The man's indomitable spirit seemed to buoy up the flagging energies of his two young companions; but although many plans were brought forward when the question of escaping was discussed, it was deemed prudent to wait events. The correspondent kept a marvellous control over himself, never once by word or gesture allowing the Arabs to suspect that he was fairly conversant with their tongue. Yet he failed to overhear any reliable information relating to the land that lay to the south of the Plateau of Ahaggar: to the Arabs it was almost a forbidden subject.
"It seems to me," he once remarked, "that our only chance of escape lies in making a dash to the south. This river must lead somewhere, unless it is lost in the sand. The fact that the country in that direction seems to be in disfavour with the Arabs is in our favour. Returning by the way we came is a physical impossibility. To the dangers of crossing the desert is added the likelihood of falling into the hands of another tribe, in which case our position would be far worse than it is at present."
"But where do you think the river leads to?" asked Hugh.
"I can only conjecture. Since we are on the highest ground of the great Sahara, it may be that the river flows into Nigerian territory. If we make the attempt, it will be no light task."
"Anything will be better than dragging out a miserable existence here," replied Gerald.
"As I have said before, we must not spoil everything by being premature," rejoined Mr. Reeves. "Still, we must not be content with discussing the matter; we must act."
By denying themselves a portion of their already scanty fare, the captives contrived to collect a store of provisions least likely to be spoiled by age. Two goatskin water bottles were also set aside by stealth, and, taking advantage of their daily excursions to the river, the Englishmen managed without detection to secrete their prizes in a small cave not far from the place where the pistol and ammunition were hidden.
One afternoon, as the three comrades were returning from their toil at the maize field, they perceived a tall, white-robed Arab approaching. He was bareheaded and his hair was shaved, denoting that he was an imam, or holy man. In utter ignorance of whom he was, Gerald incautiously allowed his shadow to fall athwart the stranger's path.
The imam stopped and cursed the unbeliever in the strongest terms he could lay tongue to; but the lad, not knowing what was being said, continued on his way with his companions.
"We've done it!" remarked Reeves. "That fellow is one of the priests of the tribe, and in some way we've offended him. Ten to one he'll make it hot for us with the sheikh."