He thrust up his black spectacles which he had worn all this while, and stared at the Sergeant with his sharp eyes.
"I understand," he said.

"So we are not dead, after all, which perhaps is a pity after getting through the beastly preliminaries.

What has happened ?" "Don't quite know," answered Orme; "ask Quick." But the Sergeant was already engaged in lighting a little fire and setting a camp-kettle to boil, into which he poured a tin of beef extract that he had brought with other eatables from our stores on the chance that he might find us.

In fifteen minutes we were drinking soup, for I forbade anything more solid as yet, and, oh! what a blessed meal was that.

When it was finished, Quick fetched some blankets from the camels, which he threw over us.
"Lie down and sleep, gentlemen," he said; "Pharaoh and I will watch." The last thing I remember was seeing the Sergeant, in his own fashion an extremely religious man, and not ashamed of it, kneeling upon the sand and apparently saying his prayers.