"
They journeyed slowly until a wondrous amber light first flooded the
eastern horizon and then tinted the opposite hills with pink coral.
Soon, rainbow shades of blue and green began to blend with the pink,
and the undulating plateau they were traversing revealed with startling
suddenness its scattered rocks and patches of loose stones. The camels
were urged into a lurching trot, and thirty miles were covered in less
time than it had taken to travel eight during the dark hours.
Beyond a few gazelles, a pair of marabout storks, and a troup of
jackals, they saw no living creature. But they took every precaution
against surprise. If others were on the march they meant to discover
the fact before they were themselves seen. So, when the ground was
practicable, they crossed the sky-line at top speed, hastened through
the intervening valley, and crept in Indian file to the next crest.
The Bisharin camels had long ceased to utter their unavailing growls.
Such reasoning powers as they possessed told them that they must make
the best of a bad business, as the lords of creation on their backs
meant to reach the allotted destination without reference to the
outraged feelings of three ill-used animals who had been deprived of a
night's rest.
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