"No, Excellency; always with eight or ten men; and he is to answer for your safety abroad and here with his head." The Sheikh's words seemed to have robbed the little party of the power of speech. But at last Frank exclaimed-- "Then we have journeyed all this way for naught?" "To be as badly off as if we had stayed in Cairo and waited for the British and Egyptian advance." "No," said the doctor quietly; "disappointment is making you both go to extremes. We are here on the spot, and we must work by other hands." "Whose?" said Frank bitterly. The doctor pointed gravely to Ibrahim, who drew himself up with a look at the speaker full of gratitude and pride. "Yes, O Hakim," he said quietly; "it seems that I and my young men are at liberty to come and go with the camels, and we can mix with the people as we please. If, then, their Excellencies will trust their servant and give him time he will do all he can to search out tidings of their friend and brother. Shall it be so?" "Yes," said the doctor firmly. The old Sheikh bowed, and then turned to Frank. "Ben Eddin is black," he said, with a smile, "and the day or night may come when I shall say to him, `I have glad tidings for you. Come as one of my camel-drivers, and maybe I can get you past the guard.'" "Ibrahim!" cried the young man wildly, "don't promise me too much." "I promise nothing, Ben Eddin," said the old man smiling; "but an Arab Sheikh and the black slave with him can go far unnoticed. Wait and see. Till then go on and be a patient servant to the sick man here, the Emir's son. He likes you in his way. Maybe he will be better soon, and want you to bear him company here and there." "Yes, it is possible," cried Frank excitedly. "And it would give you time to search the place or learn by chance where the prisoner may be. It is not wise to let the heart sink in sorrow as the sun goes down amongst the mists of night. Does it not rise again and bring the light? Surely it is better that you are here." "Yes," said Frank eagerly. "I spoke in haste." CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. SAM'S TONGUE. As soon as the first disappointment had passed off it was decided to make the best of their position--one whose advantages soon grew upon the adventurers. So the Hakim settled down steadily to his task of healing, and the Emir's son not only rapidly improved, but grew more friendly as he gained strength. This friendliness was not displayed in his behaviour towards his doctor but in his dealings with Frank, who in his efforts to help Morris devoted himself heart and soul to their principal patient. The young Emir had from the first seemed to be attracted by Frank, while he was morose to his white attendants, the very fact of the young man being a black and a slave to a white seeming to form a bond of sympathy; and finding that the Hakim would take no gifts, he often showed his satisfaction by making some present or another to his dumb attendant. A greater one was to come.