provender to their horses.

When the courageous Provencal noted that they slept soundly and could no
longer watch his movements, he made use of his teeth to steal a
scimitar, [Footnote: Scimitar: a short Turkish sword, carbine: a short
light rifle.] steadied the blade between his knees, cut through the
thongs which bound his hands; in an instant he was free. He at once
seized a carbine and a long dirk, [Footnote: Dirk: a dagger.] then took
the precaution of providing himself with a stock of dried dates, a small
bag of oats, some powder and bullets, and hung a scimitar around his
waist, mounted one of the horses and spurred on in the direction in
which he supposed the French army to be. So impatient was he to see a
bivouac [Footnote: Bivouac: an encampment without tents.] again that he
pressed on the already tired courser at such a speed that its flanks
were lacerated with the spurs, and soon the poor animal, utterly
exhausted, fell dead, leaving the Frenchman alone in the midst of the
desert.

After walking for a long time in the sand, with all the courage and
firmness of an escaped convict, the soldier was obliged to stop, as the
day had already come to an end. Despite the beauty of an Oriental night,
with its exquisite sky, he felt that he could not, though he fain would,
continue on his weary way. Fortunately he had come to a small eminence,
on the summit of which grew a few palm-trees whose verdure shot into the
air and could be seen from afar; this had brought hope and consolation
to his heart.

(Here follows a description of the cave which the soldier finds in the
rocks.)