One of his moles, Ephraim, had escaped; he had lost his faithful hounds,
and after his troop had been terrified and drenched by a storm such as
scarcely occurred in these desert regions once in five years, a second
had burst the next evening--the one which brought destruction on
Pharaoh's army--and this had been still more violent and lasting.
The storm had delayed the march and, after the last cloud-burst, several
convicts and guards had been attacked by fever owing to their wet night-
quarters in the open air. The Egyptian asses, too, who were unused to
rain, had suffered and some of the best had been left on the road.
Finally they had been obliged to bury two dead prisoners, and place three
who were dangerously ill on the remaining asses; and the other prisoners
were laden with the stores hitherto carried by the beasts of burden.
This was the first time such a thing had happened during the leader's
service of five and twenty years, and he expected severe reproofs.
All these things exerted a baneful influence on the disposition of the
man, who was usually reputed one of the kindest-hearted of his companions