As she had not rested long at their last stopping-place, she now fell asleep, the heavy sleep that comes in the morning after great fatigue. Meanwhile the Bedouins drove the camels ceaselessly on without letting them stop for an instant. Stasch noticed that they were going toward the interior of the desert.
To make Idris less confident that the party would be able to elude the pursuers, and also to show him that he felt certain of their being found, Stasch said:
“You are leaving the Nile and the Bahr Yoosuf, but that will be useless, for they will not search for you on the banks, where there is one string of villages, but in the interior.”
And Idris said:
“How do you know we are leaving the Nile? The banks can not possibly be seen from here.”
“Because the sun, which is now in the east, warms our backs; that means that we have turned off toward the west.”
“You are a clever boy,” said Idris approvingly.
And after a while he added:
“But the pursuers will not overtake us—neither will you escape from us.”
“No,” he answered. “I shall not run away, unless it is with her.” And he pointed to the sleeping Nell.