CHAPTER XXXIV.

"At our evening's halting place, near the well of Roway, the inhabitants of a neighbouring encampment very unexpectedly made an inroad upon us in search of medicine.

"This was a matter for Delange, and he entered thoroughly into the spirit of the thing, causing the people to form a circle round him, and endeavouring, with the assistance of an interpreter, to question each one in turn about the particular malady from which he imagined himself to be suffering. But the Doctor's new patients spoke all at once, with no end of gesticulations and shouting. They pushed, they struggled, they hustled each other, they fought for the position nearest to the Doctor, and to attract his attention. It was an awful row, a regular hubbub, a riot in fact.

"Our friend very soon saw that doctoring in earnest was out of the question, and therefore, in order to get rid of these people, show them his good will, and at the same time play his part as medical adviser, he ordered them all simultaneously to put out their tongues. They obeyed. Thirty tongues of all shapes, sizes, and hues were at one and the same time pointed at the Doctor. He inspected the whole line with the utmost gravity, his patients remaining during the whole process open-mouthed, and with their tongues, as the soldiers say, at the 'ready.' He then sent to his tent for a leather bag, labelled 'medicine,' and from it he took a small box filled with Cockle's pills, one of which he solemnly dropped down each expectant throat.

"During this operation we heard him murmur these words, which his patients evidently looked upon as an incantation. 'If it does not do you any good, it will do you no harm.'

"We could not restrain our laughter, but these unsophisticated beings, perfectly satisfied, returned to their encampment, showering blessings on the Doctor's head, and we were left to our well-earned repose.

"To-day, ever since sunrise, the heat has been stifling, one of our horses seems out of sorts, and Joseph's ass, weary of his rider, is wallowing on the plain and obstinately refuses to be coaxed on to his legs again. Our camel-drivers, too, have turned sulky, and, instead of assembling their beasts as usual, loading them, and putting them in marching order, they are chattering, quarrelling amongst themselves, and wasting their time and ours. They might very well be supposed to have entered into a compact with the sun, the horse, and the ass, to make sure of a day's rest, or, at all events, to delay us on our journey to the extent of one stage.

"'Shall we give in to them this once?' proposed Madame de Guéran.

"'It would be a bad precedent,' said Périères.

"'Never mind that,' I replied, 'I will undertake to re-establish discipline whenever it may be necessary."

"'Very well,' replied the Baroness, 'but so that we may not appear to be frightened of them, let us anticipate their wish, and give them, of our own free will, the holiday they seem to want."

"'In that case what are we to do with ourselves this morning?' asked the Doctor. 'If I only had as many patients as I had last night! But my treatment has, no doubt, cured them, and they will not return.'

"'I propose,' said Miss Poles, 'that we should make the ascent of that magnificent mountain which overhangs the valley. The map I have before me styles it Djebel-Gurrat, and the inhabitants of this region call it Beit-el-Pharaon, the House of Pharaoh. It is a granite rock, they say, and remarkable for its numerous natural reservoirs. It is only a two hours' walk, and, in the meantime, both servants and animals can rest.'

"'The suggestion of Miss Poles is an excellent one,' said Périères, 'and we may as well take advantage of this opportunity of visiting one of the last mountains we shall come across.' All five of us were soon on the move, accompanied by our interpreter, Ali, and two bedouins, who knew the country and carried our lunch.

"Joseph, as might have been expected, had, at the last moment, begged to be excused from this walk, and we left him tranquilly reposing close to his donkey.

"The mountain, like most other mountains, was much farther from us than we thought it was, and the heat grew so intense as to be almost unbearable. But we were determined not to be daunted by any obstacles, but, in view of what we had to undergo, to inure ourselves to the fatigue of walking and the burning rays of the sun. Towards one o'clock in the afternoon, when we had calculated on returning from our expedition, we had only reached the first precipitous slopes of the Djebel-Grurrat, and as we were climbing the ascent the two Bedouins called our attention to some heavy clouds which were gathering in the horizon, and attempted to dissuade us from proceeding any farther. Our only answer was to order one of these men to show us the way, and the other to return to our camp and bring to the foot of the mountain five camels to carry us back thence, when our excursion was over. By so doing we were able to reconcile our upward ideas with the consideration due to limbs destined, as ours were, to severe exertions.

"The sky grew more and more overcast as we toiled up the mountain, but, at the same time, the clouds held out a promise of refreshing rain, over which our hearts rejoiced in advance.

"'What a jolly shower-bath we shall have,' exclaimed Périères.

"'I am delighted at the prospect,' said Delange, 'and it seems to me that I am cooler already. What a marvellous thing imagination is!'

"It was no imagination! Atmospheric currents, heralds of the storm, were refreshing the air, and very soon the thunder, which had been rumbling in the distance for an hour past, became louder and louder, each clap taken up by all the echoes of the hill, and reverberating incessantly.

"Close on the thunder followed the wind, bursting its bonds with irresistible impetuosity, and hurling around us stones and masses of rock. The clouds had come down from their lofty eminence, and reaching the ledge on which we stood, surrounded us with vapour and enveloped us in gloom.

"All nature seemed to bend, and break, and succumb under the violence of the hurricane; and, lost as we were, in the midst of this enormous mass of granite, blocks of which were every now and then detached from the main rock, we were in imminent danger.

"The gale passed over our heads without touching us, but fresh clouds appeared and burst into torrents of water. Our interpreter, Ali, who had left us for a few moments, now hurried towards us. He had found a shelter, and led us to it. It was one of those natural reservoirs of which we had been told, a cavity several yards deep and wide, and overhung by a rock. This yawning cavern was perfectly dry, and a natural projection here and there afforded an easy means of descent.

"The two ladies, accompanied by Périères and the Doctor, followed Ali without hesitation, congratulating him on his discovery.

"'Are you not coming, too?' called out Périères to me.

"'No,' said I, 'I have no love for caverns. And, besides, I am wet through already, so why should I take shelter?'

"I remained on the ledge, some twenty yards from the cavern in which my friends had found refuge.

"The rain fell with redoubled force, the darkness increased, and the hurricane, which had apparently left us, came back upon us with more menacing and impetuous fury. Suddenly I heard a fearful crash, whole trunks of trees were carried past me down the mountain, and, at the same time, a huge volume of water, bursting through all the obstacles which had confined it to the higher level, rushed down with lightning speed, and poured itself headlong into the reservoir where my friends had taken shelter.

"You would have rushed to their assistance, would you not? I fell on my knees, hurled down by the tempest, crushed with grief, mad with despair."