diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 15242-8.txt | 8297 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 15242-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 167071 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 15242.txt | 8297 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 15242.zip | bin | 0 -> 167009 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
7 files changed, 16610 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/15242-8.txt b/15242-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a3d874 --- /dev/null +++ b/15242-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8297 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Desert Love, by Joan Conquest + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Desert Love + +Author: Joan Conquest + +Release Date: March 3, 2005 [EBook #15242] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DESERT LOVE *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +DESERT LOVE + + + +BY + +JOAN CONQUEST + + + + +Author of "Leonie of the Jungle" + + + + + + +NEW YORK + +THE MACAULAY COMPANY + + + + +Copyright, 1920 + +By THE MACAULAY COMPANY + + + +PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. + + + + +TO M. F. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PART I + +THE SEED + + +PART II + +THE FLOWER + + +PART III + +THE FRUIT + + + + +PART I + +THE SEED + + + + +DESERT LOVE + + +CHAPTER I + +Jill looked at the East! + +At her feet sat huddled groups of women, just bundles of black robes, +some with discs about their necks, some with chains or golden crescents +upon the forehead, all wearing the _burko_ [yashmak or face veil] +covering the entire face with the exception of the eyes, and held in +position between the eyebrows by the quaint tube-shaped _selva_, +fastening it to the _tarhah_, the flowing black veil which nearly +touches the ground behind, covers the head, and pulled down to the +eyebrows leaves just the beautiful dark eyes to be seen, glancing up +timidly--in this case--at the golden-haired, blue-eyed girl above them. + +Men of different classes stood around, or squatted on their heels upon +the ground, all in flowing robes of different colouring and various +stages of cleanliness, some with heads covered in turbans, some with +the tarboosh, others with the kahleelyah or head handkerchief, all +chattering with the exception of the higher classes and the Bedouins, +the latter clothed in white, with the distinctive thong of camel's hair +wound about the head covering, arms folded and face passively serene, +looking as though they had stepped right out of the Old Testament on to +the fly-ridden, sunbaked station of Ismailiah; whilst vendors of cakes, +sticky, melting sweets, and small oranges, wandered in and out of the +crowd screaming their wares. Shouts of laughter drew Jill's attention +to the other side of the station, where, with terms of endearment mixed +with blood-curdling threats, a detachment of British soldiers getting +ready to start en route for Suez were urging, coaxing, striving to make +that most obstinate of animals, the camel, get to its feet some time +before midnight. + +From them she looked at a group of native dwellings made of sunbaked +clay. Small square buildings, looking in the distance like out-houses, +with scarcely perceptible windows, and flat roofs given over to +poultry. Near them the patient bullock did its monotonous round, +drawing the precious water from the well with which to moisten the arid +little patch of earth from which the fellah extracts the so very little +necessary to him in his life. + +A clump of slender palms, like forgotten scaffolding, stood out clear +against the intense blue of the sky; the desert, that wonderful +magnetic plain, stretched away in mile upon mile of yellow nothingness, +until as minute as flies on a yellow floor, growing more distinct at +every step, with solemn and exceeding great dignity stalked a string of +camels, each animal fastened by a rope to the saddle of the one in +front, each apparently unconscious of its seemingly overwhelming +burden, as with heads swaying slightly from side to side with that air +of disdain which the dame of Belgravia unsuccessfully tries to imitate +when essaying to crush the inhabitant of Suburbia by means of +long-handled lorgnettes resting on the shiny arch of her aristocratic +nose, they responded without fail to the soft musical voice of the Arab +seated cross-legged on the leader. + +Then her eyes turned to the West. + +To the mixed mob which had rushed from the _Norddeutscher Lloyd_ at +Suez, leaving the great liner to the wise few, while perspiring and +querulous, and altogether unpleasant, they had filled the little train +which chuffs its way along the edge of the canal to Ismailiah, and +through the dust and fly-laden miles to Cairo, where it turns its +burden out to clamour and argue vociferously with the wily dragoman who +would take a herd of elephants to "do" the Pyramids in one hour if the +backsheesh proved substantial enough. + +With absolute loathing she gazed at those with whom she had passed so +many weary days on the return journey from Australia. + +There were of a certain type of English women not a few, sunburnt, loud +of voice, lean of breast and narrow of hip. + +Their sisters, wiser and better endowed by nature, had remained on the +liner, taking advantage of the empty conditions of the boat to repair +the ravage done to complexion and wardrobe by the sizzling, salt-laden +wind which had tortured them since Colombo had been left behind. + +Two daughters and a mother stood aloofly in the shade thrown by the +indescribable waiting-room; the mother still labouring under the +delusion that if you can't afford to send your girls properly wardrobed +on a visit to relations in India, the next best method of annexing +husbands for them is to take them hacking on a long sea voyage. For +has it not been known that many a man driven to the verge of madness by +the everlasting sight of flying fish, and the as enduring sound of the +soft plop of the little bull-board sandbag, has become engaged to "a +perfectly im-_poss_-ible person in the second class, you know," so as +to break the deadly monotony of his surroundings. + +They did not want to see Cairo or any other part of Egypt, for the East +said nothing to them, even a rush view of the Pyramids failing to stir +their shallow hearts; but they knew to a shade the effect on their less +fortunate friends when in course of time they should murmur, "You +remember, dear, the winter we were in Cairo." + +Added to these there were raucous Australians, clumsily built guttural +Germans, in fact the usual omnium gatherum, unavoidable, alas! on a sea +voyage, clothed in short skirts, shirt waists, squash hats, and thick +boots as "they were going tramping about the sands," and each, of +_course_, loaded with the inevitable camera which gives dire offence to +many an eastern of higher rank, who hates being photographed +willy-nilly along with all the other "only a native" habits of the +westerner, who with the one word "nigger" describes the Rajah of India, +the Sheik of Arabia, the Hottentot and the Christy Minstrel. + +Free for one day from the restraining manners of those others who at +that very moment were doubtless returning thanks on deck to Allah for +his manifold blessings in the shape of some few hours of perfect peace, +a few men of different nationalities were either boisterously chaffing +the less plain of their companions, or ogling the shrinking Eastern +women, crouching on the edge of the platform. Mr. Billings in fact, in +unclean canvas shoes and a frantic endeavour to find favour in the +bistre enlarged eyes of a certain slim black figure, was executing the +very double shuffle which had "brought down" the second class dining +saloon honoured for the nonce by the presence of the first class, on +the occasion of one of the purgatorial concerts habitual to sea life as +known on board a liner. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Jill stood by herself! + +Personally I consider as infinitely boring those descriptions written +at length anent the past lives of the characters, male and female, +which go to the building of a novel, so in as few words as possible +will try to outline the years which had brought Jill Carden to the +dreary task of waiting hand and foot upon the whimsies of a neurotic +German woman of great wealth, and still greater disinclination to part +with the smallest coin of any realm she might be travelling through. + +Jill, an only child and motherless, had led a glorious care-free +existence. + +Adored by her father and her two friends, Moll, otherwise the +Honourable Mary Bingham pronounced Beam, of the neighbouring estate, +and Jack, otherwise Sir John Wetherbourne, Baronet, of the next county, +big brother to Jill and worshipper at the shrine of Moll. Jill was +also loved by all who waited on her, and sought after by not a few on +account of her great wealth, and had laughed her way through seventeen +years of life, to find herself suddenly minus father and money, with +nothing left in fact but an estate mortgaged to the smallest pebble, +and a heart-whole proposition from her chum Moll to "just come over the +wall" and restart laughing her way as her adopted sister through the +bit of life which might stretch from the moment of disaster to such +time that she should find a life companion with whom she could settle +down and live happily ever after! + +But although Jill's head was outwardly covered with great plaits of +auburn hair, through which broke riotous, frivolous curls, the inside +held a distinctly active and developed brain, which had acquired the +habit of thinking deeply upon such subjects as woman, wife and +motherhood. + +Added to this, which is already quite enough to put out of gear the +life of any girl brought up in convention bound England, she had a +heart as big as her outrageous longing for, and love of adventure, +neither of which bignesses she had so far been able to satisfy. + +As I have said this was quite bad enough, but through and above all, +her whole rather exceptional being was desirous of love. Not the shape +which clothes its diseased body in soiled robes of imitation something +at one and elevenpence three farthings per yard, and under ferns in +conservatories, in punts up back-waters, in stifling tea-rooms, hotels, +theatres and night-clubs, exchanges sly look for sly look and soiled +mouth for soiled kisses, in its endeavours to pass itself off as that +wonder figure which, radiant of brow and humorous of mouth, deep of +breast and profound of thought, stands motionless in high and by-ways +with hands outstretched to those futile figures, blindly hurrying past +the Love they fondly imagine is to be found in the front row of the +chorus, the last row of the cinema, or the unrestrained licence of the +country house. + +Jill had never flirted and therefore had known no kiss excepting her +father's matutinal and nocturnal peck. She looked upon her beautiful +body as some jewel to be placed in the hands of the man she loved upon +her wedding-night, so it was as unsoiled and as untainted as her mind, +although she knew that once she loved she would go down before that +mighty force as a tree before a storm. Dull, you will say all this. +May be! but mighty refreshing in these days when amourette follows +amourette as surely as Monday follows Sunday, the only difference in +the stock being the trade mark, which stamps the one with the outline +of a perfect limousine, and the other with the front seat on the top of +an omnibus; though believe me the Mondays and Sundays differ not at all. + +Jill's ideas on franchise and suffrage, and a "good time" as seen from +the standpoint of the average society girl or woman were absolutely nil. + +She wanted first of all a master, then a home, and then children, many +of them. + +Her idea of love was utter submission to the man she should love. Her +ideal of happiness his happiness, and although she had no fixed idea of +her home, she was positively certain she did not want lodge gates and +forelock-pulling peasantry, nor tame deer inside elaborate palings, nor +the white-capped nurse stiff with starch trundling a perambulator with +a fat, ordinary, rosy heir to the palings, deer, and pullers of locks. + +So she sweetly but very definitely said no to a certain millionaire, +who had earned his banking account and the thanks of many thousands by +his invention of a non-popping champagne cork, and who, adoring the +girl, had hastened the very day the news of the smash had spread +through the country, like fire on a windy day, to lay his portly self +and all that thereunto adhered at her beautiful feet. The disgust of +her relatives upon her want of common sense was outspoken; for having +overstocked their respective quivers with commonplace female arrows, +they quite naturally looked with dismay upon an almost beautiful and +_quite_ penniless and homeless girl about whom, _after_ having read the +will they referred to as "poor Jill, for whom I _suppose_ we _must_ do +_something_ don't you know?" with a quavering inflection at the end of +the phrase. + +But Jill did not stop on refusing the eligible owner of an unmortgaged +estate. No! she set out to look for work off her own bat, and actually +found it in that occupation which, far less paid than more, opens up a +perfect vista of possible adventures under the guise of a travelling +companion. + +She spoke French, German, and Italian like natives, which was all to +the good. She danced like a Vernon Castle, knew almost as much about +fencing as a Saviolo, shot like a George V., and rode like a cowboy, +all of which qualifications she erased from her list on the termination +of the freezing half-hour of her first interview with her first +would-be employer, who, until the enumeration of the above sporting +qualifications, had seemed desirous of taking her along with a +bronchitic pug to winter in Bath. + +Since then she had done Europe and Africa pretty well with never the +suspicion of an adventure, and, when you meet her on the station of +Ismailiah, where you change for Port Said, she was returning from +Australia, with a wardrobe at last beginning to fret about the hem, and +shine around the seams, a condition accounted for by the emaciated +condition of her purse; a memory of good things and hours worn thin by +the constant nerve-wracking routine of capsules, hot drinks, hot water +bottles, moods and shawls; and a fully developed rebellion in her whole +being against the never-ending vista which stretched far into the +future, of other such hours, days, months, yea! even years! + +But everything was capped by a still more fully developed decision to +brave it out, and out, and out, rather than return to ask the help of +those whose hand-clasp had weakened in ratio to the dwindling of the +gold in her coffers. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +And why did she stand by herself? + +This is no riddle, the answer being too easy. Men would have answered, +"Guessed in once, she was pretty!" And the women would guess in once +too, but would keep silent, the pretty ones merely smiling, having +sampled the Coventry-sending powers of plain women in the majority on +board, and the plain ones from that unwillingness inborn or inherited +in every woman to admit good looks, or good anything for that matter, +in a member of her own sex. + +And she _was_ pretty, with the prettiness of youth allied to genuine +red-gold hair, and the bluest of blue eyes, which looked at you in +disconcertingly straight manner from between the longest black lashes +you ever saw. + +She sounds very much like a "Dainty Novel heroine," but I have met her +and I know, and she also had a mouth turned up at the corners, and the +loveliest teeth, a nose which also turned up, not unduly, and a skin on +which lay the merest suspicion of powder like dust on a butterfly's +wings, also two jet black _grains de beauté_, one at the corner of her +mouth and the other on top of the left cheek, just under the outside +corner of the eye. + +_Ravissante_! Her beauty was nature's own, and she had the loveliest, +longest, narrowest feet ever shod and silken hosed by Audet, and as +lovely out of the silken hose as in. + +But all that, though it pleased the eye, did not really constitute her +real charm. It was more the idea of strength, and buoyancy, and the +love of humanity she gave out, that attracted young and old, rich and +poor, dogs, children, and the sick of soul and body to her. + +The type of woman who owns the husband of a roaming disposition and has +not got accustomed to the disposition, or the woman eager to acquire a +husband of any disposition whatever, liked her not at all, failing to +see that she was genuinely uninterested in other people's male +belongings. + +Those who think to lure men by the mystery of a tobacco cloud +permanently around the head, or to stimulate by the sight of a glass +which looks like lemonade but isn't, nestling among the everlasting +cards and cigarette debris, disliked her _intensely_, not so much +because she did not ally herself _with_ them, as for the fact that she +did not range herself _against_ them, having even been heard to remark +that the world would be a deadly dull place is everyone enjoyed the +same pleasure and the same wickedness. Just three more items to add to +the long list against her on this particular voyage. + +Firstly, had she not one sizzling Red Sea day appeared with her hair +hanging in two great plaits reaching below her knees? Which escapade +might have escaped uncensured if accompanied by the whitish eye-lashes, +forceful freckles, and pungent aroma usually allied to reddish hair, +but as it was, the combination of the red-gold glory with blackest +curling lashes, skin like satin, and the faintest trace of Devonshire +lavender, created a perfect scandal among those whose locks were either +limply curtaining their owner's cheeks or blinding the eye, or câchéd +under some head covering were acquiring a wave which might with luck +last out the dinner and bridge hours. + +Secondly, although a penniless companion, she allowed no familiarity +from the men and no condescension from the women; and thirdly, her +shoes gave reason for envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness, +being on the day you met her exquisite champagne coloured things, her +critics little guessing that the reason she wore them was that she had +none thicker, and no money wherewith to buy any. + +This last point sounds almost absurd, but those who know will any day +back the woman with dainty ankles, pretty feet, the glimpse of white +lace and a plain face, against the really beautiful countenance up +above the shapeless ankle-calf combine, and the foot that in two days +gives a shoe the shape of the bows of a dinghey. + +So because of all these reasons, also because all the nice, wise people +who loved her having stayed behind, she stood alone, her heart +clamouring for life and adventure, which comes to about the same thing, +and which she sensed is to be found so much more easily in the East she +was leaving behind in the space of a few hours. The rest of her +rebelling against the West, the monotonous days on the boat racing her +back to England in November, with nothing to do, too much to eat, and +the trail of medicine glasses, cushions, gouty, dyspeptic, and neurotic +employers lengthening into the drab future. + +"Allah! help me!" she whispered, and really meaning it, as she turned +to look again at the camels stalking on into the desert, and finding +herself instead looking straight into the eyes of an Arab standing +behind her. + +And here, I hope, endeth the dullest part of the book. + + + + +CHAPTER 17 + +Arabs as a race are tall, most of them having a grave look of nobility, +all without exception, inheriting from their forefathers Ishmail or +Johtan that air of studied calm, that seldom smiling, never restless +attitude, which expresses the height of dignity and gravity. There +were many of them in this motley station crowd, also Bedouins, smaller +of stature, and the members of the many other tribes which go to +populating the great Egyptian desert. But not one of all the men, +magnificent though some of them were, could compare with Hahmed the +Camel King, who, standing alone and motionless with folded arms, let +his eyes rest upon this most fair woman from the West. + +Jill was accustomed to being looked at, from the impudent stare of +Frenchmen, the open look of admiration, both male and female, of the +Italian, to the never-to-be-forgotten look of Berlin that had seemed to +undress and leave her naked in the street. + +But now under grave scrutiny she felt the colour, which made her even +more lovely, rising from chin to brow, and longed to cover her face or +to run away and hide, though there was nothing but a wondering respect +in the Arab's eyes. + +For one moment his eyes met hers, then she slowly lowered the heavy +white lids with their fringe of curling lashes, and, turning, stood +looking out over the desert, where she no longer saw the stretches of +yellow sand, nor the airing of camels stalking away into the distance, +nor the mud houses and patient bullocks. No! nothing of all these, but +instead, just one man's face, oval, lean-featured, eyes brilliantly +black and deep-set under thick eyebrows, an aquiline nose, the lower +part of the face covered in a sharp pointed beard, and the thick virile +hair by a snow-white kahleelyah, bound by a band to the well-shaped +head. + +A man was he indeed with a width of shoulder rarely seen in an Arab, +standing well over six foot, in spotless white robes sweeping to his +feet, a cloak of finest black cloth falling over all in swinging folds, +failing, however, to hide that look of tremendous strength which +impresses one so in some of the long-limbed, lean, muscular inhabitants +of the desert. + +Jill walked over to the edge of the platform which, as a rule is only +raised a few inches above the rail, and after a few seconds beckoned +her employer's special dragoman, who had annexed himself at Cairo and +presumably would only be shaken off on deck. + +He came immediately, all smiles. + +All the so-called lower classes smiled upon Jill, from the coster in +Whitechapel to the Kaffir at the Cape. And why? Why, because she +smiled when she asked a service. + +"Be more dignified!" she would indignantly reply when remonstrated with +about the native. "They certainly show a varied degree of blackness in +their skin, and have less brains than some of us, but they are human, +so I shall continue to smile if I like," and smile she did, and they +smiled too and ran to do her bidding. + +Not that she indulged in the "our dear black brother" views of those +people who, from utter lack of knowledge upon the subject, believe that +with the exception of a certain difference in the pigment which +embellishes the skin, the lowest type of Hottentot has the same ideals, +desires, and outlook on life as the highest born, or, as I think to be +more correct, I should say, the cleanest living individual in the +Western Hemisphere. + +She did not approve of the promiscuous mingling of the white and black +as is so often and so unhappily seen in London, where a servant girl +maybe, will ecstatically spend her evening out under the protection of +some ebony hued product of Africa and, labouring under the delusion +that the dusky swain is the direct descendant of Cetewayo, also totally +lacking all knowledge of African history, will fondly imagine herself a +queen in embryo, instead of which she is merely the means to feed the +lustful longing for the white in some Cape boy, who believes he hides +the roll of his native walk under an exaggerated skirt to his +over-padded coat. + +And she equally hated to see the social butterfly smile upon the +high-born native of India, angling for his lakhs with the bait of a +fair white skin upon which to fasten a string of priceless pearls, +gathering her fastidious skirts about her at the sign of any feeling +more human than that which she would allow from a respectable bank +manager, recoiling disdainfully from a man whose ancestors were mighty +in the land, when hers were just beginning to break through the crust +of serfdom, as a toad will crack and throw back the caked mud under +which it has blissfully slept. + +As a preventative to social and racial mishaps she thoroughly endorsed +the theory that "East is East and West is West, etc." But in her +heart, or rather in her somewhat searching brain, she had often +wondered if there could be no exception to the ruling, if half of the +East and half of West could never combine to make a perfect whole. + +All smiles the dragoman ran forward, saluting her with hands to +forehead, mouth, and breast. + +"Do you know who that man is?" she asked, indicating with a scarcely +perceptible movement of the head the Arab who had not moved a muscle +since she had turned away from him to look at his homeland, the desert. + +"'Im! My lady!" replied the native, eyes and white teeth flashing as +he essayed in his best Anglo-French to please the beautiful foreigner +who so graciously spoke to him. "'Im? Oh, 'im! is Hahmed the Camel +King. 'Im provide the camels for Government 'Camels Corpse,'" pointing +to the Camelry Corps, where perspiring Tommies and a seething mass of +brown beasts were literally raising the dust on the other side of the +railroad. "'Im," he continued, "is ze great man, from far away over ze +Canal from ze greates' and best part of South Arabia. Is rich, oh! +rich! Oh! so very rich--_riche comme le diable, Madame_. Is master of +many villages, many peoples, but is 'ow say, my lady--_est +étrange_--and feared. 'Is word is ze law and 'is arm is ze iron and 'e +can also shoot ze fly on ze top of Cheops!" + +The man paused, literally from want of breath. + +"He is evidently a very fine man," said Jill, it must be confessed a +little disappointedly, having expected something a little less ordinary +in the way of history, "but I can't say I see anything strange about it +all!" + +The dragoman, slightly downcast by the lack of enthusiasm on the part +of his audience, took in a huge quantity of the absolutely stifling air +and started afresh. + +"Oh! _mais, Madame_, ze strange zing is zat wiz all 'is rich, all 'is +camel, all 'is 'ouse--ah! I forgot zat is 'is Ismailiah 'ouse," +pointing a long, brown finger to a huge pink edifice, standing like a +huge pink birthday cake under the blazing sun on the edge of the +town--"'e 'as no woman--no not an one--not wife--not lady--zere is +tales of one wife long ago over zere," pointing vaguely in the +direction he imagined South Arabia might be, "but feared, we say and +ask nozing--no! ze great Hahmed live alone--not zere------" Once more +pointing contemptuously to the pink abode. "Zat but a business +'ouse--ze most beautiful place in one oasis! Ze Flat Oasis! Ah +Madame! _comme c'est 'belle_--I who 'ave been on camel business can +tell, ze 'ouse, ze shade, ze water--but no lady, no children, no son, +no one--'e go and sleep and live all by self alone--_triste_, Madame, +because 'e is ze great, ze just, but go always alone in ze night to 'is +oasis _bien aimée_ and------" + +And here the uplifting of an angry guttural voice caused him to turn +and run hurriedly towards a figure vehemently signalling with a huge +fawn-coloured sun-shade lined with green. + +And as he ran the soul of the desert, born of the sun, palms, ennui, +flies, the sand, and Allah knows what besides, suddenly sat up in +Jill's eyes and laughed, and as she laughed the words "Go always alone +in ze night to 'is oasis _bien aimée_" rang in the girl's ears, as a +strange and startling idea flashed across her mind. + +For and against the idea ranged her thoughts; upheld one moment by the +insistent clamouring of her whole soul for freedom; combated the next +by the inherited deference to convention planted by long dead +generations in the mind soil of almost every British subject. + +Why should she not break away and strike out on her own, if only for a +few hours? But would she not be running into positive physical danger +if she did so? Still it would only be for a few hours--a swift ride +into the desert--a glimpse of a desert home--a break anyhow in the +deadly, soul-stifling monotony of her daily round. Yes! but what did +she know of the man outside the eulogies of the dragoman, who for all +she knew might be leagued with him in nefarious schemes. + +And yet, no one cared if she lived or died in soul or body. Marry she +would not for years, and years, though of a truth that prospect would +become more and more remote as youth vanished and the waters of her +wealth remained at low tide. But the most irresistible argument in +favour of the mad idea was that so far she had not had one single real +adventure. + +"Allah!" she whispered, clasping her hands involuntarily. "Where is my +path? Show me the way out!" + +And even as she unclasped her hands, she heard a faint tinkle of coins +in the well-worn little bag hanging from her wrist. + +"Allah has heard!" she murmured to herself, as she fished for a coin. + +"Heads I speak--tails I go back to England," she continued, placing the +silver coin on her thumb nail, flipping it into the air, and catching +it on the back of her hand. "Heads. Oh!" + +And giving herself no time to think, whilst the soul in her eyes first +frowned and then laughed in glee, she turned and crossed the few yards +covered by the sand which for centuries blown hither and hither had +been waiting to make a carpet for her lovely feet to tread when Allah +in his graciousness should show her the path, which would lead her to +the way out. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +Jill had an entrancing speaking voice. She spoke on a low note, and +having trained the muscles of the throat to relax or tighten at will, +she was able to throw all manner of inflection into the words, and all +shades of tone and melody into the chords of the beautiful musical +instrument which is so terribly neglected the world over. + +So that when she spoke, her words sounded like the chiming of distant +bells in the ears of the man, and his heart seemed likely to be +engulfed in the golden stream of a voice through which continuously +rippled a gentle laughter. + +"Monsieur will forgive me for speaking in this abrupt way, but the +moments are few in which to make my request. I hear that in the desert +is a beautiful oasis, and many beautiful Arabian horses. I have never +seen an oasis, for you see I know nothing of Egypt, but I once had an +Arab mare. She was wonderful and white. Perhaps Monsieur has some of +her brothers or sisters? And just for once I should like to see the +desert stars at night, and the desert sun at dawn. Could Monsieur take +me to see these things if----" And then the golden voice stopped +short, and the girl involuntarily took one step backward. + +Those who know the race know that the Arab has a tremendous control +over his emotions. He can love and kill in one moment, but until the +woman is literally swept off her feet, or the man or woman is dead, in +a heap, neither by voice or gesture will he betray the passion +consuming him. + +The voice, the greatest betrayer of mankind, is especially under +control of these exceedingly strong men. No matter what paroxysm of +rage, revenge, or desire may be shaking the man to the innermost depth +of his being, his voice flows on just as musically, just as softly. + +But Jill, being observant, had noticed that although the hands lay +folded on the crossed arms, the nails were dug into the palms, and +raising her eyes to the sombre face for explanation, had encountered +two eyes blazing with a mighty anger. + +There are many ways in which to incite the Arab to wrath, but believe +me, the way which will most surely lead to sudden murder, or to long +bloody feud drawn out over many years, passing from generation to +generation, is the way of _ridicule_. + +Let him think that you are laughing at him, and I should advise you to +take the nearest camel, train, or boat, or any other means of +locomotion to hand, and fly the country. + +The _country_ mind you, for hide you ever so craftily, he will find +you, even though your hair be white, and your figure bent with the +passage of years, and then, only _then_ will he be appeased, when the +real or imagined jest at his expense has been lost in the deep colour +of your rich red blood. + +So that when the Arab spoke a light of understanding dawned upon Jill, +for, touching his forehead, mouth, and a spot on his raiment just above +his heart with his right hand, and murmuring the customary salutation, +"May peace be upon you," he paused for a moment, and then continued, +"But it pleases Madame to jest with me. She awaits the train to take +her to the boat, how therefore could she come into the desert to-night?" + +But Jill was absolutely unafraid! Having known no master, she cared +not one _sou_ for any son of man, or any untoward position she might +find herself in, so opening wide her very beautiful eyes she simply +smiled back into the angry ones which looked down upon her from some +considerable height, and, with a little shrug of her shoulders, a habit +acquired from one of a succession of foreign governesses, she made +reply in her turn, and in words which though absolutely common-place +served as the golden key with which to unlock the bejewelled, golden +casket of this man's love. + +In any Western country the situation would have been _absurd_! An +English girl, minus scenery and every accessory due to a book heroine, +capable in five brief minutes of smiting the heart of one of Egypt's +most renowned men! + +Ridiculous! + +Perhaps in the lands of fogs and fires, grey skies and east winds, but +not in Egypt, where the sun, sky, winds, and memories serve rather to +force the growth of the love-plant and hasten the budding of the +passion-flower. + +Studiously buttoning up the last button which she always left undone on +her last pair of suede gloves, smooth as a newly born whippet puppy, +and as yet unruffled from the cleaner's manipulations, she spoke with a +ripple of laughter which made it impossible to decide if she was +speaking seriously or not. + +"Madame permits herself to do just as she pleases. If by some +unforeseen circumstances she were to miss the train, would she be taken +to see the oasis, and the horses, and the stars?" + +And let it be understood that, in her utter ignorance of deserts, she +imagined the oasis could be reached after a journey of a few hours. + +For one moment there was dead silence between these two, the strings of +whose lives Fate was inextricably mixing in her fingers, palsied by +age, and fretted by the constant tugging and straining of those other +threads which, in moments of senile anger or childishness, she gets +into such hopeless tangles. + +Then as the shriek of an engine whistle shrilled faintly in the +distance the man spoke, his voice sinking to that deep note which no +other nation attains, resembling in no way the Russian bass, and which +in the Arab upon rare occasions alone betrays some emotional upheaval. + +"Listen, woman of the West, who even at this moment stands in my +shadow, between that faint engine whistle and the grinding of the +brakes as the train comes to a standstill, you must make your choice. +A few moments ago I saw you toss a silver coin and decide quickly that +which had been decided already for you since the beginning of all time. + +"Once more you shall cast your die. The table is the sand of Egypt, +the dice-cup is your hand, the dice are your life and my life, the +stakes our happiness. Decide again and quickly for I hear the rumbling +of wheels. Make known your choice, for although we travellers through +the desert of life lie down to sleep, and rise again to live, to fight, +to hate, and above all to love, in obedience to the will which counteth +and heapeth the particles of sand upon this station, yet are we +allowed, to voice our desires, being mouth-pieces of Fate. Nay! wait +one moment until I make clear the way, so that you may not put down +your beautiful feet blindly upon a trackless waste of doubt and +mistrust. If you come with me to-night, you come alone. I have no +woman in my desert home, excepting one old hunchback slave, a withered +bough but faithful. No woman has set foot within the belt of palms +surrounding my house, and without the sand stretches! Mile upon mile +of pathless sand! + +"You will come into the desert alone with me, and the sand will close +in upon you and keep you in the desert alone--with me! + +"If you come, be at the gate of yonder pink house at nine to-night; if +you are not there I shall know that your heart has failed." + +But the soul of the desert glinted for one moment in the English girl's +eyes. + +"There may be no woman there, but there will be a man--a man indeed!" +she whispered, as though communing with herself. + +And the eyes so soft and blue looked up, and then down, down into the +soul of Hahmed the Arab, so deeply indeed that a shiver ran from her +brain to her finger-ends, causing her to draw herself together sharply +and to turn and walk away. + + * * * * * * + +So it came about as it was written that she had decided when the brakes +grinded, and that after retrieving her employer for the last time, and +placing her in a dusty corner of the stifling carriage, she slipped +away on the excuse of finding her dressing-case, which she did, taking +it with her into a corner of the deserted waiting-room just as the +engine announced its immediate departure. + +Without a qualm she watched "her crowd" jostle and push their way into +the small carriages, and the train, move out, leaving her alone--alone +in the desert town, alone with the dweller of that desert. + +A wave of exultation rushed through her as she thought of this her +great adventure, of this her freedom for at least a short while, and of +the unknown quantity she was mixing into her portion of daily bread +which, up to this moment, had consisted of the plainest, wholesomest, +most uninteresting bun-loaf, not even resembling that extremely dull +and unappetising cake named, I believe, Swiss roll, which hides its +staleness under the glass case of Life's shop window, lying fly-blown +on the plate and heavily and unimaginatively on the digestive powers of +those who consume it for the thin layer of jam to be discovered between +its wedges of sullen dough. A soul-stifling mess to be found in the +drab sideboards of most English households along with its sister made +of a pastry so flimsy that it chokes, filled with a cream that is +merely froth, the whole hiding its cheapness under an application of +highly coloured paint essence, the consuming of which will prove as +fatal as the Swiss roll. + +So she raised her hands to the grimy ceiling of the dirty waiting-room +and whispered to the dust, the buzzing flies, and vivid ray of sunlight, + +"Verily, and indeed I have burned my boats behind, or perhaps I should +say my liner before me!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Jill, very fair indeed to look upon, and with seven-and-sixpence in odd +money in her bag, stepped out bravely on to the road, scorched by the +midday sun, with a curl at the corner of her mouth, a medley of +disconnected thoughts in her madcap head, and a feeling of unromantic +emptiness somewhere in the vicinity of her white leather waist belt. + +A wisp of a boy, clad in very dirty garments, shrilled the equivalent +of "Carry your bag, miss," in the Egyptian tongue, calling down the +displeasure of Allah upon the foreign woman when she shook her head, +and changed the heavy dressing-case to the other hand. + +Ismailiah is no place for a beautiful English girl to wander in +unchaperoned, especially when out of respect to the slenderness of her +purse she gets off the beaten track in search of a cheap restaurant. + +Indeed Jill was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable at the way the +natives stared and even turned to look after her as she plodded on, so +that it was with a feeling of relief that she espied "Cuisine +Francaise" written across the window of a fairly clean-looking +restaurant in a small street, into which place she turned, to be +confronted by a fat, oily individual hailing from the Levant, who +looked as though his business was anything but that of the kitchen. + +Unsophisticated Jill, however, saw nothing wrong in the person who +bowed, and smiled, and rubbed the palms of his hands in a rotary +movement; and being taken up in trying to amalgamate the scantiness of +her money, the prices on the carte, and the enormity of her hunger, +neither did she notice the burning eyes in the handsome, sensual dark +face of a middle-aged native fixed upon her hungrily from behind a +half-open door, where he had been hurriedly summoned by the man who +advertised his skill in "_la cuisine Francaise_." + +To pass away the time Jill lingered over her meal until she was alone +in the place save for the waiter, who was aching to get away to smoke a +cigarette, and the native who had noiselessly entered and slipped into +a seat in the far corner. + +Once Jill, inadvertently looking straight into his eyes, and hurriedly +looking away, had picked up a paper lying on the chair beside her; +glanced at the first page, and dropped it like a hot plate, whilst a +wave of scorching red rushed over her neck and face. + +"Allah!" she thought, "what an awful place, and what on earth am I to +do with two shillings in my pocket, and not a cinema handy!" And +feeling the native's eyes still fixed on her, she beckoned to the +waiter, paid her bill, and once out in the street turned sharply up the +first on the right just as the native and the Levantine came to the +restaurant door in time to see the last inch of her disappearing skirt. +And yet through all her haste and her annoyance the inner membrane of +Jill's mind, that delicate fabric woven of intuition and divination, +which gives women the pull on so many occasions, and on certain courses +get her past the post lengths ahead of man, whispered to her that it +had not failed her earlier in the day, and that if she could but stick +out the next few hours she would find a sure reward for her present +distress. + +But she stopped short and clicked her teeth angrily when she met the +native of the restaurant face to face in a narrow street, and turned +and walked in the opposite direction as quickly as her dignity would +allow. + +But after the same thing had happened three times, and that it had +suddenly struck her that she was being headed in the direction of a +quarter where unveiled women peered from windows with great eyes made +larger by the rims of kohl smeared on the lid, and the cheeks rendered +dead white with the powder that proves so strangely attractive to the +eastern prostitute, she suddenly made up her mind to get herself out of +the danger and difficulty. She was utterly lost, and walking at a pace +that was almost a run, turned into the street she found nearest. + +Not one open door did she see; at least, not one that was not congested +with women sitting smoking or eating sticky sweetmeats, or drying their +heads plastered in the henna clay which would eventually dye their hair +the red favoured of man. + +She was wellnigh breathless and wondering for how long she could +continue when the man suddenly appeared at the top of the street into +which she had just turned, and seeing her salaamed deeply. + +Back she twisted like a hunted hare and raced up the street through +which she had just passed. + +It was empty, but on her left standing ajar was a door painted bright +blue. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +Without pausing to think she entered, closing it behind her just as the +man relentlessly pursuing her passed in ignorance on the other side. + +In the middle of the courtyard two Eastern women in the domestic act of +disembowelling a kid looked up lazily, and one smiling, pointed to the +upper storey of the house, through the small windows of which came the +sound of stringed instruments, and seeing that the stranger did not +understand, explained her gesture in broken French: + +"_Au premiez étase--voz amieze--les anglaiseez." + +No idea of any further possible danger entering her head, and at a +complete loss to understand, but thankful for her present safety, Jill +crossed the court, slipping unromantically on a piece of the animal's +entrails which lay about, and entering a low door mounted the stairs. + +Through a curtained archway the distinct twang of an American voice +came to her as a message of peace, so pushing back the stuff she +entered to find herself confronted by ten pairs of eyes of different +nationality. + +"Come right in," twanged the same voice, "guess you're from the same +boat! Cute of you to find your way here all by your lonesome!" + +The well-corseted wife of a Can-King, flanked on one side by her thin, +leather-skinned, neat daughter, and on the other by the inevitable +Italian marquis, whose tailor had evidently been a sartorial futurist, +pointed to a cushion on the nobleman's off side, on which perplexed +Jill squatted in imitation of the others. The party consisted of the +aforementioned trio, two flash-looking English women, who had in tow a +certain type of man who is only to be found on board ship, an obese +German, a French widow whose weeds grew more from utility than +necessity, and a dapper little Frenchman who twinkled his +over-manicured fingers for the benefit of a healthy, jolly looking +Australian girl sitting uncomfortably on the adjacent cushion. The +party's dragoman proffered a cup of coffee and a cigarette. The former +was excellent, the latter, after one puff, Jill extinguished on the +floor, for she knew tobacco when she smoked it, and guessed at hasheesh +without having to look at the slightly brightened eyes of those who sat +smoking the same brand around her. + +Then she glanced curiously round the room. Long, low, with four tawdry +glass and gilt chandeliers hanging from the not over-clean ceiling, +cushions spreading all over the floor excepting in the middle where lay +an exquisite Persian carpet, long mirrors on all sides, little inlaid +tables, and at the far end, built into the wall with steps leading up +to it, a bed behind gilt bars, the door in which was fastened by a gilt +padlock. + +It seemed that their dragoman had brought them to the house so as to +add yet more perquisites to his daily remuneration by regaling them +with an exhibition of Eastern dancing. + +"What kind of dancing?" asked Jill with a slight frown, as the +twinkling music suddenly stopped. + +"Guess we can't tell you!" replied the American mother, whose corsets +were not in exact accord with the cushions upon which she sat, +breathing heavily from her upper whaleboned register. + +"_Nous espérons le mieux_," said the Frenchman, winking at the dragoman. + +And that moment they were enlightened. + +The two English women emitted each a little screech, the American +mother caught convulsively at her daughter, who coldly raised her +long-handled lorgnettes the more fully to survey the picture before +her. The Australian girl sat quiet, as did the Englishman who had been +there before; the Italian ejaculated "_Per dio_," and the Frenchman +"_Mon Dieu_," as the widow, pulling one side of her veil across her +face, hid her over-crimson mouth, but in no way impeded her view, +whilst Jill looked round hastily for a way of escape, but suddenly +remembering the certain peril in the street decided, as she edged as +far as possible from the marchese, to sit out the difficulties of the +moment. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +To natives, a dressed or undressed dancer is nothing more than a +plaything, or something to help pass the hour; he will look at and +criticise her with much less enthusiasm than he would a she-camel, and +remunerate her or her owner according to the measure of pleasure he has +found in her posturing. + +But it is difficult, wellnigh impossible, to describe the feeling of +the occidental women when three orientals of their own sex, without a +vestige of clothing, suddenly one after the other, like ducks, sidled +into the room. + +They were none of them in their first youth, and the dragoman, after +watching their movements, decided once and for all to withdraw his +patronage from the house, and sat wondering how much he dared try to +extract from his patron's pockets for such an exhibition, while Jill, +who felt as though she had been suddenly struck between the eyes, sat +hypnotised by the undulating forms before her, until she was overcome +by a frantic desire to bury her face in a cushion and to give way to +unrestrained hysterical laughter. This same feeling has been known to +overcome one in Church when a hen, side-tracking through the open door, +takes a constitutional up the aisle on a Sunday morning in the country; +also it has been known to seize you in its grip at a levee, when your +predecessor's shoe-buckles, not having been properly adjusted, flip up +and down like shutters as their owner, in solitary state, stalks up the +audience chamber; worse and stronger still is it when your revered +bishop uncle, of whom you have great expectations, insists at morning +prayers upon those things which have been left undone, when before your +earthly eyes gapes the cotton dress of Eliza the cook, whose +comfortable dorsal proportions have forbidden the matutinal union of a +couple or so of buttons and buttonholes. + +Try as she would she could not overcome it, neither could she remove +her gaze from the three females who, poor things, were but doing their +best to add to the family coffers. Up and down, and round and round +they went, the string band twanging an accompaniment, until the gauze +scarf of the middle lady catching in the hanging chandelier put an end +to their rhythmical swayings, while like hens with a suspended cherry +they hopped in turn off the ground in their effort to disentangle their +one and only bit of covering. + +Everyone sat still until the disentanglement had taken place, upon +which event the dancers once more advanced in force, each selecting a +special man victim, until Jill, absolutely helpless and afraid of +raising native wrath by allowing even a glimmer of a smile to appear, +buried her pretty head on the marchese's over-padded shoulder, which +action he of course took for a sign of encouragement, responding to it +by slipping his arm round the girl's waist, but circumspectly enough so +that it should not be seen by the Can-King's relations, while Jill +prayed for strength to resist until the end. + +The end came in a positive Catherine-wheel exhibition of posturing, and +a deathly silence on the part of the audience; the men not daring to +make any comment, the women not daring to look at each other, until the +widow, suddenly seizing upon the situation, clapped her little hands +roguishly, and avowed in a babyish voice that "_C'était bien gentil et +original, n'est ce pas_," which she didn't think at all really. + +Anyway her opinion served as a break, so that on the exit of the +dancers in single file, which was ten-fold more trying to the +spectators than their entry, with stretching of cramped limbs and +stereotyped utterances such as "how very Eastern," "so unexpected," the +entire party rose to their feet, the dragoman holding a hurried +whispered conversation with the men who each, and successively, and +vehemently, shook their heads, leaving the women asking of themselves +how on earth they were to continue existing relations with the men +during the interminable weeks to Australia. + +Jill, feeling almost faint from suppressed emotion and a revival of +hunger, stood a little on one side watching them. An Eastern dancing +house is a strange place in which to make the final decision of one's +life, but in just such a spot she made hers. She knew that she had +only to make up the tale of a lost boat, and something would be done +for her; in fact she could probably go as lady's maid to the Americans +on their _tour de monde_, having overheard them complaining bitterly of +their own French maid who had not been retrieved at Algiers. But her +whole soul suddenly rising in mutiny against the stultifying +civilisation of the West, she finally made up her mind to stay with the +strangers until the hour came when she could slip out of the hotel +where they were staying the night, into oriental liberty, and glamour, +and unknown possibilities. So she sat next the marchese at dinner, +whose love-making was on exactly the same line as his clothes, and +having found out from the maid in the ladies' room just how to get to +the end of the town in which was situated the Camel King's house, she +waited for a desirable opportunity, and slipped out of the hotel on the +pretence of looking at the stars, knowing that her unwitting hosts +would think she had simply gone to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +Jill's memory being of the kind which retains only the pleasant word +and act, the disagreeable episode of the afternoon had completely +evacuated that cell which in one second can raise us through the bluest +ether to the heaven as understood by the prayer-book, or send us diving +to the mud flats of the ocean bed to co-habit for a time with wingless +and non-temperamental oddities. + +Having stopped several times to discover by ear and eye if she was +being followed from the hotel, and being satisfied that the sight of +her dressing-case had in no wise aroused the hall porter's curiosity, +she propped her luggage against the base of a palm tree growing +casually in the middle of a small street and proceeded to take her +bearings. + +"Somehow it seemed quite easy to find when the maid was explaining," +she communed to herself as she dug a hatpin afresh into her hat as is +the way of woman when at a loss. "How stupid of me to try a short cut, +because she distinctly said I was to stick to the main street until I +came to two mosques side by side, and then to turn off sharply to the +right. Oh! well, I turned off too soon and am lost--and I don't like +these little streets--no! not one little bit, but that big red star +hangs right over the house so I can but follow it--here goes!" + +She picked up her case, and then drew back quickly behind the tree as a +white-robed figure slowly crossed the street, turned up another and +disappeared. + +"Oh! Moll and Jack, what on earth would you think if you knew I was +alone in Egypt. Alone! but free! free! at last, quite, _quite_ free!" + +And stretching out her arms on each side and giving herself a little +shake, Jill laughed ever so softly in pure exuberance of that feeling +of freedom, which seems to make an air pocket all about you and in the +middle of which you float contentedly, oblivious of the winds raging on +the outside. + +So glancing up at the red star, and once more picking up her bag, she +too crossed the street and disappeared up a narrower one, halting for a +moment at the sight of a man standing with bent head in the attitude of +prayer and the beads of Allah hanging from the hands crossed upon the +breast. + +Jilt's intuition was intense, and never once in all her life had it +failed her, and though to her all Eastern men seemed exactly alike in +the moonlight, yet her inner consciousness began to tap ont a message +of warning, and the bristles of her self-protection to rise at the +threatenings of danger. + +"Bother!" however, was her only comment as, keeping the star ahead, she +walked steadily onward. + +But she made a silent, strenuous, but unavailing struggle when +something white and soft was slipped over her head and a hand placed +firmly upon her mouth, as she felt herself lifted in a pair of strong +arms and carried some considerable distance until she heard the click +of a key, the opening and shutting of a door, and her captor's soft +footfall through what seemed to be a deserted house. + +She stood perfectly still when planted on her feet, and looked around +her when the cloth had been removed from about her head. + +White was her face indeed, but a little smile twisted the corner of her +mouth as she noted the oriental luxury of the room in which she stood. + +Ornate could hardly describe it so offensive was it in its +multitudinous hangings, mirrors, lamps, and clutter of stools, tables, +divans, and couches, inlaid or plastered with glittering sequins, bits +of glass, and coloured imitation jewels. + +But scorn simply blazed in the great blue eyes as she looked into those +of a man standing in front of the one and only door to the whole +apartment. + +"You brute!" she said undiplomatically and in French as he moved a few +steps nearer and salaamed deeply. "Why, you're the man who followed me +from the restaurant to-day! What do you want? Backsheesh? I haven't +any so you had better let me go at once unless you want the police +after you! You can't treat English women in this off-hand way with +impunity, I can assure you. Open the door immediately if you please!" + +Poor little Jill, who by involuntarily harking back to the insular +belief that the veriest heathen will quake in unison with the British +culprit at the mere threat of British law, showed the absolute +yarborough she held in this game, the stakes of which she guessed were +something more precious than life itself, and in which she held not a +single winning card. + +"Let not Madame cause herself worry," answered the oriental also in +French, as he approached nearer still, his eyes ablaze with passion of +sorts as be looked the girl up and down from head to foot. "The +police--the law--you are in Egypt, Madame, or I should say Mademoiselle +I think. Money! when a man holds heaven itself within his grasp, does +he open his hand to grasp a passing cloud?" + +"I should advise you to let me go _at_ once," repeated Jill, "if you +don't want my friends to raise trouble!" + +But her bluff was of no avail as she was soon aware when once more the +man salaamed with a world of mockery in the action. + +"But Mademoiselle has but now run away from her friends! No?