“I’m not sure that I’ll go out again,” he said.

“I dare say you’re tired.”

“No, that’s not it.  The truth is that I’m tremendously happy in camp with you.  And I love to think of the desolation all round us, and that there isn’t a soul about, except a few gipsies down there, and a few wild, half-naked fishermen.  We’ve brought our own oasis with us into the Libyan Desert.  And I think to-night I’ll be a wise man and stick to the oasis.”

She smiled at him.

“Then do!”

In the midst of her smile she yawned.

“I shall go to bed directly,” she said.

She seemed to suppress another yawn.

“You mean to go to bed early?” he asked.

“Almost directly.  Do you mind?  I’m dog tired with the long camel ride, and I shall sleep like twenty tops.”

She put her hand on his shoulder.  Her whole face was looking sleepy.

“You old wretch,” she said.  “What do you mean by looking so horribly wide awake?”

He put his hand over hers, and laughed.

“I seem to be made of iron in this glorious country.  I’m not a bit sleepy.”

She stifled another yawn.

“Then I’ll”—­she put up her hand to her mouth—­“I’ll sit up a little to keep you company.”

“Indeed, you shan’t.  You shall go straight to bed, and when you’re safely tucked up I think perhaps I will just go down and have a look for the jackals.  If you’re going to sleep, I might as well—­”

He drew down her face to his and gave her a long kiss.

“I’ll put you to bed first, and when you’re quite safe and warm and cosy, I’ll make a start.”

She returned his kiss.

“No, I’ll see you off.”

“But why?”

“Because I love to see you starting off in the night to the thing that gives you pleasure.  That’s my pleasure.  Not always, because I’m too selfish.  On the Nile you’ll have to attend to me, to do everything I want.  But just for these few days I’m going to be like an Eastern woman, at the beck of my lord and master.  So I must see you start, and then—­oh, how I shall sleep!”

He got up.

“P’r’aps I’ll be out till morning.  I wonder if Hamdi’s got a goat.”

He went away for his gun.  In a very few minutes he left the camp, gaily calling to her, “Sleep well, Ruby!  You look like a sorceress standing there all lit up by the fire.  The flames are flickering over you.  Good night—­good night!”

His steps died away in the sands, his voice died away in the darkness.

She waited, standing perfectly still by the fire, for a long time.  Her soul seemed running, rushing over the sands towards the ridge that met the sky, but her will kept her body standing beside the flames, until at last the sportsmen were surely far enough away.

“Ibrahim!”

“My lady?”

“How are we going?”

She was whispering to him beside the fire.