Chapter Twenty Nine.
The Pursuers nonplussed.
Not one second too soon had they succeeded in making good their entry into this subaqueous asylum. Scarce had their chins come in contact with the water, when the voices of men, accompanied by the baying of dogs, the snorting of maherries, and the neighing of horses, were heard with the gorge from which they had just issued; and in a few minutes after, a straggling crowd, composed of these various creatures, came rushing out of the ravine. Of men, afoot and on horseback, twenty or more were seen pouring forth; all, apparently, in hot haste, as if eager to be in at the death of some object pursued, that could not possibly escape capture.
Once outside the jaws of the gully, the irregular cavalcade advanced scattering by over the plain. Only for a short distance, however; for, as if by a common understanding, rather than in obedience to any command, all came to a halt.
A silence followed this halt, apparently proceeding from astonishment. It was general, it might be said universal, for even the animals appeared to partake of it. At all events, some seconds transpired, during which the only sound heard was the sighing of the sea, and the only motion to be observed was the sinking and swelling of the waves.
The Saaran rovers on foot, as well as those that were mounted, their horses, dogs, and camels, as they stood upon that smooth plain, seemed to have been suddenly transformed into stone, and set like so many sphinxes in the sand.
In truth it was surprise that had so transfixed them, the men, at least; and their well-trained animals were only acting in obedience to a habit taught them by their masters, who, in pursuit of their predatory life, can cause these creatures to be both silent and still, whenever the occasion requires it.
For their surprise, which this exhibition of it proved to be extreme, the sons of the desert had sufficient reason. They had seen three midshipmen on the crest of the sand-ridge; had even noted the peculiar garb that bedecked their bodies, all this beyond doubt. Notwithstanding the haste with which they had entered on the pursuit, they had not continued it either in a reckless or improvident manner. Skilled in the ways of the wilderness, cautious as cats, they had continued the chase; those in the lead from time to time assuring themselves that the game was still before them. This they had done by glancing occasionally to the ground, where shoe tracks in the soft sand, three sets of them, leading to and fro, were sufficient evidence that the three mids must have gone back to the embouchure of the ravine; and thither emerged upon the open sea-beach.
Where were they now?