“But only three years ago it buried a whole caravan in the vicinity of Abu Hammed, and did not uncover it until last winter. Ulla! It may blow with such force as to stop up the camels’ nostrils, and dry up the water in the leather bags.”
“We must hasten on, and steer our course so that we will strike only the edge of it.”
“We are running straight into it, and can not possibly avoid it.”
“The sooner it comes, the sooner it will be over.”
At the same time Idris whipped up his camel with the scourge, and the others followed his example. For a while nothing was heard but the cries of “Yalla! Yalla!” and the hollow sound of the thick whips, that resembled the loud clapping of hands. The western horizon, which had been almost white, had now become dark. The heat continued, and the sun blazed down on the heads of the riders. The hawks must have soared very high, for their shadows became smaller and smaller, and at last entirely disappeared.
It now became oppressively sultry. The Arabs cried out to the camels until their throats were dry; then they became quiet, and a deathlike silence ensued, broken only by the groaning of the animals and the rustle of two small sand-foxes[[5]] with enormous ears, which sped past the caravan, fleeing to the opposite side of the desert.
The same Bedouin who had previously spoken to Idris said once more in a peculiarly strange tone of voice:
“The wind will soon break loose and bury everything.”
“All the more need of helping the little girl.”
Idris whipped up the camel, and for a while they continued in silence.