“A bit of advice, monsieur,” said Amrath. “Your one opportunity to intercept the party bearing away your son lies not in following their trail. It will be circuitous in order to pass by three small water holes in the desert of which we Athensians know. That is necessary because of the horses. But you, with your camels, need not strike those water holes. Take a supply of water in your water bottles, and strike due south. The only way to enter the mountain wall is through the old stone road leading into Korakum. There is another trail, which was destroyed ages ago, and which we revolutionaries secretly have been rebuilding. The spies set upon us recently may have reported that to the Athensian authorities. But, doubtless, this party will take the easier route. Therefore, I would advise you to seek the old road, which lies due south of this oasis and enters the mountains by the only accessible pass. “If you arrive in time, seek out Jepthah, Amonasis and Shilluk in Korakum and with their aid make an ambush. That is all,” he concluded, faintly, his exertions beginning to show on him. He clasped Mr. Hampton’s outstretched hand and pressed it to his forehead. “Believe me, monsieur,” he said, “I am not ungrateful. Amrath wishes you well. And, who knows? Together we may yet bring happiness to my backward country.” Making a mental note of the directions given and especially of the names of the three friendly exiles of Korakum now twice repeated, Mr. Hampton bade Amrath farewell. Drawing Allola with him, he ordered Ali to lay upon her the strictest injunctions for looking after the Athensian’s welfare, stating the man was a friend. Further, he advised her that should he fail to return she was to give Amrath on his recovery the documents left in her possession and destined for the Cairo bankers, feeling assured the Athensian would deliver them. Everything now being ready and Frank and Jack especially being wild to start, the party set out. Amrath’s advice was repeated to Ali, who nodded agreement. “That is good sense,” he declared. “If we followed the trail, as your man says, we might and probably would be too late. They would escape on their fleeter horses. But by shortening the distance to the mountains, we may arrive ahead of the raiders.” Day after day the party now pushed on south into the desert, resting two hours in the hottest part of the day but making up for the delay by riding far into the cooler night. The camels were pushed almost to the limit of endurance. Daily the Shaitun Mountains loomed larger on the southern horizon. A sharp lookout was kept for sight of other travellers, but none was seen. Except for the gray shape of an occasional jackal scuttling off through the bush into his sand burrow, or a herd of ostrich seen at a distance, nothing alive appeared in that vast waste of sand dunes and stunted bush. No trees broke the horizon, once the oasis of Aiz-Or had been left behind.