"But this hair?" Edgar said, still bewildered, gazing at the wild, unkempt locks.
"It is a wig, neither more nor less, Edgar, made for me at Cairo; and a first-rate job too."
Edgar could doubt no longer, but with the certainty and joy a strange weakness seemed to come over him, and he would have fallen had not Rupert seized him.
"Stand up, old boy; it is all right, and natural enough. We heard at Metemmeh of your having been carried away, and as of course I wasn't going to let you remain a slave among these fellows, I got leave of absence from Wolseley, got a disguise and a first-rate guide, and, thank God, I have come to you at last."
The surprise of El Bakhat at seeing this meeting between Muley and this young native was much greater than that of the other Arab, who had heard at El-Obeid the evening before that the white slave was journeying in disguise with his captor.
"This is my brother, sheik," Edgar said to him. "He has come all this way in disguise to look for and rescue me."
"He has done well," the sheik said warmly, while Amina clapped her hands in pleasure.
"Is the story about the pursuit after us true?" Edgar asked.
"Yes, quite true. The horsemen will not be many hours before they overtake us."
A hurried consultation was held between the two sheiks, and it was decided to strike off to the south-east again, and as soon as the followers arrived with the camels the united parties left the road and made across the country, Edgar taking his place on the camel behind Rupert. He still felt like one in a dream, and even now could scarce believe that it was really Rupert who was riding before him. The latter, who had been looking forward to the meeting, was yet scarcely less surprised at what had taken place. It had seemed such a hopeless task looking for Edgar over so wide an expanse of country that he could scarcely credit that he had succeeded in finding him, and for a time the feelings were so deep on both sides that hardly a word was spoken. It was not, indeed, until the camels came to a halt late in the evening that they began to talk naturally.