--she has +but little--oh! _very_ little money!--yes?--and nowhere to go--it is +for that that I have thrown my protection around her!" + +Jill thought hard for a moment, wondering how much the man knew of her +escapade. + +"How do you know? _Who_ told you I had no money? I _have_ a friend as +it happens------!" + +"Mademoiselle has no friend but me," interrupted the man; "she left +them at the hotel when she went to take a walk." + +And Jill retreated step by step before him as he came closer still, his +voice sinking to a whisper, his hand within an inch of her wrist. + +"I will not harm you because you are oh, _very_ beautiful! You are a +feast of loveliness and I--I am hungry!" + +But still the little smile twisted the corner of Jill's red mouth as +she looked unflinchingly into the brown eyes in the depths of which +smouldered a something which was not good to look upon. + +"I suppose you have stolen my dressing-case too," was her next, +somewhat irrelevant remark. "Men of _your_ type I dare say can find a +use for everything from women to hair-pins. You black _dog_, who _are_ +you?" + +Red murder flared in the room for one moment and then died down, +leaving a little smoke cloud of uncertainty in the man's mind. + +He was used--oh, _very_ used to the breaking in of women, for was not +his name notorious in Northern Egypt and were there not whispers of +many young and beautiful who had mysteriously disappeared. + +Were not men and women in his pay in every corner of the big cities +posing as honest individuals? And was he not in direct communication +with them? And had he not a coterie of jackal friends who hunted with +him, though of a truth not half so successfully or artistically as he? + +And yet this slip of a girl, this pale white blossom, held him at bay, +more by her seeming indifference to the fate before her than by any +effort of will she made to combat the danger. + +Blasé to tears of the exquisite women of his own country with their +lustrous brown eyes, marvellous languorous figures, and well-trained, +inherited ideas on love, the man was violently attracted by the +whiteness of this girl allied to her indifferent manner and an intense +virility which seemed to envelop her from head to foot. + +True, there are natives of a white and surpassing beauty, but which +whiteness when compared to the genuine colouring of a _very_ fair +Englishwoman has the same effect on the purchaser or temporary owner as +would a white sapphire bought in mistake for a diamond. + +Very, very beautiful, but somehow giving an impression of masquerade. + +"Your so _valuable_ dressing-case is behind those cushions, +Mademoiselle, but you shall have things of gold to adorn your +apartment, at least for a time. I tire easily even of the most perfect +fruit, but I have friends, oh, many who are not so easily wearied!" + +The man paused a moment as though awaiting some outburst, but none +forthcoming continued the enlightening discourse. + +"Who am I?--that will you know shortly. A merry chase you gave me this +afternoon, and even baffled me for a time, but surely I have not +enjoyed an hour so much for many a day. You are unique, therefore not +to be run to earth by a _common_ black dog, otherwise I could have +secured you earlier in the day and by now------" + +The man's lips, of an almost negroid fullness, curved in a smile, the +abomination of which sent a little shudder from Jill's high held head +to her steady little feet. + +"But I _have_ you now, beautiful maiden, and if you will not bend to my +will, I will break you to it, even if I spoil your satin skin and the +soles of your small feet by the lash of the whip!" + +"So!" said Jill after an interval in which the atmosphere, charged with +the electricity of anger, lust, scorn, and all the kindred sisters of +evilness, resembled what might be the result of a cross between a +spitting cat and a wireless installation. "So! Am I to understand +that you have vulgarly kidnapped me--and are holding me _not_ for +ransom, but for your evil pleasures and those of your friends?" + +"Quite so, Mademoiselle! Your words are as clear as the stream running +through a certain oasis which long I coveted, but which fell to my +greatest enemy because he had a few more piastres than I--and maybe a +little more diplomacy--a man who would kill me if he could but find the +excuse, the moral breeder of camels, the fanatic son of Solomon, Hahmed +the great, Hahmed the most noble--_pah_!" + +For one brief second Jill's eyes scanned the sensual face in front, but +seeing nothing more subtle than an intense hatred therein for the +absent man, shrugged her shoulders and then flung up her hand sharply +as the man's hand suddenly fastened on her wrist. + +"Let go my hand at once," she said as indifferently as though she were +asking for a glass of water, but she wrenched herself free and fled +behind a divan almost hidden in a bower of growing tropical plants as +the man let go at her command to suddenly grip her about the waist. + +"I shall scream the place down, and bite, and kick, and scratch, if you +touch me again." + +For one moment they looked at each other across the pile of silken +cushions, the dark shining leaves of the plants throwing up the girl's +wonderful colouring, the white petals of a flower falling like snow +about her as she stood waiting for the next move in the exceedingly +dangerous game in which she was taking part. + +The silence was absolutely deathly until the oriental broke it, smiling +the while as he might on a rebellious child. + +"If you make a noise you will bring women and servants, and perhaps my +friends, packing to the door from the most distant corners of the +house. They do not know that you are here as I brought you in by a +secret door and private way, also no one is allowed to place foot in my +own quarter of the house without my permission, with the exception of +the guardian of the big door itself, but their curiosity would outweigh +their prudence if they heard cries, for their delight is unbounded when +trouble reigns between their friend or master and a _woman_. If you +bite and kick and scratch I shall have you overpowered and bound to +_your_ great sorrow, and _their_ greater delight. It has been written +that you shall be one of those whom I honour with my favour, why then +try to fight against that which is ordained?" + +Jill answered never a word, contenting herself with keeping a watch on +the man's movements, though to the very innermost part of her she +longed to fling herself upon him to mutilate or to kill. + +"We will have coffee, O! very lovely daughter of the North, and +consider this little matter settled even before we were born. Does my +suggestion find favour in those eyes which are as the sky at night?" + +But for all answer Jill moved round the couch and sat herself down upon +the satin cushions, opened her hand-bag, and finding her cigarette case +lit a cigarette. + +"By Allah! but you are wonderful, you English girl. I do not +understand you. I have had women here screaming, fighting, fainting, +begging for mercy upon their knees. Pah! they sickened me, but +you--well! I will go and order the coffee, not wishing to bring a +slave into your presence, and give orders also, Mademoiselle, that no +matter _what_ noise may be heard I must on no account be disturbed! +And death by knife, or whip, or water, is the _ordinary_ punishment for +those who disobey!" + +Jill blew a smoke ring through another and smiled. + +"It's no good ordering coffee because I shan't drink it!" + +"You _will_ drink it," was the sharp reply. + +"Will you take a bet?" was the ready answer. + +For a moment the man who was becoming more and more amazed stared in +silence and then laughed softly as the absurdity of the situation +struck him. + +"Certainly I will, for do not we orientals love a seeming hazard? So +although I take an unfair advantage of you I will lay this emerald ring +engraven with my name against one kiss from your red mouth that within +the half of one hour you will have drunk the coffee." + +And taking the ring from his finger as he spoke he laid it upon a small +table beside Jill. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +She was sitting with her hands crossed on her lap when he returned, +carrying a small tray bearing two cups filled with coffee. + +"You have been a very long time," she remarked casually. + +"An especially delicious coffee had to be prepared for Mademoiselle, +and strict orders given that we were not to be disturbed until I give +the signal. Also that this quarter of the house, which is mine, is to +be cleared absolutely of all inhabitants. Therefore shall we be at +peace even until this time to-morrow if I make no sign. Also to +emphasise my orders, I ordered that a certain person be bastinadoed. +She sickens me with her outpourings of love, and was loitering about +this door seeking doubtlessly to enter. When she does she will most +certainly not enter upon her feet if my orders have been strictly +carried out." + +And even as he spoke a distant piercing scream, followed by another, +and yet another, rent the air, causing Jill's mouth to shut like a +steel trap, and her eyes to blaze like fires. + +"_That_ is what happens when I am _disobeyed_, Mademoiselle! Here is +your coffee, _drink it_!" + +The tone was brutal, and Jill meekly put out her hand to take the +little porcelain and silver trifle the man was bringing to her, laying +it beside the emerald ring upon the table as he turned to fetch his own +cup. + +"Drop that!" + +Jill had not raised her voice, but a certain unmistakable quality in it +caused the man to wheel sharply. + +He stared in blank amazement for a fleeting second, and then, still +carefully holding the cup, backed hastily and sideways out of the +direct range of a very small but very useful-looking revolver in Jill's +right hand. + +There was a curious lifelessness in the whole situation, and a quite +distressing lack of drama until the oriental smiled contemptuously. + +"Do not think to frighten me with that plaything, because I am totally +unafraid. We hear of the Englishwomen who shoot and ride like men, +but--well! we hear so many tales of Europe. Put up your little toy, +Mademoiselle, and remember in future that no one with any respect for +his life _ever_ gives me an order!" + +With an indifference that was not in the least assumed, he raised the +cup he was still holding. + +There was a crashing report in the luxurious room, a tinkling of broken +china, and a wisp of smoke between a smiling girl and a _very_ +surprised man. + +"Don't be a fool, and do as you're told if _you_ have any respect for +_your_ life," said Jill tersely, as she moved her hand slightly so that +her aim was on a dead level with a big button ornamenting an inch or so +of satin on the middle left of the man's undervest. + +He stood like an image carved out of consternation, whilst streaks of +rage seemed to flash across his livid face. Be it confessed, he was +not in the least afraid, but no word in the Egyptian or any other +tongue could be found to express the depths of humiliation in which he +stood neck deep. + +"Now, drink _this_ coffee!" said Jill pleasantly, pointing with her +left hand to the cup she had placed on the little table. + +"_Never_!" + +Jill smiled icily. + +"I _thought_ as much. You scoundrel! So it is drugged, and I, having +drunk it, would have lain unconscious at your mercy. God! to think +that such brutes as you are allowed to live." + +The man was watching the girl's every movement, ready to spring like a +cat from the area steps upon the unsuspecting sparrow in the road, but +neither her eyes nor her hand moved as she continued speaking very +gently. + +"Listen! I should have killed you myself to-night, feeling myself +justified, so that other wretched girls should escape the fate you had +prepared for me--you, lower than the beasts of the field; but I am not +going to do it, as happily I know of one more powerful than I who will +enjoy it thoroughly. Think of what I say when you see his messenger +with your ring upon his finger, to-morrow or next month or next year +perhaps--and when your time comes, watch the procession of betrayed and +tortured girls as they pass before you to catch your soul in their slim +hands as it leaves your body. Now! drink that coffee!" + +But the man stood stock still, and Jill frowned, for she was not a +paragon of patience at any time, and the obstinacy of the man fretted +her already jagged nerves. + +"Very well," she said, "I give you one more chance. If you refuse +again I shall put a bullet straight through your head just between the +eyebrows, as I shall now put one through that brooch kind of thing in +your turban." + +There was another deafening report, and the turban flew from the +oriental's head just as a paper-bag will fly before a March wind. + +"Go and pick that turban up and put it on your head. Hurry now, or we +shall have the police or someone coming to inquire about the shooting +gallery." + +The eyes of the boa-constrictor in the Zoo were gems of humanity in +comparison with those of the negroid-Egyptian's as he turned to obey, +and then stopped mulishly until a third little reminder chipped +splinters from the marble at his heel, whereupon he stooped and +recovered his headgear, minus the brooch, but plus a neat little hole +fore and aft. + +"Now come and drink the coffee! It won't be very nice as it is almost +cold. And remember in future if you are allowed to live, which I +_very_ much doubt, that such supreme indifference as mine could only +_possibly_ be the outcome of an absolute sense of perfect security." + +Jill patted the silly-looking little ivory and silver thing she held. + +"You mongrel!" she continued sweetly, "I was simply playing with you +until the right moment--the coffee moment which I knew must +happen--should arrive in which to give you a lesson. Why! when I saw +your eyes in the restaurant I took my little friend from my pocket and +made sure he was in order. I may look a fool, and I may act in a +manner still more foolish, but I am _not_ exactly what you would call a +_born_ fool! Now drink that, I am late already! And don't spill a +single drop or I'll shoot you on the spot!" + +There was nothing for it but to obey, though the brute took the only +revenge he could in pouring out a torrent of language beyond +description, until Jill suddenly rose and levelled her revolver at his +head, which seemed to send the sickly contents post-haste down his +throat, after which Jill ordered him to stretch himself comfortably +upon the flower-screened divan. + +He did so smiling stupidly, the drug having begun to take effect; and +the big eyes closed and opened and closed again, and the mouth relaxed +as a gentle snore told Jill that as far as the present danger was +concerned she was safe. + +She stood for a second looking idly down upon one of the world's +greatest criminals, and then at the thought of the dangers which might +still be awaiting her on the other side of the door, unloaded her +revolver and slipped a fully loaded clip into her little friend. + +Then picking up the emerald ring from the table, and her dressing-case +from behind the cushions, she crept gently across the room, and +gently--oh! so very gently, opened the door which yielded noiselessly +to her touch, and stepped into a deserted hall only to recoil violently +from something at her feet. + +Across the threshold lay a girl. + +The agonised eyes in the beautiful dark face gazed up in terror at +Jill, whilst a little hand searched weakly for a jewelled plaything of +a dagger at her waist. + +"Oh! Poverina!" said Jill, as she knelt to raise the little head, and +then stared in horror at the girl's shoulders and the hem of her satin +trousers. + +Some expert hand had flicked the delicate flesh off the back in a +criss-cross pattern; what was left of the feet lay in a pool of blood, +the deep red of which stretched across the hall far into the distance, +showing the path along which the child, left by her torturers for dead, +had dragged herself. + +"Poor little, little thing!" whispered Jill, as she made to raise the +body in her arms. But the dusky head shook feebly, and a dainty +henna-tipped finger pointed to a window across the hall, and Jill, +feeling herself pushed away ever so slightly, rose as three words were +whispered over and over again: + +"Vite--allez--mort--vite--allez--mort!" + +And understanding that there was nothing more to be done she bent and +kissed the child upon the cheek and turned away, looking back as she +opened the window which gave on to a balcony about ten feet above the +level of the deserted street, and even as she looked, saw the door of +the room she had just left being pushed back inch by inch as the dying +girl, strengthened by love and agony, dragged herself slowly into the +room in which lay the man she worshipped asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +Ten o'clock!--half-past!--eleven! + +The usual noises of a night in an Egyptian town were at their height. + +The distant and never-ceasing shuffling of slippered or naked feet on +stone, or sand, made a dull accompaniment to the sharper notes of men's +voices crying their wares of sticky sweetmeat or fruit, and the barking +and growling of innumerable dogs. + +Muffled ejaculations could be heard, little gurgles of laughter, which +in Egypt, thanks be to Allah, do not degenerate into giggles, the swish +of a whip in the shadow, followed by a woman's cry, and through all, +above all, unfinished catches of music. + +All kinds of humans, including tourists, writers, European officials +and desert dilettanti, have affixed every kind of adjective to Egypt's +music. + +Ethereal, melancholy, wailing, plaintive, nebulous, and pathetic are +but a few. Why--why try to tie a label to something which slips from +the fingers even as they close about it? Why _try_ to describe that +which cannot be described? There is, or was, a certain line which in +the heat of an Egyptian noon, or the stillness of an Egyptian night, +when the first notes of a human voice, or stringed instrument, or +rudely cut pipe-reed reach the ears, would creep out of some memory +cell. + +One loved the vagueness of those words: + + "Out of the nowhere, into here!" + +Loved the infinite space they opened up with their aloofness and +indefiniteness, until, alas! they took concrete shape when chosen as +title to the picture of a robust, Royal Academy, Fed-on-Virol looking +babe, which doubtless, when trying to grab some passing Olympian +butterfly, fell off the lap of the Gods into a sitting position upon +Mother Earth. + +Also, one thinks of that mist wraith which on a cloudless day stretched +across some mountain's breast, lies lightly upon the air, with +diaphanous ends coming out of and going into nothingness; for in just +such manner does the music fall across an Egyptian day or night. + +These catches of music have no end, and no beginning; they rise, linger +a moment, and are gone, leaving behind them an indescribable loneliness +of soul, and a longing to stretch one's hand back down the centuries to +pluck their meaning from the past. + +Under the sand, the granite, the marble, buried deep in the pyramids or +merely covered by the earth of shallow graves, there must surely be +many instruments of music wrought in gold or silver, studded in jewels, +or cut out of humble wood; many strings still unbroken, and near them +many whitened bones of dusky hands which, for all we know, at odd +moments of day or night set those strings a-thrumming, or lift the reed +pipes to ghostly lips. + +Who knows but that the British Museum at night, rid at last of those +who gape at Egypt's dishonoured dead, may not be filled with snatches +of music from throat or hand of those unfortunates, priest, priestess, +fair woman and honoured man, dug out and laid upon a slab of grass for +the education of the revellers of a wet Bank Holiday, or those others +from Northern climes, who bid their snuffling, sticky progeny to "coom +oop, lad, an' look at t' stuffed un!" + +And on this night of which I write, music was caught up, and carried +hither and hither upon the breeze which clittered the leaves of the +palms, and softly moved the flowing robes of Hahmed the Arab, who, +perfectly motionless, stood in the ink-black shadow cast by the +bougainvillaea, which trailed its purple masses over the walls of the +house, shining faintly pink under the silver moon. + +At the man's feet lay three camels, superb beasts. One red brown and +one-humped, packed with a seemingly huge load which in reality it +hardly felt, and two Bactrian or two-humped, pacing dromedaries of +Dhalul, one of deepest black and therefore most rare, with black saddle +cloth embroidered in silver, the third of a light golden colour, decked +out in cloth of softest silk patterned with glistening jewels, and +shimmering crystal specks, cushions padding the saddle-seat, to which +hung stirrups of silver. + +About this beast's neck, outstretched upon the sand, lay a garland of +flowers, upon the ground by its side lay an Eastern rug of purple +shade, covered inches deep in flowers of every kind. + +There was no grumbling or snarling, they knew their master and lay +still, until, with a slight grunt, one raised its head and looked +towards the East, as the man with a muttered "Allah" slowly moved +towards the gate. + +Putting his hands to his lips and forehead and murmuring, "Peace be +upon you!" he took Jill's dressing-case from her. + + * * * * * * + +"I'm sorry to be so late," she said in a voice devoid of anything in +the way of tone or inflection, "and I had to bring my dressing-case, it +would be so tiresome to be stranded in the desert with no looking-glass +or face cream, wouldn't it?" + +"It would be terrible!" was the answer, as though a dearth in dates was +in discussion. + +And then Jill sat down upon a convenient block of marble, and searching +in her cheap bag for one of those Russian cigarette cases of wood, +which had the advantage of being inexpensive and distinctive compared +to those of gold, silver, or silver gilt, which jingle so irritatingly +against the universal gold, silver, or silver gilt bag, took out a +cigarette, lit it, and began to make conversation. + +It is very difficult to describe the girl's frame of mind at this +moment when she stood upon the verge of great happenings, or in fact of +any moment when danger, possible or certain, confronted her. + +She was perfectly calm, in fact a little dull, with a heart which +physically neither slowed nor hastened. + +Yet it was not the fearlessness of blissful ignorance, or the +aggravating recklessness of the foolhardy. + +Three times she had been in actual danger of death: once when her horse +bolted, making straight for the cliffs a short way ahead; another time +when the receding tide had caught her, pulling her slowly out to sea, +and never a boat in sight; and again when taking a pre-breakfast stroll +on the Col di Tenda, she had encountered a fugitive of the law +desperately making for the frontier, who, half crazed with fear, +sleeplessness, and hunger, literally at the point of an exceedingly +sharp knife had demanded money, or bracelet, in fact anything which +could be transformed into a mattress, and coffee, polenta, cigarette or +succulent frittata. + +After each of the preceding incidents she had tried to analyse her +utter want of feeling, her inability to recognise danger, her almost +placid confidence in an ultimate happy ending. + +"It doesn't seem to be me, Dads," she had once explained, or tried to +explain, to her father, who, in the depths of an armchair and the +_Sporting News_, had no more idea of what she was talking about than +the man in the moon. "I seem to be standing outside myself looking at +myself. A sort of something seems to come right down, shutting the +danger right away from me. I know I'm in it and have to get out of it, +but though I pulled Arabia for all I knew, and swam for all I was worth +to reach Rock Point, and bluffed that poor devil out of taking Mumsie's +bracelet, I kind of did it mechanically, not with any intention of +putting things right, for I knew I was not going to die that time, +because I'm sure that I shall _know_ when I've got to die . . . +understand, Dads?" + +To which Dads had replied: + +"Quite so, my dear, quite so! Personally I don't see how it could be +otherwise. I agree with every word you say!" patting his red setter's +head, which in the firelight he fondly believed to be his daughter's. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +And so it was now as she sat under the African moon, whilst little +rings and puffs of smoke helped to irritate the insects ensconced in +the leaves of the creeper. She seemed to be standing on the other side +of a wall, watching the outcome of the tossing of a silver coin. + +"I've had a perfectly awful day," she announced with a ripple of +genuine amusement in her voice as she proceeded quite unconcernedly to +recount the doings of the last few hours. + +"So naturally I was followed from the restaurant," she went on after a +moment's pause, "and my bag was so heavy, and I was absolutely lost, +and only just managed to give the man the slip by hiding behind a +half-open door, painted bright blue of all colours." + +"Allah!" murmured Hahmed. "An English girl hiding in a house with a +blue door!" + +"But," she went on, having for some unknown reason omitted the dance +episode from her narrative, "that wasn't the worst part"--and +continued, quite unconcernedly, to give a detailed account of the +night's happenings. Whilst she was speaking the Arab moved nearer +until he stood over her, there was neither shadow nor frown upon the +fine face, or movement of lip or hand, but the air seemed to throb with +the intensity of the white-hot rage within him. + +"By Allah!" he said quite gently, as he took the emerald ring Jill held +out. "I do not need this, for behold for many years I have known of +the doings of this thing of whom you speak. And yet so great has been +his cunning, that until to-night I have never been able to lay hands +upon him in his guilt. But to-morrow will dawn a brighter day for +Egypt, in that she will be rid of one of her greatest evils. And were +you not afraid?" + +Jill smiled up into the eyes fixed with love, plus worship, plus +reverence, upon her. "I? Oh! no! Why should I be when I am supposed +to be one of the finest shots in Europe? Are you going to kill him?" + +"He will be dead ere the sun rises, and I beg you to forgive me if I +leave you for a while, for I must go to give orders as to his death." + +Jill's thoughts can be most aptly described as tumultuous, but her +smile was a festival of youth as she watched the Arab, in whom she had +put her trust, walk up the long avenue, stop, and clap his hands. + +She could hear no word of the orders given to the servant, who ran from +out a clump of trees to kneel at his master's feet, but she guessed +that it was the engraven emerald ring which passed from one to the +other to be hidden in the servant's turban; and she felt a wave of +absolute satisfaction sweep through her whole being at the thought of +the man's death before the dawn. + +At which sensation she mentally shook herself, feeling that the young +tree of her experience, unrestrainedly shooting out in all directions +within the space of a few hours, would require the sharp edge of the +pruning knife if it was to be kept to the merest outline of the shape +common to the ordinary life she had led up to now. + +"It is well! He dies before the dawn!" announced the Arab prosaically, +as he came towards this woman who, on the edge of a new life which +might, for all she knew, bring ruin, despair, or even death in its +wake, could so tranquilly talk of the risks she had already encountered +in the course of the first few steps she had taken upon the path she +had chosen to follow. + +"And tell me, O! woman, whose courage causes me to marvel, how once +happily escaped from the house of few windows and but one apparent +door, did you find your way to these gates?" + +"Oh! that!" said Jill, as she sat with her hands about her knee and her +face upturned to the moon, which, throwing a deep shadow from the hat +brim across the upper part of her face, made of the deep eyes a +mystery, and a delirious invitation of the red mouth. "Amongst other +till now useless accomplishments, I have learned to guide myself by the +stars, though I'm positive they move over here. I had noticed that big +one there, which we haven't got in England, that very big sparkling +one, hung over the quarter in which the waiting-maid told me lay your +house." + +"Yes!" replied the man who, though he knew the West so well, was +secretly wondering at the trait in a character which allowed a _woman_, +on the edge of something unknown, fraught, perhaps, with every kind of +danger, to talk unconcernedly of hotels, face creams, blue doors, and +stars. "That is the Star of Happiness, it hangs also right in the +middle of my oasis, right over my desert dwelling," and the string of +beads hanging from the waist slipped through the long fingers as words +of prayer fell softly on the perfumed air. + +The girl got up and walked over to the camels. + +"So I followed my star and suddenly found myself at the gates! Is this +my ship of the desert--and what a beautiful coat, the dear thing," +starting back as the dear thing turned its bead suddenly, bared its +teeth and snarled. + +"Don't be afraid, she is always nervous with strangers, also is she a +little spoilt, being the fastest and most perfect Bactrian camel in the +whole of Egypt and Arabia. Her pedigree, on parchment embossed with +gold, goes back almost to Ismael, and is kept in a Millwell safe in my +oasis, which shows that East does meet West occasionally. She has, up +to to-night, known no rider but me, and is used only for short journeys +of about seven days; you see these two-humped beasts can only go three +days with comfort without a drink, but their pace is so smooth that it +almost induces one to sleep. Also Taffadaln, which means welcome, a +name given to her after her mother had foaled three he-camels, has a +special guard both day and night, for there are many who covet her, for +she is the queen of camels, with her blood and breeding enhanced by +many years of training and special treatment. But alas! though her +coat is as silk, the cushions of her feet without fault, and her teeth +unblemished ivory, her manners are as ill-bred, and her indifference to +those who love her as great as that of the lowest of her species which +pollute the streets of Cairo." And leaning down he patted the beast's +head, speaking to her in the native tongue, whereupon she made juicy, +gurgling sounds in her long throat, and nuzzled the flowing sleeve, +which might have meant affection in any other animal but a camel. + +"More extremes," he added, as a long, soft blast of a motor-horn +sounded just outside the walls. "Will you not sit down whilst I +explain things for the last time," unwinding, as he spoke, the soft +black cloak from about him, and folding it to make a cushion for the +stone, standing silhouetted against the shadow of the walls, whilst the +slight breeze blowing the snow-white raiment outlined the tremendous +width of shoulder, the slimness of the waist, and the muscular leanness +of the whole body. + +And Jill sat down with a suddenness surprising in so controlled a +person, and to hide a sudden rush of rosy colour which swept +uncontrollably from chin to brow, extracted another cigarette from the +Russian case. + +"'Simon Artz,' I am sure! May I not offer you one of mine? They are +all made especially and only for me. And do you prize the case? No!" + +As the girl shook her head he took the wooden trifle from her, closed +his hand gently, and, crushing it to matchwood, dropped it soundlessly +on to the sand. + +And when Hahmed, the Arab, had finished speaking, Jill Carden, the +English girl, understood that with her only rested the decision, that +even now, at the eleventh hour, she was still absolutely free to go. + +Outside the gates waited the man's car, ready to take her wherever she +listed on her way home! At her feet lay the camels, ready to take her +to all the possibilities of the unknown! + +There was absolute silence as she sat motionless, looking into the +future. In the West she saw boats, trains, hotels, inner cabins, +middle seats, back bedrooms; felt women, mothers, and wives clutching +their mankind so as to keep them from the pariah, the penniless, pretty +companion; heard the clink of the five or ten shillings a week paid +monthly in silver, and all this to be repeated over and over again +until she died, unless she married a man she did not love and "settled +down" for ever and ever and ever; though even this possibility seemed +to have receded into the remote distance with the receding of her +fortune. + +Then she looked up to the stars, and down to the sand, and out to the +East, seeing her freedom if she dared grasp it, if she dared venture +out on the many days' journey which, to her astonishment, she had +learned stretched between Ismailiah and the oasis. + +She scrutinised the man before her--this Arab with the impassive face, +the camels at his feet, her life in his hands if she went with him. + +His what? Wife! to settle down for ever and ever and ever. + +His plaything? This was not the man to play or be played with, for had +he not said: + +"If you come with me, fear not that you will be a prisoner. The oasis, +the house, my servants, houses, camels, all will be yours, and there +will be nothing to prevent your leaving it all--nothing except the +desert, the miles of pitiless sand, trackless, pathless, strewn with +the white bones of those who have essayed to escape from Fate, the +never-changing, ever-different ocean which beats about my dwelling." + +Then once again she looked into the dark eyes which were reading every +passing emotion on the mobile face, and putting out her hands made one +step towards the camel, whilst the soul of the desert laughed with her +scarlet mouth. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A sharp word of command and the pack-camel rose, moved a few paces on +its noiseless feet, swaying from side to side as though to readjust its +load, whisked its miserable tail, and stretching out its long neck +began to nibble the leaves of a flowering shrub. + +Jill followed the beast, stroked its silky coat, and prodded one of the +water skins filled to bursting. + +"Will that be enough to last us all the way? And what happens when we +want to rest? And do we do all the cooking and washing-up ourselves, +just like a picnic? What fun!" Which shows that Jill had no idea of +what unlimited money can do to mitigate the discomfort of desert +travelling by providing every possible comfort, even luxury. + +"My servants have gone ahead with a caravan containing all that I think +will be necessary for your comfort. The journey takes many nights of +travelling when the cool wind has tempered the scorching sands. At +sunrise we shall find our tents pitched, and you shall rest from then, +an hour after dawn, until just before sunset, for it is unwise to be +asleep at sunset in the desert. When we halt your bath will be ready, +your meals as you desire, your bed as soft and spotless as your own." + +"Really!" said Jill, who had imagined herself camping out under the +stars with scorpions and spiders as bedfellows. "But if the men have +to go on ahead of us, we shall have to get up early so as to let them +pack and give them a start." + +The Arab gravely shook his head, with never a glimmer of a smile rear +the mouth or eyes. + +"Ah! no! you need not worry, a caravan of many persons has preceded us." + +"Many _people_!" ejaculated Jill. "What a lot of servants for two!" + +"Let me explain! In Egypt, Arabia, or Persia, when we speak of sheep +or horses we say so many 'head,' but not so of the camel. The camel is +the most cherished possession of the Arab. + +"There are three events which bring joy to us, and which are occasions +of greatest festival, namely, the birth of a son, the birth of a +she-camel, and the birth of a mare. The she-camel provides her master +with food for both himself and his horses; for in an area, or season, +where there is little water but an abundance of juicy grass in which +the camel finds both food and drink, the camel's milk is given to the +horses in lieu of water, the master's covering and tent are made of the +hair, the waterless places are known to him through her. There are +many other ways in which the animal is useful, and for which we daily +return thanks to Allah, therefore we speak of them as persons, so many +persons in a herd, because as the proverb says, 'God created the camel +for the Arab, and the Arab for the camel.' + +"Therefore for each resting-place there are two one-humped camels to +carry all things necessary for your night's sojourn." + +"Why one-humped?" asked the girl, who was of an inquiring turn of mind, +and was getting slightly mixed with her first endeavour to grasp +something of Eastern life. + +"The one-humped or, as we say, the Dyemal-mai, which means water-camel, +although they cannot carry so heavy a load as the Bactrian, can go even +up to eight or nine days without water. + +"There is only one well between here and the water, and it is usually +surrounded by caravans, with water as thick as the mud in a London +street in November, and dirtier, being polluted by the filth of man and +beast. + +"This we will pass, contenting ourselves with the water we carry for +ablutions and cooking, and with wine or coffee to drink. If there is +water to spare the camels can have it, if not they can go without, with +the exception of the two that carry us. + +"But you will find the going irksome even on Taffadaln, and so that you +may rest, beautiful woman, whose name even I do not know, Howesha, +which name, being translated, means that she is a past mistress in the +art of grumbling, carries all that will give you repose if you should +desire to stop before we reach our caravan." + +And just as though she understood, Howesha the Grumbler, opening wide +her mouth, proceeded to give a series of very fine imitations, +including those of a nest of spitting snakes, a sobbing woman, and a +choking dog--all of which she concluded by her masterpiece, of a child +masticating sticky sweets, when her master, to stop her querulous +upbraidings, thrust dates between her polished teeth. + +And then he turned to Jill, who was laughing delightedly, and stroked +her camel's coat. + +"Later you shall have servants, many of them, who hand and foot, shall +do your bidding, and carry out your slightest wish, but to-night and +for ever I am your slave. Allah! to think that I, the worst feared man +in Egypt, whose word is law, who condemns to death by the lifting of a +finger, of a race who looks upon women as a useful plaything, at the +most as a potential mother of sons, _I_ crave to serve you from your +lying down in the heat of the day to your rising up, when the sunset +breeze shall blow the soft curls about your flower-face. Do you think +I would allow a servant, some low-born son of a bazaar-dweller, to +throw his shadow upon the ground over which your lovely feet must +tread, or to touch a vessel which your white fingers might hold, to +breathe the air which maybe has just passed from your sweet mouth, on +this night when you make your journey into Egypt, _real_ Egypt; for to +us, Cairo and other such places are but tourist centres which we give +to the foreigner readily, traversing many miles of sand and rock and +hills ourselves, before we can lie down upon the soft breast of our own +motherland. + +"Come, woman! The moon tarries not, neither does the sun, and we have +many miles to go." + + * * * * * * + +With the exception of a twopenny ride at the Zoo, few Europeans ever +mount or ride a camel, thereby missing an art or a pastime or sport, +which to the novice, until he has been thoroughly and literally broken +in, is the most back, heart, and nerve-wearing means of locomotion he +could possibly choose in all the wide world. + +Jill stood ankle-deep in flowers looking down at her mount, the prize +of the desert. + +"I do not know how you will fare, woman of the West. I dare not put +palanquin on Taffadaln for fear that she might bolt from terror and +take you far into the desert, there to die. But arrived at our +destination she shall be broken in at once, however, for in all my +stables there is no other camel with her sliding step, not one who +would not make you feel as though your spine had snapped after one +hour's journey upon its back. We Arabs can sit a camel in more than +one way, but the easiest for you, and Allah knows it will be hard +enough after a time, is, if your skirt permits, to sit astride and put +both your feet round the pummel in front. That, anyway, will prevent +you from being twisted as you are with the shocking ladies' saddle you +use in England." + +"Oh, but I ride astride," volunteered Jill, as she raised her skirts, +settled herself, and taking the gold-studded rein, held firmly to the +front and back peak of the saddle as instructed, and awaited the word +of command. + +A camel rises from its front or hind legs just as the fancy seizes it, +so that if you do not keep a fair balance, also yourself in complete +readiness to lean forward or backward according to your mount's final +decision, you will assuredly find yourself ignominiously pitched in a +heap over the quadruped's nose, or just as ignominiously hanging head +down in the vicinity of its tail, either of which positions will cause +her to chortle gleefully before the next lurch, which gets the rest of +her feet into order. + +A final touch is given by the imitation of an infantile earthquake as +she arranges you to her taste, and then you may consider yourself ready +to start out on a journey which may make you more sea-sick than any +rough channel-crossing in boat or aeroplane. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +It was with a feeling of exultation that Jill, from her elevated seat, +looked down into the Arab's face, outlined in the scented dimness of +the garden by the snow-white head-cloth, and her brilliant mouth +widened in a low laugh of pleasure as she pulled down a bough of fluffy +mimosa to sniff its perfume, and she also gave a little shriek of +dismay as Taffadaln, taking matters into her own enormous feet, and +utterly ignoring the frantic tugging of the silken reins, suddenly +stalked off towards the gate. + +There was a sharp word of command bringing the animal to a standstill, +then a throaty exclamation from somewhere in the long neck as she +pitted her hereditary obstinacy against the man's will. + +Five times, with a blatant wink towards her sisters; and a sneer on her +hideous mouth, she journeyed towards the gate, and five times was she +brought back to the starting-place, to be fastened at last by a strong +lead to the bridle of her more submissive sister, who was making +disgusting masticatory noises over a tough twig. + +Then, upon the fastening of the lead, there arose a concerto of such +growlings, fretting, sobbing, groaning, and roaring, as to make the +inexperienced Jill beg to be allowed to dismount, for fear of having +caused hurt to the hateful brute. + +But it seemed that all the fuss came about through the Queen of the +Desert's objection to the unknown lady on her hack, an objection which +was causing her to twist her long neck backwards in the diabolical hope +that the loose-lipped mouth in the spite-contorted face might reach +something to bite, be it foot or saddle, cloth or skirt. + +"O! hateful, impatient descendant of a dissatisfied mother!" suddenly +ejaculated the man. "More foolish than an ostrich, and as poisonous as +a scorpion, yet have I to put up with thy whims and fancies because of +thy specially formed stomach. I, who long to strike thy repellent face +again and again, and dare not, for the fear that thy evil, dwarfed +brain, twisted with jealousy, might make thy beautiful rider the object +of thy revenge, tearing her limb from limb, and rolling upon her;[1] +but behold! in as much as Allah made thee, yet shalt thou, through thy +disobedience and ill-manners of to-day, be put to stud with thy elder +brother, who, for a camel, rejoiceth in seeming good manners. Then +shalt thou be chastened, and thy milk given to the feeding of horses." + +This harangue might have been a paean of praise for all the change it +made in the beautiful Eastern voice, and the girl's low laughter rang +out like bells on the night air, as the man explained that the animal +was inordinately jealous of all and sundry who, in her sin-laden brain, +she feared might do her out of a handful of sugar or bucket of water. + + * * * * * * + +From all time women have revelled in a novel sensation, but never +surely so much, or in such a one, as did Jill in hers, as, with peace +restored, she passed through the gates with her companion, on her way +to a life about which she had not allowed herself the slightest +analysis. + +And a great silence fell on the girl as they left the town, padding +noiselessly through the outskirts where no one met them, and no sound +was to be heard save for the barking of dogs, and the occasional wail +of an infant; for the strangeness of everything had suddenly made her +realise that of her own will she was standing on the threshold of a new +life, laden--though this the usual narrow outlook and education of the +West prevented her from understanding--with a love and passion and +womanhood which cannot, and never will be, realised in countries where +the dominant colour is grey. + +Gone was her laughter, and vanished the merry exclamations and remarks, +as she began to glean some idea of the width and breadth of the desert +which was slowly engulfing her. + +Once or twice she had looked behind at the ever-receding town, with the +sheen of the fresh water canal becoming fainter and fainter at each +step, until it at last vanished into nothingness. And the living +silence of the desert seemed to close in upon her, and the canopy of +heaven, weighty with stars, to press down upon her, and the snapping +and breaking of generations-rooted conventions to deafen her, until +like a lost child she suddenly sobbed, and dropping the rein, held out +her hands to the man who, although she knew it not, had been watching +and waiting for just such an outburst. + +For he worshipped the sand and pebbles and rocks and dunes and hills of +his adored desert, and knew the effect it sometimes made, even at the +paltry distance of a mile or two from some teeming city, upon both male +and female denizens of the West, who bloom palely in the heat of a +coal-fire, and lift their faces thankfully to the red lozenge which, +for eight months of an English year, represents the sun shining through +fog or cloud. + +Also must it be confessed that Jill's head was beginning already to +swim a little with the sway of the camel, though of nausea she suffered +not at all, and it was with a feeling of joy that she felt the animals +come to a halt, saw the black one, upon a word of command, get docilely +to its knees, heard Howesha grumbling fiercely to the moon as she went +through the same gymnastic performance, and felt her own rocking and +pitching until it came to the ground. Whereupon she dismounted +lightly, and reeled against the man as the entire desert, herself and +camels included, turned a complete somersault, after which she meekly +sat down on Taffadaln's back and watched proceedings. + +The pack-camel lay supinely as its master with strong deft fingers +unbound and unknotted the various ropes until everything desired was +found. + +A rug of many colours was laid at Jill's feet, and cushions thrown +thereon, upon which, with a great sigh of relief, she laid herself +down, until something softly crawling round her neck brought her to her +feet shaking with disgust. + +"It is doubtlessly a sand-spider," explained the man. "They are +perfectly harmless and to be found everywhere, and are even welcomed in +some houses as they help to reduce the plague of flies from which we +have suffered, with other things, since the time of Pharaoh. I am so +sorry, but insects are a nuisance we have totally failed to conquer, +though in your house, believe me, there will be none, not even the +smallest." + +Upon which assurance Jill sat down, took off her hat, arranged her hair +in a pocket mirror, flicked a shadow of powder upon her nose, and +settled down to watch and wait. + +The man's agile fingers arranged some charcoal, which he lighted +quickly in some desert fashion inside a square of four bricks, over +which he placed a brass tripod. + +There was a gurgling sound as water ran from a skin into a brass pot +which hung from a hook on the tripod, and in a few minutes the water +began to bubble furiously, as the fire, leaping and falling, cast giant +shadows on the Arab's flowing robes. + +Small boxes were opened, and the contents laid on plates: sandwiches, +cakes, sweetmeats, fruit, and wine, red and white, in skins, poured +into empty earthen-ware jugs in which to cool it. Small cups of +Egyptian coffee, a "Cona Machine" for the Western idea of coffee, and a +box of cigarettes. + +"If I had known you would be a-hungered, I would have brought the +wherewithal to make a repast of substance!" + +"Oh, but it is all so topping!" cried the girl, and then stopped. + +The slang words had suddenly struck her as foolish and silly, and out +of place in a country where the syllables of words sound sonorously, +and time passes like a slow moving river with its banks unchoked with +"hustle weeds." And from that day, or rather night, Jill gave up +slang, and one by one all the little dreary habits which rub the bloom +off the Western maid. + + +[1]To revenge the lash or whip camels have been known even after a +lapse of months to seize their victim, tearing and trampling him to +pieces, and then with infinite relish proceed to roll time and again +upon the remains. