"French officers," he murmured at last.

And he took Morhange's hand, and having placed it against his breast,
carried it to his lips.

Suddenly an expression of anxiety passed over his face.

"And my mehari?" he asked.

I explained that our guide was then employed in trying to save his
beast. He in turn told us how it had stumbled, and fallen into the
current, and he himself, in trying to save it, had been knocked over.
His forehead had struck a rock. He had cried out. After that he
remembered nothing more.

"What is your name?" I asked.

"Eg-Anteouen."

"What tribe do you belong to?"

"The tribe of Kel-Tahat."

"The Kel-Tahats are the serfs of the tribe of Kel-Rhelâ, the great
nobles of Hoggar?"

"Yes," he answered, casting a side glance in my direction. It seemed
that such precise questions on the affairs of Ahygar were not to his
liking.