THE HISTORY OF MY HORSE SALADIN. 
187 
how very singular the whole thing was; if there was any 
thought at all it was only as to the probable issue of the ad¬ 
venture. Away we dashed, through chapperals of prickly- 
pear, over ditches and dikes, out upon the rolling sand plain ! 
I looked, and beheld a cloud of dust approaching. The next 
moment a voice shouted “ Badra, Badra !” the battle-cry of 
our dragoman, and then Yusef himself, whirling his stick over 
his head, passed like a shot. “ Badra, Badra!” sounded again 
in the distance. Saladin wdieeled and darted madly after 
him ; while I, clutching the saddle with one hand, just saved 
my balance in time, “ Badra, Badra !” shrieked Yusef, whirl¬ 
ing again, and blinded by the fury of battle. “ Come on, 
come on ! A thousand of you at a time ! Die, villains, 
die !” Again he dashed furiously by, covered in a cloud of 
dust, and again he returned to the charge ; and again, 
driven to the last extremity by the terrific manner in which 
Saladin wheeled around and followed every charge, I seized 
hold of the bridle and tried all my might to stop him, but 
this time he not only danced about on his hind legs, but 
made broadside charges to the left for a hundred yards on a 
stretch, and then turned to the right and made broadside 
charges again for another hundred yards, and then reared up 
and attempted to turn a back somerset. All this time there 
was not the slightest doubt in my mind that sooner or later 
I should be thrown violently on the ground and have my 
neck and several of my limbs broken. In vain I called to 
Yusef; in vain I threatened to discharge him on the spot; 
sometimes he was half a mile off, and sometimes he passed 
in a cloud of dust like a whirlwind , but I might j ust as 
well have shouted to the great King of Day to stand still as 
to Badra, the Destroyer of Bobbers. By this time, finding it 
impossible to hold Saladin by the bridle, I seized him by the 
tail with one hand, and by the mane with the other, and 
away he darted faster than ever. “ Badra, Badra !’ ? screamed 
a voice behind ; it was Yusef in full chase ! Away we flew, 
up hill and down hill, over banks of sand, down into fearful 
hollows, and up again on the other side ; and still the battle- 
cry of Yusef resounded behind, “ Badra, Badra forever !” 
