We travelled slowly for the first four or five, but we have come fast, since then.

We must give the horses a good rest, so we will not move on till the moon rises, which will be about a quarter to two.

It does not give a great deal of light, now, and we shall have to make our way through the scrub; but, at any rate, we ought to be close to the river, before morning." When the sun was low they again lit a fire, and had another good meal, giving the greater portion of their stock of biscuits to the horses, and a good drink of water.
"We must use up all we can eat before tomorrow, Zaki, and betake ourselves to a diet of dried dates.

There is enough water left to give the horses a drink before we start, then we shall start as genuine Dervishes." They found that the calculation they had made as to distance was correct and, before daybreak, arrived on the bank of the Nile, and at once encamped in a grove.

In the morning they could see the houses of Metemmeh, rising from the line of sandy soil, some five miles away.
"There seems to be plenty of bush and cover, all along the bank, Zaki.
We will stay here till the evening, and then move three miles farther down; so that you may be handy, if I have to leave the Dervishes in a hurry." "Could we not go into the camp, my lord ?" "It would be much better, in some respects, if we could; but, you see, you do not speak Arabic." "No, master; but you could say I was carried off as a slave, when I was a boy.