been running for nearly an hour, always up
stream, and without quitting the trees which
skirt the river, when we perceived four
horsemen a couple of hundred paces behind
us, and further off, the cheik's whole cavalcade.
They had followed our track at full
trot and gallop. Further flight was impossible;
we endeavoured to hide ourselves.
Lakdar chose a tuft of tamarinds and
brambles; as for me, I slipped down to the
river's bed. I walked in till I was up to my
neck in water, and could stand with my head
hidden beneath the aquatic plants which
overhung the bank. I was scarcely installed
in my snuggery, before I heard the footsteps
of horses and the voice of a sportsman shouting
to the cheik's people, 'Come this way;
we are on their track! Their footsteps are
as plain as daylight. They are two sons of
dogs together!' A sharp galloping and the
neighing of the horses heated by a long run,
announced the arrival of the cheik and of
every one belonging to him.

" 'Let ten men,' he said, 'instantly go
forward till they lose the track. Then, and not
before, they will halt, and keep military guard
on both banks of the river. You, my children,
will dismount; follow the steps of these
wretches, pistol in hand, and bring them to
me alive if you possibly can.'

"At this order, I felt sure that it was all
over with Lakdar. My position was better
than his, and I retained the hope of surviving
and avenging him. Then only I became
aware that my feet were sinking in the mud,
and that the water, which at first scarcely
covered my shoulders, began to moisten my
lips. They say that he who knows not fear,
is not a man. Well; that day, I was afraid,
not so much on account of the threats of the
enemy who were pursuing us so furiously, as
of dying by the death of drowning. My
personal meditations were interrupted by a shot,
followed by imprecations and several other
shots. My cousin, finding that he was
discovered, had fired his pistol at the group
which surrounded him, and which, in spite of
the cheik's prohibition, could not restrain
itself from returning the fire. The few words
I was able to catch, amidst the disturbance
which took place around me, gave me to
understand that Lakdar was not killed, and
that they were dragging him to the cheik's
presence. Unable to contain myself, and
anxious, even at the risk of being caught, to
know what they were going to do to him, I
was on the point of quitting my place of
refuge, when a couple of men leapt into the
river's bed.

" 'He came down this way,' said the first,
pointing to my footsteps on the sand.

" 'He entered the water here,' said the
other, advancing towards the edge of the
stream, in which I remained motionless only
ten paces off, peeping at him through the
foliage which covered my head. 'It is
singular,' he continued, 'there are no more
footsteps visible in the river's bed. Can he
have crept in, and hidden himself?'

"At that moment I heard some one walking
on the bank above my head, and saying to the
fellow who was searching after me, 'Mohammed,
the cheik has sent me to fetch you,
because there is not one of the cavaliers in
company who has so good a knife as yours.'

" 'What for?' rejoined the other.

" 'To decapitate the dog whom we have just
caught,' replied the envoy.

"The prospect of cutting off a man's head
got the upper-hand of the ardour with which
these wretches were ferreting me out, and
lured them away instantly; thus delivering
me from the most frightful position in which
I ever happened to be in my life. According
to what I had just heard, my cousin was on
the point of losing his head, and I was unable
to succour him in the least. Fully persuaded
that the men who had departed a minute ago
would return after the execution was over,
and conscious of the impossibility of finding
any other retreat without leaving traces of
having shifted my quarters, I determined to
stop where I was. A root which I had
observed beneath the bank, and over my head,
rendered me the service of hanging by it, and
of taking a position less dangerous than my
former one. After the uproarious shouts and
laughter caused by the triple execution which
took place behind me, I thought I could hear
the horses' footsteps travelling away from the
brook, and then all was silent.

"Time fled, and with it the sun, who set and
disappeared. Then came the twilight, and
soon a few stars were twinkling in the sky.
I crept softly out of my retreat, and cautiously
stole up the river's bank. I listened—
I looked in every direction—nothing. Not a
sound, except the croaking of the frogs; not
a living creature, except a few jackals prowling
around poor Lakdar's body, which I found
horribly mutilated, and flanked on each side
by one of our eagles, also decapitated like
himself. Having first made sure that I was
quite alone, I wrapped up my cousin's body
and head in my burnous, took it on my
shoulders, and directed my steps towards the
spot where we had fastened our ass in the
morning. I found it in the same place,
browsing the grass at the foot of the tamarind-
tree. I made use of the rope which was
twisted round my head to fasten my precious
burthen more securely. I then marched
straight across the plain in order to gain a
pathway which ought to lead me to our douar
before daybreak. I had continued my journey
for about four hours without meeting with
anything, but always followed by a small
party of jackals, whom the smell of blood
kept on my track, when the ass stopped
short, pricking its ears, and trembling at
every limb.

"I instantly perceived, not far before me, and
on the path, a pair of shining eyes, as bright
as burning coals. Accustomed to these sort