"By Jove! we've been making a mess of it," he exclaimed, pointing to the glow in the sky. Instead of pointing to his left, he pointed in exactly the opposite direction. During the period of darkness they had completed a semicircle, and were making as nearly as possible straight for the direction whence they had come.
"Up with you!" he continued, as he set the example by unhobbling his hierie and climbing into the high-peaked saddle.
From his lofty perch upon the camel's back he glanced anxiously in a northerly direction. The sun was just appearing above the horizon, and in its ruddy light the Englishman saw a sight that made him mutter under his breath.
Less than a mile distant were their pursuers!
CHAPTER VII
The Fight in the Desert
URGING their steeds to the utmost, the three fugitives rode with set faces, resolving either to escape or to fight to the end. Recapture would mean far worse than death.
Grasping his pistol tightly in his right hand, and steadying himself with his left, Reeves turned in his saddle and took a swift yet comprehensive view of the pursuing Arabs. There were five of them, all fully clad in white, showing that they were the chief men of the tribe. Each had a gun slung across his shoulder, and by the length of the barrels the Englishman knew, to his satisfaction, that they were smooth-bore flintlocks, and not the modern rifles used by the Arabs on the coast. Gun flints are practically indestructible, and gunpowder can be manufactured by the Arabs under the most rough-and-ready conditions; but cartridges are comparatively scarce. Consequently, for all ordinary purposes—except in inter-tribal fights, when rapid firing is essential to success—the denizens of the desert prefer to husband their supplies of modern ammunition, and prefer to use flint.
"They are gaining slightly, I fear," remarked Reeves. "Still, we have a fighting chance. I wish we could take aim."
On they tore, pursuers and pursued, till at length one of the Arabs took a flying shot. The bullet fell short, knocking up a shower of sand barely forty yards behind the Englishmen. This was a certain sign that the intervening distance was diminishing.