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A striking and unrealistic picture the two made as they lay on their +cushions alone in the desert. The girl in her white dress, which in +truth was somewhat crumpled, her white neck rising like a gleaming +pillar from the low-cut blouse, the little curls rippling round the +face which, under the moonlight and the stress of the past hours, +showed white with shadow-encircled eyes, gazing at the man who rose and +knelt with a towel of softest linen, and a basin of brass filled with +water. + +Jill happened to be one of those lucky individuals who can with +impunity wash their face anywhere, and at any time of the day, and look +the better for it. Neither had she to fear a futurist impression in +vivid colours of Dorin rouge and blue pencillings mixed with liquid +powder appearing on her face after a sudden rain storm. + +So she put her face right into the basin, lifted it sparkling with +laughter and rainbow drops to bury it in the snowy cloth. Her sleeves +she turned back, and ran the water up and down her arms. + +"And you must wash your feet, woman, for so small are they, they must +assuredly be fatigued!" + +And without hesitation the girl proffered her shoe to be unlaced, +whilst without lifting her skirt, with a quick movement she undid the +suspender which held her last pair of real silk stockings to the +infinitesimal girdle she wore instead of the usual figure-distorting +corset, peeled off the silken hose and put the prettiest foot in the +world in flesh, painting, or marble, into another basin of brass laid +upon the ground, and also filled with water. + +"Allah!" whispered the man, as he dried each little foot, "so small, so +slender, rivalling the arch of Ctesisphon, dimpled as the sky at dawn, +never in the most perfect Circassian have I seen feet so wonderful, +glory be to Allah, whose prophet is Mohammed." + +And then the Arab, filling another basin, moved to the far corner of +the rug, where facing towards the East he made ablutions of his mouth +and hands and feet, and raising his hands to heaven, gave praise to his +God for the wonder of the day, and bowed himself in obeisance. + +"I was returning thanks to Allah for you, O! Moon Flower," he said +simply, and led her to the cloth of finest damask upon which the repast +was spread, praising Allah anew as he poured the contents of the wine +jars upon the sands when Jill announced that she only drank water. + +Rested and cheered, the girl chatted merrily all through the al fresco +meal, in her turn inwardly giving thanks for the Arab's perfect manners +and knowledge of table methods, for in her heart she, particular to the +point of becoming finicky about the usually so unpleasant process of +eating, had looked forward with absolute horror to the moment when the +man's fingers should close upon some succulent portion of a mess of +pottage or chicken, and convey it to his mouth with charitable +distribution of rice grains upon the beard. + +Reassured, her laughter rang out sweetly when the absence of methylated +spirit for the "Cona Machine" was discovered. + +"And I would really rather have yours," said she, "for am I not to +become an Eastern------" and suddenly stopped, for looking up she found +the man gazing at her with eyes ablaze with love. + +And once more a great silence fell between them, as they both sat +staring wide-eyed over the desert, and up into the starry heavens. + +Few, very few of those who live in the West have had the privilege of +sitting alone under the stars in the desert. + +This does not mean riding out on a tourist track with dragoman and +camel-driver, and retiring a few yards from their perpetual chatter to +gaze at the heavens in what _you_ imagine to be the approved style, to +the accompaniment of correct gasps, after which, finding you have left +your cigarettes behind, you look at your wrist watch and wait another +five minutes, until you can with decency saunter back to your +camel-driver with the feeling of something quite well done, and the +unuttered hope in your mind that everyone would not have gone to bed on +your return. + +No! it means, when wearied from long travel you call a halt, perhaps +just before the dawn, when the very stars seem to commune with you. + +Leaving your servants to pitch your tent, urge your camel to the +distance when the clattering of pans, and the jar of inter-domestic +feud shall not assail your hearing, then urge your camel to its knees, +and set you down at a distance so that the pungent odour of the beast +shall not assail your nostrils, and then removing little by little the +outer covering of the worries and pin-pricks which have made the +passing of the day unbearable, give way to your soul, or second self, +or whatever you call that which causes you to joy in the coming of the +spring, and to mourn when the fire refuses to heat but a portion of the +room in winter. + +For this is what happened to Jill, the English girl, as she sat on her +cushions in the Egyptian desert, and has nothing to do with +table-turning, or ten-and-six-penny visions in Maida Vale, or +whisperings, or touchings in a conveniently darkened room; neither must +you put it down to magnetism or hypnotism, or any of those "isms" which +we, of a glacier-born country and a machine-made life, so irreverently +tag on as terms descriptive to all that which we cannot label and place +upon a museum shelf, or conveniently start by motor power. + +A long dissertation on the Eastern's power of concentration, love of +meditation, and utter detachment from self, would doubtlessly prove +wearisome in the extreme, neither for a true explanation thereof can +help be got from highly or lowly born native. Without movement for +hours he will sit or squat, as becomes his station, staring, as we +should say, vacantly into space, in reality seeing and hearing that +which others, blinded by material enjoyment, can never hope to +visualise or hear. + +Jill afterwards tried to explain the outcome of this, her first step in +the meadows of meditation, which she took without help and without +intention, and in which she has become so versed, to the mystification +of those about her, who look upon woman as a bearer of children, a +plaything for sunny hours, useful in time of rain, endowed with the +brain of a pea-hen, and as much soul as the priests see fit to mete out +to her. + +"Something had left me," Jill explained later. "My body seemed to be +sitting on the cushions, and I could minutely describe the way Hahmed +was sitting, and the exact shape of the shadow cast before him by the +moon, which was setting behind us. But inside I was quite empty, +whilst all sorts of little things I had known so long, crept out and +stole away into the desert. I was just a husk, with no more impatience +or quick temper or restlessness, and I can remember wondering if I were +likely to break in two or crumble into dust, I felt so thin. And then +I heard all sorts of whisperings, just as though thousands of people +were standing near me, trying to make me understand something, and a +violet shadow suddenly appeared between Hahmed and myself, seeming to +get deeper and deeper in colour, and then get less and less; and as it +lessened, so did my feeling of being a mere husk leave me, until at +last, when it had all gone, I felt--well _full_ is the only way to put +it, and my heart was thudding, and the blood pounding in my head, and +well--that's all!" + +Very indefinite and very unsatisfactory, and of which the whispering +can easily be put down to the snuffling of the camels, the passing of +the faint breeze, or the intake of the Arab's breath; and the purple +shadows to the folds of his black cloak. For the effect of fatigue, +excitement, and strong Egyptian coffee upon the mind of a Western maid +is quite likely to turn the buzzing of a fly into the flight of an +aeroplane, or the dripping of a tap into the roar of a Niagara. + +Be that as it may, the Arab made no sound or movement when with a low +cry the girl sprung suddenly to her feet, and with both hands upraised, +although she knew it not, turned towards the direction in which Mecca +lay. + +For a full minute she stood absolutely motionless, then gently moving +towards the man, who had risen and was standing behind her, she put out +her hand, saying softly, "Behold! I am ready to come with thee." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +It was close upon dawn when the two figures suddenly and silently +emerged from the tree shadows in which they had been hiding for some +considerable time. + +Very simple and harmless they looked too, the taller one in spotless +galabeah and red fez, his smallpox pitted face softened by the light of +the dying moon; the other, a mere bundle of clothes with the yashmak +covering all except the eyes, dragging back from the hand which pulled +her ruthlessly up to the door of a house conspicuous by its length of +wall unbroken by windows. + +The faintest sound of music from somewhere about the immense building +sounded as out of place at that hour as would a boy's shrill whistling +in the middle of High Mass, but unperturbed thereby, the pitted-face +man knocked gently three times upon the door, vehemently upbraiding the +while his shrinking and protesting companion, who tugged still more +forcibly at the restraining hand. + +"Behold, art thou the daughter of ungrateful parents and not fit to be +honoured by the great lord who awaits thee. Raise thy voice in +protest, speak but one word, and thy back shall resemble the red +pattern upon thy raiment, which has cost much hard toil to provide for +thee." + +The female figure suddenly sank back, in all humility at the feet of +the upbraider, as unperceived--maybe--by both, a small portion of the +door above their heads slipped noiselessly back to show a gleaming eye +glued to the little grille, taking in the scene beneath it. + +Unperceived or not, the elder man, taking a deep breath, continued in a +slightly raised tone to administer his admonition. + +"Comely art thou, and young, and good is the price paid for thee, and +may he who has purchased thee be not annoyed at the hour in which I +bring thee, for in truth was thy mother against thy flight from the +nest, being not awake to the advantages of the new bough upon which +thou wouldst come to rest--therefore was I forced to bring thee by +stealth. Perchance------!" + +The gentle voice stopped suddenly as the door was thrown open by a much +armed individual, who angrily demanded the meaning of the disturbance. + +"The peace of Allah be upon thee and upon this house, into which, by +the order of thy master, O! brother, I bring a flower which he has +deigned to pluck from within the city. Comely is she, and gifted in +music and the dance, but young, is affrighted at the honour before her. +I------" + +Here the armed individual broke in ruthlessly upon the paean of praise, +drawing a most gleaming and curved weapon from somewhere about his huge +person. + +"Begone, disturbers of the peace," he ejaculated with the difficulty +natural to one who has had his tongue split. "My master awaits a +flower in truth, being even now o'ercome in sleep in the waiting, but +the flower will show a warrant the which will pass her through this +door of which I am the guardian. By Allah! it is not opened at the +tapping of every chance weed which the wind of poverty may cause to +flutter across this path!" + +Things began to look somewhat awkward for the humble flower wilting on +the marble step, until her friend, speaking suddenly and sharply, saved +the situation by leaning down and quite violently snatching something +from the little hand fumbling most awkwardly among the many feminine +draperies. + +"Behold the warrant, O! unbeliever. So desirous of this maiden is thy +master, upon whom may the blessing of Allah rest, that he even gave +unto her father the ring of emerald from off his right hand. Art +satisfied, or is't best to risk the tempest by still further +questioning and delay!" + +The guardian of the door, not a little astounded, snatched in his turn +at the jewel, and seeming perfectly satisfied after a prolonged +scrutiny, stood aside and motioned the two to enter, and shutting the +door behind them and ordering them to stand where they were until he +returned from his dangerous mission of disobeying, by breaking in upon +his master's privacy, stalked off with much dignity into the perfumed, +half-lit, enormous hall. + +Now if only he had been afflicted with one iota of the curiosity +apportioned by time to Lot's wife, that man might have been alive even +to this day. But he neither turned his head nor pricked his ears, +thereby failing to note that with the lightning methods of the eel the +comely flower had in some miraculous way slipped from her all +enveloping sheath of draperies to stand revealed a wiry, +glistening-with-oil youth, who, without a moment's pause, with knife in +teeth, and as silently as a lizard, glided across the dividing yards of +Persian carpet separating him from his quarry. + +Across the hall and through endless deserted rooms they passed, the +companion of the camouflage maiden bringing up the rear. Right to the +far quarter of the house they went, one after the other, and the +guardian of the house felt little more than a pin-prick when, just as +his hand pulled aside the curtain screening a door, the youth behind +him raising his right arm drove the knife clean under the left shoulder +blade, catching the dead body as it fell backwards to lay it +noiselessly upon the floor just as his friend appeared upon the scene. + +"It was well done, O! brother--neatly, and with strength--leaving no +trace of blood to speak of. But now must we proceed with cunning, else +may we too be lying lifeless upon our backs. Take even thy knife, my +brother, 'twere a pity to leave it in yon carcase!" + +Indifferently turning the body over, the boy drew the knife, as +indifferently wiping it on the dead man's raiment, and stood for a +moment as still as any one of the exotic specimens of statuary which +ornamented the whole house. + +Truly and implicitly had the orders of the master been obeyed; there +was no sound of any living thing in or near the place, so that after a +few whispered words the curtain was gently pulled back and the door +opened just as gently inch by inch. + +For a long minute the two men peered in through the crack, their eyes +searching swiftly for sign of him whom they searched. + +Unavailing at first, until with a motion of the head the younger one +pointed. + +"Look! Yonder he sleeps!" + +The room was still brilliantly lighted by the many lamps hanging from +the ceilings and the walls, but the shadow of the great mass of growing +plants fell upon the divan upon which Jill had sat some few hours ago. + +Inch by inch the door was opened, until it was wide enough to allow the +dusky slender body of the boy to slip in. Round the wall he slid, his +eyes a-glisten, and the knife fast held between his teeth; then down +upon his hands and knees he sank to crawl as quietly as a cat up to the +back of the flowering plants. And then he quite suddenly sprang to his +feet, beckoning to his companion, who sped straight across the room, +knife in hand. + +"Behold! O! brother!" + +And a world of disappointment rang in the whispered words as the youth +pointed disgustedly to the picture before him. + +Very peacefully lay the man whose name had been a byword in the land of +Egypt, and whose delight had been in the moral and physical terrors of +women. + +His eyes were closed and his mouth slightly open, showing the white +teeth; the hands were gently clasped, but over the spot where should +have been his heart, and on the silken coverings of the cushions, +spread a great crimson patch of blood, whilst at his feet, lying prone +across the couch, was the body of a girl. Her eyes were open, and a +little smile widened the beautiful mouth, but from the spot above the +heart which had so unwisely and so well loved, glittered the jewelled +hilt of a dagger. One hand touched the hem of her master's coat, but +what the bastinado had left of the little feet seemed to shriek aloud +for vengeance, vengeance for the dead child, and vengeance for all +those who had likewise suffered. + +"Allah! Allah!" The cry cleft the stillness of the room as the boy's +eyes fell upon the terrible sight; and the knife flashed twice and +thrice, and yet again, until the evil beauty of the dead man's face had +been entirely obliterated, and a strong hand gripped the supple wrist. + +"Come, O! brother! Waste not thy strength upon the dead. Behold! Yon +little maid has carried out our master's wish, may she rest in the +delights of paradise with the beloved of Allah whose prophet is +Mohammed, and may the spirit of him who is accursed enter into the body +of a pig to live eternally in filth and dishonour!" + +And the sun had risen upon a cleaner day when the twain departed from +the house of shadows. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +It was close upon dawn when to Jill's ears was borne a faint melodious +sound. + +Inexpressibly weary was she, exhausted to the point of fainting, for in +spite of numerous haltings, the drinking of tea, coffee, and sherbet, +and the eating of cakes and curious Egyptian sweetmeats, had in no way +lessened the agony of her lower limbs, which she moved this way and +that in the vain effort to relieve the terrible cramp that seemed to +creep from her spine to her brain, and down again to her feet. + +The stars danced before and around her, as she swayed to and fro to the +deadly lurching rhythm of the camel's pace; one thing, and one thing +only, having so far saved her from the utter dissolution of fatigue, +and that being when, urged by their master's voice, the three animals +had broken into a gentle trot, ending in a pace which literally took +away the girl's breath; but even that relaxation had had to be +abandoned as the nature of the ground changed. + +Most people's conception of the desert is that of one huge expanse of +smooth sand, with here and there a palm tree to break the monotony; an +entirely wrong conception, bred partly, I think, from the highly +coloured scriptural pictures of our youth. + +There are tracts of sand extending for many miles, such as those around +big cities into which you wander on camel-back at so much an hour, and +with the description of which you hold your less travelled neighbours +enthralled, as you intersperse the munching of muffins with the words +"dragoman," "backsheesh," and "Cheops." + +But even on a week or ten days of genuine travelling you are likely to +pass through and over a variety of grounds, from hard gravel which is +delightful for tent-pitching, ground covered with a liberal supply of +rocks, under which lurks the festive scorpion, great mounds of +limestone which in the desert take on the proportions of mountains, +marks of long-dried pools left by long-dried torrents, defiles almost +as narrow as the camel's scriptural needle, and in places, an earth, +the curious marking of which will almost lead you to believe that it is +cloud-shadowed, if the heat of your head, the state of your throat, and +the lamentable leathery appearance of your skin did not tell you that +for months no such thing as a cloud had been known to appear in the +blazing heavens. + +At the first faint, flute-like note Jill thought that she must have +awakened from sleep or delirium, and, it must be confessed, really did +not care which was the solution of the mystery; sinking back into a +state of apathy so exhausted was she, until the three camels came to a +standstill, and the Arab, with something that looked like a dark cloak +across his arm, drew his beast alongside of hers. + +"Behold, woman, the hour of Namaz is at hand, when throughout the land +the Muezzin is called, for it is the hour of dawn. The hour when the +curtains of heaven are drawn about the stars, so that they may not be +blinded by the glory of their golden master, as I shall draw this cloak +about the fairness of your sweet face, and the outline of your gracious +figure, which Allah in his bounty has placed within my unworthy hands, +to hide them from the eyes of the high-born, and the eyes of the +low-born, such as yonder slave who, though he be the sweetest maker of +music in all Egypt, is but my head camel tender, though before Allah +who is God, his worth as such could not be purchased for the price of +rubies. + +"And now shall your weary form rest a while, while I give praise to +Allah, whose prophet is Mohammed." + +Grumbling, the three animals subsided. + +"Is all well with you?" + +The girl nodded as she stumbled from her seat and stretched herself +full length upon the sands, the convulsive twitching of her cramped +limbs giving way at last to the peace of oblivion. + +"Will you forgive me if I leave you in your stress, for behold, the +hour of Namaz waits neither for weariness or joy, nay, nor even death." + +But Jill heard nothing, neither his light footfall as he moved some +yards from the unclean Christian whom he loved, and placing his +prayer-rug upon the ground turned towards Mecca, which in Islam is +called Keblah, which, being translated, means "centre"; nor the +splashing of water as he washed three times his nostrils, his mouth, +and hands and arms to the elbow, the right first as ordained, then head +and neck, and ears once and feet once, whilst murmuring a prescribed +form of words, these words being repeated in different positions, +standing erect or sitting, with inclinations of the head and body, and +prostrations in which the Arab in all humility touched the ground with +his forehead. + +For Hahmed was a true Mohammedan, carrying out the precepts of his +religion as laid down by the Koran as fully and conscientiously as is +within the power of man. But, you will say, he was voluntarily +consorting with a Christian, who, by the edicts of the Koran, is +considered unclean, inviting pollution by touching the bare skin of her +hands and feet. + +True! but the man was no evil liver, picking up to throw away, buying +to regret the purchase within the hour, attracted by this pretty face +or that lovely form. Nay. He loved the girl as it is unhappily given +on this earth for but few women to be so loved, and with all the +strength of his will he intended the outcome of this love to be one +more triumph to the glory of Allah. + +As for the pollution of her satin skin, did he not murmur the prayer of +purification when in contact with it? + +Neither did Jill notice that the man, his purification and his prayers +ended, had come over to her, standing gazing down at the almost tragic +picture she made out-stretched on the sands. + +Her death-white face was buried in the curve of one folded arm, the +other, flung out, lay with the palm of the hand uppermost. The little +feet were crossed under the crumpled skirt, from which peeped the folds +of her last white silk petticoat. + +"Poor little bird," he murmured, as the sense of mastership rose strong +within him at the sight of the helpless child at his feet. "So weary, +so beautiful, and so young. Behold, shall a nest be built for thee in +which thou shalt rest, shaking off the plumage harmed in thy short +passage through life, to appear at last more beautiful than the most +glorious bird in Paradise," and bending he touched her gently. + +But Jill, who had had no real sleep since she had left the boat, had +passed at last into an almost comatose condition, from which it was +doubtful she could have been awakened, even at the sound of Israfil's +Trumpet.[1] + +Crossing to the camels Hahmed considerably lengthened the lead, and +attaching the camels Taffadaln and Howesha one on each side of his own, +he bade the two former rise, which they did with alacrity, leading one +to believe that they heard the flute-like music calling them to the +cool of the palm tree's shade, the doubtful bucket of water, and the +certain repast, terminating with a handful of luscious dates. + +Stooping, the man raised the unconscious girl from the ground, holding +her as lightly as a feather on one arm, and draping the dark cloak +around her so as to cover the red-gold hair, drew a corner across the +face. + +Perhaps some may enjoy restraining the vagaries of a lead horse, which +sees fit to proceed sideways at the encounter of anything in motion on +the road, or execute a _pas seul_ on the hind legs at the flutter of a +leaf, without referring to what happens if a white paper-bag should +attract the nervous eye. + +But it is mere child's play compared with the leading under certain +circumstances, of one or more self-willed, obstinate, vain-glorious +camels. + +Seated across his black camel the Arab drew the girl's head against his +shoulder, holding her gently but firmly in his left arm. + +A word, and the camel pitching and tossing finally acquired an upright +position. Things went well for a score or so of yards, the three +animals proceeding at a stately demure pace, until verily the devil +entered into Taffadaln. + +Suddenly she rushed sideways, then with front legs wide apart came to a +dead stop, jerking the black camel violently. + +"Thou awkward descendant of clumsy parents, what aileth thee?" +exclaimed her master, as Jill's head bumped violently against his +shoulder. "Take heed to my words. Enjoy this thy last ride through +the glory of the desert, for verily at the end shalt thou, between the +periods of bearing young, be put to the lowest tasks apportioned to the +lowest of thy species." + +Whereupon Taffadaln turned solemnly towards the speaker, and lifting +her upper lip laughed, and with no more ado faced towards the palm +trees, which to desert-trained eyes showed faintly some miles away, +took two steps forward, humped herself together, collapsed on the +ground, and stretching out her neck, half-closed her eyes. + +Imagine the helplessness of her master, seated so high upon his camel +as to render useless any chastisement with the _courbaash_, which whip +applied deftly to certain less tough portions of the camel's body will +usually bring the brute to reason, if he who wields the whip cares to +risk the accumulation of revenge which the punishment will infallibly +store up in the camel's brain. A veritable storm of anger raged in the +man as he looked down upon the girl lying peacefully in his arms in a +sleep which even the camel's uncouth procedure could not disturb. + +Once more groaning bitterly his camel and Howesha grounded, which +latter word describes best, in condensed form, the camel's method of +lying down. + +Out of one corner of her half-shut, insolent eye, the beautiful +Taffadaln watched proceedings, and just as her master, holding Jill +gently in his arms, was slipping from the saddle, with a positively +fiendish squeal of triumph, and one gigantic effort which beat any +record, for swiftness established in any camel's family history, she +rose suddenly, and rushing forward once more to the end of her lead, +caused the black camel to fall sideways and the dismounting man to +stumble, and in order to save her, to place Jill with distinct vigour +upon the sand. + +Not one syllable did he utter, not one line appeared on the perfectly +calm face, as he raised the girl and carried her further from the +camels, where she lay as still as though the angel Azrael[2] had +separated her soul from her body. + +Walking to Taffadaln he stood for some minutes absolutely motionless in +contemplation, whilst the object of his thoughts, blissfully ignorant +of what was in store, and because it suited her mood of the moment, +came meekly to ground on the word of command. + + +[1]In Islamism there are four angels particularly favoured by Allah, +who is God. Israfil is the name of one whose office will be to sound +the trumpet at the Resurrection. + +[2]Azrael--Angel of Death. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +I am sure that those who read the following and know the East will say +that I exaggerate, that under no circumstances or stress of emotion +would an Arab so treat a camel, especially the most perfect of her +species. + +But against this wish to hurt must be weighed the love that consumed +the man, a love mighty and sudden, and for the advent of which, and the +enjoyment thereof, he had trained himself from his youth, abstaining +from aught which might cause his perfect body to deteriorate, and all +that which by satisfying the senses might dull his mind. A love, in +fact, which, stronger than the wind of the hurricane, swifter than the +raging torrent, swept all before it. + +The Arab's love for his camel is a love of gratitude, for does not the +Koran say, "And hath also provided you with tents and the skin of +cattle, which ye find light to be removed on the day of your departure, +and easy to be pitched on the day of your sitting down therein, and of +their wool, and their fur, and of their hair, hath he supplied you with +furniture and household stuff for a season." His love for his horse is +a love of delight in her beauty, and her endurance and her swiftness, +causing the master even at the point of death in battle to pour forth +the praises of his mare, and with his last breath call aloud her +pedigree to the lucky person, to whom she falls as booty. + +But once let an Arab love a woman, with the love which has nothing to +do with the arranged marriage of his early youth, or his attraction to +some beautiful face which causes him to take the possessor thereof to +wife, of which Allah in his bounty allows him four, or his desire for +some one of his concubines, to the number of which there is no limit; +_then_ I say will the love of sons, love of beast, and thought for all +save his religion, go down before it as a young tree before the storm. + +Hahmed the Arab loved the English girl with just such a love, also had +she been hurt through the brutish manners of the animal, who had been +expressly chosen for the honour of carrying her, therefore his love for +his camel had turned to seething hate, and when that happens in the +East, it is time to remove thyself, and that hastily. + +Unfastening the lead from the pack camel, the man knotted it firmly to +the back of her flat saddle, which usually makes the foundation for the +animal's burden, then urging her to her feet led her in front of +Taffadaln, who, a little at sea as to the proceedings, was marking time +with her head. The same thing happened to the black animal, and then +with a swiftness which thoroughly befogged the small brain of all this +trouble, the leathered thong across her soft muzzle was tightened to +the verge of cruelty, and the reins twisted twice round the back of the +head, and then knotted to the leading reins fastened to the saddlebacks +of her two inferior sisters. + +"Thus will I show thee who is master, O! shrew!" observed her master, +as he surveyed his handiwork. "Thou wilt not walk, then shall thy +sisters force thee to run; thou wilt lie down, then shall they drag +thee until thy mouth runs blood. + +"Behold has thou brought misery to thy fair mistress, O! curse of +camels, and for each moment that thou shalt have lost unto her the +shade of the palm tree, for each moment shall thou shed a drop of +blood." + +Howesha of her own free will scrambled to her feet, whilst the Arab +raised the girl, who, sunk in a sleep resembling unconsciousness, took +no heed of these untoward events, and placing her so that her head lay +softly against his shoulder, mounted his camel and brought the animal +to her feet. + +The forcing to their feet of three camels by voice persuasion alone is +no mean performance, but no voice, not even the vocal chords of the +Archangel Gabriel, would have moved the cause of all this pother, for +at the word of command, in a tone which should have put fear of death +into her black heart, she slightly shifted her hind-quarters and lay +still. + +"So thou wilt not move, thou daughter of a desert snail! Verily then +shalt thou so remain!" + +A sharp word, and the two upstanding camels moved forward, coming to a +standstill as they felt the weight of their recumbent sister. There +was then heard a sharp swish, as the _courbaash_ delicately flicked +each astounded quadruped, astounded indeed, for never had they felt the +like before, and be it confessed, never had their master been possessed +of such a fury. + +Simultaneously they bounded forward, if so one can describe their +action, bringing a snarl of rage from the unrepentant Desert Pearl. +Straining and tugging, with the whip constantly flicking and stinging, +they slowly dragged Taffadaln over the sand, until gradually the agony +of the tightening muzzle-thong cut not only into the flesh, but into +the very soul of the rebellious camel queen. + +Foam began to gather round the bruised mouth, dripping from the teeth +only half closed by the leather strap; a drop of blood showed red near +the corner, cut by the cruel knot, sweat poured from the silky coat as +again and again she vainly tried to scramble to her feet, whilst the +eyes of her master, ablaze with hate, watched her futile efforts. + +Suddenly he halted the animals, and sat contemplating the beautiful +Taffadaln, panting and moaning upon the sand. + +"Get up!" he suddenly cried, with a ring of steel in the usually soft +voice, and obediently the brute scrambled to her feet, leaving red +patches where had rested her mouth. + +"Now that I have almost broken thy neck, will I essay to break thy +heart." In which endeavour the Arab entirely failed.[1] + +"Thou wouldst halt, therefore shall thou run!" + +But Taffadaln was no fool, no, not one bit. For the first few yards, +as her sisters raced ahead, she hung back, pulling on the blood covered +thong, and tearing her tongue between her vicious teeth. Faster, and +faster, sped the forerunners, and how fast that can be may only be +understood by one who has pressed this swift moving animal's pace. +Resisting less and less, Taffadaln raced after, until the agony and +outrage of the proceedings suddenly drove her mad, and also to her +fastest speed, until with a positive shriek of hate she rushed upon the +pack camel, regardless of the slackened reins which were like to trip +her at every step, a scream of agony announcing the fact that the +bloody teeth had met in the camel's side. "Allah!" ejaculated Hahmed +as again and again he struck at the animal's infuriated face, when she +turned her attention to her black sister, whom she had the full +intention of savaging, what time the three were tearing like the wind +towards those palms under which figures in white could easily be +discerned. + +Finding she was unable to wreak her vengeance with her teeth, her +crafty brain conceived the idea of harassing her fleeing companions, to +whom she was ignominiously fastened. + +What were they but snails in speed compared to her, and if she could +not pass them for the bonds which held her captive, she could, at least +urge them on until they dropped from exhaustion. So into first one and +then the other she bumped, with an occasional nip at the tails, whilst +the air was rent with agonising shrieks, through which tumult Jill +slept sweetly upon the man's heart, until at last they raced up to the +caravan. + +Many camels and four men watched the arrival, the former grunting and +groaning as they scented the trouble, the men calling upon Allah to +witness the madness which had befallen their master. + +At the sight of the tents and the men who had tended them from birth, +Howesha and the black camel stopped dead, but too terrified to pay heed +to the voice that bade them get down, stood literally shaking with +fear, or wheeling sharply to dodge the gleaming teeth which seldom +failed to leave their mark, until Howesha, in a moment of absolute +terror, twisted and met her teeth in the upper portion of the back part +of Taffadaln's hind-leg, of which there is no tenderer part in the +camel's anatomy, following which action ensued a pitched battle. + +With a scream, the rage-filled Taffadaln flung herself upon the two +camels and then upon her master and she who lay in his arms and who was +the real cause of this unseemly fracas. The Arab, essaying to hold the +cloak around the girl, so as to save her from the insult of a man's +gaze, struck again and again at the mouth which tore great pieces from +his flowing robes, the girl's covering, and chunks of hair from the +shrieking camel's body. + +Blood and foam covered the animal's chest, the girl's cloak, and the +garments of the men, who, on account of the inextricable knotting of +the leads which bound the animals one to another, and the three sets of +teeth which were snapping and tearing at everything within their reach, +found themselves helpless to calm the tumult. + +But suddenly there was peace, just as Jill opening her eyes murmured, +"What a dreadful noise the sea is making," and closed them again, for +the maker of sweet music, and head-tender of camels, had grasped the +danger to his beloved master, also the disaster impending among the +seething herd, who were all upon their feet and straining at their +tethers. + +Swiftly divesting himself of his long, white, outer garment, he waved +it in front of the Glory of the Desert, whose price was above rubies, +and temper a direct gift from Eblis.[2] + +To her everlasting undoing, she paused for one moment to stretch her +neck at length and eye the new menace. A fatal delay in which the +offending object lighted upon and around her head, shutting her +completely into outer darkness, whereupon she stood like a lamb whilst +hobbles were placed about her feet; after which the shade was lifted +slightly, leaving the eyes covered, whilst the blood-soaked thong was +cut away from the torn flesh, and a kind of leather cage slipped over +the muzzle, which would certainly prevent her from biting, or indulging +in her usual wide yawn of indifference. + +The covering being lifted from her eyes, her bonds were undone, and +herself likened by the maker of sweet music, unto all that the Koran +calls unclean, even unto the vilest of the vile, the pig, into the +company of which she was relegated for all eternity. She was then +ordered to ground in a manner reminiscent of the tones used to bazaar +dogs, which order was emphasised with a flick of the _courbaash_ upon a +part which had known the meeting of Howesha's teeth. + +But when at sunset Jill opened her eyes all sounds and signs of battle +were stilled. + + +[1]Having four times successfully foaled a she-camel, Taffadaln, the +Glory of the Desert, was ultimately shot on account of her demoniacal +temper. + +[2]The devil. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +The sun was sinking when Jill moved, stretched a little, half opened +her eyes, and closing them turned over and went to sleep again for +about two minutes. + +Then she half opened her eyes again, stretched out her hand to pull +uncomprehendingly at the white netting round her bed, through which she +could see a blaze of red, gold, and purple; and laughing in the vacant +manner of the delirious, or those but half-awake, tried to collect her +thoughts sufficiently to explain the strangeness of her surroundings, +sitting up with a jerk as the doings of the last twenty-four hours +suddenly stirred in her awakened mind. + +Wide-eyed she sat with her hands clasped round her knees, whilst the +deadly stillness seemed to rise as a wall around her, cutting her off +from laughter, love, and life, until wild unreasoning fear, seizing her +very soul, caused her to tear and rend the mosquito nets, and force a +way through them and out of the tent. + +For a while she stood holding to the tent rope, looking this way and +that for the sign of some living thing. Before her stretched one vast +plain of gravel, miles upon miles of it receding into nothingness, on +each side the same, behind her tent above, the palm trees waving gently +in the evening breeze, and above again, a sky such as is to be seen +only in this part of the world, for travel you ever so widely, you will +find nothing to rival a desert sunset in its design and colour. + +Above her head seemed to be stretched a canopy, made by some Eastern +magic, of a mixture of colours woven by the hands of Love and Hate, +Passion and Revenge, underneath which she stood disheartened, +dishevelled, in crumpled clothes and shoeless feet, with fear-distended +eyes in a fatigue-shadowed face, searching vainly for something alive +and near, be it human, dog, horse or camel. + +Owing to a sudden nervous reaction brought about by the cessation of +all physical and mental effort, the girl's power of reasoning had gone, +along with her will, her common sense, and her fearlessness. + +That there was another tent beside her own made no more impression on +her mind than the fact that a slight smoke haze softened the intense +blue of the sky on her right. + +She was absolutely terrified and ravenously hungry, also unwashed, +therefore altogether unhappy, so with no more ado she flung out her +arms, and with a great sob rushed headlong into that which frightened +her most, the unlimited, uninhabited desert. + +Her shoeless feet made hardly a sound as she sped like a deer from the +desolation she imagined, to the certain desolation and death in front +of her, but she had hardly cut her little feet over more than twenty +yards when Hahmed, the swiftest runner in Egypt, was speeding after her. + +"Allah! Be merciful to me! For behold, I fail to keep from harm that +which Thou hast placed in my keeping," he murmured, as he ran abreast +with the girl for a few yards, then putting his arm around her lifted +her off her feet, holding her gently to him, and speaking no word until +the paroxysm of sobs had subsided. + +"Where to fly you, O! woman, and whyfore are you thus afraid?" + +"I was simply terrified. I--I--thought you had left me all alone to +die, and I just ran and ran to find someone or something else beside +myself in the desert," answered a voice, muffled by the snowy garments +of the man who held her so gently against his heavily beating heart. + +"I will take you back to your tent, to the bath and repast which awaits +you. I dared not loosen your raiment without your permission, so +having removed the shoes from off your feet, laid you upon your bed, +but when you are bathed, I pray you wrap yourself in the soft garments +you will find, and clapping your hands make known to your slave that +you are ready to eat." + +"Oh, there is a servant to wait on me. I thought we were quite alone." + +"I am your slave," simply replied the Arab, as he placed Jill upon her +feet in front of her tent, where she stood with her hand on his arm, +rooted to the spot by the glory of the sky, whilst the man gazed down +upon her, as the dying sun struck the gold of her hair, the blue of her +eyes, and the cream of her neck. + +"You, who are of those who are versed in music, and of those who can +make poetry, describe that glory to me," imperiously demanded Jill, +after a moment of silence, with that suddenness and complete change of +mood which falls occasionally upon all women, causing the meek to +scratch like cats, and the strong to give in, often to their +everlasting undoing. + +"Bathe the white body of thy beloved in the blue-green of Egypt's +river, so that the coolness and fairness may give delight to thee! +Drape the satin veil of deepest blue about the red glory of thy love's +hair, and bind a band of gold, set deep is sapphires, above the twin +pools of heaven, which are her eyes. Set turquoise, threaded with +finest gold, a-swing in the rose-leaf of her ears, to fall and wind +about the snow of her white neck. + +"Fasten the blue flower which spies upon thee from the shelter of the +golden corn, within the glory of her hair. + +"Perfume her hair and her breasts, anoint her hands and her feet, and +wrap thy delight in a garment of passion, sparing not the shades +therein, for in them shalt thou find thy delight. + +"Let the garment be heavy with the gold of love, rich with the purples +of passion, aflame with the crimson of thy desire, forgetting not the +caress of the rose, nor the light mingling of opal and saffron, and the +faint touch of amethyst and topaz, in which shall _she_ find _her_ +delight. + +"Bind thy love with the broad bands of the setting sun so that she +cleaves unto thee, and carry her unto the twilight of thy tent, which +shall slowly darken until the roof thereof is swathed in purple gloom, +through which shall shine the stars of thy beloved. + +"And there lie down in thy delight, until the hour of dawn calleth thee +to prayer." + +The voice was stilled, whereupon Jill lifted her face bathed in rosy +colour, which might or might not have been the reflection from the sky, +whilst her red mouth quivered ever so slightly, and her great blue eyes +looked for a moment into those of the man, and as quickly looked away. + +So seductive was she in her youth and utter helplessness that the man +stepped back two paces, and saluting her for whom his whole being +craved, gathered his cloak about him and departed to his tent. + +And Jill also entered her tent, and having earlier and under the lash +of terror departed therefrom in blind haste, stood amazed. + +She had imagined a mattress, a rug, an earthenware basin on the ground, +and sand over everything, and on the top of the sand scorpions, +spiders, and all that creepeth and flieth both by day and by night. +Not at all. + +A carpet of many colours stretching to the corners of the desert tent, +which is not peaked like the European affair, into which you crawl +fearing to bring the whole concern about your ears, when if you should +be over tall you hit the top with your head. It was as big as a +fair-sized room, high enough for a man of over six feet to stand erect, +not so broad as long, with sides which, lifted according to the +direction of the sun, and through the uplifted portion of which the +faint delicious evening breeze blew refreshingly. A white enamelled +bedstead covered in finest, whitest linen stood in the centre of the +carpet, surrounded by a white net curtain hanging from the tent +ceiling, each foot in a broad tin of water. In the corners were a +canvas folding dressing-table, a full length mirror, a long chair and a +smaller one, over which hung diaphanous garments of finest muslin, and +a shimmering wrap of pearl white satin, and through a half-drawn +curtain which hung across the narrower end of the tent, the vision of a +big canvas bath filled with water, big white towels, and another canvas +table upon which stood all the things necessary to a woman's toilet. + +So that it was a very refreshed Jill who, wrapped in a loose Turkish +bath-gown, with little feet thrust into heelless slippers, went in +search of raiment. And wonderfully soft, simple things she found into +which she slipped, and out of which she slipped again, holding them out +at arm's length for inspection, then burying her face in the soft +perfumed folds in very thankfulness. + +And she laughed a delicious little laugh, of pure glee as she replaced +the garments on the chair, and slithering hither and thither in her +unaccustomed footgear, tidied the tent and made her bed, regarding +ruthfully the torn mosquito curtain. + +"Oh, for a maid," she sighed, as she wrestled with the mattress, and +"Oh, for dear Babette," she sighed again, as she wrestled with the +masses of her hair. + +And the tent was filled with a blaze of light, as, wrapped in her +bath-gown, she stood in front of the steel mirror, plaiting and +unplaiting, twisting and pinning her hair, until with an exclamation of +impatience she let it all down, holding great strands out at arm's +length, through which she passed the comb again and again, until the +red-gold mass shone, and curled, and rippled about her like a cloak of +satin. + +It is hopeless to try and describe the shining, waving masses which +curled round her knees, and fluttered in tendrils round her face, and +it would have been hard to find anything anywhere so beautiful as Jill +when, clad in the loose silk garment and soft satin wrapper, with her +perfumed hair swirling about her, she stood entranced at the opening of +her tent, until the sun suddenly disappearing left her in darkness, +whereupon she clapped her hands quickly. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +Jill had finished the first of many evening meals she was to partake of +in the desert, and was lying on a heap of cushions listening to the +clink of brass coffee utensils and porcelain cups, whilst sniffing +appreciatively the aroma of Eastern coffee Easternly made, which is +totally different to that which permeates the dim recesses draped with +tinselled dusty hangings, and cluttered with Eastern stools and tables +inlaid with mother o' pearl made in Birmingham, in the ubiquitous +Oriental Cafe at which we meet the rest of us at eleven o'clock on +Saturday morning at the seaside; nor does it resemble in the slightest +that which is oilily poured forth in London town by the fat, oily, +so-called "Son of the Crescent" who, wearing fez and baggy trousers, in +some caravanserai West, Sou'-west or Nor'-west, has unfailingly been +chief coffee-maker to the late Sultan, _vide_ anyway the hotel +advertisements. + +She was smiling as she lay stretched full length with her chin in her +palms, thinking of the meal just eaten. Whilst waiting for it she had +imagined a mess of pottage perhaps, or stewed kid as _pièce de +résistance_, with honey or manna as sweets, and a savoury of fried +locusts, which she, with many others, imagined to be the all-devouring +insect. She knew by now, and returned thanks, that the man neither ate +with his mouth open nor gave precedence to his fingers and teeth over +knives and forks, but in her wildest dreams she had never imagined that +such exquisite things, served in such an exquisite way, could be laid +before her in a desert. + +When the light had suddenly closed down upon the two adventurers on the +Road of Life, she had been led to the tent adjoining hers, a sudden +shyness preventing her from asking where the Arab slept, which she +found alight with the soft glow of many candles, and spread with a +carpet upon which were many cushions. The table had certainly been the +ground, but everything upon it had been of the daintiest, and all that +she had eaten, although she had had no notion of what it had consisted, +might have been the outcome of some _cordon bleu's_ genius. + +"Our life is one long picnic," had replied the Arab to her question +anent the cooking facilities in waste places. "So why should we not +all, high and low born, learn to make the picnic pleasant, for behold, +we know not what a day may bring forth, nor in what place the night +shall find us." + +And Jill came quite suddenly out of her reverie when asked if she would +like to go outside for coffee and cigarettes. "For though the moon in +her youth has gone early to bed, the stars are shining like your eyes." + +"Oh," said she, as she got into a half-sitting position, "I thought we +should have to pack up; it's late already, isn't it?" + +"You are tired from unaccustomed travelling, and your limbs must ache, +therefore if it pleases you we will wait until to-morrow night, so that +with many baths and much refreshing sleep you will feel glad to mount +your camel, who is not the begotten daughter of sin, Taffadaln, and +come still further into the desert." + +So Jill went outside the tent and looked up to the blazing stars, and +the soft wind blew her hair so that a burnished red-gold perfumed +strand fell across the man's mouth, and behold he trembled, for great +was his desire, but greater still his love for this woman. + +And when she sat down upon the cushions he stood apart and watched her, +until a little hand, like a white moth fluttering in the dark, beckoned +him, and he moved towards her and sat at her feet; and the wind, +whispered to the palms and the hours fled as the English girl lay on +the cushions and listened, and she had learnt of many things before she +rose and passed into her tent to sleep again. + +Hahmed was of Southern Arabia, and therefore with truth could claim +direct descent from Kahtan. He was the first-born of the great Sheik +el Has'ad, his father, and his favourite wife who, on her marriage, +besides much wealth, had brought a dowry of purest blood, and wonderful +beauty, to her lord and master, so that the man who sat at the English +girl's feet under the stars, and who trembled at her nearness was _pur +sang_, and further than that you cannot go. + +Worshipped by his father, idolised by his mother, at the age of ten he +bad been betrothed to the daughter, aged seven, of the Sheik el Banjad. +She was also _pur sang_, and already of looks promising great beauty. + +And so he had grown in the warmth of his parents' love, trained in what +we call outdoor sports, but which are life itself to the Arab, until at +fourteen no one could surpass him in running or horsemanship or +spear-throwing, whilst with rifle or revolver he could clip the hair +off the top of a man's head, the which strenuous accomplishments he +balanced in passing his leisure moments in the gentle arts of +verse-making and even music, in spite of the latter being condemned by +religion; also did he learn to converse in foreign tongues. Do not +think that these qualifications were enumerated with the zest and +glorification which usually precede the distribution of dull books at a +prize-giving, for the man might have been talking of the sunshine or +the sand or the flies or any other part of that which goes to the +making up of Egypt, rather than that which had helped to make him the +finest man in the country. + +And yet another trait which he touched upon lightly, and which had +served to make him the subject of comment in the bazaars, and of gossip +in the harems. + +In regard to his womenfolk there is no man sterner the world over than +the Mohammedan, shielding them from harm, and insisting on the absolute +privacy of their lives and their bodies. Upon just this subject, from +the first day of his understanding, Hahmed the Arab was stern to +fanaticism, intolerant even to injustice. He disapproved of licence in +all things, but especially in speech, food, and religion. When forced +by circumstances, he went to the feasts to which he was invited, eating +sparingly as was his wont, taking no more interest in the more or less +clothed dancing women than in a set of performing dogs, departing +thankfully when the hour came. + +Let me recount, in his own words, the happenings of his youth, which +served to change the whole tenor of his life, and was to culminate in +the high adventure of an English girl. + +"At the age of fourteen I was to marry and was content, for the desires +of my own woman had come upon me, and I longed to possess the beauty of +which my mother told me, and which, save for her father, had been seen +by no man. + +"My own woman I desired, I say, for bought women were not for me, and I +had refrained therefrom, therefore was I unsoiled at the time of my +wedding. + +"True my marriage had naught to do with my horoscope cast at birth, for +it had been read that water would bring me joy, and water would bring +me grief, and that water again would bring me everlasting happiness, so +I thought with others that it had lied, and was amazed. + +"But behold, when after great festival and feasting my bride was in the +care of her handmaidens who prepared her for my coming, one came, and +casting herself at my feet, covered her head in dust, begging a word +with me. + +"It seemed she was a master in the art of tinting the fingers the pink +which we Arabs love. + +"I thought she had a boon to crave so listened to her, but when she +told her news I took her by the throat to strangle her, but in choking +breath she vowed the great vow, therefore I listened again, and though +I were like to die of shame I took counsel with her, asking her the +price of her information, whereupon she merely muttered 'revenge,' and +showed her breast which was a festering sore caused by the boiling +water which her mistress had flung upon her when the scissors had +proved over sharp. + +"Whereupon I withdrew the handmaidens from the beautiful Zuleikha with +the exception of one, cross-bred of French and Tunisian, who, though of +passing beauty, scorned all men, it seemed, and passed her days in +waiting upon the whims of her mistress, and tending to the beauties of +her body. + +"I know not how far the women of the West are versed in the knowledge +of evil, therefore will I speak in words that are veiled. Be it that +I--I, Hahmed, the son of my great father, demeaned myself to spy +between the perfumed curtains of my bride's chamber, to witness the +passionate farewells of the two beautiful women. Allah! That such +things should be. Tears streamed down the cheeks of she who was to +share my couch, as the slave, the unclean half-caste, beat her breast +in her despair, and letting loose the strands of thick black hair which +covered her to the knees, knotted it around until it covered, as a +mantle, the body of she who had been anointed for my pleasure. + +"And then I tore down the curtains and strode in upon them, bound one +to another in their disgrace, and clapping my hands brought eight women +as witnesses to my shame. And still bound with the thongs of hair I +threw