IF it is true that "some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them," I must belong to the latter class, for it was luck, and not merit, that had led me, a young American traveler in search of adventure in the East, to be selected by the Reis Effendina, the captain of the Viceroy of Egypt, for the command of an expedition to capture a caravan of slave dealers who had destroyed a village of Fessarah Arabs and taken captive their women.

The lieutenant, who according to the written instructions of the Reis, was to be my second in command, left the town a little in advance of me, and waited at an appointed place for me to join him. He was surprised when he saw me coming, accompanied by two servants, and hailed me as soon as I was within speaking distance, saying: "I began to think you had not been able to find the place, I have waited so long. Is this youth Ben Nil, of whom you have spoken?"

"Yes."'

"And the other is Selim, the hero of heroes?"

"Yes, I am he," Selim replied before I could speak, "and when you have learned to know me you will wonder at me."

"I wonder at you already, that you should speak when I addressed your master. I trust these fellows will prove worthy of bestriding such noble camels. You are first; I am the second; it is for you to do what pleases you, and I only hope this will prove no mistake. Let us fill our water skins and start."

These words were addressed to me; we took the skins which hung at each saddle-bow, dismounted and filled them at the spring where we had met, remounted, and rode away.

We turned toward the caravan route, which ran first southwesterly and then directly south, following the dry bed of a brook, which contained water only during the rains. The landscape was bare and bleak; on every side rose stern crags, and the camels' feet fell on stony, unfruitful soil. On the second day of our journey we reached the sand desert which is called "bahr bela mah," the sea without water, a term used often in the Sahara and by the Red Sea to designate the desert.

At last we came to the spot where the lieutenant had left his soldiers awaiting his return, and we camped by the baggage which lay on the ground, the soldiers at a respectful distance from their superior officers. Many of them had seen me on the Reis' ship, and welcomed me as a man whose presence might be useful to them. Ben Nil at once went over and joined them, but Selim would have liked to play the gentleman and remain with me and the lieutenant, but the latter gave him such an unmistakable sign of dismissal that the long-legged hero was forced to go. He hailed the soldiers as he approached, saying: "So you are the 'Asaker' " (the plural of the word "Askeri," meaning soldiers) "of the Reis Effendina, who are to be allowed to fight under us? I hope that you will be satisfactory to me. Do you know me?"

"No," answered one of the men, regarding him with wondering curiosity, uncertain whether he was an equal or his superior.

"Then you surely are a stranger in this land, where every child prattles of my heroism. My glorious name is so long

that it would reach from here to Kahireh, so I bid you call me simply Selim. I am the greatest warrior of an the tribes and peoples of the East, and my adventures are related everywhere, and are written in thousands of books. My mighty hand is a rock in whose shadow you may rest secure all your length of days."

Thus having spoken Selim drew himself up, folding his arms over his breast in an indescribably funny attitude of dignity. The soldiers did not know what to make of this address; they looked over at me and saw me laughing, while Ben Nil shrugged his shoulders and murmured: "Tim el kebir," which is equivalent to "gas-bag," or boaster. So enlightened by these two clues, a young man, whom I discovered later was the wag of the band, rose, made a deep genuflection, and said in a tone of mock reverence: "We are blessed, O Selim of all Selims, in the light of thy countenance. We believe, for thou hast said it, that thou art the essence of all wisdom, and we put our trust in thee, with full confidence that thou wilt not withdraw this light from us."

"I will not," replied Selim, with no suspicion that he was the victim of a jest. "I am ready to protect you with all my talents at any moment."

We had watched this comedy with no slight amusement, but now we turned our attention to the object we had come out to attain, and which would surely prove a tragedy -- the liberation of the Fessarah women and the capture of their captors. We all -- that is to say, the lieutenant and I, and the "Onbaschi," or corporal of the "Asaker," whom we had admitted to our council -- thought that the route of the guilty caravan would lie towards some hidden brooks, of which there are a few in the desert, concealed with the utmost care by those to whom the secret is known, for,

since not even a camp can go a week without water, it followed that these people must know of some such hidden streams toward which they would direct their course. We decided to ride in the direction in which the "Onbaschi," an old dweller in the desert, thought it most probable that these springs would lie, and trust to the keen scent of our camels to discover them. The lieutenant and I, with Ben Nil and Selim, because we feared to take our eye off the latter lest his stupidity should bring our plans to grief, were to ride in search of these brooks, and reconnoiter generally, while the "Onbaschi" was to lead the "Asaker" to a certain stream called Bir Murat and wait for us to join them.

