For a long time Daniel lay awake upon his bed at the top of the tower,
while his thoughts passed through a number of recurrent phases. More
than once he felt that he had made a mountain out of a molehill; but
this attitude of mind was dismissed by the recollection that, whether
Muriel truly loved him or not, she had come to him "on the sly," and, by
planning this surreptitious interlude (for she had meant it to be no
more than that) she had invested their relationship with that very
atmosphere of intrigue which he so strongly resented.
He saw in her action the influence of that small section of London
society which he abhorred, wherein the women appeared to him to be
secret courtesans who would neither abide by the traditional law nor
openly flout it; and he was determined either to eradicate that
influence or to lose Muriel. He was not entirely clear in his mind as to
what he was going to do with her in the Oasis for this fortnight; but of
this he was sure, that she needed a lesson, and that he was going to
take her in hand, remorselessly, whatever might be the consequences.
The moon, in the last quarter, rose above the far-off hills while yet he
was wearily thinking, and realizing thus that daybreak was not more than
two hours distant, he obliged himself by force of will, to compose his
mind for sleep. In this he was successful and presently he fell into a
deep slumber from which it would have been difficult to wake him.
Meanwhile, Muriel had also watched the dim light of the rising moon as
it slowly spread over the desert. She had slept for two or three
hours--a miserable sleep of exhaustion; but when she was awakened by the
hooting of an owl outside the window, she lit her lamp and made no
further attempt at repose.
Her one idea was to get away from Daniel and to go back to Kate Bindane,
who would still be alone at El Homra until the end of the coming day.
She did not want to wait until daybreak, for if Daniel were awake he
would perhaps try to stop her; and now the slight illumination given by
the moon encouraged her to make her immediate escape. She could hardly
miss the road: all she had to do was to mount her camel and ride
straight ahead.
Hastily she put on her clothes, and soon she had crept out into the
refectory, carrying her heavy dressing-case in her hand. She had slipped
her revolver into one of the pockets of her skirt, and in the other she
had placed a packet of chocolate unused on the previous day, while her
water-bottle was slung across her shoulder.
Her heart was beating, and she was frightened at the prospect of the
long journey alone, but there was no practicable way of getting into
touch with her dragoman, and she was obliged, therefore, to steel
herself for the adventure.
By a stroke of good luck she found the three dogs wandering about the
refectory, and they were thus not startled into barking: they followed
her with wagging tails as she made her way to the camel-shed outside.
There were no doors to open, nor bolts or bars to unfasten; and she
could hear the servants snoring at the other end of the building.
Creeping into the shed, lantern in hand, she found her camel and
Daniel's kneeling side by side upon the sand, dreamily chewing the cud,
and, having learned the tricks of the stable during her journey from
Cairo, she quickly slipped a rope around the bent knee-joint of the
foreleg of her own beast, thus preventing it from rising.
The saddle was heavy, and was furnished with a number of confusing
straps; but, after a somewhat prolonged struggle, she managed at length
to adjust it, and to tie her dressing-case on to the back pommel. Then,
removing the tether, she held the nose-rope in one hand, and prodded the
unwilling beast with her toe until it floundered to its legs, snarling
and complaining as is the habit of the breed.
Leading it out into the open she buckled the girth in a fashion, but for
some minutes she failed to make the creature kneel so as to allow her to
climb into the saddle. She tugged at the nose-rope, and tapped its legs
with her crop, but presently she was obliged to desist, owing to her
fear that its whining grumbles would be heard.
She was in despair and was very near to tears, when suddenly she
recollected that the native makes a certain noise in the roof of his
mouth, like the rolling of a German _ch_, when he wishes his camel to
kneel; and no sooner had she imitated this sound than the creature went
down on its knees with the utmost docility. She clambered into the
saddle with a sigh of relief, and a moment later was trotting silently
northwards while the dogs stared at her in mild surprise as they stood
in the light of the lantern which she had left burning at the doorway of
the shed.
The soft pads made little sound as she passed under the outer walls of
the monastery, and, looking up at the tower, she saw no signs of
movement, for Daniel was fast asleep. Nor was there any indication of
human life in the Oasis below her as she trotted along the cliff-tops,
but the sporadic barking of the village dogs much alarmed her.
The day was now breaking in the east, while the moon also gave a certain
amount of light; and she therefore found the track with ease, and in
less than half an hour had left the Oasis behind and was heading out
into the open desert across the high ground.
The excitement of her escape had prevented her from thinking of her
actual sorrow, and now she was too nervous, too overawed by her
surroundings, to be conscious of more than a general horror. A six
hours' ride across an absolutely uninhabited and lifeless stretch of
country, with nothing but a packet of chocolate for sustenance, was
likely to be a physical ordeal; and already she knew that the nervous
strain was going to be very great.
As has been said, there were three wells upon the route, and the nearest
of these, some six miles from the Oasis, she reached within the hour.
The sun being now well above the horizon, she did not halt; for she
realized that Daniel, on his tower top, would already have been awakened
by its rays, and would perhaps be even now in pursuit.
This, in fact, was the case. When he had descended from the tower he had
quickly discovered her flight, and had sent Hussein scuttling into the
stable, while he himself put on a shirt and a pair of trousers and
slipped his bare feet into the old canvas shoes which lay to hand.
