Rejtő, Jenő: The three musketeers in Africa; Q 19045

k climb down the rear wall of the fort, shake hands, and set out each on his way. Thorze moves off southwards, and Barre goes in the westerly direction. Pitman heads — due north, right into the formidable Sahara. He has pulled a fast one on his friends. x Next morning, two groups of twenty-five men are dispatched in hot pursuit of the deserters. By noon, one party catches up with Thorze, and in the evening Barré too is run down. A group of thirty is now formed and it turns north after the third man on the run. This one has a head start of two days, but the hoofprints of his camel are clearly visible in the sand. Just before sundown the pursuers spot their quarry as he disappears behind a high dune

. As they come racing up they are greeted by a deadly volley of fire and a battle-cry going up from a hundred throats: Bedouins rushing from their hiding place kill the survivors. Pitman and Sheikh Izmin of the Bedouins agreed previously that the latter would have the Scotsman escorted to the great northern railway in exchange for 25 rifles

. Pitman has now delivered to him 30. Two days camel ride takes Pitman to the vicinity of Oasis Okbour, where there is a rqilway