Having given the "Onbaschi" full instructions, so that there could be no possible misunderstanding, we four rode away. The country was still hilly, but devoid of tree or shrub; no living thing was to be seen except the slow-wheeling vultures scanning the desert in search of some poor pack camel, which might have sunk exhausted beneath its load and been left by the heartless Arabs to die in the slow tortures of thirst and starvation, while the vultures sat around waiting for its last feeble breath to be drawn. Many such a pitiful scene have I witnessed, and given the patient, suffering creature the merciful shot that its cruel master had been too indifferent to give when his faithful four-footed servant had found its burden too heavy, and its strength had failed. But we passed no such dumb tragedy on this ride, nor did we see the bleaching bones that showed such a one had been enacted, which proved that we were off the general caravan route.

There was no danger of mistaking our way; a glance at the watch and at the sun indicated it without consulting the compass, and by night the stars, especially the glorious Southern Cross, guided us.

On we went and still onward, the camels swinging along on their sturdy legs with no sign of weariness, but their riders had not equal endurance. Selim complained until I lost all patience with him, especially as the women whom we were trying to rescue were of the tribe to which he belonged, and for whom, consequently, he should have been more ready than we to suffer something, for none of us was finding the ride an easy one. At last, toward night, a hill rose before us and my camel paused for a moment, snuffing the air. Then he turned to the right and ran at full speed, while I let the bridle hang loosely, not interfering with the beast's liberty to follow his instinct, for I knew that he scented water. The other three camels came after with equal speed; the sand flew beneath their flying feet. We passed between the hills and entered a little valley. Here my camel halted, pawing at the sand with his forefeet. I sprang down without attempting to make him kneel, and pulled him away. He resisted, screaming, struggling, and biting at me with all his might, but I forced him back and fastened his legs so tightly that he could not move. Heart-broken over his disappointment, he threw himself on his side and lay as motionless as if he were dead. We went through the same struggle with the other camels, and then knelt to dig away the sand. It was not a difficult task, and eight strong arms hastened it. Three feet down it was damp, a foot more and it was wet, then we came upon a sort of trough made of gazelle skins sewn together, and when we lifted this up we saw clear water an ell deeper down, with a wooden framework around it to support the leather cover.

"Allah be praised!" cried Selim, unfastening his girdle to tie his gourd on the end and fill it. "Here is fresh water. We will drink after the heat of the days and be refreshed."

"Stop!" I cried. "Give every one his due; the discoverer shall drink first."

"The discoverer? That is yourself?"

"No; my camel. He has thirsted for four days, and shall receive his reward."

"But a man comes before a beast!"

"Not in all cases; here is one where the rule is reversed. My camel comes before me; I have had water from the skin, but he has had none, although he had to carry me through the burning sun."

"Well, you Christians are queer people, and we, the true believers, have to bear with you!"

Paying no further attention to his opinion, I took the fastenings off my camel; he sprang up and drank eagerly from the leather trough which I had filled, until the last drop was gone, as did each of the camels in turn. We, too, drank our fill of the cold spring, and man and beast, we were wonderfully refreshed.

During the night, when I was keeping watch while the others slept, I made up my mind to the next step, which was to ride on further alone and see if any trace of the caravan was to be found towards the south, since up to this point none had been discovered. It was not impossible that it might have turned aside and gone towards the stream where the "Asaker" were to await us, in which case they would even then be in danger.

As the east began to redden I wakened the others, who fell upon their knees to say the "Fagr," which word means the dawn, and is the name of the prayer appointed for the Mohammedans to say at that hour. After this we breakfasted off meal mixed with the sweet spring water which had gathered during the night to the height at which we had found the spring. It was a breakfast which

an American tramp would have scorned, yet it tasted delicious in the Egyptian desert. At eight o'clock I started on my lonely ride, leaving my companions with the understanding that if I were not back at a certain time they were to join the "Asaker" at Bir Murat.