Snatching his water-bottle and a tin of biscuits from the living-room,
and pocketing his pipe and pouch, he ran through the refectory like a
charging bull, sprang on to his camel, and was off and away before his
servant had recovered from his first astonishment.
"_Walla kilma!_" he shouted to the staring Hussein, which means "Not a
word!" And the loyal native thereupon went back to the kitchen,
muttering to himself "His Excellency has gone hunting," as though to
convince himself of the veracity of the statement, which, after all, was
not very far removed from the truth.
As Daniel raced along in the sparkling sunshine he could detect here and
there the marks of Muriel's camel upon the tracks before him, and he
knew that, at the pace at which he was travelling, he would have the
chance of overtaking her before she had accomplished half the journey
back to El Homra; for he had not been long asleep, and her departure
could not have taken place earlier without attracting his attention. He
therefore settled down to a protracted and pounding chase, and in the
brisk morning air his steed did not fail to show its mettle.
He was travelling at twice Muriel's pace, and he caught sight of her,
and she of him, as he descended from the high ground into the wide plain
which lay between the two oases. She was over a mile ahead of him, a
mere speck, like a little fly crawling across a vast brazen dish, and a
considerable time passed before he had come close enough to observe her
movements.
He saw her now urging her camel forward, beating it with her crop. Her
hat had been discarded, and her hair had fallen down and was being
tossed out behind her by the north wind like a fluttering banner.
She turned to glance at him, and he saw her flushed face, as again she
belaboured her tired beast. He was about to call out to her when
suddenly her camel stumbled. The loosely buckled girth gave way, and the
saddle slipped over to one side. For a moment she clutched on to it,
while her camel went round in a circle as though about to overbalance
and fall on top of her. Then she slid to the ground, fell on her hands
and knees, picked herself up, and set off running like a maniac, while
the startled camel went staggering off to one side.
Daniel did not slacken his pace, and in a few moments he was close upon
her heels.
"Stop!" he called, coming to a halt. "It's no good running like that!"
For answer she suddenly swung round and faced him, panting and
distracted. Her hand dived into her pocket, and issued again holding her
revolver. He saw the sunlight flash upon it as she pointed it at him.
His camel was well trained, and he did not wait to tether it. Vaulting
from the saddle he walked rapidly towards her, regardless of the menace
of the weapon which covered him.
"Don't dare to come any nearer," she gasped, "or I'll shoot you, you
brute!"
He stretched out his arms. "Very well, shoot!" he said. "Good God! D'you
think I value my life now?"
He saw her fingers press the trigger. There was a flash, a sharp report,
and the bullet went singing past his ear, not close enough, perhaps, to
suggest that she had taken aim at him, but not so distant that he could
ignore it. He ran at her, therefore, and grasped her wrist, so that the
revolver fell to the ground. Instantly she flung herself upon her knees
and grabbed at it with her left hand, but he dragged her back by her
arm, pulling her to her feet.
"You beast!" she exclaimed. "Leave me alone!" and she struck at him with
her free hand. Her eyes were flashing, and her hair was tossed about her
shoulders.
He put his arm about her, holding her as in a vice, and, stooping, he
picked up and pocketed her revolver.
"Now sit down there," he said, lowering her on to the sand, "and get
your breath."
She saw that there was no use in resisting, and she sat, therefore,
glaring up at him as he stood before her.
He turned his head and glanced at the camels, and as he did so she
stretched out her foot and kicked his shins.
"Ough!" he exclaimed. "Don't do that--it hurts!"
"Oh, I wish we were near Cairo," she cried. "I'd turn the servants on to
you and have you whipped. Go and fetch my camel!"
"Yes," he answered, "I'm just going to. And don't you start running away
again, or I'll not be so gentle with you when I catch you."
He hastened across the desert, and, without any difficulty, caught
Muriel's wandering and tired animal, and readjusted the saddle. Soon he
had tethered it beside his own; and coming back to her, he sat himself
down a yard or two away from her, and lit his pipe.
"Say when you're ready to start back," he said, stretching himself out
and resting his head upon his elbow.
"I'm not coming back with you," she replied. "I'm going back to El
Homra."
"No, you're not," he told her. "You're going to stay with me for this
fortnight you've so carefully planned."
She scrambled to her feet, her fists clenched. "If you try to force me
to come with you," she burst out, "I shall ... I shall _bite_ you."
He also stood up. "Now look here," he said. "Understand me: you're going
back with me, whether you like it or not. And if you struggle I shall
tie you up. Now, come along quietly."
He caught hold of her wrist, and led her towards the camels.
"Take your hand off my arm!" she gasped. "You've got me in your power
now, but you just wait till my father hears of this. He'll have you
hounded out of Egypt."
He did not reply, but releasing her, left her to climb into the saddle.
"Go and get my crop," she said. "I dropped it somewhere here."
"Very well," he replied, "but, remember, if you ride off while my back
is turned, I'll come after you and tie your hands behind your back."
Muriel wriggled furiously in her seat, but she knew that it was useless
to attempt to escape. Presently Daniel found her crop and brought it
back to her. Then he mounted his camel, and the two of them rode off
southwards side by side.
"We shall come across your hat soon," he said. "Be on the lookout for
it. You'll get sunstroke without it, in spite of all that mass of hair."
She uttered something like a growl as she jogged along beside him over
the blazing sand.