"'Pardon me, but before going to sleep, we must turn our attention to a game at cards. We have not had one to-day, and if we get on horseback it will be difficult. This, as I take it, is a very opportune moment.' "'But I am dead sleepy,' said the young painter, trying to get out of it. "'So am I,' replied M. Delange, 'but a quarter of an hour's rest will only make us melancholy. So long as we cannot sleep for twenty-four or thirty-six hours at a stretch, we had better not sleep at all. Come along, and whilst our camels are trying to find a blade or two of grass, we will have just one game at écarté, if you have no objection.' "'Surely you did not think of bringing any cards with you?' said M. de Morin. "'They are the only things, on the contrary, I remembered. I forgot water, biscuits, everything except cards.' "'Very well,' replied the painter, resigned to his lot. "They sat down, face to face, cross-legged on the sand, and the Bedouins, deeply interested in this novel proceeding, grouped themselves round the pair. When they saw the little red and black pips, the kings, queens, and knaves mixed, jumbled up together, and falling one on the top of another, they were seized afresh with a fit of laughter, not even inferior to that which Joseph had provoked. "The game was no sooner over than they laid hands on the cards, anxious to fathom the secrets of the game, and M. Delange generously gave them up. "Our poor companions were worn out with fatigue when they rejoined us at the Consulate. But our joy at seeing them once more re-animated them. "'Ah! Miss Poles, in seeing you I lose all thought of sleep,' said M. Delange. The doctor is charming. I no longer grudge him his passion for gambling. I have come to the pass, I confess, of loving even his faults. "The French Consul was delighted at the success achieved by his fellow-countrymen, but he advised us to quit Djiddah as soon as possible. He feared lest, jealous of our triumph, and ashamed of their own inertness and impotence, the Turkish authorities should try to excite some unpleasant feeling, or induce the populace to fix a quarrel upon us. "'You must never forget,' he said, 'so long as you are in a Mussulman country, the well-known proverb, 'The body of an unbeliever is not worth the trouble taken by a jackal to eat it!' "On the quay we met the Bedouin, Abou-Zamil, waiting to claim his reward, which M. Périères gave him at once. It is ill-placed generosity, but Europeans are bound to teach these barbarians that their word is as good as their bond. "Our steamer started as soon as we got on board, and the French flag at the Consulate was dipped in our honour. "We are now making direct for Souakim, and we have to cross the Red Sea at its greatest breadth, whilst bearing at the same time several degrees southwards." CHAPTER XXXI. FROM M. DE MORIN TO M. DE POMMERELLE.