the sinners naked across my horse, and made my way to the woman's +house, and before a great assembly, for behold, the guests had not yet +departed, I flung them at the feet of the woman's father, and calling +my witnesses spake my tale. And when I had finished, the wailing of +grief was heard in the land. And then they were unbound and brought +before me, and the half-caste mocked me. Me! Until I took her hair +within my hands and twisting it about her neck, stopped her speech for +ever, and when she fell dead, Zuleika my wife, Allah! hear me, my wife! +screamed in terror, for I ordered my slaves to seize her. And then the +Sheik el Banjad, her father, pronounced judgment, quoting from the +Koran as is written in the second verse of the 24th Sura. + +"'Shall you scourge with a hundred stripes, and let not compassion +towards them prevent you from executing the judgment of God, if ye +believe in God, and the last day.' + +"And to the scourging was added the punishment of death, for behold, +the Moslem law is less lenient than the Holy Book, also of such a case +is it not written in the Koran. And Zuleika, my wife, was bound naked +to a pillar and scourged with a hundred stripes. And the city in which +had taken place the marriage, and in which both her father and my +father had great property being built upon flat ground, there was, +therefore, no height from which to throw her, neither well in which to +fling her without fear of polluting the water, for time, alas, is +making us softer towards misdeeds, so that such places of punishment +are disappearing quickly." + +Hahmed the Arab stopped short as with a little rustling sound Jill +raised herself to her knees, her hair sweeping to the satin cushion, +her hands stretched before her face as though to blind her eyes to the +word-picture which the man was painting in a perfectly indifferent +voice. + +"How awful! How awful!" she whispered. "Surely, surely you never let +them _kill_ her!" + +For a moment the Arab sat silent, as he forced his mind to an +understanding of the Western outlook upon what to him was so simple a +matter. + +"But she was unchaste, woman, therefore there was nothing else to do!" + +And at the tone of finality in the gentle voice, Jill sat back on her +heels and said, "And then?" and listened without interrupting until the +tale was done. + +"So," continued Hahmed, "she was taken screaming to a public spot and +there buried to her waist, and after that her mother had thrown the +first stone, was put to death by men and women who, following the +edicts of the Moslem law, meted out death by stoning to the unchaste. +And from that day I fled my country and my home. East and West I +travelled, passing many moons in England, hence it is that I can +converse with you in your own language. + +"There are many good things in your country and there are some bad, the +greatest of the latter, to an Eastern mind, being the freedom of the +women, who, even in their youth, go half-naked to the festival, so that +all men, yea, even to the slaves who serve at table, may cast their eye +of desire upon wife, or wife to be, taking from the husband the +privilege of possessing all the beauty of the woman for himself. Also +did I see the women of the West go down to the salt waters to bathe. +Naked were they save for a covering which clung as closely as the skin +to a peach, so that if I had had a mind I could have discoursed upon +the comeliness of the wife of el Jones, or the poor land belonging to +el Smith. Allah! I remember well a bride-to-be of seventeen summers, +comely in her outer raiment, displaying to her future husband, without +hesitation, the poor harvest of which he would shortly be the reaper, +for I think that the majority of the women of the West strive not to +render themselves beautiful, develop not the portion of the body which +maybe lacks contour from birth, bathes not her body in perfumed waters, +feeds not her skin with delicious unguents, cares not if her hair +reaches in wisps to her shoulders, or falls below her waist as a +natural covering under which she may hide at the approach of her +master, neither does she daily perfume it, nor her hands, nor her feet, +nor any part of her." + +Once again Jill snapped the story thread, but this time with laughter, +for her mind's eye, aided by her companion's scathing comments, had +called up picture after picture of friends and acquaintances who, at +balls, theatres, or by the sea, had draped themselves or not according +to what they imagined to be their menfolk's outlook upon life. + +"How funny!" she laughed, "how too funny!" And added: "And then?" as +she lit another cigarette which she did not smoke. + +"For many years," continued Hahmed, "I wandered, even unto Asia and to +America. In truth whilst there the desert suddenly called me. My body +craved for the sun, my eyes for the great distances of the sand, my +ears for the familiar sounds of the East. + +"But I could not return to the place of my shame, likewise were my +parents dead, leaving me an equal part of their great wealth. + +"So I went to other parts and bought 'the flat oasis' as it is called, +on account of the many miles of perfectly flat sand surrounding it, +absolutely unbroken by rock or bush or sand-dune. And perforce because +I needed it not I acquired wealth, and yet more wealth, buying villages +and great tracts of ground, breeding and selling camels and horses, +diverting myself with my hawks, hunting with my cheetahs, or +greyhounds, to occupy my time, heaping up the jewels in my bank at +Cairo, keeping the best of everything for my wife, the woman predicted +in my horoscope, for there can be no real happiness without a perfect +helpmate, and real happiness has been promised me. + +"And all these things I have done for her, yet am I looked upon as mad +by many in that at twenty-eight years I have not begotten me a son, for +they could not understand the disgust which had taken root in my whole +being, so that in love or passion or desire I laid not hands upon women. + +"You cannot understand, woman of the West, what it means when I say +this to you, for in the East a man's greatest desire is to propagate +his race, to have sons, many sons, with a daughter or two, or more as +Allah wills, and to satisfy this longing in the shadow of the law, +Allah, who is God, in His all-powerful goodness and bounty has allowed +us as many as four wives, and as many women slaves or concubines as a +man can properly and with decency provide for, the children of the +latter, if recognised by the father, sharing equally with the offspring +of the former. Though why a man who has found his love should wish to +cumber his house with other women, seething with jealousy and peevish +from want of occupation, is beyond my power of comprehension. + +"So I have none, because it is within me to love one woman only, and to +find the light of my life in her and the children of her loins, and if +Allah in his wisdom sees not good to grant me this woman, who must come +to me of her own free-will and love, then will I go to my grave in +Allah's time without wife, without child, although the Koran sayeth +that he who fails in his duty towards his race is accursed among men." + +And behold, a great trembling fell upon the English girl, as rising to +her feet she stood to look out upon the desert, and drawing the glory +of her hair about her so that she was covered from the gaze of the man +who stood apart, passed into her tent. + +And the hour of prayer being at hand the man purified himself, and +turning towards Mecca praised his God, and divesting himself of his +outer raiment laid himself across the entrance of the woman's tent so +as to guard her through her sleep, until such time that Allah, who is +God, should open the entrance of her chamber unto him, and place the +delights thereof into his hands for ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +And the first day was like unto the second and the third, for these two +desert farers went but slowly. + +Each dawn, if they had travelled in the night, they found their tents +pitched; each night they moved on, or not, as pleased the girl's mood, +each hour of the day strengthening the love in the man's soul, each +minute of the night passing over him, as he lay outside the entrance to +her tent, so that, at the slightest sound from the dim, sweet, scented +interior, he might spring to his feet, awaiting the little call for +help which never came. Jill slept as peacefully as a babe, stirring +only at a dreamed of, or imagined, swaying of the bed, as does the +seafarer sometimes who sleeps for the first time after many months upon +a bed, the four feet of which stand firmly on the ground. + +During the waking moments after her first night's rest, uninitiated +Jill had in imagination gone through and ardently disliked the +frightful hour in which she would help collect, and clean, and pack a +litter of soiled pots and pans, and other such abominations, which +collecting, etc., seems to constitute one of the chief charms of a +Western picnic; so great had been her relief on hearing that there was +absolutely nothing to do but to see that the cushions and coffee were +safely strapped upon Howesha's back, the only patient part of the +animal. They were standing in front of the tents with the animals at +their feet, the man watching the girl's every movement. Jill herself, +being vastly rested, was absolutely radiant as to looks; strange dishes +and hot winds and cold causing no havoc to the skin, nor the lack of +Marcel methods unsightliness to her hair. + +The dusk hid the dilapidation of her tailor-made, which looked the +fresher for being pressed under the mattress; she always travelled +boot-trees, so her shoes were all right, and the two Jacob's ladders, +falling on the outside of her stockings, looked just like clocks neatly +mended; her lovely hair rioted under her blue hat, and her high spirits +rioted in her blue eyes, as she fed the camels with dates and wiped her +sticky fingers on the silken coats. + +"What!" she had exclaimed. "You don't mean to say that you are going +to leave all this for the first thief to collect," withdrawing as she +spoke her basket of dates from the vicinity of her new camel's mouth. + +Verily, a beast of great beauty and worth was she, but shining as a +mere rushlight, in comparison to the Blériot head-light radiance of the +fallen Taffadaln. + +"The Arab does not steal!" + +"Oh! but------" said Jill, putting a date into her own mouth by +mistake, and therefore speaking with difficulty, "but they do steal, +and murder, and do all kinds of _dreadful_ things like that--I learnt +it all in school!" + +"No," reiterated the man calmly, "the Arab does _not_ steal, he merely +carries out the order of Allah, who, when Abraham turned his son +Ishmael from his door, gave unto the boy the open plains and deserts as +a heritage, permitting him to take and make use of whatever he could +find therein. + +"And as it is written that every hand was turned against Ishmael, so +his descendants turn their hand against the descendants of those who +persecuted the son of Abraham; but amongst their own tribe, or to those +who ask of their hospitality, you will find the greatest honesty. + +"In a camp everything is left unguarded, and nothing goes astray. If +you, clothed in fine linen and arrayed in jewels, were to enter the +tent of some half-starving Arab, and ask of him hospitality, he would +share his last few coffee beans with you, and give you his couch, if by +chance he was possessed of such a luxury, and speed you on your way the +morrow, and believe me, you would not find a ribbon missing from your +attire, even though you had left him without the wherewith to make his +beloved coffee." + +The girl laughed, for she really cared not a rap either way, and was +only arguing for the sake of drawing the man out, having found argument +the best and simplest method of breaking through the Eastern reserve, +up against which she had more than once found herself during the last +few days. + +"Well! I call that splitting hairs. I really can't say I see that the +persecution of Ishmael makes stealing different from stealing; to my +mind, taking sugar from a bowl that is not yours, and diamonds that are +not yours from a safe, are one and the same thing, as both ornamental +and necessary booty belong to someone else." + +"And yet," replied the Eastern, "in the West a man who cheats at cards +is damned everlastingly, but a nation is acclaimed who takes the land +with all its wealth from some wretched, half-educated native; takes it +by force of arms or diplomacy, which, nine times out of ten, means +trickery. Yes! Acclaimed with such adjectives as valiant, strong, +beneficent, applauded to the skies, whilst reams are written anent the +glorious, victorious campaign. Victorious! Allah! When the nation +goes out with artillery and unlimited forces to meet a handful of men, +whose strength lies in a spear, and pride in some dozen flintlocks, +which have been sold to the benighted heathen for solid gold or shining +lengths of purest ivory. + +"Besides, the Arab requires 'what he gains,' as is his way of +expressing himself. No people on earth endure such hardships as this +my people; never enough to eat, burnt in the summer, frozen in the +winter, buried in sand, tortured with thirst, fleeing from place to +place, never at peace, yet always happy in his miserable tent. + +"For the _gazu_ or raid on caravan or camp, which will yield booty of +horse, or camel, or women--well! that is in the blood, and both sides +are prepared. If you or they should have the better horses, or the +better cunning, both of which we of the East so dearly love, one can +hardly be expected to sympathise with those who lose from want of +forethought." + +And as he spoke, he raised a light spear, which he held in his hand, +and drove it through one edge of the tent flap which covered the +entrance, deep into the sand. + +"That is a sign that I am coming back, and believe me, the worst of +Arabs would pass this way and seeing the sign would leave my belongings +unmolested. Yes! even if many moons passed, until the skins had +rotted, and the sands had covered the rotted remains." + +After which explanation, Jill remained silent for a space, and then +approached her camel, feeling that the rapping of her knuckles, however +slight, had been quite unwarranted, for her sympathy in human beings +and their feelings was great, and the understanding which kept her from +wounding the sensibilities of those humans even greater. + +Her wish to draw out the man had caused her figurative feet to make a +_faux pas_, in fact she felt that her pedestal had tilted ever so +slightly, causing the drapery of decency, and courtesy, to swing aside +for one moment, exposing a particle of clay upon the ivory of her +beautiful feet to the eyes of the man whose outlook on life was so +broad, whose principles were so stern, and whose people she had so +rudely criticised. Therefore she was dissatisfied with herself. +Though, if she had known it, the man looked upon her with the same +solicitude and tenderness, as you or I would look upon the babe, who, +in its first efforts to get from table to chair, pulls the table-cloth +about its unsteady little feet. + +Also sensing that the woman he loved was troubled, there was no +gladness in the heart of the Arab, so that, in his anxiety to remove +the pebble from the path, he approached her, as she stood with skirt +lifted in readiness to mount her recumbent camel, whereupon she looked +up at the grave face and apologised truly and sweetly, and by her sweet +and humble act, causing the man of the East to marvel at her strength, +and to salaam deeply before her as he accounted himself as the sand +beneath her little feet. + +"Now wait a moment!" laughed Jill, whose worries disappeared beneath +the warmth of her happy nature with the vanishing celerity of the dew +beneath the sun. "I am going to try my hand with the camels. I really +have a good deal of influence over animals--domesticated ones, I +mean------ Oh! Yes! I suppose they are, but of course in England we +don't have them hanging around as we do horses and dogs, you know. I +don't like cats, however--I simply can't stand the way they look past +and through you, at the spirits I always think, which we humans cannot +see standing beside us. + +"I had one once, I found her in the picture gallery one night, who +positively made me creep. She would get up suddenly from the fire and +go sidling and wriggling across the room in the most absurd fashion, +purring and simply confused with delight, to rub herself up and down +the empty air, and by the way her tail was flattened down and then shot +up again, I was positive she was being stroked. She almost lived in +the picture gallery, sitting staring at the pictures of an ancestor of +mine, who had the most _frightful_ reputation. + +"The worst of it all was that the whole village began to suffer from +catalepsy as Dads said, and then it all got into the newspapers, and +occult societies camped at the gates, water diviners drilled on the +lawns, the _Merry Harvester_ was filled with 'ologists hailing from +this country, and some genuine catamaniacs, until I had the bright idea +of fastening a placard on the gates to say that the cat was dead, +though she had suddenly disappeared the night the picture of the +ancestress fell, owing _honestly_ to a faulty plug in the wall. Now! +let me try and see if my knowledge of the Arabian tongue is good enough +to be understood by the camel." + +Lowering her voice a tone, she suddenly cried "Get up!" + +Whereupon the animal rose clumsily to its feet, as the girl, laughing +aloud, clung to the man's arm. + +"Oh," she cried, "did you ever know anything so funny, though why, I am +sure I can't say--fancy a camel obeying me." + +"Get down!" she suddenly ordered in her sweet, broken Arabic, at which +the camel knelt, leaving the Arab astounded, for the beautiful, lazy +woman of the East troubles not her soul in the training of beasts, nor +has she any command over them. + +Having mounted and got the three animals to their feet, Jill laughed +delightedly, announcing her intention of starting the trio and leading +them for a short space, to which the man, craving to satisfy the +slightest wish, consented, fastening the pack camel to the off-side of +Jill's beast, so that she should be in the middle, upon which they +started off triumphantly, leaving the tent to the stars and moon. + +For an hour they travelled over the sand, covered in patches with low +shrubs, and broken here and there by sand dunes, until Jill suddenly +stopped her chattering and pointed. + +"There's a caravan or something over there, and we seem to be heading +straight for it--it's--yes--it's a tent under some palms--why! +Yes--no! yes it is--oh, it's our tent--how _can_ it be our tent when we +have been going straight ahead all the time, haven't we?" + +Without the glimmer of a smile, the Arab shook his head. + +"We have been describing a circle ever since we started." + +"But no!" argued the girl, who was half mortified, half ready to laugh, +"there is no left rein, and I left the right one hanging------" + +"Yes, but quite unconsciously you kicked your camel with your left foot +when we were some way from the tent--you didn't notice, but she +immediately began to turn to the left; after that, you patted her +continually on the left side, and camels, who, from pure stupidity or +hereditary instinct, will go straight on to eternity untouched, are +trained to turn in the direction of the side touched by hand, foot, or +whip; the single rein is of very little use, and hardly ever used by a +native, for once a camel bolts, nothing will stop him, excepting a +cloth flung over his head, or the birth of some passing fancy in his +head, which serves to divert the evil tenor of his benighted brain. +And I defy anyone unused to the desert and its markings to know if they +are really going straight or in a circle, and you were too taken up to +notice the stars. Try again! Keep that red star straight ahead, those +two close together, just behind your right shoulder, and you will +unfailingly reach the so-called mountain, in the shadow of which we +shall find our tent." + +And the maker of sweet music bowed low from afar, and salaamed with +fervour, when, just before the hour of dawn, three camels came to a +halt, and knelt on the word of command of this veiled woman, who spoke +his language sweetly, but as a stranger. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +Few have or ever will make use of the route which the Arab was +explaining by means of a sharp stick and a flat stretch of sand. And +in truth 'twere wise to leave it to those who are born of the desert, +for even if ignoring the danger signals of her cumbersome covering, the +body, the soul should urge the would-be traveller to tread the unknown +path, he will, if he sets foot thereon, find the discomforts out of all +proportion to the interesting dangers. + +'Twere best to eschew it, keeping to the normal route of boat or rail; +even if the soul of the desert, wrapt in mystic garments, stands with +plump, henna-tipped, beckoning forefinger; for she is but a lying jade, +outcome of some digestive upheaval; the spirit of the sand, the +scorpions and the stars, beckoning to but the very few, and baring +herself to none; though the wind may lift her robes of saffron, brown +and purple, revealing for one sharp second the figure slim to +gauntness, and blow the thick, coarse black hair from before her face, +exposing those eyes of different colouring, and flaming mouth, luring +to kisses, which will steep the mind in intoxication, and rasp the lips +with stinging particles of burning sand. No! take rather the boat from +the round ring, which the Arab drew in the sand, christening it +Ismailiah; whereupon Jill got up from her place in the moon, and +crossing over to the man, crouched down beside him, the better to view +the map, taking it for an offering of prayer, when the sweetness of her +breath, and the savour of her perfume, assailing the man's nostrils, he +suddenly raised his hands to the starry heavens, praying to Allah to +give him strength. + +The stick starting from the ring christened Ismailiah turned slightly +to the West and continued in a line which curved at every inch. + +"I haven't the vaguest idea where we are," remarked Jill, as she took a +proffered cigarette, and proceeded to blow smoke rings in the still +night, from a mouth contracted until it looked like one of those little +leather jug purses, whilst her head, thrown back, showed the beauty of +her bare throat. Are we going towards Cairo?" + +"Nay, woman! Having crossed the fertile land, outcome of the fresh +water canal at Ismailiah, we continued to the West for a space, and +then came South, winding in and out so as to miss the higher hills and +sand dunes. + +"To-morrow we pass through the mountains of the Jebel Aweibid range, +and find the Haj road, which, glory to Allah, will be free of pilgrims +until next moon. That road we will follow as far as the fertility of +Airud, passing that spot afar off, as even in this month caravans will +congregate there; then crossing the canal a space higher than Suez, +where crowds embark and disembark, we will pick up the Haj road on the +far side, making use of it to pass through the Jebel Rabah range, +leaving it, once through, to strike to the East, and find our way at +last to the peace of my own habitation." + +Upon which explanation Jill sat back on her heels, and wrinkled her +brow. + +"But surely the easiest way would have been by boat to Suez!" + +"True, O! woman, whose eyes ringed with the shadows of fatigue are as +blue flowers growing in the mountain's purple shade. I pondered long +before I made decision in my choice of roads. Upon the one we +traverse, you could but meet fatigue, and in this month, but few +travellers upon the way that leads to Mecca. + +"Upon the boat you would have met many of your land, friends maybe, who +perchance would have turned upon you the eyes of suspicion, the +shoulder cold with disdainful convention, whilst their tongue, more +poisonous even than the forked tip of the _cerastes cornutus_,[1] +might, nay, _would_, have striven to corrupt your mind with a festering +mass of doubt and suspicion and misgiving. Therefore have I brought +you on this journey, which is so much longer, and is likely to kill you +with fatigue. Verily, for behold the half is not yet accomplished." + +Jill, who had unconsciously taken the sharp stick from the Arab, and +had also, unconsciously, been drawing monstrous beasts in the sand, +lifted her head and made a slight grimace. + +"Oh! but you will kill me, you will really! And to think that I +thought you lived quite near Cairo! Where _are_ we going _really_?" + +And Hahmed, overcome by an almost irresistible longing to take the girl +in his arms and hold her close against all dangers and discomforts, +suddenly rose to his feet, standing towering over her, and when she +held out both her hands, asking to be helped up, leant down and raised +her as lightly as though she were of thistle's down. + +Then there came about one of those pauses which sometimes do come to +pass between man and woman, a pause in which, as there is no midway, +either much is won or lost. + +As still as a mouse, Jill lay in his arms, until he very gently set her +upon her feet; and though a little ripple akin to disappointment +disturbed the smooth surface of her content, she said "Thank you," and +smiled sweetly into the grave face which showed no sign of a pulse +disturbed by a thudding heart. And then Jill sat down again upon her +cushions, drawing her knees up under her chin and clasping them with +her hands, and the shadow of the man falling upon her, left her well +content, and still more content did she feel when he stretched himself +full length beside her and continued speaking. + +"Where are we going? Oh woman, who has placed her hand in mine, we +journey to my own country, unto the desert of Arabia, until we shall +come to the place which was mine, but now is yours. Although, verily, +it is unworthy of your eyes, you will bear with it for a few moons, +until a habitation worthy of your beauty is erected. Nay, as oasis, it +is not over large, but it is fertile beyond thought. Many have essayed +to steal it by force of arms, or buy it, but I prevailed through the +magic of much wealth and the virtue of patience. I bought it bit by +bit from those who owned it, and now they rent it from me--I did not +want their money, but I desired to make the ground productive and the +people happy. + +"The grain plains require good workmen, also my date groves, my +paddocks, and stables for camels and horses. The fruit and vegetables +and other produce, which were once mine and now are yours, are +cultivated and tended by some hundreds of especially trained men, who, +with their wives and numerous offspring, live in the shadow of the +acacia, loving, quarrelling, hating, dying, but always happy. My own +habitation is in the shade of the palms, removed from the unseemly +wailing of children and barking of dogs, and as I have told you, no +woman has placed foot therein, save for the hunchback. Verily the flat +oasis is unique in the desert annals, and to bring unto perfection +requires but a son to take on the work, when these mine hands are +clasped in the handshake of death." + +But those very hands showed no sign of their master's desire to close +them upon those clasped whitely round the girl's knees, neither did his +voice portray the desire of possession raging within him as he +continued speaking. + +"If later you should desire to travel, then shall the boats, the cars +which were mine, but are now yours, be at your disposal, so that in +comfort shall your journey be made, wiping out the bitter memory of +this your first." + +But there was no doubt about it that Jill was suffering acutely from a +cumulative fatigue, engendered by the unaccustomed mode of travelling, +the intense heat through which she essayed to sleep during the day, the +biting cold at night, when the temperature fell many degrees, as is its +agonising wont in that part of the world, the strain of the mind as it +valiantly essayed to accustom itself to the new way of everything; but +above all, the inability to change her under raiment, which, strive +against it as she would, managed to conceal particles of sand and +insects, which, though they did not bite, crawled most successfully and +irritatingly. + +So that as in a dream she passed down the Haj road to the water, with a +vague recollection of a few wayfarers and beggars squatting on the +roadside, many men who salaamed with fervour at the water's edge; a +boat, a quick passage, and more of those who salaamed, and a three +days' rest, when the tents were pitched on the near side of the +mountains. Three days in which she slept, and slept, and slept, rising +to bathe and eat, grateful to the man who spoke only when she asked a +question, and who, though sign of servant there was none, forestalled +her every unuttered wish. Then followed they the Haj road through the +mountains and left it to take a line in the Eastern direction, which +they also followed until the hour when the Arab called his camels to a +halt, and pointing straight ahead, exclaimed: + +"Behold, woman, your land!" + +Upon which Jill strained her eyes in vain, for her untrained sight +revealed nothing but sand, and yet more sand. + +"Yonder lies the oasis, O! woman of the West, and beneath the star of +happiness the dwelling which will serve to throw a shadow upon your +path in the heat of the day, and from the roof of which you may watch +the changing of the moon; and learn the way of the Eastern stars, +whilst listening to the million voices of the desert night." + +The girl made no reply, neither did she turn to look at the man. + +There was no sound, save for an occasional grunt of satisfaction from +one or other of the beasts, who sensed their home and the termination +of their labour. + +There was nothing to break the silence, and nothing to break the +never-ending stretches of sand, as the two, caught in the inevitable +fingers of Fate, sat motionless, looking ahead beyond the oasis, beyond +the stars, to the moment when the first wind blew a particle of sand to +find its mate, with which to multiply and form the desert, the +birthplace and burial ground of so many; whilst gnarled hands playing +with Life's shuttlecock drew a golden thread to a brown, proceeding to +weave them in and out with the blood-red silk of the pomegranate, the +orange of the setting sun, the silver of the rising moon, and the +purples of the bougainvillaea, until upon the background of dull greys +and saffrons appeared an amazing pattern of that which is called Love. + +And suddenly the girl looked up into the man's face, and stretching out +her hand spake softly, calling upon him by name, so that his heart +quaked within him, and his being was suffused with love. + +"Hahmed! O! Hahmed! Is it happiness?" + +And Hahmed the Arab, raising his right hand, called heaven to witness. + +"As Allah is above us, O woman, it is happiness. Glory be to Him Whose +prophet is Mohammed." + + +[1]The most poisonous snake in Egypt. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +Little by little the face of the desert began to change, just as +changes the face of a fainted woman, which, drawn and grey and pinched +about the mouth, starts to relax and fill out and to colour faintly, +when life begins to return to the limp form. Rough shrubs grew in +patches, giving way to rough grass growing about the roots of short +trees. A clump of palms and then another, a mimosa tree scenting the +air from its diminutive yellow lanterns, and then great stretches of +land, some light with the grain silvered by the waning moon, some dark +from the plough's drastic hand, undivided by hedge or wall, yet as +evenly marked out as a chess-board, reminding Jill of a very great +patchwork quilt held together by some invisible feather-stitching. + +Her questions fell like rain, and in them the man seemed to find great +joy. That was an artesian well, and this a grove of Tailik dates. +Yes! the rivulet which would sing her to sleep on its way through the +sand was a very bounteous spring, more precious than gold or jewels, +holding only a second place to Allah, Whose prophet is Mohammed, in the +esteem of the fellaheen, but being a playful spring, almost +disappearing at one moment to gush out the next, artesian wells had +been made so that the oasis should not depend solely upon her caprices, +though, be it confessed, she had bubbled and laughed her way +contentedly through many years, and had even deigned to widen into a +diminutive lake, which lay between the principal dwelling-place, which +contained the sleeping apartments and living rooms of the master, and +the house which had been built on the same principle for the +innumerable guests, and the quarters, hidden from view by a belt of +palms, in which such servants as were necessary to the well-being of +the house cooked and worked and entertained such wayfarers as were of +their own station. + +Many figures had seemingly sprung from nowhere at the sound of the +padded feet, which were only prevented from breaking into a swift trot +by the voice of the man who guided them. + +These figures had salaamed deeply, and lifted up their hands to the +starry heavens as though to call down a blessing upon the heads of +those who passed, but they had not approached until the Arab suddenly +cried aloud a name, whereupon a figure, standing apart, had sped +quickly forward, salaamed, listened to his master's words, and had sped +away as silently as a panther, as swiftly as a deer. + +"Your runner, O! woman, who, after your slave, is the swiftest in all +Asia and Africa. If ever you would speak with me, and I were perchance +afar off, bid that man to your presence, give him your message in +script or word of mouth, and say but, 'Thy master--Cairo,' or wherever +I might sojourn, and he will find me, over desert sands or mountain +range; he would die for me, and therefore he would die for you. + +"We approach the grounds around your dwelling, may it find favour in +your eyes." + +Gradually the grass had deepened and softened, until like a velvet +carpet it lay spread. Great groves of dates threw ink-black shadows, +slender palms with feathery heads swayed slightly in the dawn-coming +wind, when suddenly of their own accord the camels stopped. + +To right and left as far as the dim light allowed, Jill saw what looked +to her like an impenetrable wall. + +"This is the dividing line, a high wall with its nakedness covered in +creepers, which separates your dwelling from the land upon which common +feet may tread. No one can pass without the permission of Mustapha, +the blackest of all black negroes; no one can leave, not even my +guests, unless they are accompanied by some one of the servants of my +house. Thus will you be safe in the care of black Mustapha, even if I +should be called to a distance from which I cannot guard you from harm. +Enter, O! woman, and may the blessing of Allah fall upon you, even as +the petals of the purple flower will fall upon your head." + +And they fell in showers from the purple bougainvillaea which trailed +its length over the wrought arch above the gate, of which one half +swung back by the hand of the biggest, blackest man ever dreamed of in +nightmarious slumber. + +"Master! Master!" cried the product of Africa, and, prostrating +himself, flung the desert sand upon his woolly pate; then rising, ran +towards the man who owned him, lifting the black cloak to his huge +mouth through which scintillated white, unblemished ivories. + +The Arab stretched out his hand, and laying it upon the girl's cloak +spake but one word, upon which the negro once more prostrated himself +before Jill's camel, covering his already sandy hair with yet more +glistening particles, murmuring something unintelligible, until a sharp +word brought him to his feet, whereupon he backed towards the gates, +flinging them wide apart, falling upon his knees as the camels stalked +disdainfully through the opening. + +Through a long avenue of trees they passed, the trunks twisted into +uncouth shapes, the heads of long spear-shaped leaves glistening as +though drenched in dew, the roots buried in masses of flowering shrubs, +behind all of which showed an occasional glint of distant water. + +The camels made their sedate way across a great plain of grass, +stretching without a break from the avenue up to a belt of palms, +before which they stopped, swayed a moment, grunting disapprovingly in +chorus, and knelt. + +"Your journey's end is here, and even though it should prove the last +effort of your will to combat the fatigue which surely crushes your +slight form, yet will I ask you to give me your hand so that I may lead +you to your dwelling, as by the will of Allah I will lead you slowly or +quickly to that which we call happiness." + +And as he spoke the Arab slipped from his camel, to stand tall and +straight beside the little figure enveloped from head to foot in a long +dark veil, from out of the folds of which stretched a little hand, +pulling the flimsy covering from the lower part of the face. + +"Nay, that you must not do, for behold! although you see them not the +tenders of my camels hover around, waiting till we have passed on to +fall upon those three beasts and lead them to their stables. Come!" + +The silence was intense between the two as Jill, with her hand in that +of the Arab, passed slowly over the grass up to a long, low, +two-storeyed house which, with two wings, made a quadrangle round a +great court, in the middle of which splashed a fountain. A multitude +of figures stood absolutely motionless under the palms surrounding the +house, who, even as the two passed, with one accord, called aloud as +they raised their right hands to heaven: + +"Allah--Jal-Jelalah!" which, being translated, means: "Praise to God +the Almighty!" disappearing on a sign from their master as he turned to +explain to Jill that this being his first visit in six months, his +servants, with twenty-four weeks of grievances and domestic feud upon +their minds, and a near prospect of being able to unburden themselves, +were doubtlessly delighted to see their master. + +Jill passed into the house too dazed to notice much of her +surroundings, heard the swish of silk curtains closing behind her, and +stood alone in a most exquisite room. + +Six lamps, hung from the ceiling by bronze chains, threw a shaded light +upon the soft-toned Persian rugs covering the floor; a divan piled high +with silken cushions of every shade of mauve, covered with silken +sheets, and smothered in the white folds of a mosquito net, stood +against the far wall; there were small inlaid tables, piles of +cushions, and a dressing-table glittering with crystal and silver in +the light of the lamps, and a small fire which flung out sweet resinous +odours from the burning logs; stretching right across one wall, a low +cupboard showed gleaming satins and soft silks behind its open doors, +and through an archway of fretted cedar-wood she saw a Roman bath of +tiles, into which you enter by descending shallow steps, and over which +hung a lamp with glass shade of many colours. Little white tables +smothered in towels and bottles and little pots stood about, and across +a low seat was thrown a garment of shimmering gold and silver cobwebby +tissue. Dusty, tired Jill stretched out her arms, opened the cupboard +doors wider, and inspected the garments therein one by one. + +And she frowned. + +A net had been spun in which she had been caught, her silly ears had +listened to an absurd tale, she had stretched out a greedy hand to +pluck an unknown fruit to find it bitter; in one brief word she had +been fooled. Whereupon she pulled back the silken curtain, of the door +with a vicious rasp, which seemed to have spread to her voice when she +called aloud. The curtain swung back as the Arab entered, murmuring +the Eastern prayer of greeting, and though furious, and therefore ripe +to cut and hurt with woman's weapon, the tongue, the girl stood still +and silent for a moment, instinctively feeling that tale or no tale, +net or no, the great man before her was master here, though no one +would have guessed at her momentary weakness as she flung open the +cupboard doors to their widest, and taking an armful of soft feminine +attire, held them out for the inspection of the grave Arab, whilst her +voice rang through the room, giving exactly the same impression of +trouble as does the wind which, springing from nowhere, usually +precedes the storm. + +"You said no woman save an old peasant had ever placed foot within this +house. If so, what do these Eastern things mean?" holding out as she +spoke a feminine something which seemed to be composed of sea-form, and +pearls. + +"For myself I only see a few bedroom wraps, and--and a garment in--in +the bathroom." + +And her heart suddenly stopped a beat, and then made the blank up by +multiplying the next, for she had seen the man's face as he had taken +the offending garment, and tearing it across and again across, dropped +it at his feet, before he moved slowly towards her across the dividing +space to take her two hands in his, holding them against his breast in +a clasp that hurt. + +"Listen," he said. "I shall speak this once and never again! Listen!" +For a moment the quiet voice stopped, so that the gentle cracking of +the burning logs could alone be heard above the heavy thud of the +girl's heart, which to her ears sounded like thunder of the surf at +dawn. "You are _mine, mine_, do you understand? You are no silly +child, you knew what you were doing when you came with me, neither am I +a man, for man or woman to play with. And now I have you, as Allah is +above us, I will never let you go, for although the oasis and the +camels and horses are yours, you will find no soul to lead the beast +across the sands so covered with the bleaching bones of those who have +gone astray. Oh! be not afraid," for the little face beneath his was +white. "You are mistress here. You need but draw the curtain and no +one will enter, no one until you clap your hands and _call them by +name_. You will forgive the lowly room which entours you, and the +unseemly garments which in haste I ordered, guessing at what you might +require. Tomorrow you shall order what you will, and your slaves shall +bring all from the great cities at the greatest speed, for as I have +said, a dwelling worthy of your beauty shall be erected before many +moons have sped. I will leave you, for doubtless you would remove your +dust-laden raiment. I will send your slave, who even now is returning +thanks to Allah in that I have found her worthy to wait upon you, and +who also prepares some dishes for your refreshment. You are not +hungry, and you do not wish her presence! Then shall she not disturb +you." + +And Jill found herself alone, upon which she took stock of herself in a +long mirror which stretched from floor to ceiling, and hurriedly +removed her outer garments. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +It was a very beautiful girl who stood by the fire listening to the +intense silence which precedes the dawn. The golden shimmering garment +fell from her shoulders in soft folds, clinging here and there as +though it loved the beautiful form it covered; her feet slipped in and +out of the golden mules, in which, try as she would, she could not +walk; her hair fell in two great plaits far below her knees; she was +perfumed with the perfumes of Egypt, than which there is no more to say. + +And she was afraid. + +There was absolutely no sound, save for the fall of a charred log which +sounded like a pistol shot, the rustle of her raiment, which sounded +like the incoming tide of some invisible sea, and the quick intake of +her breath, which might have meant unadulterated terror, and--did. + +She shivered slightly, for of a sudden she saw a woman's face in a +corner unreached by the light of the lamp. A long brown hand drew back +the coarse hair, which curled and tangled under a veil, black brows +frowned down on great eyes, which looked at her steadily, but the +mouth, crimson as blood, parted in a smile wonderful to behold in its +understanding, as Jill called softly: + +"Speak, woman! who are you?" + +But when the silence remained unbroken, and the girl, rushing swiftly +across the room, touched just ordinary wood, she looked quickly round +for escape; then hesitating, raised her hands and clapped them softly; +raised them again when the silence remained unbroken, dropped them and +once more shook with terror, which was really fatigue, when a something +rustled behind, being in truth the catching of her garment on the +fretted edge of a table; then once more she clapped her hands as she +whispered, so low that the words hardly seemed to carry beyond the +firelight: + +"Hahmed! Hahmed!" + +Whereupon there was a faint rustle, the swinging to and fro of the +curtain door, and the man stood before her. Not a sound broke the +stillness, not a movement caused a flicker to the name of the shaded +hanging lamp, which, just above the girl's head, threw down the light +on the radiance of her hair, and the wonder of her body which the +diaphanous garment half concealed and half revealed. + +Not a sign on the Arab's face, this dweller of the desert, whose +forefathers in wonderment had watched the ways of wisdom with which +Solomon in all his glory had ruled more than one fair and obstreperous +woman among the scented Eastern sands. + +Face to face they stood, whilst the racing blood fled from the girl's +face down to the finger-tips of her contradictory hands. The hands she +knew so well, the square back, the square finger-tips, the long, +square, high-mooned, deeply laid nail. Hands which, coming to her down +the centuries through Quaker and through Puritan, were calling to her +to stand firm and hold the scales well-balanced, whilst the soft, +rounded palm, hidden in the golden fringe of her garment, and the +over-sensitive finger-tips, with little nerve-filled cushions at the +end of each, clamoured aloud for beauty and sweetness, tenderness and +mastery, as the great man, with the beads of Allah slipping noiselessly +through his fingers, reading the girl's thoughts as though they were +written on the wall, marked and watched with sombre eyes in the +breathless silence of the coming dawn. + +Slowly the girl raised her eyes and scanned the man, from the +snow-white turban on the dark head, the softness of the silken shirt, +showing through the long, open, orange satin front of the voluminous +coat, which reached almost to the ankles, leaving exposed the trousers +of softest white linen, fastened close above the leather shoes, whilst +quite subconsciously she wondered what he would look like in European +evening dress. + +Slowly she stretched out her long thin arms, until they almost touched +the golden embroidery on the coat, as slowly she turned her hands, and +looked at the glittering nails, the hands she knew and feared so much, +and turning them back again, with a little smile drew a finger-tip over +the hills and valleys of the palms. Higher still, until the pink and +scented palms were on a line with the man's stern mouth, whilst a sigh, +faint as the passing of a fly's wing, left his lips, as taking the +little hands in his, he drew the girl closer yet. + +"Behold, you are beautiful, O! woman, whom I would take to wife. You +start! Why! For what manner of man have you taken me? Did you think +that being an Arab means being without honour? Nay! When my eyes fell +upon you standing in the sun, I knew that my heart had found its +desire, that the woman who for all these years had, invisible to +others, walked beside me in my waking hours, and hovered near me in my +dreams, had come to life; that before me, if Allah willed, stood my +wife and the mother of my children. I know that the English race, from +lack of sun perchance, love not in a moment with a love that can +outlast eternity. I do not ask you if you love me, only that you will +be my wife, honouring me above all men, delighting me with such moments +as you can give me. + +"Listen, O! woman. I ask of you nothing until you shall love me. You +shall draw the curtains of your apartment, and until you call me, you +shall go undisturbed. _When_ you shall call me--then--ah!" and his +voice sank to infinite depths of tenderness as he drew her to +him--"then you will be all mine--all--lily of the night you are +now--rose of the morning you will be then, and I--I will wear that rose +upon my heart. You are even as a necklace of rich jewels, O! my +beloved. Your eyes are the turquoise, your teeth are the white pearls, +even as the ravishing marks upon your face,[1] and may be upon that +part of your body upon which my eyes may not rest, are as black pearls +of the rarest. Your lips are redder than rubies, and your fingers are +of ivory. + +"And one day shall that necklace be placed in my hands, and not alone +the necklace, but the white alabaster pillar of your body, from your +feet like lotus flowers, to the golden rain of your hair, shall you be +mine. + +"And you shall not make me wait too long, for behold, I love you. +Allah! how I love you---as only we men of the desert love. Allah help +me," and holding the girl in the bend of his left arm, so that she felt +the racing of his heart, he raised his eyes and right hand to Heaven. +"Allah! God of all, give me this rose soon!" + +For one long moment the girl was still, with face as white as death, +and great eyes troubled even as the ocean when swept by gusts of wind; +for to the very depths of her stirred her heritage of tremendous +passions, untouched, unknown, whilst that which is in all women, from +queen to coster, coming down from the day when they were slaves, that +which urges them to cry aloud, "Master! Master!" upon their bended +knees, stirred not at all; so that even as her eyes, so was her soul +troubled, knowing that love had not yet laid hand to draw the curtains +from about her womanhood. + +Freeing herself gently, she moved towards the fire, trailing the golden +raiment after her so that it pulled against the beauty of her body. +For a moment she stood unconsciously silhouetted against the wall, +virginal in her whiteness and her slimness, and yet, in her build +alone, giving such promise of greater beauty, in the maturity of love. + +Slowly, whilst her mind worked, she traced the blue vein from her wrist +up her forearm, up until the finger stopped suddenly, upon a tiny mark +tattooed just above the elbow. + +A faint shadow of incomprehension swept across the man's face, for from +nowhere, in one brief instant, a little wind, laden with straying +particles of fear, distrust and memories, swept between the two, as the +girl's voice, biting in its coldness, searing great scars upon the +Arab's raging, storming, totally hidden pride, let fall slowly, +cruelly, light-spoken, mocking words of French. + +"Please tell me my woman's name, so that I may call her, for I would +disrobe, being overcome by a great desire to--sleep!" + + +[1]Moles are considered a great beauty among the Egyptian races. