company who drove a number of spare camels.

Thus we journeyed in the centre of a square whence any escape would have
been impossible, for I forgot to say that our keepers Harût and Marût
rode exactly behind us, at such a distance that we could call to them if
we wished.

At first I found this method of travelling very tiring, as does everyone
who is quite unaccustomed to camel-back. Indeed the swing and the jolt
of the swift creature beneath me seemed to wrench my bones asunder to
such an extent that at the beginning I had once or twice to be lifted
from the saddle when, after hours of torture, at length we camped for
the night. Poor Savage suffered even more than I did, for the motion
reduced him to a kind of jelly. Ragnall, however, who I think had ridden
camels before, felt little inconvenience, and the same may be said of
Hans, who rode in all sorts of positions, sometimes sideways like
a lady, and at others kneeling on the saddle like a monkey on a
barrel-organ. Also, being very light and tough as rimpis, the swaying
motion did not seem to affect him.

By degrees all these troubles left us to such an extent that I could
cover my fifty miles a day, more or less, without even feeling tired.
Indeed I grew to like the life in that pure and sparkling desert air,
perhaps because it was so restful. Day after day we journeyed on across
the endless, sandy plain, watching the sun rise, watching it grow high,
watching it sink again. Night after night we ate our simple food with
appetite and slept beneath the glittering stars till the new dawn broke
in glory from the bosom of the immeasurable East.

We spoke but little during all this time. It was as though the silence