camel towards them in the hope of finding some water, and some dates for
food. Reaching the spot, he found that a stagnant pool lay below, but
there were no dates on the trees, and the water was brackish. A couple
of red-legged partridges fluttered off, cackling loudly as they went. He
would fain have had them for food, but their presence seemed like
company to the poor wanderer, and he did not attempt to secure them; so,
throwing himself at full length on the ground, he flung his arms across
his eyes to shield them from the white glare of the sky.

Suddenly a step sounded near. Yusuf started to his feet and grasped his
scimitar, but he was instantly beset by half a dozen wild Arabs, who
dashed upon him, screaming their wild Arabian jargon, and waving their
short swords over their heads.

Blows fell thick and fast. Yusuf had a dazed consciousness of seeing the
swarthy, wrinkled visages and gleaming teeth of his opponents darting in
confusion before him, of hacking desperately, and of receiving blows on
the head; then a sudden gush of blood from a wound on his forehead
blinded him, and he fell.

All seemed over. But a shout sounded close at hand. Several Arabs,
splendidly mounted on nimble Arabian horses, and waving their long,
tufted spears, appeared on the scene. The Bedouin robbers fled
precipitately, and Yusuf's first sensation was that of being gently
raised, and of feeling water from the pool dashed upon his face.

The priest had not been severely wounded, and soon recovered enough to
proceed with the party which had rendered him such timely aid.

An hour's ride brought them to the head of another and more fertile glen