Page:On the Desert - Recent Events in Egypt.djvu/265

Rh on, though we woke a dozen times, and listened with ears attent, but heard nothing save the footsteps of our own men, who were creeping about like stealthy Indians all night long, keeping a sharp lookout for the approach of any hostile party, and thus watching for our safety as well as their own.

As soon as the sun was up, we dismissed our fears, and smiled at the imaginary dangers of the night; and Dr. Post and I were about to start out as usual in advance, he to botanize, and I to get a breath of morning air, leaving the baggage-camels to load up and follow, when poor Yohanna came rushing after us, and shouting in the wildest manner, "Gentlemen, do not stir until we are all ready to move together! You must not venture beyond the limits of the camp. We have come so far in safety; do not let us have a disaster at the very end of our journey!" We yielded to his entreaties, rather to quiet him than because we saw any special need of such extreme precaution. In a few minutes the pack camels were ready, and we all moved off in Indian file together.

The wisdom of his caution was soon apparent. As we came up out of the hollow where our tents had been pitched for the night, we rose over a swell of ground which again subsided into a gentle depression, only to rise again at the distance of perhaps a quarter of a mile, like the rise and fall of a rolling prairie. We had passed over the ascent, and nearly crossed the valley between, the Doctor and I leading the way, when suddenly as a flash of lightning, there sprang over the height on the other side, a party which claimed our immediate attention. It was composed of five men, two of whom were mounted on horses (!) — the first we had seen since we left Cairo — and three on foot. Instantly they threw themselves into position — recalling to Dr. Post what he had often seen in the