AMONG THE DEEVISHES 121 Well, we must keep on as hard as we can till dark; after that we can take it quietly. You see the difficulty with us will be water. Now that they have once made out two horsemen riding north, they must know that we have some special object in avoiding them, and will no doubt send a party to Gakdul, if not farther.”

They crossed the rough country as quickly as they could, and then again broke into a canter. An hour later, as they crossed a slight rise, Zaki looked back. “ There are some horsemen in pursuit, my lord ; they have evidently come from Abu Klea.”

Gregory looked round. There are about fifteen of them,” he said. “ However, they are a good three miles behind, and it will be dark in another half-hour. As soon as it is so, we will turn off to the right or left, and so throw them off our track. DonT hurry your horse; the animals have made a very long journey since we started, and we shall want them badly to-morrow.”

In another half hour the sun went down. Darkness comes on quickly in the Soudan, and in another quarter of an hour they had lost sight of their pursuers, who had gained about a mile upon them. “Another five minutes, Zaki, to allow for their eyes being better than ours. Which way do you think we had better turn ? ” “ I should say to the left, my lord. There is another caravan route from Metemmeh to Ambukol. It cannot be more than fifteen miles to the west.”

“ Do you know anything about it ? ” “ I have never been along there. It is a shorter route than the one to Korti, but not so much used, I believe, because the wells cannot be relied upon.”

“ Well, I feel sure we shall not be able to get at the wells on the other line, so we had better take that. As we shall be fairly safe from pursuit, we may as well bear towards the north-west. By doing so we shall be longer in striking the track, but the journey will be a good bit shorter than if we