They were, after all, but predatory, unscrupulous men; and we had with us a considerable bulk of precious things.

They, or at least the dangerous ones amongst them, did not know why it was so precious; they took it for granted that it was material treasure of some kind that we carried.

We had taken the mummy from the sarcophagus, and packed it for safety of travel in a separate case.

During the first night two attempts were made to steal things from the cart; and two men were found dead in the morning.
"On the second night there came on a violent storm, one of those terrible simooms of the desert which makes one feel his helplessness.
We were overwhelmed with drifting sand.

Some of our Bedouins had fled before the storm, hoping to find shelter; the rest of us, wrapped in our bournous, endured with what patience we could.