“Now you lie still and rest, and, if you can, sleep. We are going to get things ready to start to-morrow. Presently we’ll come back and fix you up for the night.” “I wonder if John has seen anything,” said I as we left the tent. “The girl does not seem to think that the enemy will come out to-night, and I expect they’re pretty well scared, what with our guns and our unexpected appearance in a place where no one ever comes. Thank goodness, the moon gets up soon. It will give some light in that beastly place if the enemy try to come out. I’ll go up with Firoz and tell John about things.” “No, you won’t; not much. You’ll just sit quiet here and rest that face of yours. I’ll go along with Firoz as soon as I’ve made up some stuff to send that young woman to sleep. She’s had enough shocks to last her a lifetime, and I want her to get to sleep. When I’ve gone--say, in another half an hour--give her this stuff I’m going to make up; it ought to send her off pretty quick.” He was opening the medicine-chest as he talked, and proceeded to mix up some drugs. “Did you notice the way she talked?” he continued. “I’m sure Greek is not her mother tongue. You noticed how strange words slipped in every now and then, and when she saw we didn’t understand them she substituted Greek ones, sometimes thinking a second or two. She’s got her wits about her, all right, that young person.” “Yes; I noticed that. Her Greek is different from any I’ve heard, although one can follow it easily enough. I wonder if it’s the old classic Greek just been changing through the ages, or whether it’s some old forgotten dialect. But did you realize her clan name, the ‘Sakae’? I’ve met them somewhere in one of the classics, I’m sure.” “Yes; I remarked that, all right. They were a tribe of sorts in middle Asia in Alexander’s time. The chief points about them were their being very stout fighters, and their women being particularly independent. There’s some old story about their marriage customs, including a decision in each case as to whether the man or the woman should rule the house. Rather fits in with the present case, for it’s clear that this damsel is accustomed to treat with men on an equal footing. None of your Eastern _purdah_ about her.” “Jolly refreshing to meet after some years in the East, isn’t it? I wonder if this crowd are the original Sakae? Were they supposed to be white?” I asked. “I fancy so. At least, the old writers differentiate between them and the Indians, whom Arrian refers to as being ‘blacker than any other men except the Æthiopians.’ If the Sakae were dark, they’d have mentioned it. But this girl is as white as you or me, and you’d remark on her fairness even in England. I wonder who they can be. Not pure Greek, I’m sure, if they’re all like her.”