds. We turned a little aside from our straight course, and Zeki rode off to them to ask for news; but when he rejoined us he said he had learned nothing of interest. Though we came upon constant tracks of camels, donkeys, sheep, eta, in the soil, our eyes detected nothing which caused us concern, and the country had become quite flat again.