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +The sun in a great red-gold ball was slipping behind the sharp edge of +sand which like a steel wire marked the far horizon, the sky resembling +some gorgeous Eastern mantle stretched red and orange and purple from +the West, fastened by one enormous scintillating diamond star to the +pink, grey, fawn and faintest heliotrope shroud which the dying day was +wrapping around her in the East. + +Terrific had been the heat throughout the month, wilting the palms, +drawing iridescent vapours from the diminished stream, making the very +sand too hot even for native feet. + +The green reed blinds sheltering the great balcony room, and over +which, in the heat of the day, trickled a continuous stream of water, +were drawn up to allow the sunset breeze to pass right through the long +two-storeyed building which, the essence of coolness, comfort, and +beauty, in the past months by the efforts of countless skilled workmen, +hailing from every conceivable corner of Asia and Egypt, and regardless +of expense and labour, had been built for one beautiful English girl, +who, in a moment of ever regretted contrariness, had refused to +participate in the planning and devising of the work, thereby shutting +herself off from that most fascinating pastime, house-building; leaving +everything down to the minutest details to the imagination, ingenuity, +and inventive genius of the Arab. For months she had listened to the +monotonous chant of the men at work, the tap of hammer, swish of saw, +and dull thud of machinery, and also to the grunting and grumbling of +the camels who, in great caravans from every point of the compass, had +complainingly brought their burdens of riches. + +The groves of great date palms around her temporary abode had prevented +her from seeing the outcome of all the noise, her misplaced pride or +temper, or whatever you will, likewise preventing her from inquiring as +to the progress made from the Arab, who, at her bidding, would come and +sit with her, talking gravely upon absolutely indifferent subjects, +neither showing by word or gesture if she were any more to him than the +rug beneath his feet. + +Just a mouth ago, when the moon was at the full, Jill had made what she +whimsically called the moon-light flitting. + +Veiled closely, she had put her hand into that of the man, and +confidingly walked with him through the pitch blackness of the palm +groves, and out into the moon-filled space beyond the lake, until they +reached and stopped before a heavy iron door let into a massive wall, +the top of which bore a crown of flashing, razor-edged, needle-pointed +steel blades. + +"The treasure of the world will be safe behind those walls, for behold, +there are but two golden keys with which to open the door, one is yours +the other mine. To Mustapha has been confided the safe-keeping of the +walls, and with it power to kill whoever should approach within ten +yards without your permit." + +And the girl turned quickly as the door swung to softly, with the +scarcely perceptible click of a lock, and then moved forward with as +much indifference as she could muster on the spur of the moment, +feeling the eyes of the Arab upon her. Gardens stretched before her +with groves, and arbours, and every device conceivable for throwing +shade upon her path. The stream, bending in an S, rippled and laughed +its way under the little bridges; fountains splashed, seats of marble, +seats of scented wood, little tables, silken awnings and screens, +hanging lanterns of many colours, and swinging hammocks made of the +place a fairyland; until suddenly, as she turned the last curve of the +stream, she saw the marble building, built as it were by the waving of +a magic wand, glistening in the silver light. + +Imagine four buildings about the height of Buckingham Palace, without +the attic windows, or whatever they represent, built to form a square +of snow-white gleaming marble, with verandahs built out and supported +by fairy marble pillars, so as to throw the lower rooms into complete +shade; more fairy pillars springing from the upper side of the +verandahs to support the wide edge of the roof, and so make a great +covered-in balcony to the second floor. + +The French windows, divided by columns of different coloured marble, +terminated in perfect arches, studded with great lumps of uncut +amethyst, turquoise matrix, and blocks of quartz in which dully gleamed +the yellow of gold, reminding Jill somewhat of the outer decorations of +a shop she had once seen in the Nevski Prospekt, the owner of which, +dealing in _objets d'arts_, and precious bibelots of jade and sich, had +quite successfully thought out the novel and expensive advertising +method of plastering the front of his shop with chunks of the precious +metal with which the bibelots were made. The drops of a myriad slender +fountain jets, caught in the light of the hanging lanterns, sparkled +and flashed like handfuls of precious stones, and an almost +overpowering perfume filled the air from flowers only half-asleep. + +A great gate of silver and bronze opened silently to admit them to the +inner courtyard, only the rolling, glistening eyeballs of Mustapha, the +eunuch, showing that there was any life whatever in the massive black +hulk standing within the shadow. + +Just for a moment the girl stood absolutely motionless, and then turned +sharply as a noiseless shape stole past her, and purring loudly rose on +its hind feet and laid its velvety paws upon the Arab's shoulder, +dropping back in a crouching position as Jill, exclaiming softly, +involuntarily stepped forward and laid her hand protectingly upon the +man's arms. + +It takes a long time to write, but hardly a second had passed before +the great animal, snarling viciously, shot out its velvety paw, plus a +row of steel-strong claws, and ripped the girl's cloak open from neck +to knee. And then indeed did black Mustapha rise to the occasion, and +in his master's esteem, as also without a sound he shot out an ebony +black arm, gnarled and knotted like any centuries old bough of oak, +terminating in an ebony black hand, which could have easily been +divided between four normal men, and still left a bit over, and picking +up the fighting, clawing animal by the neck, held it lightly at arm's +length, whilst awaiting dumbly his master's order. + +"Kill it," said Hahmed briefly. + +And whilst Jill pinched herself to see if she was really there or no, +the eunuch, with joy-filled eye, and teeth glistening in a smile of +utter satisfaction, gently tightened his grip on the velvety, tawny +throat. + +There was a stifled growl, a click, and the dead animal was laid at the +girl's slender feet. + +"My favourite hunting cheetah, O! woman! Behold, Mustapha, shalt thou +spread the news of its untimely end as a warning to all those who, by +sign of hand or word of mouth or thought of brain, should desire to do +harm to thy mistress. And even shall thou tell me how yon dead beast +came to be prowling in the seclusion of thy mistress's abode." + +Great beads of perspiration broke out on the face and neck of the +scared man, as he salaamed deeply before his master, and knelt to beat +his forehead upon the ground before the woman. + +"Behold, O! master! And may Allah grant me years of life within the +blessing of thy shadow. A slave returning from the exercising and +feeding of four, O! master, of thy hunting cheetahs, came to me this +noon full of idle curiosity. Behold, I spoke with him outside the open +gate, and perchance yon dead brute crept in unnoticed, whilst I pointed +out the evil of his ways and those of his ancestors; also, perchance +fatigued and full of meat, the animal lay down and slept until she +heard the tread of thy honoured footsteps; perchance also thy slave, +fatigued and also full of meat, passing the hours in slumber, troubled +not to count the animals in his care." + +For one moment there was silence as the Arab stood looking at the +trembling man, then Jill, laying her little hand gently upon the satin +sleeve of him whom she loved, whispered softly: + +"A boon, O! Hahmed! I know--I _feel_ that you are planning the death +of this wretched man. I ask his life!" + +By this time Mustapha was prone upon his face, piling imaginary dust +from the spotless mosaic pavement upon his woolly pate, scrambling to +his shaking knees on a word from his master. + +"Get to thy feet and make obeisance to thy mistress, who in her +manifold bounty has saved this time thy worthless life. For behold, I +had planned to give my people a holiday in which to see thee whipped +round the wall of thy mistress's dwelling, until thou had died; then +would thy black skin have been ripped from thy worthless carcass, and +pinned to the ground before the camel paddock, so that in their goings +in and coming out they would have befouled what remained of thee +uneaten by the vultures." + +And taking Jill's hand he crossed the square, leaving the eunuch +absolutely gibbering with relief. + +Through a massive iron door they passed into the house, Jill exclaiming +softly at the beauty of the place. Room after room they traversed +until they came to a standstill before a satin curtain. Hahmed lifted +it and Jill entered a great room, the floor of which was of pink +marble, covered in Persian rugs, their colouring softened in the +passing of many, oh! many moons; the walls panelled in soft brocade, +and great mirrors reflecting the simplicity of the exquisite hangings, +the tint of flowers, the statuary gleaming half hidden in the corners, +the great chairs, the piles of cushions, and the swinging lamps +suspended from the ceiling by silver chains. + +"I will explain, O! woman, how this house has been built, though verily +would I have had your help in these past months, for how was I to know +in what or which your desires lay. + +"Behold, the rooms upon the level of the ground are rooms for your +repasts, and rooms for receiving your guests; above are the rooms for +your slumber, and your toilet, for the bathing of your white body, and +for your entertainment. In the latter you will find all that +appertains to music, to the dance, to the study of books, to the flash +of the needle. Above again are the rooms open to the breezes of the +night, screened by light screens to enable you, unveiled, to look out +upon the world, and yet keep you hidden from the curious eyes of your +many slaves who, under the rule of black Mustapha, live within the +walls and near to hand to do your slightest bidding, but hidden until +you call so as not to disturb you by their unseemly presence. They may +not die within the wall, neither may they give birth therein, still +less may they make merry without your permission. The slightest breach +of your laws will see them flogged to death and cast out into the +desert sand. One suite of rooms is pink, and one white, and one is +palest heliotrope, and yet another black, and there are many others. +May it find favour in your eyes. If perchance it pleases not, then +shall it be razed to the ground, and rebuilt upon your design." + +And Jill had walked through a building such as she had not dreamed of +in her wildest fantasies, and having very sweetly thanked the Arab, had +clapped her hands, and being of perverse mood, had indifferently bidden +him good night, and entered the rose pink sleeping-room where the couch +had been designed by love, and the colouring reflected by the great +mirrors by passion; to slip from out her perfumed raiment, and step +down into the pink marble Roman bath and hide beneath the rose-tinted +waters, the rose-tinted glory of her perfect body. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +And just as the dead cheetah was laid at Jill's feet, a huge bull dog, +with a face like a gargoyle to be seen on the Western transept of +Notre-Dame, and a chest like a steel safe, supported on legs which had +given way under the weight, walked across from Sir John Wetherbourne, +Bart., of Bourne Manor, and other delectable mansions, to lay his +snuffling, stertorous self at the feet of his mistress, the Honourable +Mary Bingham, pronounced Beam, in whose sanctum sat the man on the +bleak November evening, and of whom he had just asked advice. + +People always asked advice of Mary, she was of that kind. On this +occasion she sat looking across at the man she loved, and had always +loved, just as he loved and had always loved her, since the days they +had more or less successfully followed the hounds on fat ponies. She +sat meditatively twisting a heavy signet ring up and down her little +finger. _The_ finger, the one which advises the world of the fact that +some man in it has singled you out of the ruck as being fit for the +honour of wifehood, was unadorned, showing neither the jewels which +betoken the drawn-up contract, nor the pure gold which denotes the +contract fulfilled. Those two had grown up in the knowledge that they +would some time marry, though never a word had been uttered, and being +sure and certain of each other, they had never worried, or forced the +pace. And then Jill had disappeared! Gone was their pal, their little +sister whom they had petted and spoiled from the day she too had +appeared on a fat pony, gone without a trace, leaving these two honest +souls, in a sudden unnecessary burst of altruism, to come to a mutual, +unspoken understanding that their love must be laid aside in folds of +soft tissue, that they must turn the key upon their treasure, until +such time as definite news of the lost girl should allow them to bring +it out with decency, and deck it with orange blossom. And worry having +entered upon them, they both suddenly discovered that uncertainty is a +never-failing aperitif, and they both hungered for a care-free hour +like unto those they had carelessly let slip. + +Foolish perhaps, but they loved Jill, making of themselves brother and +sister; hurt to the quick when after the _débâcle_ she had sweetly +declined all offers of help, and worried to death when she had started +out on the hare-brained scheme of earning her own living off her own +bat. + +Mary Bingham was one of those delightful women peculiar to England, +restful to look at, restful to know. Her thick, glossy brown hair was +coiled neatly in plaits, no matter what the fashion; her skin, devoid +of powder, did not shine, even on the hottest day; her smile was a +benison, and her teeth and horsemanship perfect. + +Her clothes? Well, she was tailor-made, which means that near a horse +she beat other women to a frazzle, but on a parquet floor, covered with +dainty, wispy, fox-trotting damsels, she showed up like a double +magenta-coloured dahlia in a bed of anemones. + +Jack Wetherbourne was of the same comfortable and honest type, and they +loved each other in a tailor-made way; one of those tailor-mades of the +best tweed, which, cut without distinctive style, is warranted with an +occasional visit to the cleaners to last out its wearer; a garment you +can always reply on, and be sure of finding ready for use, no matter +how long you have kept it hidden in your old oak chest, or your +three-ply wardrobe, or whatever kind of cupboard you may have managed +to make out of your life. Although no word of love had ever passed +between them, you would have sworn they had been married for years, as +they sat on each side of the fire; Mary in a black demi-toilette, cut +low at the neck, which does not mean décolleté by any means, but which +_does_ invariably spell dowdiness, and Jack Wetherbourne with his chin +in his hand, and a distinct frown on his usually undisturbed +countenance. + +A great fire crackled in the old-fashioned grate, the flames jumping +from one bit of wood to another, throwing shadows through the +comfortable room, and drawing dull lustre from the highly polished +floor and Jacobean furniture. It was an extraordinarily restful room +for a woman, for with the exception of a few hunting pictures in heavy +frames on the wall, a few hunting trophies on solid tables, some books +and a big box of chocolates, there were no feminine fripperies, no +photographs, nothing with a ribbon attachment, no bits of silver and +egg-shell china. + +Oh! But the room was typical of the Honourable Mary Bingham, into +whose capable hands had slipped the reins controlling the big estate +bounded on one side by that of the man opposite her. + +"There is only one more thing I can suggest," said the deep, clear +voice, "and that is that you go over to Egypt yourself. Who knows if +you might not pick up a clue. Detectives have failed, though I think +we made a mistake in employing English ones, they hardly seem tactful +or subtle enough for the East." + +Certainly one would have hardly applied either adjective to Detective +John Gibbs, who, bull-necked and blustering, had pushed and bullied his +way through Egypt's principal cities in search of Jill. + +"How like Jill not to have sent us a line," remarked Jack Wetherbourne +for the hundredth time as he lit a cigarette. + +"Oh, but as I have said before, she may have had sunstroke, and lost +her memory, or have been stolen and put away in a harem. She's not +dead, that's certain, because she had her hand told before she left on +her last trip, and she's to live to over eighty." + +"That's splendid," was Wetherbourne's serious answer to a serious +statement, as he rose on the entry of Lady Bingham, who, having at the +same moment finished her knitting wool and the short commons of +consecutive thought of which she was capable, had meandered in on +gossip bent, looking quickly and furtively from one to the other for +signs of an understanding which would join the estates in matrimony, a +pact upon which her heart was set. And seeing none, she sat down with +an irritated rustle, which gathered in intensity until it developed +into a storm of expostulating petulance when she heard of the proposed +programme. + +On the stroke of eleven Mary got up and walked down the broad +staircase, and through the great hall, and out on to the steps beside +the very splendid man beside her, and they stood under the moon, whilst +a nightingale bubbled for a moment, and _yet_ they were silent. + +"Dear old girl," said Jack Wetherbourne, as he pushed open the little +gate in the wall which divided their lands, and waved his hand in the +direction of the old Tudor house. + +"Dear old Jack," murmured Mary as her capable hand reached for a +chocolate as she sat on the window-seat and waited until she heard the +faint click of the gate, upon which she waved her handkerchief. + +Prosaic sayings, prosaic doings, but those three prosaic words meant as +much, and a good deal more to them, than the most exquisite poetical +outburst, written or uttered, since the world began, might mean to us. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +By degrees Jill had become accustomed to the habits of the East, +sleeping peacefully upon the cushion-laden perfumed divan, sitting upon +cushions beside the snow-white napery spread upon the floor for meals, +eating the curiously attractive Eastern dishes without a single pang +for eggs and bacon and golden marmalade, revelling in her Eastern +garments, from the ethereal under raiment to the soft loose trousers +clasped above her slender ankles by jewel-studded anklets, delighting +in the flowing cloaks and veils and over-robes and short jackets of +every conceivable texture, shape, and colour, passing hours in +designing wondrous garments, which in an incredibly short time she +would find in the scented cupboards of her dressing-rooms. + +Then would she attire herself therein, and stand before her mirror +laughing in genuine amusement at the perfect Eastern picture reflected, +and drawing the veil over her sunny head, and the yashmak to beneath +her eyes, and a cloak about her body, would summon the Arab to her +presence. + +Which shows that knowing nothing whatever about the Eastern character, +she merely added a hundredfold to her attractions, for if there is one +thing a man of the East has brought to perfection, it is his enjoyment +of procrastinating in his love-making, passing hours and days and +weeks, even months in touching the edge of the cup, until the moment +comes when, raising it to his lips, he drains it to the last drop. + +To keep herself physically fit she had found strenuous recreation in +two ways. Firstly, she had made known that her wish was to learn +something of the dancing of the East, whereupon for a sum which would +have made Pavlova's slender feet tingle in astonishment, the finest +dancer in all Egypt and Asia had, for many months, taken up her abode +in the beautiful house especially built for honoured guests just +without the wall. + +The supple, passionate Eastern woman found it in her soul to love the +slender white girl who laughed aloud in glee, and showed such amazing +aptitude in learning the A.B.C. of this language, especially reserved +in the East for the portrayal of the history of love and all its kin. +Presents were showered upon the teacher who, with the craft of the +Oriental mind, in some cases forbore to fully explain the meaning of +certain gestures, so that unintentionally a veritable lightning flash +of passion blazed about Jill's head one night, when with the innocent +desire of showing the Arab how well she was progressing in the art, she +suddenly stood up before him and made a slight movement of her body, +holding the slender white arms rigidly to her side, whilst her small, +rose-tinted right foot tapped the ground impatiently. + +"Allah!" had suddenly exclaimed the Arab, as he had seized her arms and +pulled her towards him. "You would mock me, make fun of me, you woman +of ice! + +"How dare you make me see a picture of you in--ah! but I cannot speak +of it in words, suffice that one day I will--Allah! you--you dare to +mock me with a picture of that which you refuse me------!" + +"I haven't the faintest idea of what you are talking about," had +replied a very ruffled Jill, as with golden anklets softly clinking she +withdrew to a distance. "If that is the effect of my dancing I will +never dance for you, _never_!" + +"But, woman, do you mean to tell me that you have no idea of the +translation put upon your movements?" + +"Evidently not," haughtily replied the inwardly laughing girl. + +"That you do not know the movement you made just now meant that in the +dimness of the night I--oh! I cannot tell you, but I swear before +Allah that _I--I_, Hahmed, who have known no woman, will teach you the +translation of every movement of all that you have learned." + +Whereupon Jill, having seated herself upon the stuffed head of an +enormous lion skin, murmured "_soit_," and proceeded to light a +cigarette. + +Her second and favourite pastime was riding, and, in as few words as +possible, so that my book shall not ramble to unseemly length, I will +tell you how the fame of her horsemanship had come to be spoken of, +even in the almost untrodden corners of Asia and Egypt. + +The whim seizing her, she would bid the Arab to her presence, sometimes +to her evening repast, sometimes to sweet coffee and still sweeter +music, sometimes to wander on foot or on camel-back through the oasis, +to the desert stretching like a great sea beyond, and still beyond. + +Everything, as you will note if you have the patience to get through to +the end of this book, happened to Jill in the light of the full moon. +On this night in question, clad all in black, with the moonbeams +striking rays from the silver embroidered on her veil, and the anklets +above her little feet, she seemed small and fragile, altogether +desirable, and infinitely to be protected to the man beside her on the +edge of the sand. Still more so when she waxed ecstatic with delight +on the approach of two horses, one bay ridden by a man clothed from +head to foot in white burnous, and a led mare as white as the man's +raiment. + +"Hahmed! O! Hahmed! Stop them!" had she cried, forgetting the ice +out of which she had elected to hack herself a pedestal. "Oh, you +beauty, you priceless thing!" she continued, when the mare, whinnying +gently, rubbed its muzzle on her shoulder; whereupon she took the rein +from the servant who had dismounted, and led the beast up and down. + +Perfect she stood, the Breeze of the Desert, with her flowing tail high +set, her streaming mane, the little ears so close together as to almost +touch, her great chest, and dainty hoofs which scarcely deigned to +touch the sand. + +Bit and bridle she had none, her sole harness consisting of a halter +with a leather rein on the right side, and a rug upon her back hardly +kept in place by a loose girth. It seemed that she was of the Al +Hamsa, which, being translated, means being a direct descendant of one +of the five great mares of the time of Mohammed; also she was a +two-year-old and playful but not over friendly, therefore was it +astounding to see her as she listened to the girl's musical voice, and +showed no fretfulness at the touch of a strange hand. + +And then there was a quick run, a cry, and a rush of tearing hoofs! +For Jill, in the twinkling of a star, had let fall the enveloping +cloak, standing for one second like some exotic bit of statuary in her +black billowing satin trousers and infinitesimal coatee over a +silver-spangled frothy vest, her great eyes dancing with glee over the +face veil. She had swiftly backed a few yards, and before either man +or horse had guessed her intention, with a quick run and a full grasp +of the great mane had swung herself into the native saddle, and was +away over the desert to wherever the horse listed. Neither was there a +second lost before the bay was racing after the mare; and Jill, riding +with the loose seat of the native, turned and waved hilariously to +Hahmed as he tore like the wind beside her, shouting something she +could not distinguish in the rush of the air past her face. + +Half-frightened, half-maddened by her own tremendous pace, the Breeze +of the Desert laid herself out to beat all speed records. + +Mile after mile flew under her dainty feet, whilst Jill by little cries +urged her still faster yet, the all-enduring bay keeping alongside +without any apparent effort, until at last the Arab, leaning forward, +struck the mare lightly upon the left side of the neck, whereupon +without slackening speed she turned instinctively in that direction, +turning a little each time she felt the light touch, until Jill at last +perceived the outline of the oasis and the figure of the Arab servant +standing with folded arms awaiting the return of his beloved horses or +not, as should be the will of Allah; being, however, shaken from his +native calm when this woman when some hundreds of yards from him in a +straight line, without stopping the speed of the racing horse, suddenly +slipped from the saddle, remaining upon her feet without a tremor, +whilst the "Breeze" stopped of her own free-will within a few feet of +her attendant. + +"And our master whom Allah protect," as recounted the native afterwards +to an astonished, almost unbelieving bevy of listeners, "bringing his +horse in a circle, suddenly picked up that woman rider. Yea! I tell +thee, thou disbelieving son of a different coloured horse, a +woman-rider, even she for whom the palace has been built; and swinging +her across the saddle so that her feet, as small as thine are big, thou +grandchild of a reptile with poisonous tongue, as I say her little feet +hung down on one side, and her head, and may Allah protect me from the +wrath of my master if I say that it was as the sun in all its glory, +hanging down on the other, dashed into the night with her, but _where_ +it is not meet for me to know." + +The "where," as it happened, being Jill's palace, in which, lying full +length upon a white divan, with a small brazier of sweet smelling +incense sending up spirals of blue haze around her dishevelled head, +and an ivory tray laden with coffee and sweetmeats at her side, she +promised never to run the risk of getting lost in the desert again, on +condition that the Breeze of the Desert became her own property, and +that she could ride untroubled whenever and wherever she liked; +cheerfully promising also to have made a habit, or rather riding-dress, +which, would combine the utility of the West with the protective +covering properties of the East. After which she got to her feet, +standing the very essence of youth and strength in the soft glow of the +lamps, smiled into the Arab's stern face with a look in the great eyes +which caused his mouth to tighten like a steel trap, clapped her hands +and disappeared through a curtain-shrouded door without even looking +back. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +The recounting of which true episode has taken me from the evening when +the sun had just slipped behind the edge of sand. + +Jill sat motionless in a corner of her beautiful room, with a pucker of +dissatisfaction on her forehead. + +Jill, the girl who only a few moons back had taken the reins of her +life into her own hands, and had tangled them into a knot which her +henna-tipped fingers seemed unable to unravel. English books, +magazines, papers lay on tables, the latest music was stacked on a +grand piano, great flowering plants filling the air with heavy scent +stood in every corner, the pearls around her neck were worth a king's +ransom, the sweetmeats on a filigree stand looked like uncut jewels; in +fact everything a woman could want was there, and yet not enough to +erase the tiny pucker. + +Months ago she had played for her freedom and lost. + +This exquisite building had been built for her, horses were hers, and +camels; jewels were literally flung at her feet. + +She clapped her hands and soft-footed natives ran to do her bidding, +flowers and fruit came daily from the oasis, sweetmeats and books each +day from the nearest city. Her smallest whim, even to the mere passing +of a shadow of a wish, was fulfilled, and yet------ + +A few months ago her mocking words had swung to the silken curtains of +her chamber, and since then she had been alone. + +Verily, there were no restrictions and no barriers, but the yellow sand +stretched away to the East and away to the West, and obedience in the +oasis was bred from love and her twin sister fear. + +True, the girl had but to bid the Arab to her presence and the curtain +would swing back. + +But upon the threshold he would stand, or upon the floor he would seat +himself, motionless, with a face as expressionless as stone. + +By no movement, word or sign, could she find out if she was any more to +him than the wooden beads which ceaselessly passed between his fingers. + +Nothing showed her if he remembered the first night, when for a moment +the man had broken through the inherited reserve of centuries. Had it +been merely the East clamouring for the out-of-reach, longed-for West? +Perhaps! Just a passing moment, as quickly forgotten, and against +which forgetfulness the woman in her rebelled. + +It had even come to her to lie awake during the night following the +days in which the man had been away from his beloved oasis. The swift +rush of naked feet, taking her as swiftly to the roof, where peeping +between the carved marble she would look upon a distant scene, which +could well have illustrated some Eastern fable. + +Either the great camel would stalk slowly, solemnly out of the night, +kneeling at a word; or a pure bred Arabian horse would rush swiftly +through the palm belt, its speed unchecked as its master threw himself +from the saddle. + +She could even distinguish a murmured conversation between the eunuch +and his master, guessing that he was inquiring as to her welfare, and +issuing orders for her comfort, before passing out of sight to his own +dwelling, she imagined, though she would rather have died than have +asked one question of those around her. + +She craved for the nights when he would send to inquire if she would +ride, often from sheer contrariness denying herself the exercise she +longed for. + +In fact, feeling the mystery of love germinating within her, she showed +herself rebellious and contrary, and infinitely sweet, surpassing in +all things the ways of women; who, since the beginning of all time, +have plagued the man into whose keeping their heart is slowly but +surely slipping. + +And as the shadows fell, so did the pucker of discontent deepen, and a +tiny blue-grey marmoset sprang to the top of the piano, chattering +shrilly, when a book swished viciously across the floor, and a +diminutive gazelle, standing on reed-pipe legs, blinked its soft eyes, +and whisked its apology of a tail when a henna-tipped finger tapped its +soft nose over sharply, before the girl clapped her hands to summon her +body-woman, who, as silently as a wraith, slipped into the room. + +"Light all the lamps and come and tell me the news." + +The little woman obeyed, and came to kneel beside the girl, gazing up +at the fair white face with positive worship in her eyes. + +"Great is the news, O! mistress." + +"Tell it." + +The words were sharp, and the faintest shadow of a smile glinted for a +moment in the native's eyes. + +"Behold, O! beautiful flower! Unto us, the slaves of our great master, +under whose feet we are but as dust, it has been told that he upon whom +may Allah's greatest blessings fall, is about to take unto himself a +wife." + +Silence! Save for a little breath indrawn too quickly. + +"Well, proceed with the wonderful news!" The words were icy, but a +smile flickered for a moment across the native's face, and was gone. + +"Behold has he, the greatest man in Egypt and Arabia, before whom all +are but shadows, and unto whom is offered the love and respect of all +those who live within the bounty of his great heart, yea! behold has he +deigned to look upon Amanreh, the thirteen year old daughter of Sheikh +el Hoatassin, second only in wealth and prowess to our own master. +Fair is she and young, in very truth meet to wed with him who rules us +with a hand of iron, bound in thongs of softest velvet. + +"Beautiful, yes! beautiful as the day at dawn, and straight as yon +marble pillar, and as delicately tinted, rounded as the bursting lotus +bud, and fit to carry the honour of bearing her master's children! In +a few moons it------!" + +"Begone!" + +The word cracked like a whip through the scented room, but as the +little hunchback crept swiftly through the curtains, the smile passed +from the eyes to the mouth, as softly she whispered to herself: + +"It is well done!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +Out on to the balcony and back, this way, that way, to and fro, paced +Jill in her black room. Black skins lay upon the black marble floor, +black satin cushions upon the skins. Curtains of scented leather, as +soft and supple as satin, hung before the doors let into the walls of +black carved wood. + +A long couch of ebony, untouched by silver or by gold, stood under one +of the gigantic black marble statues, which represented an Ethiopian +slave or some wild beast, holding in hand or mouth a lamp with shade of +flaming orange, the one touch of colour in the whole room. + +There was no sound save for the occasional crackle of resinous log +burning in a brazier placed in a far corner, before which Jill suddenly +crouched, shivering, though the night was warm. Weary was she from +want of sleep, weary was her heart from loneliness, weary her mouth, +laden with unuttered words of the great love, which, day by day, hour +by hour, yea! even from the moment she had turned to find her fate +behind her, had been growing and expanding until naught was left of her +but love and fear. For fear had been her companion in the hours of the +night, which she had passed in restless pacing upon the balcony. + +For two of these restless hours she had put on and discarded the +garments within her cupboards, until she had found that which she +desired. And an hour she had spent likewise in the adorning of her +beauty, before she stood satisfied in front of her mirror. The +voluminous trousers of softest black fabric, hardly revealing the +exquisite whiteness of her perfect limbs, were caught by heavy golden +anklets above the little feet, with henna-tipped toes and reddened heel. + +Her bare waist shone like a strip of creamy satin above the belt and +stomacher of black leather encrusted in black pearls, her arms were +bare, also the supple back and glistening shoulders, but the rounded +glory of her breasts was hidden by a covering of soft interlaced +ribbon, sewn with pearls. Her hair wound round and round her head, +and, fastened by great combs, shone like a golden globe, and over it +she had thrown a flimsy veil, and around her a swinging cloak. + +There was no touch of paint upon her face, nor did she, with the +exception of her anklets, wear loose jewels, or the ornaments which +cause that nerve-breaking clatter so beloved by the Eastern woman, and +so superlatively irritating to the Western ear. In fact she was the +most ravishing picture of delight imaginable, her first shyness and +awkwardness of her unaccustomed attire having long since vanished, +though, be it confessed, that until this night she had never intended +that human eye should rest upon her loveliness. + +But the earth of discontent and the waters of loneliness make fertile +soil for the seeds of fear, even if those seeds be planted by the hand +of a misshapen slave; but a little smile and a sigh of satisfaction had +been the outcome of a prolonged scrutiny in a mirror, before which she +had stood whilst quoting certain words which ran thusly: + +"Beautiful as the dawn, rounded as the bursting lotus bud." And then +she had shrugged her glistening shoulders and frowned, and smiled +again, before stretching her long arms towards the silken curtains +which, though she knew it not, gently blew against the figure of a man, +who, prone upon his face, clenched his fingers in the soft stuff, +striving to quieten the mad beating of his heart at the sound of the +footsteps or the rustle of the raiment of the woman he loved, yea, and +desired. + +"Hahmed! Oh, Hahmed!" + +As faint as the rose of the breaking dawn, as tender as the notes of a +cooing dove calling gently to its mate, as soft as the touch of a +flower-petal the words drifted through the curtain. With a whispered +cry to Allah, his God, the man was upon his feet. With the strength of +the oriental, which has its root in patience and its flower in +achievement in all that appertains to love, he had uncomplainingly +waited through month succeeding month, making no effort to further his +cause by either word or movement, content to leave the outcome to the +Fate which had inscribed upon the unending, non-beginning rolls of +eternity the moment when that voice should break across the desert +place in which lay his seed of love. + +A rustle of the curtain, and he stood before the woman who loved and +desired him, until her soul waxed faint within her. + +For a space they stood, the light from one great lamp striking down +upon the little veil-wrapped figure and the man in flaming orange cloak +over soft satin trousers and vest of black, one huge diamond blazing in +the turban upon his dark head. + +Silently Jill pointed to a chair carved out of ebony, the ends of the +arms representing the snarling face of some wild beast, with great +fangs of ivory, and staring ruby eyes flashing in the lamplight. + +As silently Hahmed sat down, never once removing his eyes from the girl +who stood motionless upon a black panther skin, looking back over her +half-turned shoulder at him for whom she was bidding against the +unknown. Have you ever watched a rosebud unfold in the warmth of the +sun, each petal quivering, widening, until the intoxicating scent of +the flower goes to your head like wine as you faintly perceive the rose +heart within? + +In just such a way did Jill unfold her treasures to the Arab, sitting +as some carven image in the shadow. The veil from her head slipped to +the ground, leaving exposed her white face with its crimson mouth and +shadow-laden eyes; slowly the cloak dropped from her shoulders, so that +the whiteness of her skin blazed suddenly in the black marble room. +For one long moment she stood before her master in the strength of her +virginal beauty, and even as a faint sigh broke the stillness, she +moved. + +Do not imagine for one moment that she copied the strenuous movements +of Salome as understood at the Palace Theatre, London, or the +disgusting contortions of certain orientals born in Montmartre, and +favoured by the denizens of Paris. + +Of very truth she moved not her lower limbs at all, though her +exquisite body swayed as if by a passing breeze, her little hands +elaborating that which the body originated, the tiny feet punctuating +the love story of both. + +By one slight movement of her right arm she had told the man she loved +him, by half-arrested gestures, a little shrug, an infinitesimal +undulation of her body, a faint tapping of the left foot or the right, +she described the delights of love, she who knew _nothing_, to him who +knowing _all_, had denied himself all. + +Heaven alone knows if she really understood that which she described; +be that as it may, the man rose to his feet as she turned with +outstretched arms towards him, moving almost imperceptibly from the +waist, telling him that which her lips would not utter, until suddenly +with a great cry he sprang towards her, and sweeping her into his arms, +tore the coverings from her breasts, until indeed like a lotus-bud she +lay silent upon his heart. For one second he stood, and then he raised +her above his head upon his outstretched hands, so that the great pins +fell from her head and the perfumed hair like golden rain about his +shoulders, then he flung her upon the bed of cushions and stood above +her with blazing eyes and dilated, quivering nostrils. + +And then he knelt beside her, covering her gleaming nakedness with the +cloak, and spoke softly in the Eastern tongue. + +"I leave you, woman, to go and give orders for your journey to Cairo. +There shall you become my wife, my woman, for behold, I will no longer +wait. + +"Let not your thoughts dwell upon caprice or tricks of woman, for if +you say me nay, _yet_ will I make you my wife, and force you unto me. +But you will not gainsay me, for behold you love me, so rest upon your +bed for the three weeks which must pass before the caravan is ready for +the journey, so that in health and strength and surpassing loveliness +you will come to me." + +And having knelt to kiss the rosy feet, he withdrew from the presence +of his beloved, and the English girl turned on her face and sobbed, and +then, gathering her cloak around her so as to hide the dishevelment of +her raiment, passed to the roof above to hold conclave with the stars. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +It seems wellnigh impossible that an English maid could look with such +equanimity upon the prospect of marriage with a man, an Eastern, of +whom she knew nothing outside the tales and anecdotes recounted to her +of his exploits and prowess, the which stood good to rival even the +adventures of Haroun al Raschid. + +As if an English girl, you will say, could ever _dream_ of such a +thing--a girl brought up in England's best society! + +True! brought up within a wall of convention, with her ears for ever +filled with the everlasting tag, "It's not done, you know," that +shibboleth which for stultifying all original effort surpasses even the +mythical but revered sway of Mrs. Grundy. A girl whose brain, and +originality, and deep passions, must under the said circumstances and +environment inevitably culminate in the same silver-haired, +pink-cheeked, grandchildren-adoring old lady, who sees the regulation +ending in England of the _brilliant_ girl, just as she sees the end of +the girl whose brain registers the fact that the seaside is a place to +be visited only in August; whose originality finds vent in the +different coloured ribbons with which she adorns her dogs and her +lingerie; whose passions--oh well! who bothers about the little placid +stream flowing without a ripple between the mud flats of that drear +country habit? + +No doubt about it, if money troubles had not given her the opportunity +for which she had always craved, Jill _would_ have finally +metamorphosed her brilliant self into that dear old dame who is as +beloved and ubiquitous and uniform as the penny bun. But seeing her +chance she had clutched at it with eager out-stretched hands, and in +all these months she had not had one single regret, or one moment of +longing for peaceful, grey-tinted England, or the friends with whom she +had visited and hunted and done the hundred and one trivial things +wealthy beautiful girls are accustomed to do in England, and who in her +case had continued their social career without breaking their hearts or +engagements on account of the monetary _débâcle_ of their one time +companion. Her instinct had not failed her in regard to the man who, +without consulting her in any way, was even at that hour starting forth +to arrange their marriage, and she troubled not her head with the +thought of what _might_ have happened to her _if_ her instinct had +failed her, though the chances are that rather than have even the outer +petals of her womanhood bruised by the closing of a trap into which she +might have placed her feet, she would have sent the vessel of her soul +afloat down the great wide river ending in the ocean of eternity. + +She was that most interesting and most rare cross-bred result of the +elusive something, be it soul, imagination, or ecstasy which had turned +a woman ancestress, created for the great honour of bearing children, +into the nun, whose maternal instincts had feigned find solace in the +marble or plaster child-image, and even that out of reach of those +hands which should have trembled over swaddling clothes; and that +passion for love and light which had driven the dancing wayward feet of +a Belle Marquise ancestress from love to love, until they had come to a +standstill before Madame la Guillotine, who bothered not herself with +those two minute extremities. + +So that on waking after sweet slumber, Jill kissed the misshapen slave +upon the cheek and told her the news, whereupon the dusky little woman +raised her eyes and hands heavenwards, gibbering like a monkey, albeit +she had just left an excited coterie of serving folk who, in the +mysterious native way, had become acquainted with the news of the +impending function without the uttering of one word from those most +interested in an event which would mean fulfilment of dreams to more +than one of those who had, for months past, pondered and commented on +the strangeness of their master's love-affair. + +And Jill in the softest pink raiment sat like the perfect heart of a +perfect rose in the scented coolness of the pink chamber, and passed +the days designing garments of which it is useless to give a +description, seeing that the womenfolk in Northern climes have only two +notes on which to ring the changes of their wardrobe; the long, +shroud-looking thing in silk or crepe de Chine or good honest nainsook, +picked out in different coloured ribbons, or the romance killing, +stove-pipe giving effect of the masculine pyjama. + +From camel back Jill had watched the departure of the first caravan of +swiftest camels, laden with gifts on their way to Cairo. The jangling +of bells, the musical cries of the drivers, and the roaring and +grumbling of the beasts, causing her to laugh aloud from sheer +happiness; whilst the natives, many of whom had not seen the mystery +woman their master was about to take to wife, fumbled with the packs so +as to get a good look at the little figure, who, Allah! had intercourse +with the man before the wedding. + +"And may the blessings of Allah fall upon her, for it is not for us to +inquire into the strange ways of our master upon whom may the sun +shine, and beside whose path may a stream of purest water for ever run +for long years has he lived alone, knowing no woman; may she whom he +hath chosen be fruitful, bearing many sons, so that our children may +live in the blessed shadow of our master's children for generation +after generation." + +That was the outlook of the happy oasis upon the most untoward +proceedings, for in the East the betrothed child passes her life in the +seclusion of her family until the very moment of the wedding, the man +depending absolutely upon the words of his mother or female relatives +as to the appearance and character of his future partner. + +On the second day started, another caravan of camels, laden with the +household goods with which the wealthy Eastern always travels, yet more +caravans following, carrying the wherewithal of the enormous retinue +with which Hahmed the Arab saw fit to surround his bride; the ensuing +days passing in the preparation of the greatest caravan of all, that +which was to take Jill to the place where, steam up, the great white +yacht at the water's edge was waiting. + +Hahmed and Jill were on the broad balcony the night before the start, +the Arab lying at the feet of the woman sitting in an ebony chair +covered with cushions of every shade of purple, with the faint haze of +incense about her little head, and the light of a great love in the +softness of her eyes. + +Holding the hem of her cloak in his hands he made love to her by words +alone, for in all the time since their first meeting, his hands had not +held hers, neither had their lips met; but the music of his words +served to send the blood surging to her face, then to draw it back to +her heart, leaving her as white as the crescent moon above her. + +"Tell me, O! Hahmed," she suddenly exclaimed softly, after a long +silence, "will not your people think it strange that I, a bride, should +have lived these many months with you? Will they _believe_ that I am +pure, will they not think harm of me, throwing your good name in +shadow?" + +The man raised himself so that his face was on a level with hers as he +laid one hand upon her chair. + +"Woman, I speak not in pride when I say that I, Hahmed the Arabian, +have never sought and never desired the opinion of those about me. I +do as my heart inclineth, let that suffice. Were I a poorer man these +things could not be, but with my wealth I have bought my freedom, +loosening the iron shackles of convention from about my feet with a key +of gold. Wealth can accomplish all things. + +"This oasis is mine because I was the only bidder with wealth enough to +pay the exorbitant prices demanded, other oases are mine, and villages +and tracts of rich lands. Also the respect of my neighbours, also are +their tongues tied on account of my riches. + +"I live for years without wife, or woman or child, they say no word. + +"I marry a Christian and a white woman, and they will say no word; that +she is _my wife_ will suffice them, though doubtless whispers in the +harems will not be all sweet, seeing that for years the quarry has +eluded the traps laid by the henna-tipped fingers of relentless hunters +and huntresses. Wealth! It buys peace and freedom, O! woman, so let +not your thoughts disturb you. You will be the greatest woman in all +Egypt and Arabia--but listen, some one sings the bridal song, which has +come down to us unchanged from the time of the great Sesostris." