through her skin, a very scarecrow of an animal, but to me at that moment she was a priceless boon, even though delicacy might forbid the subject of teeth in

I had then leisure to observe the party we had so opportunely fallen in with, and saw it was composed of Muley Abdallah, his nephew Hamed, El F’kir Embarak, and about half a dozen tribesmen. Turning round in my saddle, I could see that our pursuers were being attacked from the hills on their flank, and were too busily occupied in looking to their own lives to have any time for us. They were in full retreat towards Arksis.

For the best part of an hour we had been running. It was a near thing, but we were saved! And then began the long wearisome climb over the mountains. towards the villages inland. Both our animals lacked stirrups, and after the long run we had had, the weight of my legs dangling over the mule's sides soon began to give me considerable pain in the groin. The bridle consisted of a single twisted leather rope with a loop at the end, and I found some little relief by resting first one foot and then the other in the loop, twisting the line round the pommel of the Moorish saddle on which I sat.

As we reached the summit of the first hill, about 1,500 feet above the level of the sea, a panorama of the most beautiful character was unfolded before our gaze. One range of hills succeeded another as far as

the eye could reach. could reach. On the slopes of the hillsides, and down in the valleys below, patches of green and brown showed that cultivation was by no means neglected, and the little homesteads and tiny duars, or villages, dotted here and there, gave this romantic

scenery enough animation to deprive it of absolute wildness. Timber was by no means abundant, a few argan trees-a tree that suggests a cross between a stunted oak and an olive tree-being the only specimens. Water was also lacking, not a stream or rivulet being visible in spite of the heavy rains of a week ago. Droves of cattle and sheep could be seen here and there, and the green barley was just showing above-ground. What a different spectacle from that which we had just witnessed on the other side of the crest of the hill! Peace and war divided only by a line of hills.

For hours we rode on, the tribesmen having left us, as soon as we were in safety, to hurry back to the fighting. I noticed that all the villages were built on the summit of a slope or high up the hillside, the walls surrounding them giving them the appearance of forts, and I learned that such a situation was chosen to afford a better retreat in case of attack by some neighbouring tribe, or their old hereditary enemy, the Sultan of Morocco. In that one fact can be read the history of Sus.

On the way we met Sidi Hashem, the man of many wounds, hurrying on his way to the scene of action ; and a little later our party was reinforced by several stray tribesmen, who reported that the Sultan's troops. had been beaten off with considerable loss by the Sbooyas, and were in full retreat northwards, but that they had captured the grandson of El F'kir Embarak, and taken him with them.

The sun was setting as we descended into the last valley, and shed a crimson radiance over the lovely scene; but darkness had set in, and the evening star was twinkling in the heavens before we had climbed

Half

the final slope and reached our destination. dead with fatigue, we slid from our saddles scarce able to stand, and, passing through a low doorway, found ourselves in a sort of compound where mules, donkeys and horses were hobbled and tethered. It was too dark to see much, and I was wondering why our guides had brought us into this stable, when a door in another wall was opened, and, crowding through the hole for it was barely 4 feet high-we found ourselves in a long, narrow room, dimly lighted by a solitary candle. Then I realized that these were their 'houses.' The courtyard was for the animals, the mud hovels for the human beings; but the only entrance to the one was through the other.

Of furniture there was no sign, except a couple of grass mats whereon these 'luxurious' people squat when they take their simple meals, or huddle themselves up for sleep. The room in which we found ourselves was 7 or 8 feet wide by about 25 feet in length, the mud floor of which was slightly raised at one end. It was innocent of any window or other ventilation that I could see than the doorway through which we had entered, while the roof was formed of thick branches of trees laid crosswise, with the interstices filled in with mud, And this was the residence of El F'kir Embarak, one of the Sbooya 'Forty,' and a signatory to the 'treaty.'

Into this den, where Muley Abdallah and his host were already making themselves comfortable, a broken earthenware bowl was presently brought, in which dry twigs were laid, and a fire lighted to boil water for tea. The smoke from the wood fire, however, soon became so dense that our eyes began

to smart, and we were compelled to seek the fresh air again to avoid being choked.

While standing outside, one of the men came, and, divining that we were not entirely charmed with our apartment, conducted us to another house close by, which he eulogized as bserf miziàn-very fine; and the next time we saw the fugitive chief, the links that bound us to him were not those of host and guest, but the more material chain that fettered us as fellowprisoners of the Sultan.

CHAPTER XIII.

IN THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF.

We are lodged in Mulud's house-We make the acquaintance of his son, and of Morocco kangaroos '-Close prisoners'Twixt hopes and fears-News of El Arabi-Flight of Muley Hamed-We suspect treachery-An unpleasant pantomimic performance-We are searched and robbed-A trying ordeal

-We are handed over to the Moors-A midnight march— Sidi Hassan.

FOLLOWING Our guide, we passed out the way we had come in, and presently found ourselves before another mud erection very similar in appearance to the one we had just left. There was the same corral for the animals, into whose accumulated dung our feet sank at every step, but this palatial residence boasted two stories instead of only a ground-floor. Passing up a flight of stairs made of mud faced with wood, we climbed through a trap-door, and emerged into a room somewhat wider, but not so long as the one we had just left, the walls of which had once been whitewashed. It boasted two cupboards let into the wall, and a window with folding shutters, and instead of the primitive roof before described, this one was formed of planed pine boards. From one end of this room a hole in the wall, arch-shaped but without a door, communicated with a smaller room, or cubicle, where