two riders uttered loud shouts. The racers started like flashes of
lightning which dazzle the sight and seemed like the wind when, as it
blows, it increases in fury. Ghabra passed ahead of Dahir and distanced
him. "Now you are lost, my brother of the tribe of Abs," cried the
Fazarean groom to the Absian, "try and console yourself for this
defeat." "You lie," retorted the Absian, "and in a few moments you will
see how completely you are mistaken. Wait till we have passed this
uneven ground. Mares always travel faster on rough roads than on smooth
country." And so it happened, for when they arrived in the plain, Dahir
shot forward like a giant, leaving a trail of dust behind him. It seemed
as if he went on wings, not legs; in the twinkling of an eye he had
outstripped Ghabra. "Here," cried the Absian to the Fazarean groom,
"send a messenger from me to the family of Beder, and you yourself drink
the bitter cup of patience behind me." Meanwhile Shidoub, swift as the
north wind, kept ahead of Dahir, bounding like a fawn and running like
an ostrich, until he reached the defile where Dames was hidden. The
slave had only thrown down less than a third of his pebbles, when he
looked up and saw Dahir approaching.

He waited till the horse passed close by him, and suddenly showed
himself with a shout, and hit the racer violently between the eyes with
a stone. The horse reared, stopped one moment, and the rider was on the
point of being unseated. Shidoub was a witness to the incident, and
having looked at the slave, recognized him as belonging to the
treacherous Hadifah. In the violence of his rage he flung himself upon
Dames, and struck him dead with his sword: then he approached Dahir for
the purpose of speaking soothingly to him, and starting him again on the
race; but, alas, the mare Ghabra rushed up like the wind. Then Shidoub,
fearing defeat, thinking of the camels he would forfeit, set out running
at full speed towards the lake, where he arrived two bow-shots in