The ride from the grotto to Mar Saba was through a rough region, and in some places the road wound along steep hill-sides, where a false step might have thrown horse and rider hundreds of feet to the bottom of a ravine. In the valleys, and on many of the slopes, there were fields and gardens, but the greater part of the country was a scene of desolation. The guide said they were coming into the region of the Bedouins, but would be in no danger until after passing Mar Saba. Even there they were entirely safe, as an escort had been engaged who would meet them at the convent, and accompany them the rest of the journey till they returned to Jerusalem. [Illustration: AN ARAB ENCAMPMENT.] Turning a sharp bend in the road they came suddenly upon an encampment of Bedouins. There were half a dozen tents, none of them more than four or five feet high, and anything but comfortable to live in. Frank thought their own camp was much to be preferred to the home of these wandering Arabs, and he wondered how the natives managed to pass their lives there. The Doctor explained that the Bedouins were shepherds, and consequently were obliged to move with their flocks in search of pasturage; for many centuries they had been wanderers over the land, and refused to live in villages, and, as they had never known the comforts of civilization, they did not miss anything. A dozen half-naked children rushed from the tents, and shouted "hadji! hadji!" (pilgrims! pilgrims!)--several dogs barked, and there was a good deal of commotion in the camp. Some of the children came to the path in front of the travellers, and demanded backsheesh with an insolent air; nobody paid any attention (or money) to them, and as none of the party wished to stop among these ill-tempered nomads, the camp was soon left behind. The most dignified of the Bedouins was an old man, apparently the sheik or chief, who sat in front of the tents as immovable as a statue. He was holding his pipe with the bowl resting on the ground and riveted his eyes on the travellers, evidently meditating whether it was worth his while to demand tribute. [Illustration: A BEDOUIN SHEIK.] Frank took a rapid note of the appearance of the sheik, so that he might know him again: "A large cloak of gray material, with the sleeves and skirt of a white caftan showing beneath it--cloak fastened at the neck by a clasp and cord with red tassels, a beard white as snow and not closely trimmed, and a head-dress of a _cafeeah_, or Syrian kerchief, held in place by cords of twisted camel's-hair. A face browned by exposure and its natural hue, and a pair of eyes so keen that they might pierce a hole through a blanket." Such was the Bedouin sheik that our friends encountered. One of the boys asked the Doctor if this was a part of the race of Arabs that made it unsafe for travellers to go through their country.