“Aryenis,”[5] she said, snuggling down on my worn pillow.
“Sleep well, Aryenis; you’re quite safe now, so don’t dream.”
She closed her eyes. Then she opened them again, looked at me, and said very slowly:
“Good-night, Harilek; good-night ... and thank you.”
I felt I’d had my reward as I went out and softly pulled to the tent flies.
I pottered about watching Sadiq rope up loads, lending him a hand with the more difficult ones. Then I made him refill the last tank, inspected the others, went over the loads—nearly everything except our sleeping kit and the tent was roped up—and finally, realizing that I was very weary, rolled into Wrexham’s bedding, and lay out in the stillness watching the moon rising over the desert to the east of the shadowy hills.
I suppose it was nearly three hours later that I heard footsteps on the stones, and got up to find Firoz coming back with a note from Wrexham:
No movement in front, but saw lights in arrow-slits at dusk, so sent some shots over and lights went out.
A bit jumpy till the moon got high, and fired precautionary shots at intervals. After the moon was up did another crawl to see the fellows you laid out. A villainous-looking crowd. Three dead, one just on it, and the fifth won’t last long. Couldn’t pull the old man over to our side owing to the noise, or might have buried him decently.
Alec will come back later. He told me what the girl said, and we will trek at dawn, hugging the cliffs eastward. A. will give you further details.