"As safe as we can reasonably hope to be," replied the correspondent. "I'll bring the camels down, and while they are drinking we'll have a meal." "Is this the same river as at Wadi Tlat?" asked Gerald. "As far as I can judge, but it has made a fairly wide sweep to the south-west. I believe that had we kept due south from the spot where we were at sunrise, we should have struck the river within an hour or so." "Perhaps it turned out for the best." "That I do not doubt. We might not have found such an admirable spot to hold our own against the Arabs, and had those fellows caught us in the open, it would have gone hard with us. That reminds me--do you know how to load these guns?" The lads shook their heads. They had both used rook rifles before, but these long-barrelled flintlocks were beyond them. "I can't see the place for the caps," said Gerald. "For the simple reason that percussion caps are not used," replied Reeves, taking up one of the muskets. "See this piece of steel on a hinge? I throw it back, and you see a shallow bowl underneath it. That is the pan. You've heard of the expression, 'a flash in the pan'? Now, first load the barrel with powder and ball, not forgetting the wads, and ram the charge hard home, so. Next half-cock the hammer, place powder in the pan, and cover it up again by the steel. To fire, full-cock the musket, take aim, and pull the trigger. The flint will draw fire from the steel, and at the same time throw open the pan. The spark ignites the priming powder in the pan, which in turn communicates, by means of a small hole, with the charge in the barrel. It's somewhat unreliable, for the flint may spark without igniting the priming, or the priming may flash in the pan without exploding the charge." "How cumbersome!" remarked Hugh. "But we are lucky to have them at all," replied the correspondent. "For nearly a hundred and fifty years our forefathers fought and won their battles with weapons acting in precisely the same manner as this. Consequently, if ever we are compelled to use these weapons in self-defence, we must remember their maxim: 'Never fire till you can see the whites of your enemy's eyes'. Now, boys, you had better snatch a few hours' sleep in the shade of the rock. I can hold out a good while, so I'll keep watch." Both Hugh and Gerald protested that they were quite capable of taking the first watch, and that their elder was more in need of rest than they were; but Reeves sternly ordered them to obey. In less than three minutes both lads were fast asleep, while the correspondent took up a position as much in the shade as possible, keeping a vigilant lookout across the seemingly interminable waste of sand.