HAWKING IN AFRICA. 133 



not ashamed to say that at that time, I was right well fright- 

 ened, not only by the near approach of the knives of my 

 pursuers, but also with the alternative prospect of drowning 

 in the water. I thought of my tent and my mare. 



" I was suddenly aroused from my preoccupations by the 

 report of a pistol, followed by imprecations, blows, and the 

 sounds of muskets. It was the fusillade of my cousin, who 

 finding himself discovered in his retreat, had fired his pistol 

 on his foes and then fell, sword in hand, under their shots 

 and sabre cuts. By a few words that I could hear amid the 

 clamor, I learned that Lakdar was not quite dead, and that 

 they were dragging him before the Sheik. Careless of the 

 danger, and desiring, above everything, to discover what they 

 were about to do with my friend, I was about leaving 

 my retreat, when two men jumped into the bed of the 

 brook. 



" ' He came down here,' said the first, pointing to my steps 

 in the sand. 



" 4 Yes, those are his foot-prints,' said the other, turning 

 towards the border where I was standing motionless ten steps 

 off, looking at him from between the leaves that covered my 

 head. 



"<Jt is queer,' continued the first, * there are no more 

 tracks to be seen in the bed of the brook, can he have been 

 drowned V 



" At this moment, I heard steps on the bank above my 

 head, and a man called to the Arab, who was near me : 



" ; Mohammed, the Sheik sent me to find you, because none 

 of the horsemen have as good a knife as yours.' 



