Evidently the flash which showed the Fung to us had done them a like service, and they were now advancing to kill or capture us.
There was only one thing to do--turn and fly--and this we did, heading whither we knew not, but managing to keep touch of each other.
About a quarter of an hour later, just as we were entering a grove of palms or other trees which hid everything in front of us, the lightning blazed again, though much more faintly, for by this time the storm had passed over the Mountains of Mur, leaving heavy rain behind it.

By the flash I, who was riding last and, as it chanced, looking back over my shoulder, saw that the Fung horsemen were not fifty yards behind, and hunting for us everywhere, their line being extended over a long front.
I was, however, sure that they had not yet caught sight of us in the dense shadow of the trees.
"Get on," I said to the others; "they will be here presently," and heard Quick add: "Give your camel his head, Captain; he can see in the dark, and perhaps will take us back to the road." Orme acted on this suggestion, which, as the blackness round us was pitchy, seemed a good one.

At any rate it answered, for off we went at a fair pace, the three camels marching in line, first over soft ground and afterwards on a road.

Presently I thought that the rain had stopped, since for a few seconds none fell on us, but concluded from the echo of the camels' feet and its recommencement that we had passed under some archway.

On we went, and at length even through the gloom and rain I saw objects that looked like houses, though if so there were no lights in them, perhaps because the night drew toward morning.