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +The love-song broke the stillness of the desert night with the +suddenness and sweetness of the nightingale's call in the depths of an +English garden, laden with the perfume of June roses. + +So softly as to be hardly distinguished from a whisper, the wonderful +voice called--called again and stopped, whilst the stars seemed to +gather closer until the sky hung as a canopy of softest purple velvet +picked out in silver lightings over the heads of those who listened to +the call of love, and from very ecstasy were still. + +Again, and yet again, the voice cried aloud to its hearts desire, +rising like incense from some hidden spot in the village, twining among +the feathery leaves of the palms to drop like golden rain upon the +heart of some maiden, who doubtless sat upon her roof-top, modestly +veiled if in company of friends or relations, but otherwise, I am +positively certain, might be found peeking over the top of the +balustrade as have peeked the hearts' desires from the beginning of all +time. + +Jill's face was white as death, as she too sat motionless, listening to +the love-song, whilst her great eyes blazing like the stars above +watched the man at her feet. + +Closely veiled was she, for this was the eve of her wedding journey to +Cairo, also had the spirit of perversity prevailed within her for the +last month, causing her to resemble the coldness, warmth, eastiness, +sweetness, and general warpiness of the English climate, sparkling one +day with the dew-drop-on-the-grass-freshness of an early summer +morning, to hang the next as passing heavy on the hand as the November +fog upon the new hat brim; veering within twelve hours to the sharpness +of the East wind, which braces skin and temper to cracking point, and +to make up for it all, for one whole hour in the twenty-four, +resembling the exquisite moment of the June morning, in which you find +the first half-open rose upon the bush just outside your breakfast-room. + +She was consumed with love of the man who lay at her feet, with the hem +of her rose-satin veil against his lips, and her heart had melted +within her as the love-song thrilled; and sobbed, and cried its love +through the night; melted until she suddenly leant forward and +stretching out her hand laid it for one moment on the man's dark head, +whereupon he rose to his knees so that the dark beauty of his face was +on a level with hers, the tale in his eyes causing her heavy white lids +to close, whilst speechless she lay back among her satin cushions. + +"Woman! O! woman! The touch of your hand is like the first breeze +after the scorching heat of the day, and yet must I await your word +before the love that consumes me may throw aside its coverings to stand +in the perfumed freshness of the wind which maketh the delight of the +desert dawn. + +"Together we have watched the goings out of the caravans on their way +to Cairo, laden with gifts and all that is necessary for the feasting +of those who are invited to attend the marriage of one who, by the +wonder of Allah's bounty, has been allowed to gather the glory of his +harvest. In your graciousness you have troubled your heart with +misgivings as to the outcome of a marriage between a Mohammedan and a +Christian, and I have answered you that there are many such marriages +in the East, of which great happiness has been the outcome, though not +such happiness as shall well forth from the union of our love." + +And the man rose to his feet, standing straight as a pine against the +fretted wood-work of the balcony, and the girl watching him from under +the half-closed lids, suddenly tearing the veil from before her face, +sprang also to her feet, and stood against him with her face upraised, +so that the glory of her red mouth came to the level of his shoulder, +and the thudding of her heart caused the diamonds on the embroidery of +her vest to flash in the starlight, and the perfume of her skin to +scent the night air. + +And the man bent down until it seemed that their lips must meet in this +their first kiss, but instead he withdrew one pace, though the agony of +love drew all blood from his face, until it shone palely in the gloom. + +"Yea, woman, you love me, else would not your eyes be suffused with the +pain of unsatisfied longing! Yet have I not said that until you come +to me, and whisper, 'Hahmed, I love you!' until that moment I will not +in love touch even the fairness of your hand, though as Allah is above +us it taxes my strength to the uttermost shred. + +"Perchance I am foolish, missing the untold and unknown delights of +wooing the woman of my heart, but in such wise am I built. I will have +all the fruit at the plucking or none, for where is the delight of the +sweetest peach if the stem, the leaves, the bloom have been bruised by +much handling. + +"One day, nay in the stillness of one night shall I hear you call +me--then, ah! Allah!" + +The voice stopped suddenly, though the man made no other sign, when the +girl before him, beside herself with anger which springs from love +denied, suddenly struck him full upon the mouth, and then shaking from +head to foot, with rage, and love, and fear, broke the deadly silence. + +"Nay, man! In that you are mistaken, for you shall never hear my voice +calling you in love. That may become the woman of your land, but not +the woman from the West. I will marry you, for I will not bring +derision upon a man who has treated me with such courtesy and +gentleness. But love! Nay! better far buy some beautiful Circassian +upon our wedding-trip, for surely you shall never hear my voice +upraised in love!" + +And gathering her swirling draperies about her, she made to depart, +knowing that she had spoken hastily, making vows she could not keep for +the very love she denied. Her hand was upon the silken hangings of her +door when she was swung round by the shoulder to face the very essence +of cold rage. + +"So, woman, you are one of those who have ever hidden an inner chamber +of perversity, for surely had I thought to have come to the end of your +store of moods and whims. Listen! By striking me across the face you +have but made my love the greater, but as Allah is above me, I will +make you pay, as you say in your far cold country. You will come to me +one day, because such love as ours is not to be denied, and when you +come, for that blow I will bruise your lips until the red blood starts +from them, and I will bruise your body until marks of black show upon +its startling fairness, but above all will I bruise your soul with +unsatisfied longings, and unrequited desires, until you lie half dead +at my feet; then only will I take you in my arms and carry you to the +secret chamber, which Fate has prepared somewhere for the fulfilment of +my love." + +And as the love-song died on the night, Jill passed slowly into the +inner chamber, failing to see the man kneel to kiss the rug impressed +by the passage of her little feet. + + + + +PART II + +THE FLOWER + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +The Rolls Royce containing representatives of the Savoy and Shepherds +in the shapes of beautifully gowned, handsome, placid, somewhat dull, +the Honourable Mary Bingham, pronounced Beam, her friend Diana Lytham, +and the rotund personalities of Sir Timothy and Lady Sarah Ann +Gruntham, drew up behind the menacing hand of a policeman alongside a +limousine containing representatives of Shepherds and the Savoy in the +shapes of two rotund-to-be daughters and one thin son of the race of +Gruntham, and the Honourable Mary's faded mother, who were all racing +home in the search of cool baths, or cooler drinks, or a few moments' +repose in a darkened room in which to forget the stifling half hours of +a series of social functions, given in honour of Cairo's most festive +week of the season, before starting on a dressing campaign against the +depredations made upon the skin by flies, heat, sand, wind, and +cosmetics. + +The past middle-aged Sir Timothy of the latest birthday honours, +partner in life of Lady Gruntham, and therefore part possessor of the +Gruntham family, was whole owner of an army of chimney stacks which, +morning, noon, and night, belched thick oily smoke across one of +England's Northern counties in the process of manufacturing a +substitute for something; also he owned a banking account almost as big +as his honest old heart. + +_La famille_ Gruntham were breaking their first wide-eyed, open-mouthed +_tour de monde_ in Cairo, having selected their hotel from an +advertisement in the A.B.C. + +The Honourable Mary's nondescript mother sat patiently waiting the +decisive moment which would see her _en route_ once more to tea in her +bedroom and the last chapter of a Hichens novel, as she had patiently +awaited decisive moments for years, having uncomplainingly allowed the +reins which controlled the large estate, and large fortune, to slip +into the large, capable hands of her daughter, just as she had also +either as uncomplainingly criss-crossed the world in the wake of her +daughter's unaristocratically large footsteps, or submissively remained +at home for the hunting, in which field the Honourable Mary excelled. + +Diana Lytham, spinster, through no want of trying to remedy the defect, +expert at bridge, razor-edged of tongue, but still youthful enough to +allow the lid of Pandora's casket to lift on occasions, also to be +described by those who feared the razor-edge as petulant instead of +peevish, and cendrée instead of sandy, passed the tedious moments of +waiting in a running commentary upon the idiosyncrasies and oddities of +the people and refreshments of the past hours, with a verve which she +fondly believed to be a combination of sarcasm and cynicism, but which, +in reality, was the kernel of the nut of spitefulness, hanging from the +withering bough of the tree of passing youth. + +She, having an atrocious seat and knowing it, with the excuse of +England's winter dampness had fled the hunting. The Gruntham's younger +generation, knowing not the difference between a hunter and a +carriage-horse, had not given the subject a thought, but Mary Bingham +had made a whole-hearted sacrifice of the month she loved best because, +although loving her horses with a love of understanding, she knew that +the love in her heart for just the one man, was a love passing all +understanding whatsoever; feeling, therefore, that the sacrifice +brought its own reward in the qualified bliss of being near the one man +of her heart, whilst he passed weeks and months in the vain endeavour +to find their friend, who had been lost to them in the land of the +long-dead Pharaohs. + +"Most annoying indeed--great negligence on the part of the city police +to allow a hold-up like this at _this_ hour of the afternoon. No +wonder Egypt's in the mess of ruins it is if this is the way traffic +has always been regulated," fumed and fretted Sir Timothy, whilst Mary +Bingham twirled her sunshade over her hat and gazed unseeingly at the +domes, cupolas, and minarets of the distant mosque of the Mohamet Ali; +and the thin heir of the race of Gruntham pondered upon the allurements +of the yashmak, which hid all but the eyes of the few Eastern women who +glanced timidly in passing at the occupants of the motor-cars. + +"Now then, dearies," smiled the irate old knight's comfortable wife, +"don't you take on so, though I do allow it's a nuisance, considering I +have to get into my apricot satin to-night, with all those hooks. Pity +Sir John Wetherbourne ain't--isn't here, it u'd never have happened I'm +sure if he had been, seeing the way he has with him, though I can't say +as 'ow I approve of him so young and good-looking--and all these +Eastern hussies around--wandering about so much by himself. I do +wonder what 'appened--all right, lad, there's many a slip between the +aitch and the noovoh rich lip, _h'appened_ to the girl he's looking +for. Over a year ago you say, Mary, my dear, since she disappeared at +Ishmael, and not heard of since, and Sir John scouring Egypt with all +the energy I used to use to the kitchen floor, and not half the result +to show for it, eh, Timothy lad? Do you think he was in love with her, +or is it a case of--oh, what's them two words which mean that you can't +think of anything but one thing." + +"_Idé fixe_," enlightened Diana Lytham. + +"Eyedyfix! Sounds like one of those cocktails that heathen +feller-me-lad's always trying to poison me with, eh, Miss Diana," +chuckled the old manufacturer, who worshipped the cloth of aristocracy, +and even reverenced the fringe. + +"Oh, you bet he was in love all right, don't you think so, Mary +dearest," and the small grey eyes snapped spitefully across at the +good-natured, healthy girl, who had raised a weak resemblance of hate +in her whilom school friend's breast, more by the matter-of-course, +jolly way she had helped lame dogs over stiles than the fact that such +obstructions had never lain in her path. + +"Are you talking about Jack and Jill? Everybody loved her, and she was +made to be loved, was beautiful, wilful Jillikins. I wish he could +find her, or a trace, or some news of her! Oh, but surely we are +intruding upon his own affairs too much, and I _wonder_ what has---- +Oh, but listen--do listen, did you ever hear such a noise, and just +_look_ at the crowds! Why, the whole of old Cairo is coming this way." + +Even as she spoke, two Arabs, mounted on superb horses, and brandishing +spears, dashed past the cars, shouting continuously what would be the +equivalent of "clear the way" in English, just as to the sound of +shouting and singing, the beating of drums, and clashing of cymbals, a +stream of natives, dancing and waving their arms, poured into the +square. + +Round and round they spun about six great camels, which, hung with +bells and decked from head to stubbly tail with glistening harness and +embroidered saddle-cloths, stalked ahead, unheeding of the tumult; +whilst riders of restless horses did their best to regulate the action +and pace of the nervous animals. + +Behind them walked scores of young men in snow-white galabeah, their +impassive, delicately curved faces surmounted by the scarlet tarboosh, +chanting that old-Egyptian marriage song of which the music score was +lost some few thousand years ago, lying perhaps securely hidden in a +secret chamber, undiscovered in the ruins of Karnak, but which song, +without a single alteration of note or word, has descended from Rameses +the Second down through the history-laden centuries to _us_, the +discoverers and worshippers of ragtime. + +But the greatest crush surged round two camels which walked +disdainfully through the throng, seemingly as oblivious of the excited +multitude as the one made herself out to be of the man who walked +beside her with a fantastic whip, and the other of the golden chains +which fastened her to the blackest eunuch of all Africa. + +Upon the one of the golden chains, rested a golden palanquin, closed +with curtains of softest white satin, a-glitter with precious stones. + +Around the brute's neck hung great garlands of flowers, from its +harness chimed golden bells of softest tone, whilst tassels of silver +swung from the jewel encrusted net covering her shining coat. + +What or who was inside, no one seemed to be able to coherently explain, +though the setting alone told of some priceless treasure. + +There was no doubt as to the rider of the other camel! + +"Hahmed! Hahmed! Hahmed!" rose the unceasing cry from old and young, +whilst blessings ranging from the continued comfortable shape of his +shadow, to the welfare of his progeny unto the most far-reaching +generation, through a life perpetual of sun, sweetmeats, and shady +streams, rose and fell from the pavements, roofs, and balconies crowded +with the curious, upon the impassive man who held his camel harnessed +with native simplicity, just one pace behind its companion. + +The crowning touch was added to this delirious moment of festival by +the simply scandalous distribution of golden coin, _golden_ mind you, +which attendants clothed in every colour of an Egyptian sunset, and +mounted upon diminutive, but pure bred donkeys, threw right and left +with no stinting hand, to the distribution of which largesse responded +shrill laughter, and still shriller cries, and thwack of stick on dark +brown pate and cries of pain upon the meeting of youthful ivories in +the aged ankle or wrist. + +No doubt about it, Cairo, _real_ Cairo I mean, had been in an uproar +from the moment two special trains had chugged into the Central Station +a few hours back. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +Crowned and uncrowned queens travel in comfort all the world over, a +comfort of over-heated special trains, the most stable part of the +boat, the most skilful chauffeur, allied to the most speedy car, an +elaboration of the luncheon basket, and the heartening effect of strips +of red baize; but the comfort of a church pew compared to the downy +recesses of a Chesterfield, against the comfort and regal luxury of +Jill's mode of travelling. + +Surrounded by an armed guard under the absolute control of black +Mustapha, armed to the teeth, chaperoned by Mrs. Grundy in the shape +or, as I should say, represented in the shapeless person of a dusky +duenna of many moons, a good heart and a vitriolic tongue, who coyly +peeped from behind the sombre curtains of her middle-aged palanquin, +Jill started on her wedding journey. Over a carpet of flowers, through +a long lane of palm leaves, held by veiled maidens, so as to form an +arch, she passed, whilst the sweetness of the girls' voices rose to the +tops of the acacia and mimosa trees, and gigantic date palms, in the +Egyptian bridal song. + +In no way did Jill's return journey across the desert and through the +mountains to the canal's edge resemble the out going. + +She did it with leisure and comfort this time, to find the Arab's great +white steam yacht waiting to race her to Ismailiah. + +She had looked round for the man she loved, but had seen him only when, +with great pomp and circumstance, she landed on the other side. + +The whole of the town had turned out, so that the white car in which +she made the short trajet between the landing-place and the station +passed between a lane lined with male faces, dusky, dark brown, and +light tan, thousands of soft eyes sparkling over the all-hiding, +all-attractive yashmak, and a dotted line, well in the forefront of the +leather-brown, European physiognomies, of those who nudged and pointed, +exclaiming aloud, so that their words carried even into the interior of +the closed car, upon their luck of seeing a _real native show_. + +With grave obeisance to the woman, Hahmed the Arab had entered his +special train, which preceded Jill's by ten minutes, so that when she +arrived at Cairo Central Station, surrounded by her armed guard, and +with her duenna rocking painfully by her side in a pair of over small +shoes, a little scared at the sea of faces, and the echo of the voices +of those who stood outside, kept in order by the swash-buckling native +police of fez ornamented heads, she had stood transfixed, wondering +what on earth she should do next. + +Verily, the Eastern can carry off a situation which would undoubtedly +fill the Western with consternation. + +Perhaps the clothing has as much to do with it as any national traits, +for surely no man in stove-pipe trousers, and all that goes to the +well-looking of these garments, could have so composedly traversed the +broad flower-strewn carpet, laid with the consent of the authorities +and no little distribution of backsheesh upon the dusty station, and +making deep obeisance, have so serenely led the little cloaked and +veiled figure to the gorgeously caparisoned (if one may apply that term +to the ship of the desert's rigging) camel, which sprawled its neck +upon the ground for the benefit of the motley crowd without. + +Anyway, it was an unbelievable thing to happen in Egypt, the land of +veiled and secluded women. It was wonderful enough to know that the +great Hahmed was taking unto himself a wife, but that that wife should +suddenly appear from out of the desert unknown, unseen--well, it took +one's breath away, indeed it did, but well again--seeing the wealth and +power of the man, it was wiser to rejoice than to quibble and gossip +upon such doings. + +So all along the Sharia Clot Bey, which is the electrically lit, motor +filled, modern shop-lined road leading from the station, Jill peeped +between the curtains at the throngs of jubilant natives, and the +surrounding Western looking buildings. + +She felt hurt to the soul by the modernity of the latter, just as she +had been hurt on arriving in Rome and Venice, until later on she had +found balm in the old stones and streets and buildings of both places +hidden behind the twentieth century. + +Jill knew that she was being taken to the palace of the old Sheikh, +uncle of the man she was about to wed, but where it was she had no +idea, nor of the names of the streets, the mosques or the palaces and +the mansions she could spy upon, from between her satin curtains, on +her way to the Bab-es-Shweyla gate. The route they had taken in the +glow of the setting sun, once they had left European Cairo behind, lay +through the El Katai quarter, having chosen the road leading from the +mosque of Sultan Hassan, through the Bazaar of the Amourers to reach +the great gate, the very heart of old Cairo. + +And the girl's whole being seemed inundated with the light of the +gorgeous heavens above her as she passed down the Sukkariya, the broad +and pleasant path running under the gate, and her eyes shone as they +rested on the huge and ancient El-Azhar, the university of all Islam. + +Past mosque and tomb in the El-Nahassin, whilst minarets turned from +gold to rose, and rose to crimson in the dying sun, up through the +Gamahyia, danced and sang the ever increasing multitude, until the +armed guard suddenly came to a standstill, forming a circle round the +two camels, who had haughtily condescended to kneel, as Jill with her +hand in that of her chaperon, passing between rows of salaaming +servants, wondering what had become of Hahmed, and where she was going, +and if tea could possibly be forthcoming instead of coffee, entered a +courtyard, beautiful beyond words, and passing through the gates +leading to the harem, heard them shut behind her; whilst with little +cries of greeting, the four wives and many inhabitants of this secluded +spot swept down upon her, their dainty, henna-tipped fingers quickly +removing her cloak and veil, their little exclamations of astonishment +testifying to their appreciation of the radiant little vision who +smiled so sweetly upon them, and returned their greetings in such +prettily broken Arabic. + +Only one contretemps had marred the perfect organisation of the +proceedings, and that happened when the advance guard, turning a corner +at full speed, regardless of the life and limbs of the seething mass of +adults, babies, and dogs, had found themselves forced to edify the +spectators with an exhibition of _haute école_, as their terrified +horses, suddenly rearing, pawed the quivering air above a brace of +camels, who had lawlessly and obstinately stretched themselves forth +upon the soft bed of mud and house garbage spread liberally throughout +one of the narrowest streets in El-Katia. + +Proddings of spears, and kickings of tender anatomical portions +availing nothing, the last means for the hasty moving of obstreperous +camels had been resorted to with success. + +The following is the recipe: + +Take two or more camels, fully laden for choice, stretched at length +across a narrow street. For removal of same, apply a vigorous drubbing +by means of a stick or sticks. If no result, apply foot with yet more +vigour. If this fails, gather an armful of good dry straw, fix it +cunningly under the animal's belly, apply match, and fly for your life +to the nearest sanctuary. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +Jill had been married a fortnight. Everything down to the minutest +detail had passed off perfectly, everything had been duly signed and +sealed and conducted in the most orthodox and binding manner, leaving +the witnesses breathless at the thought of the land, jewels, houses, +and cattle with which Hahmed the Arab endowed this woman who brought +him nothing excepting beauty, which was not exactly beauty, but rather +colouring, plus brain and charm. + +Not even love had she brought it seemed, or obedience, for had not her +lord and master uncomplainingly allowed her to keep the door of her +apartments closed, neither had he insisted on the dyeing of her golden +hair to that henna shade, of which so much is thought in the land of +black hirsute coverings. + +The feasting and rejoicings of the past ten days had surpassed anything +ever dreamt of on the banks of the Nile. + +There had been tournaments and exhibitions of strength and agility and +horsemanship in the day, and dancing by the most famous dancers in the +land by night--dances, let me tell you, in spite of what you gather by +hearsay or ocular proof in such cesspools as Port Said and kindred +towns, which were lessons in modesty compared to that blush-producing +exercise called the Tango and its descendants. + +The harem was a cage of excited love-birds to whom were duly brought +detailed accounts of the nightly and daily doings. Never had there +been such a commotion within the somewhat over-decorated walls, nor had +the great mirrors reflected such sheen of wondrous silks, and satins, +and flashing jewels; whilst sweetmeats, coffee, and cool drinks were +the order of the day for the sustenance and refreshment of the +never-ending stream of high-born ladies, who from far and near and in +all kinds of covered vehicles hastened with the excuse of greeting the +wife of the great Arab, to gather first hand delectable morsels of +gossip anent her strange methods of procedure, and her master's still +stranger leniency towards her. + +"Truly," remarked Fatima (which is not her real name), the +thirteen-year-old and latest addition to the harem, and therefore +favourite of the old Sheikh, as for the eighth time she changed her +costume, and with the tip of her henna pink finger skilfully removed a +too liberal application of kohl from about her right and lustrous eye, +whilst chatting with her maid. "Truly, I say, the man is either +besotted with love, or suffering from some strange malady. Nigh upon +the passage of ten days and nights, and yet he bends not the woman to +his will, and she more luscious than a peach from the southern wall. +Thinkest thou it's love, oh Fuddja? And thinkest thou the whiteness of +my bosom shows to advantage against the gold of my neckband?" + +CHAPTER XXXV + +Having just wrested a promise from Hahmed that he would take her one +moonlight night to the summit of the Great Pyramid, in spite of the +strict rules against such nightly excursions, Jill sat very still and +quite content upon her camel gazing at the Sphinx. She turned and +looked in the direction where the great eyes were staring, and then +turning once more towards the mystery of all ages, she urged her camel +on until it stood close to the base, and then, dissatisfied, she urged +it back until she could look once more from a distance, and shaking her +head with a little sigh, spoke in a whisper to the man at her side. + +"I wonder, Hahmed," she said, holding out her hand as was her habit +when perplexed or distressed, "I wonder who conceived the idea. No! I +mean something quite different--it is--how shall I say--I wonder who it +was who, having the _meaning_ of that face in his mind, had the power +and the will to hold it there while he carved or chipped it--oh! so +slowly into stone. It is easy enough to paint from a model, or hew +blocks of marble in the shape of a man or a woman or animal, isn't +it--when you have them in front with their expressions and their forms? +But how did the man who did this with only a picture in his _mind_ to +rely on _dare_ to use a chisel? Because you can't rub out mistakes in +stone, and sketches wouldn't have helped him, would they, because even +photographs give one no real idea of all the Sphinx means? And I +wonder where the look lies--in the eyes or the whole face, or the set +of the head, or what? The eyes are rather like a dog's, aren't they--a +sort of wistfulness and steadfastness." + +"Many have asked, O! woman, though not many who have looked upon the +Sphinx have, I think, thought upon just your first point. What do we +know about this living stone before which the mightiest, and most +wonderful, and most beautiful works of even the greatest masters seem +as nothing? Who was he? Whose brain conceived, and hands gave birth +to this mystery? Why is his name not engraved somewhere for us pigmies +to read? Though doubtless it is in the depths of the hidden chambers +in the base which up to now have only been superficially examined." + +"Yes!" broke in Jill, "but whoever he was, slave or prince, captive or +free, _who_ taught him what eternity _looks like_; for that surely is +is what the Sphinx sees, the circle with no join, the world--not this +one--not Egypt--without end. We all say for ever and ever, but _our_ +brains reel when we _think_ for one minute on eternity. Do you think +his brain snapped when he put the last stroke? Do you think he was +buried with decency with his chisels beside him?" + +"No! surely not! Otherwise, Moonflower, somebody would have dug him +out along with the Pharaohs, and priests, and courtesans, so that we +should have learned something about him by turning his mummified body +inside out, and unwinding the burial cloth from about those fingers +which have given us the Sphinx. Strange! that a woman's whim, born of +vanity, should be spoken of with bated breath, even to this day! A +woman melts a pearl and the world continues to cry Ah! through all +time; a man creates this, and no record is left of him. Verily Allah +has blessed me in giving you into my hands, for behold your thoughts +are as sweet to me as the wind that blows through the mimosa trees at +dawn." + +The girl turned a serious face towards Hahmed and smiled sweetly. + +"How small and futile we are, Hahmed, in front of this great thing. +See how it, I say it because surely there is no sex in any one part of +it, brushes us aside, not in indifference, but just because to it we +simply do not exist any more than the sand, even less so, because the +sand in time would even blind those eyes. How I wish I could see it +lying uncovered on its base. And I somehow can't imagine that Mary +laid the Infant Christ to rest between its paws! How did they cross +the desert on one poor ass? How would they, so humble and so poor, be +able to approach the Sphinx with its guards about it? And I wonder if +they will ever open up the shaft and search until they find the history +on the walls of the base which, I am sure, buries somebody down in its +depths. + +"Eternity! and yet I fret and worry, get cross--_cross_, Hahmed, which +is so much more little than angry--and love to tease and give pain. +Forgive me!" + +And something had crept into the girl's voice which caused the man to +lean forward, and very gently to tilt Jill's face upward so that the +moon struck down full upon it. + +But the heavy lids veiled the eyes, so that nothing could be seen of +the wonder of all-time reflected therein. A wonder of the birth of +which there is no record; a mystery which has a million times million +shapes, each shape fashioned afresh, yet always the same; a mystery +besides which the Sphinx is as a grain of sand. The mystery of Love. + +And Hahmed the Arab, who had waited since all eternity for this moment +of time, raised one hand to heaven and praised his God, and then leant +forward to readjust the veil before the woman's face. + +"The Sphinx shall not see your face, neither shall the stars, nor shall +the wind touch your mouth, O! my beloved! For I would take you to the +ruins of the Temple of Khafra, where the rose colour of the stone shall +tint your face and your hands, where eyes shall not see nor hear the +story of the love I have to tell you." + +And leaning across he put his arm about Jill and lifted her from her +saddle, and laid her across his knees with her head in the hollow of +his shoulder. + +"I am of the desert, O! my woman, of the sandstorm and the winds, the +rocks, and the heat--I have no desire this night for soft cushions, nor +for the fragrance of the hanging curtains of your chamber. I love you, +Allah, and this time I will not wait. You have played with me for many +moons! Not even once have I laid my lips upon even the whiteness of +your hand since Allah in His greatness made you my wife in the name +before the law. At your wish I have denied myself all, until I have +longed to bring you to my feet with the lash of the whip--yet have I +waited, knowing that the moment of your surrender would be the sweeter +for it. + +"And the spirits of the past shall be your hand-maidens, and the moon +shall be your lamp, and the sand shall be your marriage-couch this +night--and I, O! woman--I shall be your master." + +And who knows if it was not love who wrought upon the granite until the +Sphinx was born? For after all Love is eternal, and eternity is Love. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +The silver shafts of the full moon struck down into the ruined outer +courts of the Temple of Khafra, turning the rose-colour of the granite +to a dull terra-cotta, and picking out the pavement with weird designs +of gigantic beasts and flowers, the which, when Jill put her foot upon +them, proved to be nothing more harmful than the shadows thrown by the +walls and huge blocks of fallen masonry. + +Slowly she crossed the court and as slowly climbed the incline leading +to the chambers of long dead priests and priestesses, pausing at the +opening with a little catch of the breath, and a quick glance at the +man she loved beside her. + +The darkness of Egypt is a common enough expression on the lips of +those who know nothing of what they are talking about, and Jill, who +had often used the words, stood transfixed at the abysmal blackness in +front of her. + +Outside it was as clear as day, inside it was darker than any night, +and like a flash, the girl compared it with her life at that very +moment. + +Up to now she had been her own mistress, in that she had deliberately +and of her own free will done the things she ought and ought not to +have done, and had been content with the result. + +True, she was married to the man beside her, bound to him by law, his +in the eyes of the world, and of Allah Who is God, but she knew full +well that until she called to him and surrendered herself in love, that +she was as free as any maiden could be in that land, and, she thought, +that doubtless in time he would tire of her caprice and let her go, +taking unto himself another as wife. In which surmise she was utterly +mistaken! + +Should she move forward into the darkness? Should she turn back into +the light? + +If she crossed the threshold she knew she would seek the protection of +his arms against the threatenings of the shadows which surely held the +spirits of the past; and in his arms, why! even at the thought her +heart leapt and her face burned beneath the veil. + +If she turned back she would return to her position of honoured guest +in the man's house, a barren, unsatisfying position for one in whom +youth cried for love and mastery. + +If only Hahmed would make a sign, a movement; if only he would say one +word. But he stood motionless just behind her, waiting himself, with +the oriental's implicit belief for some deciding sign from Fate. + +There was no sound, no sign of life as they stood waiting, and then the +night breeze, gently lifting a corner of the Arab's full white cloak, +wrapped it like some great wing about the girl. + +A thrill swept her from head to foot as she pressed her hands above her +heart, and then with eyes wide open and alight with love stepped across +the threshold into the shadows, unknowingly turning the corner of that +block of granite which hides the opening, leaving one in complete and +utter darkness. + +She flung out her hands and felt nothing, turned swiftly and flung them +out again, vainly searching for the Arab's cloak, and finding nothing +let them fall to her side. + +"My God!" she whispered, and moved a step forward, stopped and listened +and moved back. "Hahmed! Hahmed!" + +She called aloud in fear, she who had never known what it was to be +afraid, and she gave a little sob of pure relief when the Arab answered +from the distance of a few feet. + +"Wherefore are you afraid, O! woman? Behold I am near you, watching +you, for my eyes are trained for the night as well as for the day, even +though your eyes, which are as the turquoise set in a crown of glory, +may not pierce the darkness, being unaccustomed to the violent +contrasts and colourings of the East." + +Then fell a silence. + +And then the perfume of the night, and the scent of the sand and the +spirit of the dead women who had lived and loved even in that temple +chamber, assailed the nostrils of the girl, entering in unto her and +causing a wave of longing and unutterable love to rise and flood her +whole being, so that she smiled sweetly to herself and held out her +arms, and trembled not at the thought of the moment awaiting her. + +"Hahmed! Hahmed!" she called softly from love, and hearing no sound +called again and yet more softly. "Come to me, Hahmed! come to +me--because--I love you!" + +And her master held her in one arm whilst he gently removed the veil +from before her face, which she turned and laid against his heart as he +poured forth his soul in an ecstasy of love. + +"Behold!" he cried, as he removed the outer cloak from about her. +"Behold is my beloved like unto a citadel which has fallen before my +might, and the gates thereof are unbarred before the conqueror! + +"Behold," and Jill's head veil fell to her feet, "is the citadel fair +to look upon, from the glistening of the golden cupolas to the feet +awash in the River of Love. + +"Surrounded by the ivory wall of innocence is she, and unto her lord is +the glory of measuring the circumference thereof. + +"Even as a flowering tree is she, and beneath my hands shall the bloom +of love turn even unto the passion flower. + +"Like unto a Court of Love is my heart's delight, and many are the +chambers therein, in which in the heat of the day and the coolness of +the night I shall find repose. + +"Her fingers are as the lattice before the windows of her joy, through +which she shall peep; looking for the coming of her lord; her lashes +are the silken curtains which she will draw before the twin pools of +love which are her eyes; her body is as a column of alabaster in the +shadow of which I shall find my delight! + +"Yea! the citadel has fallen, and the walls about it are riven at my +approach. Allah! Allah! Allah!" + +And the shadows crept gently about them as once more the silence fell, +and gathered again into the corners as Jill sighed softly. + +"Tremble not, my beloved! for behold I love thee! Gentle is love to +such as thee, and soft is the sand of Egypt which shall be thy couch. +And yet, thou child of love, even at this moment when my heart waxeth +faint within me from love of thee, yet will I listen, and take thee +back unto thy dwelling and thy fragrant chamber if so thou desireth!" + +But Jill, lifting her arms, laid her hands in utter submission upon the +man's breast, and sighed again in perfect content beneath the kisses +which covered them, and her arms and her breasts and her beautiful +mouth. + +"As thou wilt," she whispered softly, "only as thou wilt." + +And verily as a young tree she stood in the glory of her youth with her +feet upon the sands of Egypt, and verily was her heart glad when she +was carried into the inner chamber, and passed into the keeping of her +master for ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +Some months had gone, and the sun sparkled on the water of the little +singing stream, though bitter winds had blown and all-enveloping sand +had swirled about the palms which surrounded Jill's beautiful home in +the oasis, of which the reins were gradually slipping into fingers +skilled in driving anything from a four-in-hand to a donkey in a cart. + +Three mornings a week, an hour after dawn, she gave audience to all +those who, with grievance or in difficulty, desired her help or advice; +for which ceremony, and having the dramatic instinct, she had caused a +clearing to be made in the shade of the palms, under the biggest of +which she had also had placed a great chair of snow-white marble, in +which, clothed always in white, she would seat herself, her passionate +mouth smiling happily behind the yashmak whilst over it the great eyes, +into which had crept a look of infinite tenderness in the months that +had passed, would scrutinise the people standing humbly and astounded +before her. + +She would look across upon mothers with obstreperous sons who would not +work, or would not wed; mothers who beat their breasts in despair at +the utter lack of looks or grace in the unfortunately multiplied +feminine arrows within the parental quiver; young men who craved a word +of recommendation so as to obtain a certain post; older men who craved +an overdraft at the bank of her patience; young mothers whose infants +were either too fat or too lean, or with eyes half-eaten away with +disease; all of whom having received a full measure of help, pressed +down and running over, and having bestrewn themselves upon the ground +around her chair, would depart in high fettle to spread the news of +this wonder woman, their mistress, in whom they felt such inordinate +pride; so that one, then two, then more, from distances long and short, +would creep into the council with pretexts ranging from the thin to the +absolutely transparent, until one morning the whole séance ended in an +unseemly fracas between the legitimate and the illegitimate seekers +after help in word or kind, whereupon Hahmed, rising in his wrath, +smote them verbally hip and thigh, and Jill departed in high dudgeon, +leaving the culprits to wilt in the frost of her keen displeasure. + +And from about that date, a month ago, everything seemed to have gone +wrong. + +Days of depression would follow days of mad spirits, hours when she was +as the sweetest scented rose within the hands of the Arab, followed by +interminable, stretches of time when the points of the "wait-a-bit" +thorn were blunt compared to the exceeding sharpness of her temper. + +Days when all that was right was wrong, and all that was wrong _was_ +wrong, so that her women crept quietly, and Hahmed wondered sometimes +if some "afreet"[1] haunted the soil and had taken possession of the +soul of his beloved. + +Jill swung to and fro in a hammock slung between two palms at a very +early hour indeed of this morning late in December. + +She had neither veil before her face nor shoes upon her feet, and the +flimsy mauve robe clung to the supple body as she restlessly swung, +until she clapped her hands to summon her breakfast, and clapped them +again sharply so that a figure came running at high pressure. + +"Go, ask thy master if he will break bread with me in the shade of the +palms, oh Laleah, and let not the shadows lengthen unduly in thy going +for fear that I give thee cause to hasten thy footsteps!" + +Which manner of speech shows that Jill had not unduly tarried either in +acquiring knowledge of things Eastern. And Hahmed, as he stood before +her and greeted her in the beautiful Arabian tongue, wondered if in all +the world there could be found such another picture as that of his +wife, with the riot of red-gold hair about her little face, which +somehow seemed over white in the shade of the palm, and the blueness of +her eyes, and the redness of her mouth, which neither the one nor the +other smiled at his approach. + +"Do sit down and help yourself!" said she indeed, and clapping her +hands sharply ordered fresh food and drinks, both hot and cold, to be +brought upon the instant. + +And her next remark, after the breakfast of tea in a real teapot, a +hissing kettle, strange loaves, purest butter, honey, and fruits of +every conceivable colour had been laid upon a cloth upon the grass, +fell like a bolt from the blue, though the man made no sign of +disturbance from the impact. + +"I want eggs and bacon, Hahmed!" + +For a moment he pondered the remark, whilst he offered Jill a cigarette +and lit one for himself. + +"The eggs, my woman," and the musical voice made a poem even of the +absurd words, "now that thou hast taught thy slaves to poach and +scramble and prepare them in divers and pleasant ways, are easy--but +bacon--no! that canst thou _not_ have amongst these my people!" + +And Jill swung ceaselessly to and fro, looking at the man sitting a few +yards from her on a rug, before she answered in tersest English: + +"Don't be dense, Hahmed! I want eggs and bacon, and a starched finger +napkin--toast in a rack--covered dishes--marmalade--I'm--I'm------" + +"Fed up!" + +The deep voice filled in the pause also in tersest English. + +For one moment Jill sat up as straight as the hammock would allow, and +then for the first time in many days broke into a peal of sweetest +laughter, and swinging herself clear of the net ran over and laid +herself down upon the rug beside the man, with her chin in the palms of +her hands, to find herself the next moment in his arms, whilst he +looked down into her eyes without speaking. Whereupon she turned her +face on to his shoulder and burst into tears. + +And Hahmed, being wise, let her cry until there were no more tears, +only little sobs which tore at his heart, which lightened considerably +when having mopped her eyes with the edge of his cloak, she twisted +herself into a sitting position, and smiled as she laid her golden head +against his dark one, and entwined her slim fingers in his. + +And Hahmed smiled also, knowing that this was the preliminary to some +request of which his wife had doubts as to the granting, but never a +word did he utter, nor made sign to help, whilst Jill, somewhat at a +loss, lit a cigarette, and proceeded to blow rings which on account of +the breeze refused to pass one through the other. + +"Hahmed!" she managed at last and stopped, and then continued as she +got up and moved away: "Hahmed! I'm feeling absolutely _miserable_. I +think I want a change--I really do want all I said just now, so--so +_can't_ we go to Cairo and stay at an English hotel for the New Year? +We could _just_ do it if we started at once--_couldn't_ we? I know you +have important business or something next month--_can't_ you put it +off?" + +Hahmed looked at her for a moment, as she stood very fair and straight, +with her beautiful feet peeping from under her trailing gown; and +frowned a little, noticing the shadows round the big eyes, and the +suspicion of a collar-bone showing above the embroidery of her bodice. + +"And why didst thou hesitate, little one, to ask--knowing as thou dost +that thy wish is law absolute to me? Business affairs, what are they? +Let them wait--let the world wait as long as thou art happy. Verily +thou art pale and thin------" Upon which unfortunate remark Jill +turned like the spitfire she had lately become. + +"Seeing that you are allowed four wives, Hahmed, there is no reason to +bemoan your fate; this is not Europe, where once married you are for +ever tied to the one girl, who, a bud in her youth, may as time passes +turn to one of those dreadful cabbage-roses, which go purple and fat +with age. I'm sorry," she continued, as she held out both her hands, +"you simply must not notice me these days. I think I am bewitched--I +have even sent my darling old Ameena away because her deformity +suddenly irritated me, and I told Mustapha I would have him thrown as +breakfast to the cheetahs if he dared to make himself seen, and he +believed it, and no shampoo will _ever_ get the sand out of his hair." + +"But he _shall_ be thrown to the cheetahs if it would please thee, +beloved!" + +And the uncalculating cruelty in the man's voice sent the red to the +girl's white face, and moving over to him made her lean down and kiss +him upon the mouth. + +And then she seated herself upon the ground and made tea, laughing like +a child when to please her the Arab drank it protestingly. + +"By Allah! it is a poison which you drink in Europe, and yet you would +go and drink it in a crowded city." + +"Are we going, Hahmed, oh Hahmed, _are_ we?" whispered Jill, half +afraid to break the spell by the raising of her voice. + +"But of course, beloved--hast thou not expressed the wish--though +surely it were better to go to thine own dwelling, for it will go hard +with thee to keep thy face covered and remain undiscovered to thy many +friends, who doubtless will be seeking the solace of Egypt's winter +sun; for the time is not yet at hand when I will permit thee to make +thyself known to them." + +But Jill was ready to accept anything as long as her craving could be +satisfied, and Hahmed, longing to satisfy her craving, looked with eyes +of love upon the sweetness of her face aglow with anticipation, so that +both were well content. + +And an hour passed in which they ate and drank, and Jill balanced +pieces of sweet bread upon the noses of two great hounds, who, scenting +their master from afar, had broken bounds and raced to him, leaping the +breakfast table to Jill's infinite delight, whilst their groom lay upon +the ground out of sight anticipating the thrashing his carelessness +merited him, but from which he was spared by reason of his mistress' +sweetness. + +"And so, Light of Heaven, I must leave thee, for there is much to +prepare if we would start at once, for it is difficult to secure the +strict privacy due to my wife in these times when the world is overrun +by the tourist ants who should by right be underground. + +"And my heart inclineth to hours spent with thee, O! Flower of the +Desert, hours spent at thy feet in the heat of the day whilst thou +slumberest, hours upon the roof of thy dwelling, watching the day +prepare herself for the coming of her lover, the night; and yet must I +leave thee when my being is overwhelmed with love of thee, thou wind of +caprice! Would that I could tell the meaning of my gentleness towards +thee, I, Hahmed, who, like a love-sick youth, sleeps the night without +the silken curtain of thy door and dare not enter in unto thee." + +And his hands suddenly gripped the girl by her shoulders and pulled her +towards him, at which roughness she smiled, as women do when so +treated, and rested her sweet-scented head above his heart. + +"Ah, Hahmed! Who knows if thou are not over timorous even for a +love-sick youth," she sighed. "And _must_ thou go when my heart +inclineth to hours spent with _thee_? And yet at night the stars come +out so 'tis said, and can be seen from the roof of my dwelling; and +when the wind sweeps over chill across the sands the fire throws +shadows in my room of roses, where the love bird with little wings +hovers above my couch suspended by a little silken cord." + +And the man bent her back towards him so that the ribbon of her bodice +snapped and the beauty of her lay under his hands, and she stretched +both arms outwards and whispered so that only he could hear, "Kiss me, +Hahmed, oh my heart's desire! Kiss me, for I am faint with love of +thee." + +And even as he bent downwards to her she fell unconscious at his feet, +whereupon he raised her in his arms and looked into the white face, +speaking so that only she might hear. + +"And the love bird shall fly down to thy couch this night, Delight of +my Heart, and the shadows upon thy sweet face shall deepen ere the +dawn," and he kissed the closed eyes and the red mouth and the white +throat and the shadow of a collar-bone which showed above the roundness +of her breasts, and then he laid her upon the cushions on the ground, +and, clapping his hands, gave her into the care of her handmaidens. + + +[1]Evil Spirit. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +An hour and more had passed before Jack Wetherbourne suddenly awoke, +and stretching his arms above his head apostrophised the full moon +shining down upon the Great Pyramid in the shadows of which he was +sitting. + +"What the dickens Lady Moon brought me to this place of all places +to-night," he said lazily, as he struck a match and lit a cigarette. +"Let's hope my ship of the desert hasn't upstreamed for Cairo all on +her own, else I see myself here until the advent of the next Cook's +party. Decent of the camel wallah to let me take the apple of his +commercial eye into the desert unaccompanied." He stretched and +settled himself more comfortably, continuing to talk aloud. "What a +night--what a country--wish I'd brought Mary with me--ideal spot for a +heart-to-heart talk. I might have shaken her out of her 'eyedyfix,' as +old Gruntham calls it. Silly idea that she won't get married until +Jill has been found--why! what! who in heaven's name are coming down +the pyramid? Well, I'm blessed! two native wallahs been breaking the +rules, and I had no idea they were perched up there above my head." + +Safe in the protecting shadows he watched Hahmed and Jill descend. + +Little ripples of laughter fell on the night air as Hahmed, letting +himself down easily from one gigantic block to another, held out his +arms and lifted Jill down, bending his head to kiss her each time he +put her on her feet. + +They were at the last step but one when, with a little scream, she +swayed, and nearly fell to the step beneath. + +"Hold me, Hahmed," she cried, "I'm dizzy, everything is going round!" + +And Hahmed caught her and lifted her gently down the last steps to the +sand, bending to kiss her on the mouth, and shifting her suddenly to +his left arm so as to catch Jack Wetherbourne by the throat as he +dashed shouting from the shadows upon them. + +"Jill! Jill! It's I--Jack! don't let-----" + +Until the grip tightening choked back his words, when with a surprising +swiftness the Arab let go his hold, and getting one in on the point, +sent the Englishman reeling backwards to fall in a heap against the +base of the pyramid, and then to scramble to his feet, too dizzy to +stop his adversary, who, flinging the veil over the woman's face, +passed swiftly to the place where awaited the camels. + +And too slow was Jack Wetherbourne to gain the spot in time to stop the +flight of the camel which with its double burden was already racing +straight ahead into the desert; and too bemused by the blow to +recognise the fact when he did get there that the hired brute he was +staggering too was built for speed in the image of the tortoise +compared to the hare-like-for-swiftness contour of the abandoned beauty +who had strolled to the spot from the other side of the pyramid, and +quite undisturbed was watching her sister's hurried departure into the +unknown. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +All our lives we all chase wraiths in the moonshine! Be the wraiths +the outcome of proximity in the garden under the silvery moon rays, +which so often snap the trap about our unwary feet by rounding off the +physical angles of our momentary heart's desires, or lending point to +the stub ends of their undeveloped mentality; or the wraiths of the +midnight soul, otherwise disarranged nervous or digested system, which +float invitingly, distractingly, tantalisingly in front of our +clogged-by-sleep vision at night; turning out, however, in the early +light heralding the early cup of tea, to be nothing more soul +distracting than the good old brass knob adorning the end of the +bedstead. + +But Jack Wetherbourne's wraiths, which he was chasing in the moonlight, +were good honest humans with the requisite number of legs and arms +wrapped in good, white raiment; one of which humans with the other in +his arms sat astride a camel, who made up by her muscular development +whatever she might lack in goodness of heart and honesty of purpose; +she too being wrapped in the silvery drapery which the moon throws +pell-mell around pyramid and mud hut, humble fellah, descendant maybe +of some long dead Pharaoh, and the jocular, jubilant millionaire, who +with luck can trace a grandfather. + +But chase he ever so eagerly, Jack Wetherbourne could barely keep his +quarry in sight as on and on sped the racing camel with that curious +slithering gait which denotes great speed, whilst the wind caught at +Jill's veil, blowing it this way and that until she impatiently tore it +from before her face, and struggling against the arm which held her +like a vice, managed to screw herself round to look behind, whereupon +the Arab jerked her suddenly back, looking down into her white face +with eyes ablaze with jealousy. + +"Hast thou no circumspection, O! wife of mine?" he cried, the wind +carrying the words from his lips almost before they were uttered. +"Mine, all mine thou art, and yet thou strivest to look upon the +countenance of that madman who would have outraged my honour by looking +upon thy face!" + +"Oh, but Hahmed! you don't understand--that was Jack Wetherbourne, my +neighbour and brother and friend, and do for pity's sake make the camel +go slower, I am being bumped to bits!" + +Which of all foolish utterances was the most foolish she could have +uttered, fanning the man's jealousy to a pitch where it burned right +through the barrier of self-restraint, making him desire to stop her +foolish words with kisses, and long to strangle her as she lay in his +arms, and cast her on to the sands for the vultures to pick at. + +"Thy friend and brother! How could any man unborn of thy parents be +anything but the would-be lover and husband of thy beautiful self! +Verily, woman, could I beat thee for such words until thy shoulders ran +blood. I know of him and his foolish futile searchings for thee, yet +it is _I_ who hold thee, and in very truth can call thee wife; nor will +I stay this my camel so that thou mayest have speech with him; this +pale faced yearling, who dared to look upon thy shadow; but by the +grace of Allah, I will so bewilder him who blundereth after thee +astride the product of the bazaar, that his sightless skull shall stare +blindly at the moon to-morrow night, whilst I shall feast my eyes upon +the whiteness of thy satin skin." + +And Jill lay still, knowing that she was up against something with +which she could not cope, noticing not at all that the camel began a +wide circle to the left, therefore being excessively surprised when an +hour before the dawn, upon the very outskirts of Cairo itself, the man +caused his camel to kneel, and placing the girl like a bundle of hay +upon the ground, turned towards Mecca; and the time of prayer being +passed, came to her suddenly and held her to him, raining kisses upon +the fairness of her face, shining pale and shadowed in the light of the +coming day. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +You have only to stare long enough at it to get the image of some +distinct object imprinted upon your retina, then you need but stare +again at some space of indistinct colouring and you will see the +impression of your distinct object reprinted a hundred times upside +down. + +Who has not tried the experiment in their youth with the aid of the +ceiling and red-lettered advertisement of chocolate or soap, and later +in years upbraided the reflected blobs of sun which usually choose a +critical moment in which to obscure your vision when you have turned +your back upon the sunset. + +Jack Wetherbourne distinctly saw the fleeing camel in front of him, +when he at last got his own to its feet, and being eager to keep his +quarry well within his vision, continued to stare and strain his eyes, +whilst he raced for hour after hour over mile after mile of sand, until +in the end he saw the fleeing camel ahead of him when in reality it was +well on its way back to Cairo; and continued, with eyes staring out of +a white, dust-covered face, to pursue the phantom until the first ray +of the sun hitting him fiercely, caused him to cover his eyes a while, +and after, to look about him with refreshed sight, which showed him in +the midst of the desert, alone, with a cloud of sand rising before the +wind some miles behind him--an infant sandstorm, but strong enough to +hide the distant peaks of the pyramids from him, and to send his +terrified, idiotic camel fleeing straight ahead through hours of +increasing heat, without a drop of water upon its foolish back or in +its master's pocket flask, until with a sudden silly chuckle the man +jerked the reins and tumbled headlong from the saddle, laughing +stupidly with sudden sunstroke. