They had expected a wild, only half-organized rush up the sands, easily to be wiped out by a volley or two from the terribly accurate, long-barreled rifles.

But this restraint, this business-like entrenching reminded them only too forcibly of encounters with other men of the Franks--the white-clad Spanish infantry from Rio de Oro, the dreaded _piou-pious_, zouaves, and _Legion Etrangere_ of the French.
Firing ceased, from the Beni Harb.

Silence settled on both sides.

From the sea, the noise of waves breaking along the lower works of _Nissr_ mingled with the hiss and refluent slither of the tumbling surf on the gleaming beach.

For a while peace seemed to have descended.
A purple shade settled over the desert.