I rode, as in the preceding days, directly southward. Soon the hills disappeared in the north and I was alone in the "bahr bela mah," the sea without water. If the solitude of the desert is oppressive when one has companions, it is far more so when one is alone. It falls upon one like a nightmare. You feel how inexpressibly tiny you are, a helpless worm amid the awful forces of Nature. It seemed to me as though the desert rose up and the heavens were sinking, and that I should be crushed between them. Since there was no life to be seen I must at least hear some, so I began to whistle, like a boy afraid of the dark. My camel pricked up its ears and redoubled its speed. The effect of whistling on a camel is really curious; however weary the heavy-laden "ship of the desert" may be, as soon as its driver sets the little whistle which he carries for this purpose to his lips new strength seems to enter the tired beast, while a camel that is not tired takes it for an invitation to greater speed. Hour after hour I rode, and my splendid camel, well chosen by the Reis for his pace and endurance, had carried me so far by sunset that I was convinced there was no need for me to seek the caravan deeper in the south; it had surely taken the route on which we had calculated. I could not return by night with the same rapidity with which I had ridden during the day, but I whistled to keep up the camel's spirits (as well as my own) until my lips ached, and it was not yet noon when I spied the hills once more before me.

Wondering whether anything had happened during my absence I rode on faster, till suddenly I reined up to a dead stop; something had indeed happened! A wide trail led from the left, disappearing behind the hills, whence it reappeared and led toward the northeast. The trail indicated five riders; had my companions ridden away to join the "Asakers" when they saw them coming, or had they been surprised? The trail returning from the hills was that of eight camels, but I could not see any indication that three had been made before the other five. With an anxious heart I rode on, and close by the spring I saw the sand heaped up as if over a grave. Dismounting, I dug away the sand and saw two human feet. I could not wait to clear away any more sand; I seized the feet and pulled, pulled till the whole body lay revealed. God be thanked, it was neither the lieutenant, Ben Nil, nor Selim! It was a bearded, sunburned stranger, with a half Arab, half Negro face. He had been stripped of his clothing, and a knife-thrust had gone straight through his heart!

Dropping the feet, which I still held in the horror of my discovery, I ran to the top of the height to see if there was any one or anything that would give me a clue to the tragedy that had been enacted during my absence. I saw only the figure of a man coming slowly and fearfully toward me, and in a moment I recognized the heroic Selim.

"Selim, Selim!" I cried. "Come here quickly; I am here!"

"Allah be praised and thanked, for now I hope you will help me rescue Ben Nil and the lieutenant. But if you will not, then will I undertake the task alone."

"Stop your boasting! You have been playing the coward again, or you would not be here without them." I interrupted angrily. "Tell me what has happened."

"Five men fell upon us."

"Fell upon you? Was there no one on the watch?"

"Yes, I had that honorable post --"

"You! You were on guard, yet did not see them coming?"

"Effendi, I could not see them then. It was the hour of the morning prayer, and I was kneeling yonder, with my face turned toward Mecca, toward the east, and these men came from the west; how could I see them?"

"You need not lie; the trail shows me that they came after the morning prayer, and had you knelt where you say you did they would have seen you, and you would not have escaped them. You saw them, and ran away to hide!"

"Effendi! How can --"

"Now, no more of that! Do you know anything about your comrades' fate?"

"It was horrible! The lieutenant lay on the ground when I saw him, fighting against two men, and three others had attacked Ben Nil. Ben Nil stabbed one, but the other two overcame him. You should praise my presence of mind, Effendi, for I kept myself out of sight that I might preserve myself to rescue them."

"You certainly are wonderfully cool and collected! I believe you ran away like a jackal!"

"Of course, I got off as quickly as I could for their sake, and presently I saw the band ride off with our friends prisoners, bound on our camels. And they led off mine," added this incurable coward, ruefully.

"That is the only comforting thing you have told me!" I cried, furious when I considered that this creature had allowed our comrades to be surprised, and then had secured his own safety by hiding. "I am going to hasten after

them, and you shall taste the fruit of your cowardice by following on foot."

So saying, I ran back to my camel and mounted in hot haste.

"Effendi, Effendi!" shrieked Selim, running after me. "You won't leave me! Can't you let me ride behind you?"

"I could, but I am going to ride into a fight, with heavy odds against me, and if you come you stand a good chance of being killed."

Selim paused. "I wouldn't hesitate to take that risk," he finally said, "but I fear if your camel were so heavily laden you could not overtake our foes, so you shall go on alone, and I will follow."

"Good!" I laughed. "You are really incorrigible! You can't go astray; the trail is plain enough for a blind man to follow it. Keep your gun ready, for there are lions and panthers about."

So saying I rode off, and heard him running behind me shouting: "Lions and panthers! Allah kerihm! God have mercy on me! Effendi, take me with you, take me with you!"

Contents

Introduction