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +The midday sun of the same day blazed down upon a picture which for +ghastliness surpassed even the horrors painted by the madman Werth, +which, if your mind is steeped in morbidness, you can see for a franc, +or for nothing, I really forget which, when next you visit Brussels. + +Upon a hillock of sand, the summit of which continually trickled to the +base in fine golden streams, a little mound built with the aid of a +pair of pumps, sat Jack Wetherbourne, laughing sickeningly, just as he +had sat since the moment he had waved a delirious adieu to the quickly +disappearing camel. His dress coat, trousers, white waistcoat, shirt, +undergarments, socks and shoes, lay upon the sand arranged by the +disordered mind in the fantastic design of a scarecrow. + +As I have said, the man himself, naked save for a vest twisted round +his waist, sat upon the mound gesticulating violently, whilst keeping +up a one-sided, unanswered conversation with the figure on the sand. +His bronzed face, burnt almost black even in the few hours of sun +beating down upon his unshaded head, turned restlessly to the right and +left; his long fingers plucked without ceasing at the great blisters +which the heat drew up upon his body, bursting them, so that the fluid +mingled with the sand blown upon him by the light wind, and upon which +flies, thousands of them, settled, to buzz away when he rose to run +this way and that in an effort to stay the awful irritation. + +Two o'clock by the clocks in Cairo, the hour when workers and idlers, +rich and poor, seek the coolest spot in their vicinity in which to lay +them down and sleep a while--the hour when Mary Bingham drove up to +Shepherds, having raced here, there, and everywhere during the morning +in a vain endeavour to awaken a little interest in the minds of those +who listened, and shrugged, and looked at each other significantly, at +the tale of a man who had got lost in Cairo for a night and a +morning--a tale told agitatedly by a charming woman who could give no +reason for her agitation. + +Also she had tried, desperately hard, with the aid of the hotel porter, +to make head or tail out of the narrative as recounted by the hirer of +camels--a woebegone tale in which the undercurrent was a dismal +foreboding as to the fate of the priceless quadruped; the fate of an +Englishman seemingly being of small account when compared to that of +the snarling, unpleasant brute who represented the native's entire +fortune--at least so he said. "Yes, the nobleman had hired the camel +as he so often did, and being acquainted with the ways of the animal +had gone alone as he always did. No! upon the beard of his grandfather +he had no idea in which direction he had gone, though verily upon the +outskirts of Cairo there had been a festival in which La Belle, the +well-known dancer, was to dance--who knows------" And the Hon. Mary +had flung out of the place in disgust, knowing with a woman's +intuition, sharpened love, in comparison with which a _kukri_ is blunt, +that no such place hid the man she had been searching for so +desperately ever since she had suddenly wakened and sprung out of her +bed the night before, for no reason whatever, and, having rung up +Shepherds and ascertained the fact that Sir John Wetherbourne was not +in the hotel, had paced her room until she could with reason arouse her +maid, and, having bathed and breakfasted, had started out on the +seemingly mad pursuit of someone who had failed to return to his +habitat during the night--and in Cairo too! + +Is it surprising that men winked secretly at one another, and that +their wives, sharers of their joys and sorrows, scandal and gossip +inclusive, jingled their bracelets and pursed their lips, and did all +those things which jealous women--not necessarily love jealous--are +feign to do when the object responsible for the conception of the +green-eyed monster within their being is bent on making a fool of +herself? + +"Come now, dearie," mumbled Lady Sarah Gruntham, who insisted on +keeping Lancashire meal hours to the consternation of the hotel staff, +native and otherwise, as she mopped her heated brow with her +handkerchief and with the other hand patted the dark head leaning +wearily upon the row of scarab buttons adorning her tussore front, from +which she had forgotten to remove her finger napkin when the girl had +entered. "Come now--come now. Don't 'ee take on an' fret so. The +lad'll coom back to ye, never ye fear now. Well I remember when yon +Tim of mine was down t' mine in t' big explosion--I took on just as ye +are takin' on, love, but down in me heart, lass, I never really feared +me, because I knew that me love for me lad was that great, lass, that +I'd pull him out of danger--and sure and I did, lass, black as a sweep +and with a broken arm, but alive, and a champion tea of shrimps and +cress we had, jest as ye'll have with yer lad when he comes back, lass!" + +Which motherly comfort served to lighten the heavy heart, but brought +not the faintest shadow of a smile to the steadfast eyes. For even the +vision of watercress, shrimps and tea on the verandah at Shepherds will +not force a light to the windows of the soul when they are blinded with +anxiety. + +So Mary Bingham, in her cool white dress, lay back in the long chair, +with a glass of iced lemonade on a table by her side in a room darkened +so as to induce slumber, whilst out in the desert with choked cries of +"Good dog! At it! Good dog!" a man began scratching the sand as a +ratting terrier does the earth, until he had excavated a hole big +enough in which to curl himself, where he lay until desert things that +creep and crawl drove him out again, shrieking for water. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +And the full force of the storm crashed about Jill's defenceless head +at the midday hour also of the same day, when she ought to have been +searching the coolness of her midday sleeping chamber, and +forgetfulness of the last few hours in sleep. + +Not quite defenceless was she, however, as she sat back in the chair, +her eyes ablaze and her veil torn to shreds at her feet, ripping the +moral atmosphere with words which seemed to have been dipped in some +corrosive verbal fluid. She was angry, hurt, and deathly tired, and +was doing her best to pass some of her mental suffering anyway on to +the man who leant with folded arms against the cedar wall. + +The inevitable crisis had come! + +The independence of Western womanhood had clashed with the Eastern +ideas on the privacy and seclusion of the gentler sex. Jill simply +could _not_ understand that there was any cause for the terrible +jealousy which had suddenly blazed up in the Arab when she had +innocently repeated her request to be allowed to see her old friend; +Hahmed was as incapable of understanding the request, having failed in +his sojourn in the West to fully realise the everyday kind of jolly, +good, frank camaraderie which can exist between certain types of +English man and woman. + +Half a word of tenderness, half a gesture of love, and she would have +been sobbing or laughing happily in his arms, but like a prairie fire +before the wind, the terrible Eastern rage was blazing through the man, +too fierce, too terrific to allow him to analyse the situation, or +remember that the upbringing of his girl-wife had been totally +different to that of the women of his country. + +Jill suddenly sat forward, clasping one slim ankle across her knee in a +slim hand, a position she knew perfectly well would rouse Hahmed to a +frenzy, and spoke slowly and mockingly in English instead of the pretty +lisping Arabic which always entranced him. + +"You may lecture, and remonstrate, and admonish, which all comes to the +same thing, until night falls, but you will never make me see eye to +eye with you in _this_. It is simply _absurd_ to threaten that you +will shut me in my apartments until I learn reason. If you lock me in, +or place guards about me, I will jump from the roof and gain my freedom +by breaking my neck. Why Jack Wetherbourne--oh------" + +Hahmed had leant forward, and gripping her by the shoulders had very +suddenly, and not over gently, jerked her to her feet, holding her by +the strength of his hands alone, as she desperately tried to liberate +herself. + +"Let me go, Hahmed! let me go! You are hurting me dreadfully. You +must _not_ hurt me--you must _not_ bruise me. Oh! you don't +understand!" + +She struggled furiously and unavailingly, resorting at last to cruelty +to gain her end. + +"Let me go, Hahmed! Take your hands away--I--I _hate to feel them upon +me_!" + +He let her go, pushing her away from him ever so slightly, so that she +stumbled against the chair, cracking her ankle-bone, that tenderest bit +of anatomical scaffolding, against a projecting piece of ornamental +wood. + +It was a case of injury added to insult, and she crouched back furious +in her physical hurt as she tore the silken covering from her arms, +where already showed faint bruises above the little tattoo mark showing +itself so black against the white skin, and upon which she put her +finger. + +"Oh! who would have thought when you tattooed that, Jack----!" + +But she stood her ground and shrugged her naked shoulders irritatingly +when Hahmed crossed the dividing space in a bound with his hand upon +the hilt of his dagger. + +"Bi--smi--llah! what sayest thou? This mark upon the fairness of thy +arm which I have thought a blemish, and therefore have not questioned +thee thereon--sayest thou it is a _dakkh_, what thou callest a tattoo +mark? And if so what has it to do with the man whose name is +unceasingly upon thy lips?" + +Jill stood like a statue of disdain. + +"What _is_ the matter now, Hahmed? Please understand that I will not +tolerate such continual fault-finding any longer! That is a tattoo +mark of a pail of water--you may not know that we have a rhyme in +England which begins like this: + + "Jack and Jill went up a hill + To fetch a pail of water!" + +Oh! shades of ancient Egypt, did you ever hear or see anything so +pathetically absurd as Jill as she solemnly repeated the old doggerel. + +"That makes no difference--a pail of water or the outline of a +flower--did this man--this--this _Jack_ make the mark upon thee?" + +Jill hesitated for a second and then answered with a glint in her eye. + +"Yes! he did--and he did Mary too--put the dinkiest little heart on her +arm--we were under the cherry tree in the vegetable------!" + +"Go!" suddenly thundered the Arab. + +And Jill, gathering her raiment about her for departure, turned to look +straight into the man's eyes, whilst her heart, in spite of the little +scornful smile which twisted the corner of her mouth, leapt with the +love which had blossomed a hundredfold under the torrent of jealousy, +wrath, and mastery which he had poured forth upon her during the last +hour. + +"Behold! art thou weak," she said sweetly in his own tongue, "having +not the strength to kill that which offends thee. 'Thou shalt not know +this man, or any other man,'" she mocked, quoting his words, "and yet +canst thou not break me to thy will! Of a truth, I have no further use +for thee in thy weakness!" + +But Hahmed's control had only been slightly cracked, so that he merely +pointed to the curtain which divided Jill's quarters from the rest of +the house. + +"Go!" he said simply, "go to thy apartment, wherein thou shalt stay +until thou seest good to come to me in obedience and love. Thou shalt +_not_ go forth except to the gardens; neither shall thy friends visit +thee, neither shalt thou climb to the roof; and thou _shalt_ obey +me--many, aye, many a woman were dead for far less than this thy +disobedience--but thou--thou art too beautiful to kill, except with +love--go!" + +And Jill went, with beautiful head held high, heart throbbing from +love, and blood pounding in her ears from downright rage. + +"I will not obey you! I shall do exactly as I wish!" she proclaimed, +with the curtain in her hand. In which she was mistaken, for the +simple fact that love held her fast. + +And the curtain swinging to hide her from the Arab, as she stood for +one moment holding out her arms toward him; and for the same reason she +did not see him pick up her torn, scented veil, to thrust it between +his inner silken vest and his sorely perturbed heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +Night with her blessed wind had come at last, which means coolness for +a space beneath the stars, and oblivion for a while in sleep for those +who have untroubled heart and good digestion. There was just one black +patch in all that silvery stretch of sand, upon which the moon shone, a +patch that came neither from rock or tree or cloud, and which moved +occasionally in fitful jerks, until it raised itself and collapsed +again, and spread itself in a still stranger shape as from underneath +garments which had the form of arms and legs and disjointed feet which +fell apart, there crawled a man. + +A man, though the face was cracked in great seams from brow to chin, +whilst the black tongue protruded from the split mouth drawn back from +the even teeth until the great bloated face seemed to laugh in derision +at the moon's softness. + +The body, covered in a mass of sores coated with sand, raised itself to +the knees, whilst the hands tried painfully to scoop up the silver +moonbeams and raise them to the mouth. There was no sound in all that +deathly plain, which Allah knows is accustomed to such scenes, and when +the body had fallen forward once more upon the sand, so that the open +mouth was filled with grit, neither was there movement, until upon the +pale light of dawn a silent shape, and yet another, and still another +one, sailed serenely across the sky, and with a faint rustle of folding +wings settled down around the heap; to soar noiselessly skyward when it +suddenly twitched convulsively; to settle again with faint rustling +when all once more was still. + +"Verily, O! brother, I am led towards that spot upon which the birds of +death have come together." + +So said the Egyptian who was partner in the small caravan proceeding +leisurely towards Cairo, as he shaded his eyes and pointed first up to +the ever lightening sky, across which from all parts floated small +black dots, and then to a distant place upon the sand, where the black +spots seemed to mingle until they formed a blot of shade. + +"Nay! Raise not thy voice in dissent, O! my brother, for behold we +have made good time, and water faileth us not." + +And well was it that they turned aside, and shouted as they approached +so that only one beak had time to tear a strip of flesh from beneath +the naked shoulder, ere the flock of vultures rose, hovered a second, +and were gone. The two men drew near, and having dismounted, turned +the poor thing over, and feeling the faint beating of the heart, with +no more ado than if they were setting down to food, undid one of the +goatskins from the nearest camel, and soaking the flowing bernous until +it dripped with the precious water, wrapped the body in its folds; and +collecting the gold watch, money and card-case strewn upon the sands, +slipped everything back into a waistcoat pocket with the exception of a +three day old programme announcing a cotillion at Shepherd's Hotel, a +sketch of which hideous building was elaborately and mendaciously +reproduced on the cover, so that to the mind of uneducated Yussuf, +unversed in the English tongue, there was but one thing to do, and that +to go straight to the well-known caravanserai with his burden, and +deliver it safely into the proprietor's hands. + +So Yussuf, euphoniously termed a benighted heathen by some enlightened +Christians, seated himself upon the fastest camel in the caravan, +receiving into his arms the thing that was still a man by their good +efforts, from the hands of the other heathen, who, with hands raised to +heaven, called down the blessing of Allah upon men and beast as the +latter departed at her swiftest for the great city, leaving him to +follow in more leisurely manner. + +So that consternation and excitement were great among those who sat +upon the verandah after dinner, partaking of coffee and cigarettes +before undertaking the more strenuous task of entertaining themselves, +when in the glare of the electric light a great camel suddenly appeared +out of the night, and totally disregarding the upraised voice of the +enormous hotel porter, subsided in the gutter, thereby causing a block +in the street; whilst a man clumsily dismounted and staggered up the +shallow steps, tenderly holding some covered burden the while in his +arms that were breaking with fatigue, and who, speaking with authority, +demanded speech of the proprietor, who, furious at being disturbed, +came forth as furiously to annihilate the disturber, but instead, at +the first word from the Arab, who clutched a dirty piece of paper in a +hand almost paralysed with cramp, lifted a corner of the cloth from +about that which lay so inertly under the all-hiding cloak, and choked, +and stuttered, and then recovering himself, blandly led the Arab to the +lift which whirled them to the first floor, leaving the occupants on +the verandah all a-twitter, whilst the coffee grew cold and the +cigarettes went out. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +Days and nights passed, and still more days and nights, in which the +man, bound from head to foot in soft wrappings soaked in unguents, +tossed and raved, screaming for water, tearing at the bed-linen which +to his distorted mind was alive with every conceivable insect, beating +blindly at the faces of the two women who, refusing any help, watched +over and tended Jack Wetherbourne through his days of distress. + +"Aye, lass! Now don't 'ee lose 'eart," whispered Sarah Ann Gruntham to +the girl who, having held consultation with the doctor, was sobbing her +heart out on the elder woman's motherly bosom which covered a heart of +purest gold. "Don't 'ee listen to such fash, lass, for what's he +likely to know outside of Lady Jones's wimble-wambles and me Lor' +Fitznoodles' rheumatism. Why 'e couldn't even tell that I 'ad 'ad a +touch of my old complaint, and me with an 'andle to me name. Come, +lass, oop with ye bonnie head, for I'll tell 'ee the great news--I sees +a bead o' perspiration on Sir John's brow--an' so I'm off to take me +'air out of crackers. Though Tim does find it more home-like, 'e says, +when I 'ave 'em h'in--oh, dearie! dearie! I often wish I was plain +Mrs. Gruntham again with no aitches to mind. I'll be with you in ten +minutes, and then, lass, ye'll just run away and have a bath--I managed +the aitch that time--and come back as fresh as a daisy, if there were +such a innocent thing in this land of sphinxes and minxes--and ye'll +see ten beads then, which sounds as tho' I be a Roman instead of a +strict Baptist. I'll run along, love, and don't let 'im see tears in +them bonny eyes of yours when he comes to know ye, lass." + +And the dearest old soul in the world waddled away to take her hair out +of the crackers which had made a steel halo round her silvery hair for +many a night, and waddled hack again to see Mary with a great glow in +her eyes, and her hand clasping the skeleton fingers of Jack +Wetherbourne, who had known her at last, and was gazing blissfully at +his beloved. + +His lips moved, though so weak was he that no sound came from them, so +that Mary had to bend to catch the whisper until her ear just touched +the lips still distorted from the effects of the desert sun. + +She sat up, blushing from chin to brow, and smilingly shook her head. + +"I will marry you, Jack dear, as soon as we find Jill!" + +Wetherbourne made a feeble and unsuccessful attempt to frown, and then +turned his eyes as Mary turned her head on the opening of the door +between the bedroom and the sitting-room. + +In the doorway stood the bewildering picture of an Eastern woman. + +Wrapped round in the voluminous cloak of the East, with the face and +head veils hiding all but her eyes, she stood quite still as Lady Sarah +bustled across the room towards her, and Mary held up a warning hand. + +A twitching of the man's fingers drew Mary's attention, and once more +she leant down to him. + +"We're engaged," came the faint whisper, "_it's Jill_!" + +CHAPTER XLV + +Decked out in Mary's trappings Jill lay on the couch, her pale face +shining like an evening flower, whilst she passed the brush over and +over again through the burnished strands of her wonderful hair. + +Mary had sat spellbound, almost open-mouthed, at the Arabian Nights +tale Jill had poured into her astounded ears. + +"Hahmed!" she had exclaimed when Jill had told her of her marriage; and +be it confessed that Jill had tautened to meet the coming attack, and +relaxed when Mary, clasping her capable hands, had suddenly and +whole-heartedly beamed upon her. "Why, I've heard the most wonderful +things about him since I have been out here, in fact I've been almost +wearied to death listening to the accounts of his Haroun al Raschid +methods and qualities. His wedding put Cairo in an uproar--I saw the +pro------ But _Jill_, darling, is it possible it was you inside the +palanquin on the wonderful camel?" + +Jill nodded as she busied herself in plaiting her hair into great ropes. + +"And you've run away--escaped, you say?" + +Jill nodded again. + +"Yes!" she said, with three big tortoiseshell combs between her teeth. +"We had a _frightful_ flare-up--all the fault of my tearing temper. +You see I've been absolutely spoilt these last months, and I simply +behaved anyhow the first time I got scolded. But I didn't deserve it +all the same!" she added as an afterthought, as she wound the plaits +round her head. "And," she went on, "I should never have got away if +Mustapha had been with us." + +"Who's Mustapha?" + +"My own special bodyguard! But as he _wasn't_ there I managed to +thoroughly examine the high wall round the grounds, and found just one +spot to give me a foothold. I scrambled up in the heat of the day when +everyone was asleep, and had a terrible time with my garments." + +She pointed as she spoke to a scented heap of silk and satin thrown on +a chair. + +"I had to partly disrobe whilst sitting on the top of the wall, and was +terrified in case some pedlar might chance along. I tied my face and +head veil round my waist, but the _habarah_, that big black cloak--by +the way it belongs to one of my women, and I borrowed it with the +excuse that I wanted it copied, mine you see are rather ornamental, as, +of course, I never walk in the streets--well, I threw that on to the +ground, tucked up my _sebleh_, that dressing-gown sort of thing, and +scrambled down the other side, as I did not want to jump, ripping the +knees of my _shintiyan_--the wide trouser kind of things we wear------" + +Mary's face was a study. + +"Thanks to my borrowed cloak I was able to walk through the streets in +comfort--drawing my _burko_, face veil, dear, across my face so that +only one eye should be seen,[1] and a blue one at that. When I got to +Cairo I hired a car--speaking in Arabic to the astounded and fluttering +Englishman--drove to the Savoy, where I guessed you'd be--found you'd +moved here--came here--and being mistaken for what I am by marriage, +namely, a high-born lady of the land, was conducted straightway to you +in spite of the invalid--_et voilà_!" + +Mary got up, and crossing to Jill sat down beside her on the couch. + +"And what now, Jill? Hahmed will come and fetch you." + +"Not Hahmed," said Jill, with a shadow in her eyes as she remembered +his parting words after what she had tersely called the flare-up. +"Besides, he trusts me _really_!" she added as an afterthought, and +continued with a note of feverish excitement in her voice: "So I I'm +going to stay with you, Mary, if you'll let me, until something or +another happens to help me make up my mind. I want to do a lot of +sight-seeing, and wear white skirts and a silk jersey and blouse. I'll +find a maid somewhere, I expect." + +"Oh!" broke in practical Mary, "don't worry about that--servants are +such a nuisance. Do you remember Higgins? Well! she came out with me, +and gave me notice the second week--'couldn't abide the 'eathen +ways'--and wanted to get back to her home in Vauxhall. But the +proprietor found me a native woman, a perfect treasure, whose one +complaint is that she hasn't enough work to do!" + +Silence fell for a time whilst Mary studied the face of her friend, +suddenly leaning forward to stroke the pale cheek and pat the little +hand. + +"You don't look well, Jillikins! Are you sure you are happy?" + +"Perfectly," said Jill, turning her face to the cushions and bursting +into uncontrollable weeping. + + +[1]A custom. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +With short steps the native woman shuffled quickly along the outside of +the wall surrounding the house of Hahmed the Arab, stopping in front of +the great gates, which were closed at sunset, to peer between the +wrought bronze work, standing her ground unconcernedly when a Nubian of +gigantic proportions suddenly appeared on the other side. + +Terrifying he looked as he towered in the dusk, his huge eyes rolling, +and his hand on the hilt of a scimitar, which looked as though it had +been tempered more for use than for ornament. + +"What wouldst thou?" he demanded in dog Arabic of the woman whose eyes +flashed disdainfully over the veil which hid her pock-marked face. + +"Speech with they master, who has bidden me to his presence, and move +quickly, thou black dog of ill repute; tarry not in saying that his +servant from the big house in the city has news for his most august +ears." + +The son of ill repute stared inquisitively for a moment, and then moved +off slowly with the inimitable gait of these ebon specimens of mankind, +increasing his pace almost to a run once out of the female's range of +vision. + +Like a shadow she followed the different people, who, passing her from +one to another, led her through rooms and halls into an open court, at +the far end of which sat the man she sought, watching two jaguars being +led up and down before him. + +"Peace unto thee, O! my daughter, and fear not to approach," Hahmed +said gently as the woman made deep obeisance, and shrank from the +animals who snarled at her viciously. "And thou, my son, take these +products of the bazaar hence, for surely hast thou been fooled by him +who brought them from distant climes. Verily, the sire may have been a +jaguar, but his mate, judging from the shape of the offspring, must +most surely have been a jackal. Bring not such trash to me, if thou +wouldst not incur my wrath!" + +The snarling products of the bazaar were hurriedly jerked out of the +court as Hahmed turned to the woman. + +"Is all well, O! faithful one?" + +"All is well, O! Most High," answered the Honourable Mary's perfect +treasure of a maid. "Behold the gracious flower, upon whom it is my +joy and honour to wait, changeth her mood one hundred times in the +passing hour. She laughs at noon, and her pillow is wet with salt +tears at night; her feet, like lotus-buds, carry her hither and thither +in the day, the dimness of her room sees her face downwards upon her +couch. + +"As unto a sweet rose she clings to her friend, the great lady, who +forsooth is as pleasing as a well-cooked dish of the flesh of kid +mingled with tamarind and rice; but the rose mixeth not with other +flowers, and about her heart rests thy most honourable picture." + +For some long time Hahmed stared unseeingly in front and then he spoke. + +"Thou hast worked well, my daughter, even from the moment when thou +didst take the place of the great lady's white servant, to report to me +upon the doings of the white man who strove to find my wife. + +"Ask what reward thou will'st, it shall be granted unto thee!" + +And the man, knowing the cupidity of his race, was somewhat astounded +when, casting herself at his feet, the woman craved to be taken into +his household so that, as she put it, "I may dwell in content in thy +shadow, and the shadow of the snow-white dove when she wings her way +back to happiness." Just for a moment the Arab looked into the eyes of +the woman, as, greatly daring, she lifted her right hand. + +"For so it is written, O! my lord! the blessing of Allah is upon thee, +and thy heart shall be at rest." + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +The day following the native woman's surreptitious visit to the great +Arab saw Jill and Mary and Jack, followed discreetly by the same native +woman, set sail at an early, gay and blithesome hour for Denderah, +where are to be seen the ruins of the Temple of Hathor, the Venus of +Ancient Egypt. + +Upon arriving, after much dallying on the way, Jill insisted upon +walking along the narrow tracks through the stretches of corn and +sweet-smelling flowering bean, among which, to the general horror, +cattle ranging from cows to goats were allowed to roam at will. + +A temple of love calls up visions of marble halls, marble fretwork, +basins with splashing waters and marble doves, pillars crowned with +intertwined marble hearts and lovers' knots tied with marble ribbons; +therefore Jill stood transfixed as she entered the great hall of +columns, with the goddess's somewhat forbidding head carved on each +side of each pillar. + +She walked across slowly to peer into the inner court, shrouded in deep +shadows, shuddered and moved back towards the other two, whose +mentality, psychology or temperament responded not in the least to +light and shade. + +Together they traversed the place, Jill running her hand over the +hieroglyphics which cover the pillars to their beautiful capitals, +until she stopped before a representation of Hathor the wanton, +standing naked and verily unashamed before the image of a man, whose +name I know not, but whose beauty and nudity are as great as hers. + +Turning sharply she glanced hurriedly at Jack and Mary, and slipping a +hand through the arm of each, almost pulled them across the floor to a +stairway made in the wall and leading to the roof. + +For, taken up in their own love story, those two had noticed nothing, +not even the uncountable figures of stone in the bas-reliefs which, +appearing to turn and whisper to each other, seem in the shadows to +take a delight in portraying by pantomimic gestures a love wholly +allied to voluptuousness and license. + +But Jill had seen, and her ultra fastidiousness had dyed face and neck +crimson, and caused her to try and spare her companions similar +uncomfortable moments. + +For a moment she stood on the roof watching the clouds of twittering +birds as they flew in the direction of the Libyan Hills, and then she +slipped quietly down the stairway, leaving her friends, supremely +oblivious of her presence or absence, weaving their love-tale on the +roof of the ruined temple of love. + +With nerves a-jangle and heart disturbed Jill longed for shadows and +solitude, so that she shrank back, hesitated, and then advanced slowly +towards the veiled figure of a woman standing watching her from the +shadows of the very heart of the ruins, the holy of holies, the hall of +past mysteries and solemn rites. + +"What wouldst thou?" Jill asked her in Arabic, which was as wellnigh +perfect as any European can make it, and although she could hardly make +out one whole sentence of what she took for a dialect spoken by the +woman, she grasped enough to understand that the Egyptian, draped in +the peasant's cloak, was anxious to read her fortune in the sand she +carried in the black handkerchief, and which sand she said she had +gathered on the steps of the temple's high altar at the full moon. + +Jill sat down on a fallen block of masonry, looking very fragile, very +sweet, very fair, with her white throat gleaming above the white silk +blouse and jersey, soft blue hat pulled over her sunny head to shade +her face, death-white save for the shadows which seemed to make a mask +about her eyes, as she drew hieroglyphics on her own account in the +sand with the tip of her small white shoe. + +She had heard of the extraordinary powers possessed by some of the +Egyptian people; Hahmed had told her of their gift of reading the +future in the sand; among her own household she had come across +authentic cases where the most unlikely things predicted had come to +pass. + +And the cloud about her was so thick, and weighed so heavily upon her! +Of her own free-will she had flung her happiness away, and with her +happiness had gone her content and light-heartedness. She laughed with +others, and cried softly by herself at night; she shared the amusements +with others, and sat up at night, bewildered and afraid, to steal to +the mirror and look upon a pinched face with tightened nostrils, and to +wipe away the dampness gathered under the golden curls. + +Had her marriage been a mistake or not? If not, why had she fled +before the first little sign of storm? If it had been, why was she +utterly miserable now that liberty was hers? + +Her friends would surely be taking their departure soon. Should she go +too, or should she go back in all humbleness to the man she loved? Did +he want her, having shown no sign or desire for her return? Did +he--did he not? A decision must be made, and soon, but what was it to +be? Round and round, like a flock of startled pigeons, went her +thoughts, one breaking away to whirr into the back of her mind, another +to drift into the shadows, and another, and yet another, whilst the +rest flew on, round and round! + +And then she shrank back, gripping the stone with two cold little hands +as great drops gathered and trickled down her face, her breath coming +in silent gasps. + +Stricken with terror she threw out her arms passionately. + +"Speak, woman, speak! Spread the sand, and read to me what thou seest +therein. Thy finger shall point the way, and that way will I follow +wherever it may lead." + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +Whereupon the woman of the shadows, turning towards that which had once +been an altar, and raising her arms straight above her head with hands +out-turned at an acute angle, thrice repeated words that were +absolutely unintelligible to Jill. + +And then kneeling, she spread the sand upon the ground, dividing it +into circles and squares, drawing curious signs with the tip of her +hand, which as Jill noticed was passing white and slender for that of a +peasant woman, and spoke--in modern tongue. + +"Behold, O! woman, who emerged from a grey cloud to enter into the +radiance of the sun, thou art beloved by the gods who rule the earth +through the countless and eternal ages. Thou dost pause upon the +threshold of the temple of love, fearing these shadows which will pass +away when thou shalt stand within the great radiance of the goddess. +Yea! and fearful art thou of the sand out of which shall spring a tree +of many branches, and in the shade of which thou shalt encompass thy +life's span. Behold," and the finger drew a line upon the sand, "the +grey cloud encloses thee yet once again, and the goddess weeps without! +Yet will she rejoice! Before many moons have come and gone, the great +god Amen shall tear aside that which blindeth thee, and placing a man +son upon thy breast shall lead thee into the innermost temple. + +"Six times shall Amen strike thee in love, so that thou bearest sons, +and once shall he strike thee upon both breasts so that a woman child +shall spring from thy loins. + +"Love is thy portion, thy meat, and thy drink, bringing unto thee those +who travailing in love shall come for thy wisdom, and those labouring +in grief for thy succour. + +"And thou shalt not die before thy time, and thou shalt pass to the +gods with thy hand in thy master's, for he shall not leave thee through +all thy life, nay not even at the last. And thy name shall ring +throughout the land of Egypt, and be engraven upon the walls of time. + +"Behold Hathor, behold I say!" and three times the unintelligible words +rang through the place as Jill sank back staring open-eyed. + +The small white hand had pulled the veil aside from about the face, and +head, and body of the fortune-teller, so that for a moment she seemed +to stand outlined against the pillar, with flashing eyes, scarlet +mouth, and brow encircled with a golden band, from which sprang +something round with wings set in precious stones; the glory of her +gleaming body shone white as ivory in the gloom, her perfect arms +stretched straight downwards with hands turned sharply in so that the +finger-tips rested on the rounded thighs. + +And then Jill rubbed her eyes and stared, and stared again; for the +spot was empty, save for a square of sand with strange signs drawn upon +it; neither was there sound of retreating footsteps or swish of drapery. + +Jill stumbled to her feet, swaying as she caught at a pillar for +support, and then with a violent effort of will walked to a great shaft +of sunlight which struck the ground in front of the ruins of the high +altar from an opening in the roof. + +"Am I mad?" she whispered. "Did I dream that woman--and yet the sand +is there!" + +A pitiful little smile flickered across the ashen face as she stood +motionless and alone in the ruins. + +"The temple of love," she cried softly, flinging out her arms, "the +temple of love and I am alone. Hahmed beloved, where are you? I feel +so--I--I wish you were here to take me in your arms. Hahmed--I want +comforting--I do--I'm lonely--I--I'm--oh, oh! God--God have mercy on +me--I--we------" + +For a moment the transfigured girl stood upright, her face one blaze of +wonder in the light of the sun, her eyes wide open and filled with a +great surprise and a greater awe. + +And then she slowly sank to her knees and bowed her beautiful head to +the sand, whilst the echoes took up her words and carried them to the +far corners of the vast ruins. + +"I am not worthy, my beloved, for this great honour--I am not worthy in +that I am not with thee at this moment when thy child stirs within me. +I am covered in shame in that I doubted. I am bowed down with shame +and yet lifted up to the heavens with joy." + +For long minutes thus knelt she alone with her happiness, and then she +raised herself whilst a great sob shook her from head to foot. + +"Hahmed," she cried as she flung her arms out wide, "Hahmed, wherever +thou art I am calling thee. Hahmed, Hahmed!" and fell face downward +unconscious upon the sand covered floor. + +Noiselessly an Arab stepped from behind a pillar, crossing to the still +figure on the ground, and gently he picked her up in his arms, covering +her in the folds of his great white cloak. + +"Little bird! little bird!" he whispered in the beautiful Arabian +tongue, "why willst thou beat thy tender wings against the bars of +happiness around thy dwelling? And thou wert frightened--frightened by +yon peasant woman. What said she, my dove, to strike thee senseless to +the ground? + +"Thou art pale, O! my heart's delight, and weigh but as a handful of +down upon my arm, and yet must thou learn thy lesson, to the end; and +even will I forsake thee, leaving thee guided by the star of happiness +to find thy way alone to thy dwelling in the desert. Yea! there will I +await thee, O! my beloved--beloved!" + +And Hahmed passed swiftly through the hall of shadows, and down the +fields of waving corn and sweet scented bean to the banks of the Nile, +and there he placed his sweet burden in the arms of the faithful native +woman, who tenderly wiped the sand from the golden curls and raised her +right hand in fealty to her master as he turned away, neither did she +falter in her tale to Mary and Jack when, goaded by anxiety and in +spite of the heat, they ran down towards the boat. + +"Sunstroke!" said Mary, who had a certificate for first-aid, and +speaking with the certain flat determination which even her best +friends found most trying at times. "You simply _cannot_ go about in +Egypt without a green-lined umbrella. Yes! it's a slight, quite slight +attack of sunstroke," she continued, without noticing the radiance of +Jill's eyes, "and I will apply this damp handkerchief to your medulla +oblongata." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +Jill sat on the edge of her bed in an hotel at Suez. + +That she was absolutely alone in Egypt, and ought not to have been +alone, never entered her head once, as she gazed through the open +window towards the sea. + +Her eyes shone like stars, her mouth was a beautiful sign of content, +her hands were clasped peacefully on her knee, and she simply radiated +happiness. + +Mary and Jack, Lady Bingham, Diana Lytham and Sir Timothy and Lady +Sarah, had started that morning for England in the great liner which +Jill had watched unconcernedly until it disappeared up the canal. + +And so for the first time for many weary weeks she was alone, though it +must be confessed that the liberty had only been gained by a deliberate +perversion of the truth. + +Fussed by kind-hearted, though, somewhat scandalised Lady Gruntham, +driven to the point of madness by the never-ending stream of wisdom, +advice, and plans which from morning till night flowed unceasingly from +the store of Mary's book-gleaned knowledge, Jill had cleared up the +situation all round by suddenly announcing the imaginative fact that +Hahmed was coming to Cairo to fetch her home. Whereupon Mary Bingham +had arranged everything to her own entire satisfaction in the twinkling +of an eye, told Jack Wetherbourne that she and her mother were leaving +for England if he'd like to come too, had worked her maid to death with +packing, distributing quite a fair supply of backsheesh, and had +bundled her bewildered mother and contented fiancé down to Suez, where +Jill had seen them off to the accompaniment of a last final flood of +advice which was mercifully lost in the scream of the siren, the rasp +of machinery, and the manifold sounds which add hilariously, especially +in foreign climes, to the pandemonium that reigns to within a second of +the cry which invites some of us to descend to terra firma on the +occasion of the sailing of a passenger boat. + +Jill suddenly came out of a reverie which had painted her cheeks a most +exquisite pink, and caused her teeth to show in the faintest smile. + +Then she frowned and shook back her mane of hair, as was her habit when +perplexed, and spoke softly to the night wind which was blowing +straight in at the window from the other side of the canal. + +"The oasis is calling me, night wind, calling, calling, and yet I do +not know. You who come from the oasis, tell me, is my beloved there, +or shall I find my dwelling empty, and my happiness but as a +turned-down cup?" + +Who can explain what it is that leads the spirit astraying from its +material covering? + +Are love and longing its sole companions upon the road of shadows? +Surely no! for is not revenge, or jealousy, or the near approach of +that which is called death as potent to span the stretches of the +world; and will not a vision of stark terror blot out the sun at the +commonplace hour of noon, and may not the body, squatting on the market +pavement, find it a place of rest, even as unto a seat in paradise +through the spirit's communion? + +The soul's wireless, mental telepathy, the sympathetic chord, and so +on, and so on, good honest words to describe that which no one +understands, and which caused the girl sitting on a prosaic bed in a +prosaic hotel to smile suddenly as she sat so very still. + +For her soul had wandered until she stood with her feet in the sand, +looking in at a wide-open door through which a beam of violet-orange +light struck across the night. + +Two men sat motionless within, until one slowly turned his head and +looked through the door straight into her eyes. + +For one long moment, with unutterable longing he gazed, and then the +vision faded just as Jill, saying softly, "Beloved! I come," stretched +out her arms, and with a sudden shiver awoke to her surroundings. + + + + +PART III + +THE FRUIT + + + + +CHAPTER L + +"Doubtless my beloved sleeps!" thought Hahmed the Arab, as he looked at +the watch on his wrist to find it pointing to midnight, and clapped his +hands for fresh coffee, then lit another cigarette whilst his guest +who, like himself, sat cross-legged on cushions on the floor, inhaled +contentedly from a _shibuk_[1] in a house of rest on the outer edge of +a distant oasis. + +Weary to death was he of the uninterrupted flow of words which +unceasingly streamed from the mouth of the cross-bred man, who was +gleefully rubbing the hands of his soul over what he imagined to be the +clinching of a remarkable bargain with the Camel King, whereas if he +had but known it, his host had merely put a little difficulty in the +way so as to lengthen the deal, and thereby kill a few moments of the +dreary hours of the dreary time he had passed since had left the woman +he loved alone to learn the last words of her lesson. + +Turning he called sharply to the servile proprietor of the house, which +for the first time was honoured by the presence of its redoubtable +landlord. + +Salaaming until his tarboosh reached the level of his knees, the +inwardly shaking Achmed stood before his two guests. + +"Hast thou naught wherewith to entertain thy guests, O! Achmed, or must +they perchance pass the hours in counting the flies which flit about +the none too clean lamps? Thinkest thou that this house is solely a +roof to shade thy head from the sun, or perchance is it a dwelling of +comfort for those who pass East and West?" + +By this time the oriental's head was bobbing like a mandarin's, whilst +in a spasm of terror his mouth opened and shut unceasingly. + +"Find thy tongue, O! fool, before I turn thee from the door. Hast thou +aught of entertainment, and hast thou other than this mud thou callest +coffee? Speak I say!" + +With a gulp which served to clench Hahmed's fingers, the wretched +Achmed vowed he had music of a kind and dancers of sorts, and that at +that moment his first wife was preparing a brew surpassed only by that +drunk in the Gardens of Delight by the chosen of Allah, who had passed +to their well-earned rest. + +"Choose, O! my guest! doubtless they will both be as forlorn as this +coffee, for which I crave thy forgiveness--our business is at an end, +and some hours stretch unendingly before us." + +Ali 'Assan, dying to satisfy his cross-bred inquisitiveness which, with +the curiosity of Egypt entire, had been aroused by the strange rumours +of some catastrophe happened in his host's household, had not the +slightest desire for bed, rather would he have sat up for an entire +week of nights, if only be could have got an inkling of the truth; so +he plumped for music and dancing whilst his host sat motionless, the +light of the hanging lamps throwing strange shadows on the stern, +relentless face. + +Hahmed the Arab, it is true, sat upon the cushions in the dingy room; +you would have certainly touched a human body if you had laid a hand +upon his arm, but by an effort of will which left him sitting +absolutely motionless with half-closed eyes, he, in spite of the heat, +the irritation of his guest's presence, and all that went to make the +evening intolerable, had sent his spirit, or soul, or what you will, +adrift, searching for his beloved; so unutterable was his longing, so +wracked was his heart with love, so utter was his detachment, that +neither piping of reed, twanging of stringed instrument or patter of +feet could bring him back to his surroundings. + +And then under some unexplainable impulse Hahmed turned his head +slowly, looking across the shoulder of his guest to the door behind, +and his eyes glowed like fires in the darkness of night as in the +doorway he saw framed the face of her for whom body and soul craved. +The face was pale even unto death, but the red mouth smiled softly, and +the golden curls clustered and twisted as they had ever done; the blue +eyes were wells of love, in which the Arab's soul sank as he called +though his lips moved not, neither was there sound of words in the room. + +"Come to me, beloved, beloved! Come to me!" + +And the vision faded, and Hahmed's spirit returned to its dwelling as a +faint sigh from Ali 'Assan made him remember his duty towards his guest. + +The Arab does not indulge in nerves, though Allah only knows how long +it will be before he resorts to bromide if he continues to fraternise +with the European, but Hahmed, unknown to himself, was suffering from +the almost unendurable strain of the past endless empty days. + +He was consumed with thirst for his beloved, agonising with hunger for +his heart's desire, forcing himself to do business in out-of-the-way +places in his land so as to keep his thoughts from the exquisite face +of his own woman. + +True, he could have stayed in Cairo, and waited for further news of +her; true, he could have seized her and carried her forcibly back to +his own lands, but the pride of centuries raged within him, and until +she came back of her own free will he would neither move hand nor foot +to compel her. + +Anyway, let us put the following episode down to the months of strain +culminating in an intense irritation wrought by the babble of Ali +'Assan's meaningless chatter, and the vileness perhaps of the coffee. + +He lifted his eyes and looked at the picture before him. + +The room was low, and the lighting bad, the air suffocating, whilst a +few particles of sand blown in by the hot wind heralded an approaching +storm. + +Standing before him with a piece of tawdry gauze about her quite +unprepossessing form stood the over aged dancer with a set simper upon +her silly vacant face. + +"Allah!" ejaculated Hahmed, as he lit a cigarette, whilst Achmed, +peeping through the door, suddenly smote his forehead. + +Now dancing women were no more to the great man than a troupe of +performing collies, but his artistic sense demanded the best, and when +it was not forth-coming he felt the same annoyance as you or I would +feel if arrayed in purple and fine linen we adorned a box at the opera +with our presence, covered with as many diamonds upon it as possible, +to find a street singer deputising for a Melba or Caruso. + +"Thou dog," he said pleasantly to the cringing man, who tremblingly +explained that indeed he had one better--yea, even fair to look upon. +"Behold, if thou offerest yet another insult to this mine guest I will +have thee and thy woman whipped into the desert and left to die." + +Whereupon Achmed fled precipitately in the wake of her who had annoyed, +and snatching a whip beat her smartly on her plump but ill-formed +shoulders, the while he urged the prima ballerina of the establishment +to anoint herself and depart right quickly to the pacifying of the +great Hahmed, which order, alas, put a totally wrong idea into her +Tunisian-Arabian pate. + + +[1]Long native pipe. + + + + +CHAPTER LI + +La Belle, a rank cross-breed of Tunisian and French with a dash of +Arabian, was the one good part of a bad debt which had overwhelmed +Achmed when he had inadvertently over-reached himself. + +Her body was passable, lithe, sinewy, with a faint hint of rib and a +wonderful bust; her brain was good, intuitive in its non-educated +state, and subtle from inheritance; her ambition was superb, it knew no +limits, it saw no obstacle. + +Born in a kennel in Tunis, she had figuratively and literally fought +her way to the upper reaches of the gutter, sleeping in filth, eating +it, listening to it, living it; dancing for a meal, selling her +strangely seductive body for a piastre or so, settling her quarrels +with a knife she carried in her coarse, crisp, henna-dyed hair, with +one goal before her slanting orange eyes, that of dancer in chief, +prima ballerina, or what you will, in some house of good repute; the +explanation of which phrase would overtax my oriental knowledge I fear. + +Dance she could, if dancing is the correct term for the subtle +portraying of every conceivable vice by every conceivable gesture and +posture; and she had felt herself content on the day she had for a good +round sum sold herself to take up a dancing position of some importance +in the house of him who, unknown to her, had got himself entangled in +more than one human money-spider's web. + +If her dancing was correct or not, men had begun to foregather in the +house, where--if her temper allowed--she would dance o' nights fully +clothed or fully unclothed; also her reputation was beginning to be +used as a lure to the uninitiated freshly arrived in Cairo, therefore +her usually fiendish temper was as hell unloosed when, as part payment +of a debt, she found herself willy-nilly strapped to a camel and carted +by slow stages to the house of rest whose proprietor was Achmed, and +landlord Hahmed, the Camel King. + +"Dance I will not, thou descendant of pigs," she stormed at Achmed, +who, reducing his fez to a pulp, raved at her as she crouched in a +corner with something a-glitter in her hand. "Send in thy wife who +ambles like a camel in foal, and whose ankles are thick enough to serve +as prop to a falling house." + +"Thou fool," hissed the man with sweat pouring down his face, and who +through the working of his oriental mind already felt the swish of the +whip about his shoulders, and the agony of the desert fly's bite on his +flagellated anatomy. "It is _Hahmed_--the great _Hahmed_, who orders +thee to his presence. It is thy chance, thou fool--it is------" + +And his dull eyes brightened, and his sensual month widened in a grin +as the girl sprang to her feet and sped to a mirror on the opposite +side of the room. + +"Dullard," she cried, as she pulled her clothing furiously from her, +and stood with nothing but a plain coloured shawl of gauze covered in +tinsel twined about her slim waist, "why hast thou wasted precious +moments? Why has thou imperilled my chance by infuriating the great +man? Out of my way, thou snail." + +And as she fled precipitately from the room she caught the man by the +throat and flung him against the wall with the ease of muscle trained +to the last point. + +"Ow!" exclaimed Ali 'Assan at the apparition in the doorway with the +flaming henna head and taut brown body, with long, thin, brown arms +stretched down stiff as ramrods to the sides, and "Ow!" he said again, +as she suddenly moved and again stood still with the gleaming orange +eyes fixed on his host, who looked at her for an instant, and looked +away again to the far corner, as he indifferently lit a cigarette. + +And then La Belle danced for all she was worth, and for all she knew, +whilst the guest watched in sensual enjoyment, and the host took not +the slightest notice. + +Nearer she came, and nearer still, until the pungent odour of the +insufferable Eastern perfume of which the body is musk, suddenly struck +the nostrils of the man for whom she danced, bringing a slight frown to +his face, and causing him to thoughtlessly raise his right hand, which, +as perhaps the reader may not know, is an oriental sign of appreciation. + +A flash of triumph swept across the face of the woman, who was +absolutely on the wrong tack, as she sidled so near that her bare limbs +almost touched the flowing cloak which swept round the man. His mind +was full of his exquisite, delicate, tantalising, fastidious wife, his +body ached for her, his soul fainted for even a touch of her little +hand, so that once again he raised his right hand as though to sweep +away some pestilential insect from his path, just one little careless +gesture which proved a woman's undoing. + +Back bent La Belle, and still farther back until her evil face was on a +level with that of the man she was trying to subjugate, and when for an +instant his eyes rested on hers, which peered at him from the strange +angle of her upside down position, she whispered one little word. + +And then a great fury suddenly blazed in Hahmed's eyes, a sudden storm +of hate swept across the stern face, as his hand steel strong closed +fiercely about the long thin neck. + +"Thou daughter of gutter dogs," he whispered, so low that the words +were hardly caught by Ali 'Assan, who with fingers twining +uncontrollably in his white garment, sat petrified by the suddenly +arisen storm. "Thou essence of evil, go back to the devil who spawned +thee." + +There was a choked gurgling cry as the hand closed tighter, a little +click like the closing of a safe door, and the body of the dead woman, +was hurled into the middle of the room, whilst Hahmed lit a cigarette +and clapped his hands for the presence of Achmed, who, his legs +refusing to support his shaking body, crawled in on his hands and knees. + +"Carry that carrion out, O! thou trafficker in evil, and throw it to +the jackals." + +"Master, O! master! May the light of Allah shine upon thee in thy +wisdom, may the houris of paradise make thy couch one of delight when +thou art gathered to thy forefathers! In all ignorance I sent yon +ignoble female to dance before my honoured guest--a great price I paid +for her in the market." + +"Thou liest," gently replied his master. + +Whereupon Achmed gathered good handfuls of dust from the floor and +massaged it into his oily hair, whilst Hahmed, rising to his great +height, prayed forgiveness from his guest, who was even then thinking +what a waste of good material the dead woman represented. + +"Let this serve thee as a lesson, thou perverter of Allah's truth," +spake Hahmed, in a voice as caressing as that of a woman, "and teach +thee to acquire property which does honour to thy house. Camels, a +male and female, shall be sent in payment for that for which thou hast +not paid one piastre. + +"Breed with them so that the milk refreshes the traveller, and the hair +spins soft covering for their bed, and fail me not again, for behold +when I strike it is as the lightning which blasts the tree." + +And the two men stalked silently from the scene of the tragedy, leaving +Achmed rubbing his hands in glee, with intervals of removing particles +of dust from his eyes and mouth, whilst his virago of a first wife +ambled in to ascertain the proceeds of the evening, an account of which +caused her to raise dirty hands to heaven and praise Allah, before she +ambled out again, contemptuously kicking the dead body _en passant_, +which action nearly upset the equilibrium of her cumbersome body, as +she hastened to summon the help necessary to lift and carry to the +jackals the body of La Belle who had missed her chance. + + + + +CHAPTER LII + +The full moon shone down on the scene, which surely had not changed +since the wise men of the East--led by a star--came to find a Babe. + +The palms swayed slightly in a faint breeze, the sand stretched a +restful grey, and there was no sound whatever save the faint ripple of +the life-giving stream singing its way through the oasis. Neither was +there sign of human life excepting the figure of an Arab standing as if +carved in bronze in the black shadow of the palms. Immobile, with arms +folded he stood, eyes intent on the road leading to civilisation, +watching and waiting, as he had watched and waited through many a night +until dawn. + +"Allah!" and the words were indistinguishable from the brook's +murmuring. "God of all, send her back to me. Behold! with patience I +have waited these last long months--and yet would I wait even until +death--for thou, O! Allah, in Thy greatness hast allowed me dimly to +understand this woman's mind--my woman, my heritage of all time. + +"The Eastern night will draw her back, as surely as the moon will make +a silvery path for her return; for she has but tried her soft white +wings, and I have no fear that she will have sullied them in her flight. + +"But this time, this time there shall be no escape." + +The long brown hand stretched out as if to seize and hold, the slender +fingers closed gently, but with a grip of steel, as though upon the +whiteness of some woman's throat. + +"When she comes back my wife," continued the voice, as the moon slowly +swung up to her throne, blinding in her power the million twinkling +eyes that had watched for her coming. "Yet, when she comes it will be +for very love of me, her lover, and for love of the night and the scent +of the dawn, for the stillness of the dusk, and the longing to lay her +pure whiteness at rest within my arms." + +And then he threw his hands heavenwards with a great cry. + +"Allah, be praised! Oh Allah, unto thee I give thanks." + +And sank upon his knees, touching the sand with his forehead, and +rising with hands outstretched strode quickly to the clump of palms +near the gate in the wall surrounding Jill's dwelling, to meet three +camels stalking upon the road leading from civilisation towards him; +one golden-brown with a closed palanquin swaying upon its back, the +others dark brown, one laden with great skins, almost empty of water, +and bundles of every size and description, the other mounted by the +head keeper of camels, who, having brought the animals to their knees, +ran to his master and knelt before him with his mouth open as though to +speak, and a look of wracking anxiety and indecision upon his usually +imperturbable countenance. + +But a slight motion of his master's hand sent him hurriedly towards the +servants' quarters, where he was received by scores of his own kind +simply bursting with curiosity, whilst Hahmed silently held out his +hands to help Jill from the palanquin. + +She stumbled badly as her feet touched the ground, and bit on a cry as +the man's strong hand caught and steadied her as she stood swaying +slightly. + +"Remove thy veil for I fain would see what winds have blown upon thee!" + +The little figure, wrapped in countless yards of the soft purple satin +habarah, recoiled a step as the words fell with the hiss of icy water +upon red hot steel; a little nervous laugh rising like thin vapour on +the strained atmosphere. + +"And so the great Hahmed would expose the face of his wife to the +driver of camels? Behold, has his pride fallen." + +And she continued with the sharp edge of an approaching nerve storm in +her voice. + +"Methinks it would be better for him to send his fleetest camel to the +great city, and bid it wait without the house of the Blue Door, wherein +are to be found those who, unveiled and unashamed, will come and dance +upon the sand before such men as--yon camel driver!" + +A slight sound of tearing silk and the scented veil lay in Hahmed's +hands, whilst the great moon threw its rays mercilessly on the little +face. + +Deep purple rings made the eyes seem twice their size, the nose looked +pinched, the mouth slightly twisted, whilst great drops from the damp +brow fell upon the silk covering she held heaped up around her. + +"Allah!" ejaculated Hahmed, as he looked and looked again. "Methinks +the winds have been ill which have blown upon thee. Thou lookest +stricken unto death--and I know not how, but thou hast changed +inconceivably--thou art shorter. No! I know not what it is, but +hearken. + +"Thou hast filled my cup of endurance, O! woman, to the brim. Yea! +until the drops of bitterness have overflowed and fallen upon the +sands, but now thou art come back, rather than let thee go I would +drive this dagger through thy heart. + +"Fear not that I will pass uncalled the silken hangings of thy chamber, +or force upon thee the sweet title of wife which against my wish thou +hast so long disdained, but thou art my prisoner. If love could not +bind thee to me, then shall care be taken that thou strayest not again +from thy home. + +"Thy body woman has orders to come to thee only when I command her to +do so, though such is her love for thee that she beats her shrivelled +body in despair at thy absence, and is like to die for weariness of thy +empty chamber. So when thou wilt retire, if perchance the silken +ribbon of thy raiment has become knotted, there are no hands but these +to the unravelling of the mysteries of thy toilet. + +"If thou hast need of me, thou needest but call me, and I will speed to +thy bidding, for behold! I will lay across thy portal, as I have lain +these many moons since thy nest has been without the bird for whom it +was my pleasure to build." + +For a moment fell a mighty silence between the two, broken only by the +stream which hurried past them on its way to the great green Nile. + +Not a frond stirred, neither did the breeze even move the multitudinous +folds of Jill's raiment. + +From the West the sand swept up to her feet, and as far as eye could +see to the East it stretched. + +Slowly she turned and looked at the motionless figure under the palms, +then silently she held out her hands with a little movement of utter +submission, as a sound, twixt a sob and a moan, fell gently on the soft +air. + +For one long moment they looked across the sand at each other, these +two who had been tried to their utmost limit, and then the man was at +her feet, with, flimsy veil held in his hands, lower he bent and lower, +as his white cloak swept out on each side of the girl like great +protecting wings, as catching the hem of her dress he raised it to his +forehead, and then rising to fasten the veil before her face, led her +by the hand to the door of her dwelling, pulling back the white silk +curtain for her to pass. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII + +A very ecstasy of love radiated upon the Arab's face as he stood behind +Jill, who in amazement stopped dead on the threshold. + +Beautiful her many rooms had been, but none to compare with the +snow-white beauty of this. Great white Persian rugs with faint +tracings worked in gold and silver lay upon the white marble of the +floor; white cushions, with little corner gold and silver tassels, lay +piled upon a great divan raised a foot on ivory feet above the floor, +and half hidden behind white damask curtains hanging from a finely +wrought arch carved out of creamy stretches of ivory held together with +gold and silver clasps of rare workmanship. + +Stools of ivory, and one great perfect chair, made of innumerable tusks +with each tip blunted by a ball of crystal, shone in the dim light cast +by the hanging lamps, which drew countless rays from the four fountains +playing in the four corners. Bibelots, jewelled boxes, rare books in +rare age-dulled covers, things of use and things of luxury lay in every +corner, and yet so big was the room that it gave Jill an infinitely +refreshing feeling of space as she walked slowly through to another +one, leading out from the far side, where crystal and ivory gleamed +from low tables, and full length mirrors reflected the water in the +Roman bath over which hung flowering plants scenting the air from the +great gold and white cups, whilst two snow-white doves cooed to each +other in a silver cage at the approach of the coming dawn. + +"So would I have it for my--ah----!" Hahmed stopped suddenly, as with a +little cry the girl falling forward clutched frantically at his fine +white clothing, tearing it in many places under her weight. + +"Woman--wife, art thou stricken with fear of him who loves thee--Allah! +That I should have lived to see thy face distorted in anguish in my +presence. I spoke in anger, O! my heart, but my wrath waxeth faint +within me in thy beloved presence," and speaking soft words of love he +raised her in his arms, causing the voluminous mantle which she held so +closely about her to slip from her shoulders to the ground. + +Speechless she stood before him with her hands before her face, and +speechless stood Hahmed, as, holding her at arm's length, he gazed upon +his woman, gazed until a great tremor suddenly shook him. + +For behold he saw that the glory of womanhood had descended upon her, +and that her hour was nigh. + +"Allah!" he whispered, as he gently drew her into his arms. "Thou art +with child, O! my beloved. Why was I not stricken blind for this my +senseless folly? Why was I not stricken dumb for those my words of +wrath spoken to _thee_, thou tree bearing the fruit of love? Oh! glory +be to Allah in this most wonderful thing." + +He picked her up, and carrying her into the first room, laid her upon +the divan and knelt beside her with her hand against his mouth whilst +she whispered to him the great, the everlastingly wonderful and new +tidings of the coming of her babe. + +"Oh, dearest of men and most little understanding. Truly it is that +within me I hold thy great gift. How was it thou didst not guess when +I no longer raced thee across the sands upon my horse, or sprang to the +ground to greet thee on my return. + +"And even when my moods changed even as changeth the colour of the +sands, even then, dear heart, thou didst not guess; and I in my foolish +woman's way was contrary, and could not even then be sure that my +happiness lay here in the desert. And so I left thee, to try thee and +myself, and not until I could no longer see thee, and have speech with +thee, did I------ Hahmed! Ah, beloved! Nay, 'tis nothing--it can be +nothing--because two moons have yet to rise and wane before--ah, and +yet--maybe--maybe the journey, although not tedious, has brought about +my happiness before its time. Beloved, I------" + +With eyes alight, with a great pride and face aglow with tenderness, +Hahmed bent and kissed the little agonised face. + +"I go one instant, Queen of Women, to bid thy body woman come, she, +praise be to Allah, being well versed in the mighty miracle of birth. + +"She will tend thee with the tenderness of a mother, and the skill of +the greatest doctor in the land. + +"Fret not, beloved, I am gone but for one moment." + +Jill lay silent, and then smiled sweetly as out of the shadows ran a +little hunchback figure who stood without word, for a moment gazing +with love-laden eyes at the white woman, then kneeling suddenly, kissed +the cushion upon which rested the girl's dainty feet. + +For half an hour Jill submitted to the adoring little woman's +ministrations, who made water to splash, and scented the air with +aromatic perfume, and spread white loose gowns and softest linens +before her mistress for her choice. + +"Leave me, Ameena, now," whispered Jill, and she was alone with the +golden glory of her hair falling about her, as she pressed her hands +against her mouth, until uncontrollably and insistently her cry for her +master tore the air. + +"Hahmed! Ah, Hahmed! Come to me!" + +And he was beside her. + +The Arab had faced death more than once, had witnessed things unmoved +which had served to freeze the very blood of others; but never had he +heard such a cry as this which cleft the shadows in the room. + +Great drops of sweat shone upon his forehead as he stooped above the +couch, his strong white teeth biting into his under lip. + +Swiftly he crossed the room, pulling back the silken curtain which +served as a door, leaving an opening through which the dying moon +struck a mighty silver spear. + +And as swiftly he passed out into the gardens scented with sweet +flowers, a little gate in the wall swinging back at his touch, through +which he sped on and on to the great plains of his beloved desert. + +It was the hour before the dawn, and turning in the direction of Mecca +he prayed, and the prayer finished, advanced yet another twenty yards +and, divesting himself of his cloak, laid it upon the ground, and then +turning, sped back to his woman who honoured him before all men. + +A little breeze heralding the coming dawn blew the silken curtains +gently to and fro as the man knelt beside the low divan. + +"Hahmed! the hour strikes--I am afraid--I--oh! Hahmed, I cannot see +thy face, beloved." + +Two little white hands sought and grasped the strong ones held out to +help, for through the faint voice had crept a note of fear. + +But even though the little teeth had bit until red drops of blood had +spilled from her mouth on to the white cushion, the great eyes smiled +up into the man's tortured face as he bent closer to the golden head. + +"Harken! Woman of women, thou who bringest honour unto me, in this +thou shalt please thyself, for art thou not in this moment a very +queen, and I but a slave at thy feet. + +"Behold is it the custom of my tribe, dwellers of the desert, children +of the sand, that the woman give birth to her first-born upon the very +sand of this mighty desert. + +"Not upon couch and silken cloth does the first-born draw its breath, +but upon the sand with the desert wind upon his little head. + +"I have no command for thee, beloved, because thou art of the West, +where different customs rule, and I--I mind not--for my love for thee +is above all custom, and all manner and fashioning of mankind! Choose +then and I am satisfied!" + +Once again two little hands shone dimly as they were raised, searching +blindly. + +"Take me into thy arms, beloved, and carry me to the desert sand, for +behold, thy will is my will and my ways are henceforth thy ways! But +hasten! for the moment is at hand. Hold me in thy strength for I +faint!" + +Tenderly the great man stooped and gathered the girl to his breast. +Swiftly he crossed the threshold, and passing through the gate gently +laid her down upon his mantle, stretched upon the ground. + + * * * * * * + +The wind of dawn blew the stars out one by one, the great plains of +sand changed from purple to steel, to grey, to yellow. + +The palms whispered gently together, the water sang on its swift way to +the river, a faint movement everywhere heralded the coming of the day. + +Motionless, Hahmed knelt beside Jill, whose snow-white face, +half-ridden in the folds of cloth, looked like some faint spring flower +in a world of shadows. + +And then, as the woman whose unbound hair rippled in golden streams +about the Arab's feet, put out her hands to grasp her master's robe, a +long-drawn cry which spoke of pain and joy, death and ecstasy and Life, +crept over the sands, rising, rising to the very heavens, to sink back +in faintest moan to her who in that moment had fulfilled the miracle of +Love. + +A hush fell upon the earth, a mighty stillness upon those two. + +And then! + +A little sound, soft as a bird's call at dawn, broke the silence of the +sands! + +And at the little sound the man sprang upright, with hands and blazing +eyes upraised to heaven. + +And as he stood towering over the motionless woman at his feet, the +sound of rejoicing was great in the land; for over the yellow sand, +tearing apart the last dim shadows of the night, up struck the sun's +first golden shaft, and as it spread, piling gold upon red, and red +upon gold, across the great plains and up to the very highest of high +heaven thundered the Mohammedan's tumultuous, triumphant hymn of praise. + +"_La Allah, illa Allah! Muhammed rasul Allah!_" + + + + +THE END + + + + +[Transcriber's note: The word "Amourers" in Chapter XXXIII should +probably be "Armourers" (weapon makers).] + +[Transcriber's note: In the "La Allah" line above, two characters are +supported only in Unicode. They are the second "a" in "Allah" and the +"a" in "illa", both of which should be a-macron (U+0101), and the "u" +in "rasul", which should be u-macron (U+016B).] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Desert Love, by Joan Conquest + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DESERT LOVE *** + +***** This file should be named 15242-8.txt or 15242-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/2/4/15242/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/15242-8.zip b/15242-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e36229 --- /dev/null +++ b/15242-8.zip diff --git a/15242.txt b/15242.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..35a7ace --- /dev/null +++ b/15242.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8297 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Desert Love, by Joan Conquest + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Desert Love + +Author: Joan Conquest + +Release Date: March 3, 2005 [EBook #15242] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DESERT LOVE *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +DESERT LOVE + + + +BY + +JOAN CONQUEST + + + + +Author of "Leonie of the Jungle" + + + + + + +NEW YORK + +THE MACAULAY COMPANY + + + + +Copyright, 1920 + +By THE MACAULAY COMPANY + + + +PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. + + + + +TO M. F. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PART I + +THE SEED + + +PART II + +THE FLOWER + + +PART III + +THE FRUIT + + + + +PART I + +THE SEED + + + + +DESERT LOVE + + +CHAPTER I + +Jill looked at the East! + +At her feet sat huddled groups of women, just bundles of black robes, +some with discs about their necks, some with chains or golden crescents +upon the forehead, all wearing the _burko_ [yashmak or face veil] +covering the entire face with the exception of the eyes, and held in +position between the eyebrows by the quaint tube-shaped _selva_, +fastening it to the _tarhah_, the flowing black veil which nearly +touches the ground behind, covers the head, and pulled down to the +eyebrows leaves just the beautiful dark eyes to be seen, glancing up +timidly--in this case--at the golden-haired, blue-eyed girl above them. + +Men of different classes stood around, or squatted on their heels upon +the ground, all in flowing robes of different colouring and various +stages of cleanliness, some with heads covered in turbans, some with +the tarboosh, others with the kahleelyah or head handkerchief, all +chattering with the exception of the higher classes and the Bedouins, +the latter clothed in white, with the distinctive thong of camel's hair +wound about the head covering, arms folded and face passively serene, +looking as though they had stepped right out of the Old Testament on to +the fly-ridden, sunbaked station of Ismailiah; whilst vendors of cakes, +sticky, melting sweets, and small oranges, wandered in and out of the +crowd screaming their wares. Shouts of laughter drew Jill's attention +to the other side of the station, where, with terms of endearment mixed +with blood-curdling threats, a detachment of British soldiers getting +ready to start en route for Suez were urging, coaxing, striving to make +that most obstinate of animals, the camel, get to its feet some time +before midnight. + +From them she looked at a group of native dwellings made of sunbaked +clay. Small square buildings, looking in the distance like out-houses, +with scarcely perceptible windows, and flat roofs given over to +poultry. Near them the patient bullock did its monotonous round, +drawing the precious water from the well with which to moisten the arid +little patch of earth from which the fellah extracts the so very little +necessary to him in his life. + +A clump of slender palms, like forgotten scaffolding, stood out clear +against the intense blue of the sky; the desert, that wonderful +magnetic plain, stretched away in mile upon mile of yellow nothingness, +until as minute as flies on a yellow floor, growing more distinct at +every step, with solemn and exceeding great dignity stalked a string of +camels, each animal fastened by a rope to the saddle of the one in +front, each apparently unconscious of its seemingly overwhelming +burden, as with heads swaying slightly from side to side with that air +of disdain which the dame of Belgravia unsuccessfully tries to imitate +when essaying to crush the inhabitant of Suburbia by means of +long-handled lorgnettes resting on the shiny arch of her aristocratic +nose, they responded without fail to the soft musical voice of the Arab +seated cross-legged on the leader. + +Then her eyes turned to the West. + +To the mixed mob which had rushed from the _Norddeutscher Lloyd_ at +Suez, leaving the great liner to the wise few, while perspiring and +querulous, and altogether unpleasant, they had filled the little train +which chuffs its way along the edge of the canal to Ismailiah, and +through the dust and fly-laden miles to Cairo, where it turns its +burden out to clamour and argue vociferously with the wily dragoman who +would take a herd of elephants to "do" the Pyramids in one hour if the +backsheesh proved substantial enough. + +With absolute loathing she gazed at those with whom she had passed so +many weary days on the return journey from Australia. + +There were of a certain type of English women not a few, sunburnt, loud +of voice, lean of breast and narrow of hip. + +Their sisters, wiser and better endowed by nature, had remained on the +liner, taking advantage of the empty conditions of the boat to repair +the ravage done to complexion and wardrobe by the sizzling, salt-laden +wind which had tortured them since Colombo had been left behind. + +Two daughters and a mother stood aloofly in the shade thrown by the +indescribable waiting-room; the mother still labouring under the +delusion that if you can't afford to send your girls properly wardrobed +on a visit to relations in India, the next best method of annexing +husbands for them is to take them hacking on a long sea voyage. For +has it not been known that many a man driven to the verge of madness by +the everlasting sight of flying fish, and the as enduring sound of the +soft plop of the little bull-board sandbag, has become engaged to "a +perfectly im-_poss_-ible person in the second class, you know," so as +to break the deadly monotony of his surroundings. + +They did not want to see Cairo or any other part of Egypt, for the East +said nothing to them, even a rush view of the Pyramids failing to stir +their shallow hearts; but they knew to a shade the effect on their less +fortunate friends when in course of time they should murmur, "You +remember, dear, the winter we were in Cairo." + +Added to these there were raucous Australians, clumsily built guttural +Germans, in fact the usual omnium gatherum, unavoidable, alas! on a sea +voyage, clothed in short skirts, shirt waists, squash hats, and thick +boots as "they were going tramping about the sands," and each, of +_course_, loaded with the inevitable camera which gives dire offence to +many an eastern of higher rank, who hates being photographed +willy-nilly along with all the other "only a native" habits of the +westerner, who with the one word "nigger" describes the Rajah of India, +the Sheik of Arabia, the Hottentot and the Christy Minstrel. + +Free for one day from the restraining manners of those others who at +that very moment were doubtless returning thanks on deck to Allah for +his manifold blessings in the shape of some few hours of perfect peace, +a few men of different nationalities were either boisterously chaffing +the less plain of their companions, or ogling the shrinking Eastern +women, crouching on the edge of the platform. Mr. Billings in fact, in +unclean canvas shoes and a frantic endeavour to find favour in the +bistre enlarged eyes of a certain slim black figure, was executing the +very double shuffle which had "brought down" the second class dining +saloon honoured for the nonce by the presence of the first class, on +the occasion of one of the purgatorial concerts habitual to sea life as +known on board a liner. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Jill stood by herself! + +Personally I consider as infinitely boring those descriptions written +at length anent the past lives of the characters, male and female, +which go to the building of a novel, so in as few words as possible +will try to outline the years which had brought Jill Carden to the +dreary task of waiting hand and foot upon the whimsies of a neurotic +German woman of great wealth, and still greater disinclination to part +with the smallest coin of any realm she might be travelling through. + +Jill, an only child and motherless, had led a glorious care-free +existence. + +Adored by her father and her two friends, Moll, otherwise the +Honourable Mary Bingham pronounced Beam, of the neighbouring estate, +and Jack, otherwise Sir John Wetherbourne, Baronet, of the next county, +big brother to Jill and worshipper at the shrine of Moll. Jill was +also loved by all who waited on her, and sought after by not a few on +account of her great wealth, and had laughed her way through seventeen +years of life, to find herself suddenly minus father and money, with +nothing left in fact but an estate mortgaged to the smallest pebble, +and a heart-whole proposition from her chum Moll to "just come over the +wall" and restart laughing her way as her adopted sister through the +bit of life which might stretch from the moment of disaster to such +time that she should find a life companion with whom she could settle +down and live happily ever after! + +But although Jill's head was outwardly covered with great plaits of +auburn hair, through which broke riotous, frivolous curls, the inside +held a distinctly active and developed brain, which had acquired the +habit of thinking deeply upon such subjects as woman, wife and +motherhood. + +Added to this, which is already quite enough to put out of gear the +life of any girl brought up in convention bound England, she had a +heart as big as her outrageous longing for, and love of adventure, +neither of which bignesses she had so far been able to satisfy. + +As I have said this was quite bad enough, but through and above all, +her whole rather exceptional being was desirous of love. Not the shape +which clothes its diseased body in soiled robes of imitation something +at one and elevenpence three farthings per yard, and under ferns in +conservatories, in punts up back-waters, in stifling tea-rooms, hotels, +theatres and night-clubs, exchanges sly look for sly look and soiled +mouth for soiled kisses, in its endeavours to pass itself off as that +wonder figure which, radiant of brow and humorous of mouth, deep of +breast and profound of thought, stands motionless in high and by-ways +with hands outstretched to those futile figures, blindly hurrying past +the Love they fondly imagine is to be found in the front row of the +chorus, the last row of the cinema, or the unrestrained licence of the +country house. + +Jill had never flirted and therefore had known no kiss excepting her +father's matutinal and nocturnal peck. She looked upon her beautiful +body as some jewel to be placed in the hands of the man she loved upon +her wedding-night, so it was as unsoiled and as untainted as her mind, +although she knew that once she loved she would go down before that +mighty force as a tree before a storm. Dull, you will say all this. +May be! but mighty refreshing in these days when amourette follows +amourette as surely as Monday follows Sunday, the only difference in +the stock being the trade mark, which stamps the one with the outline +of a perfect limousine, and the other with the front seat on the top of +an omnibus; though believe me the Mondays and Sundays differ not at all. + +Jill's ideas on franchise and suffrage, and a "good time" as seen from +the standpoint of the average society girl or woman were absolutely nil. + +She wanted first of all a master, then a home, and then children, many +of them. + +Her idea of love was utter submission to the man she should love. Her +ideal of happiness his happiness, and although she had no fixed idea of +her home, she was positively certain she did not want lodge gates and +forelock-pulling peasantry, nor tame deer inside elaborate palings, nor +the white-capped nurse stiff with starch trundling a perambulator with +a fat, ordinary, rosy heir to the palings, deer, and pullers of locks. + +So she sweetly but very definitely said no to a certain millionaire, +who had earned his banking account and the thanks of many thousands by +his invention of a non-popping champagne cork, and who, adoring the +girl, had hastened the very day the news of the smash had spread +through the country, like fire on a windy day, to lay his portly self +and all that thereunto adhered at her beautiful feet. The disgust of +her relatives upon her want of common sense was outspoken; for having +overstocked their respective quivers with commonplace female arrows, +they quite naturally looked with dismay upon an almost beautiful and +_quite_ penniless and homeless girl about whom, _after_ having read the +will they referred to as "poor Jill, for whom I _suppose_ we _must_ do +_something_ don't you know?" with a quavering inflection at the end of +the phrase. + +But Jill did not stop on refusing the eligible owner of an unmortgaged +estate. No! she set out to look for work off her own bat, and actually +found it in that occupation which, far less paid than more, opens up a +perfect vista of possible adventures under the guise of a travelling +companion. + +She spoke French, German, and Italian like natives, which was all to +the good. She danced like a Vernon Castle, knew almost as much about +fencing as a Saviolo, shot like a George V., and rode like a cowboy, +all of which qualifications she erased from her list on the termination +of the freezing half-hour of her first interview with her first +would-be employer, who, until the enumeration of the above sporting +qualifications, had seemed desirous of taking her along with a +bronchitic pug to winter in Bath. + +Since then she had done Europe and Africa pretty well with never the +suspicion of an adventure, and, when you meet her on the station of +Ismailiah, where you change for Port Said, she was returning from +Australia, with a wardrobe at last beginning to fret about the hem, and +shine around the seams, a condition accounted for by the emaciated +condition of her purse; a memory of good things and hours worn thin by +the constant nerve-wracking routine of capsules, hot drinks, hot water +bottles, moods and shawls; and a fully developed rebellion in her whole +being against the never-ending vista which stretched far into the +future, of other such hours, days, months, yea! even years! + +But everything was capped by a still more fully developed decision to +brave it out, and out, and out, rather than return to ask the help of +those whose hand-clasp had weakened in ratio to the dwindling of the +gold in her coffers. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +And why did she stand by herself? + +This is no riddle, the answer being too easy. Men would have answered, +"Guessed in once, she was pretty!" And the women would guess in once +too, but would keep silent, the pretty ones merely smiling, having +sampled the Coventry-sending powers of plain women in the majority on +board, and the plain ones from that unwillingness inborn or inherited +in every woman to admit good looks, or good anything for that matter, +in a member of her own sex. + +And she _was_ pretty, with the prettiness of youth allied to genuine +red-gold hair, and the bluest of blue eyes, which looked at you in +disconcertingly straight manner from between the longest black lashes +you ever saw. + +She sounds very much like a "Dainty Novel heroine," but I have met her +and I know, and she also had a mouth turned up at the corners, and the +loveliest teeth, a nose which also turned up, not unduly, and a skin on +which lay the merest suspicion of powder like dust on a butterfly's +wings, also two jet black _grains de beaute_, one at the corner of her +mouth and the other on top of the left cheek, just under the outside +corner of the eye. + +_Ravissante_! Her beauty was nature's own, and she had the loveliest, +longest, narrowest feet ever shod and silken hosed by Audet, and as +lovely out of the silken hose as in. + +But all that, though it pleased the eye, did not really constitute her +real charm. It was more the idea of strength, and buoyancy, and the +love of humanity she gave out, that attracted young and old, rich and +poor, dogs, children, and the sick of soul and body to her. + +The type of woman who owns the husband of a roaming disposition and has +not got accustomed to the disposition, or the woman eager to acquire a +husband of any disposition whatever, liked her not at all, failing to +see that she was genuinely uninterested in other people's male +belongings. + +Those who think to lure men by the mystery of a tobacco cloud +permanently around the head, or to stimulate by the sight of a glass +which looks like lemonade but isn't, nestling among the everlasting +cards and cigarette debris, disliked her _intensely_, not so much +because she did not ally herself _with_ them, as for the fact that she +did not range herself _against_ them, having even been heard to remark +that the world would be a deadly dull place is everyone enjoyed the +same pleasure and the same wickedness. Just three more items to add to +the long list against her on this particular voyage. + +Firstly, had she not one sizzling Red Sea day appeared with her hair +hanging in two great plaits reaching below her knees? Which escapade +might have escaped uncensured if accompanied by the whitish eye-lashes, +forceful freckles, and pungent aroma usually allied to reddish hair, +but as it was, the combination of the red-gold glory with blackest +curling lashes, skin like satin, and the faintest trace of Devonshire +lavender, created a perfect scandal among those whose locks were either +limply curtaining their owner's cheeks or blinding the eye, or cached +under some head covering were acquiring a wave which might with luck +last out the dinner and bridge hours. + +Secondly, although a penniless companion, she allowed no familiarity +from the men and no condescension from the women; and thirdly, her +shoes gave reason for envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness, +being on the day you met her exquisite champagne coloured things, her +critics little guessing that the reason she wore them was that she had +none thicker, and no money wherewith to buy any. + +This last point sounds almost absurd, but those who know will any day +back the woman with dainty ankles, pretty feet, the glimpse of white +lace and a plain face, against the really beautiful countenance up +above the shapeless ankle-calf combine, and the foot that in two days +gives a shoe the shape of the bows of a dinghey. + +So because of all these reasons, also because all the nice, wise people +who loved her having stayed behind, she stood alone, her heart +clamouring for life and adventure, which comes to about the same thing, +and which she sensed is to be found so much more easily in the East she +was leaving behind in the space of a few hours. The rest of her +rebelling against the West, the monotonous days on the boat racing her +back to England in November, with nothing to do, too much to eat, and +the trail of medicine glasses, cushions, gouty, dyspeptic, and neurotic +employers lengthening into the drab future. + +"Allah! help me!" she whispered, and really meaning it, as she turned +to look again at the camels stalking on into the desert, and finding +herself instead looking straight into the eyes of an Arab standing +behind her. + +And here, I hope, endeth the dullest part of the book. + + + + +CHAPTER 17 + +Arabs as a race are tall, most of them having a grave look of nobility, +all without exception, inheriting from their forefathers Ishmail or +Johtan that air of studied calm, that seldom smiling, never restless +attitude, which expresses the height of dignity and gravity. There +were many of them in this motley station crowd, also Bedouins, smaller +of stature, and the members of the many other tribes which go to +populating the great Egyptian desert. But not one of all the men, +magnificent though some of them were, could compare with Hahmed the +Camel King, who, standing alone and motionless with folded arms, let +his eyes rest upon this most fair woman from the West. + +Jill was accustomed to being looked at, from the impudent stare of +Frenchmen, the open look of admiration, both male and female, of the +Italian, to the never-to-be-forgotten look of Berlin that had seemed to +undress and leave her naked in the street. + +But now under grave scrutiny she felt the colour, which made her even +more lovely, rising from chin to brow, and longed to cover her face or +to run away and hide, though there was nothing but a wondering respect +in the Arab's eyes. + +For one moment his eyes met hers, then she slowly lowered the heavy +white lids with their fringe of curling lashes, and, turning, stood +looking out over the desert, where she no longer saw the stretches of +yellow sand, nor the airing of camels stalking away into the distance, +nor the mud houses and patient bullocks. No! nothing of all these, but +instead, just one man's face, oval, lean-featured, eyes brilliantly +black and deep-set under thick eyebrows, an aquiline nose, the lower +part of the face covered in a sharp pointed beard, and the thick virile +hair by a snow-white kahleelyah, bound by a band to the well-shaped +head. + +A man was he indeed with a width of shoulder rarely seen in an Arab, +standing well over six foot, in spotless white robes sweeping to his +feet, a cloak of finest black cloth falling over all in swinging folds, +failing, however, to hide that look of tremendous strength which +impresses one so in some of the long-limbed, lean, muscular inhabitants +of the desert. + +Jill walked over to the edge of the platform which, as a rule is only +raised a few inches above the rail, and after a few seconds beckoned +her employer's special dragoman, who had annexed himself at Cairo and +presumably would only be shaken off on deck. + +He came immediately, all smiles. + +All the so-called lower classes smiled upon Jill, from the coster in +Whitechapel to the Kaffir at the Cape. And why? Why, because she +smiled when she asked a service. + +"Be more dignified!" she would indignantly reply when remonstrated with +about the native. "They certainly show a varied degree of blackness in +their skin, and have less brains than some of us, but they are human, +so I shall continue to smile if I like," and smile she did, and they +smiled too and ran to do her bidding. + +Not that she indulged in the "our dear black brother" views of those +people who, from utter lack of knowledge upon the subject, believe that +with the exception of a certain difference in the pigment which +embellishes the skin, the lowest type of Hottentot has the same ideals, +desires, and outlook on life as the highest born, or, as I think to be +more correct, I should say, the cleanest living individual in the +Western Hemisphere. + +She did not approve of the promiscuous mingling of the white and black +as is so often and so unhappily seen in London, where a servant girl +maybe, will ecstatically spend her evening out under the protection of +some ebony hued product of Africa and, labouring under the delusion +that the dusky swain is the direct descendant of Cetewayo, also totally +lacking all knowledge of African history, will fondly imagine herself a +queen in embryo, instead of which she is merely the means to feed the +lustful longing for the white in some Cape boy, who believes he hides +the roll of his native walk under an exaggerated skirt to his +over-padded coat. + +And she equally hated to see the social butterfly smile upon the +high-born native of India, angling for his lakhs with the bait of a +fair white skin upon which to fasten a string of priceless pearls, +gathering her fastidious skirts about her at the sign of any feeling +more human than that which she would allow from a respectable bank +manager, recoiling disdainfully from a man whose ancestors were mighty +in the land, when hers were just beginning to break through the crust +of serfdom, as a toad will crack and throw back the caked mud under +which it has blissfully slept. + +As a preventative to social and racial mishaps she thoroughly endorsed +the theory that "East is East and West is West, etc." But in her +heart, or rather in her somewhat searching brain, she had often +wondered if there could be no exception to the ruling, if half of the +East and half of West could never combine to make a perfect whole. + +All smiles the dragoman ran forward, saluting her with hands to +forehead, mouth, and breast. + +"Do you know who that man is?" she asked, indicating with a scarcely +perceptible movement of the head the Arab who had not moved a muscle +since she had turned away from him to look at his homeland, the desert. + +"'Im! My lady!" replied the native, eyes and white teeth flashing as +he essayed in his best Anglo-French to please the beautiful foreigner +who so graciously spoke to him. "'Im? Oh, 'im! is Hahmed the Camel +King. 'Im provide the camels for Government 'Camels Corpse,'" pointing +to the Camelry Corps, where perspiring Tommies and a seething mass of +brown beasts were literally raising the dust on the other side of the +railroad. "'Im," he continued, "is ze great man, from far away over ze +Canal from ze greates' and best part of South Arabia. Is rich, oh! +rich! Oh! so very rich--_riche comme le diable, Madame_. Is master of +many villages, many peoples, but is 'ow say, my lady--_est +etrange_--and feared. 'Is word is ze law and 'is arm is ze iron and 'e +can also shoot ze fly on ze top of Cheops!" + +The man paused, literally from want of breath. + +"He is evidently a very fine man," said Jill, it must be confessed a +little disappointedly, having expected something a little less ordinary +in the way of history, "but I can't say I see anything strange about it +all!" + +The dragoman, slightly downcast by the lack of enthusiasm on the part +of his audience, took in a huge quantity of the absolutely stifling air +and started afresh. + +"Oh! _mais, Madame_, ze strange zing is zat wiz all 'is rich, all 'is +camel, all 'is 'ouse--ah! I forgot zat is 'is Ismailiah 'ouse," +pointing a long, brown finger to a huge pink edifice, standing like a +huge pink birthday cake under the blazing sun on the edge of the +town--"'e 'as no woman--no not an one--not wife--not lady--zere is +tales of one wife long ago over zere," pointing vaguely in the +direction he imagined South Arabia might be, "but feared, we say and +ask nozing--no! ze great Hahmed live alone--not zere------" Once more +pointing contemptuously to the pink abode. "Zat but a business +'ouse--ze most beautiful place in one oasis! Ze Flat Oasis! Ah +Madame! _comme c'est 'belle_--I who 'ave been on camel business can +tell, ze 'ouse, ze shade, ze water--but no lady, no children, no son, +no one--'e go and sleep and live all by self alone--_triste_, Madame, +because 'e is ze great, ze just, but go always alone in ze night to 'is +oasis _bien aimee_ and------" + +And here the uplifting of an angry guttural voice caused him to turn +and run hurriedly towards a figure vehemently signalling with a huge +fawn-coloured sun-shade lined with green. + +And as he ran the soul of the desert, born of the sun, palms, ennui, +flies, the sand, and Allah knows what besides, suddenly sat up in +Jill's eyes and laughed, and as she laughed the words "Go always alone +in ze night to 'is oasis _bien aimee_" rang in the girl's ears, as a +strange and startling idea flashed across her mind. + +For and against the idea ranged her thoughts; upheld one moment by the +insistent clamouring of her whole soul for freedom; combated the next +by the inherited deference to convention planted by long dead +generations in the mind soil of almost every British subject. + +Why should she not break away and strike out on her own, if only for a +few hours? But would she not be running into positive physical danger +if she did so? Still it would only be for a few hours--a swift ride +into the desert--a glimpse of a desert home--a break anyhow in the +deadly, soul-stifling monotony of her daily round. Yes! but what did +she know of the man outside the eulogies of the dragoman, who for all +she knew might be leagued with him in nefarious schemes. + +And yet, no one cared if she lived or died in soul or body. Marry she +would not for years, and years, though of a truth that prospect would +become more and more remote as youth vanished and the waters of her +wealth remained at low tide. But the most irresistible argument in +favour of the mad idea was that so far she had not had one single real +adventure. + +"Allah!" she whispered, clasping her hands involuntarily. "Where is my +path? Show me the way out!" + +And even as she unclasped her hands, she heard a faint tinkle of coins +in the well-worn little bag hanging from her wrist. + +"Allah has heard!" she murmured to herself, as she fished for a coin. + +"Heads I speak--tails I go back to England," she continued, placing the +silver coin on her thumb nail, flipping it into the air, and catching +it on the back of her hand. "Heads. Oh!" + +And giving herself no time to think, whilst the soul in her eyes first +frowned and then laughed in glee, she turned and crossed the few yards +covered by the sand which for centuries blown hither and hither had +been waiting to make a carpet for her lovely feet to tread when Allah +in his graciousness should show her the path, which would lead her to +the way out. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +Jill had an entrancing speaking voice. She spoke on a low note, and +having trained the muscles of the throat to relax or tighten at will, +she was able to throw all manner of inflection into the words, and all +shades of tone and melody into the chords of the beautiful musical +instrument which is so terribly neglected the world over. + +So that when she spoke, her words sounded like the chiming of distant +bells in the ears of the man, and his heart seemed likely to be +engulfed in the golden stream of a voice through which continuously +rippled a gentle laughter. + +"Monsieur will forgive me for speaking in this abrupt way, but the +moments are few in which to make my request. I hear that in the desert +is a beautiful oasis, and many beautiful Arabian horses. I have never +seen an oasis, for you see I know nothing of Egypt, but I once had an +Arab mare. She was wonderful and white. Perhaps Monsieur has some of +her brothers or sisters? And just for once I should like to see the +desert stars at night, and the desert sun at dawn. Could Monsieur take +me to see these things if----" And then the golden voice stopped +short, and the girl involuntarily took one step backward. + +Those who know the race know that the Arab has a tremendous control +over his emotions. He can love and kill in one moment, but until the +woman is literally swept off her feet, or the man or woman is dead, in +a heap, neither by voice or gesture will he betray the passion +consuming him. + +The voice, the greatest betrayer of mankind, is especially under +control of these exceedingly strong men. No matter what paroxysm of +rage, revenge, or desire may be shaking the man to the innermost depth +of his being, his voice flows on just as musically, just as softly. + +But Jill, being observant, had noticed that although the hands lay +folded on the crossed arms, the nails were dug into the palms, and +raising her eyes to the sombre face for explanation, had encountered +two eyes blazing with a mighty anger. + +There are many ways in which to incite the Arab to wrath, but believe +me, the way which will most surely lead to sudden murder, or to long +bloody feud drawn out over many years, passing from generation to +generation, is the way of _ridicule_. + +Let him think that you are laughing at him, and I should advise you to +take the nearest camel, train, or boat, or any other means of +locomotion to hand, and fly the country. + +The _country_ mind you, for hide you ever so craftily, he will find +you, even though your hair be white, and your figure bent with the +passage of years, and then, only _then_ will he be appeased, when the +real or imagined jest at his expense has been lost in the deep colour +of your rich red blood. + +So that when the Arab spoke a light of understanding dawned upon Jill, +for, touching his forehead, mouth, and a spot on his raiment just above +his heart with his right hand, and murmuring the customary salutation, +"May peace be upon you," he paused for a moment, and then continued, +"But it pleases Madame to jest with me. She awaits the train to take +her to the boat, how therefore could she come into the desert to-night?" + +But Jill was absolutely unafraid! Having known no master, she cared +not one _sou_ for any son of man, or any untoward position she might +find herself in, so opening wide her very beautiful eyes she simply +smiled back into the angry ones which looked down upon her from some +considerable height, and, with a little shrug of her shoulders, a habit +acquired from one of a succession of foreign governesses, she made +reply in her turn, and in words which though absolutely common-place +served as the golden key with which to unlock the bejewelled, golden +casket of this man's love. + +In any Western country the situation would have been _absurd_! An +English girl, minus scenery and every accessory due to a book heroine, +capable in five brief minutes of smiting the heart of one of Egypt's +most renowned men! + +Ridiculous! + +Perhaps in the lands of fogs and fires, grey skies and east winds, but +not in Egypt, where the sun, sky, winds, and memories serve rather to +force the growth of the love-plant and hasten the budding of the +passion-flower. + +Studiously buttoning up the last button which she always left undone on +her last pair of suede gloves, smooth as a newly born whippet puppy, +and as yet unruffled from the cleaner's manipulations, she spoke with a +ripple of laughter which made it impossible to decide if she was +speaking seriously or not. + +"Madame permits herself to do just as she pleases. If by some +unforeseen circumstances she were to miss the train, would she be taken +to see the oasis, and the horses, and the stars?" + +And let it be understood that, in her utter ignorance of deserts, she +imagined the oasis could be reached after a journey of a few hours. + +For one moment there was dead silence between these two, the strings of +whose lives Fate was inextricably mixing in her fingers, palsied by +age, and fretted by the constant tugging and straining of those other +threads which, in moments of senile anger or childishness, she gets +into such hopeless tangles. + +Then as the shriek of an engine whistle shrilled faintly in the +distance the man spoke, his voice sinking to that deep note which no +other nation attains, resembling in no way the Russian bass, and which +in the Arab upon rare occasions alone betrays some emotional upheaval. + +"Listen, woman of the West, who even at this moment stands in my +shadow, between that faint engine whistle and the grinding of the +brakes as the train comes to a standstill, you must make your choice. +A few moments ago I saw you toss a silver coin and decide quickly that +which had been decided already for you since the beginning of all time. + +"Once more you shall cast your die. The table is the sand of Egypt, +the dice-cup is your hand, the dice are your life and my life, the +stakes our happiness. Decide again and quickly for I hear the rumbling +of wheels. Make known your choice, for although we travellers through +the desert of life lie down to sleep, and rise again to live, to fight, +to hate, and above all to love, in obedience to the will which counteth +and heapeth the particles of sand upon this station, yet are we +allowed, to voice our desires, being mouth-pieces of Fate. Nay! wait +one moment until I make clear the way, so that you may not put down +your beautiful feet blindly upon a trackless waste of doubt and +mistrust. If you come with me to-night, you come alone. I have no +woman in my desert home, excepting one old hunchback slave, a withered +bough but faithful. No woman has set foot within the belt of palms +surrounding my house, and without the sand stretches! Mile upon mile +of pathless sand! + +"You will come into the desert alone with me, and the sand will close +in upon you and keep you in the desert alone--with me! + +"If you come, be at the gate of yonder pink house at nine to-night; if +you are not there I shall know that your heart has failed." + +But the soul of the desert glinted for one moment in the English girl's +eyes. + +"There may be no woman there, but there will be a man--a man indeed!" +she whispered, as though communing with herself. + +And the eyes so soft and blue looked up, and then down, down into the +soul of Hahmed the Arab, so deeply indeed that a shiver ran from her +brain to her finger-ends, causing her to draw herself together sharply +and to turn and walk away. + + * * * * * * + +So it came about as it was written that she had decided when the brakes +grinded, and that after retrieving her employer for the last time, and +placing her in a dusty corner of the stifling carriage, she slipped +away on the excuse of finding her dressing-case, which she did, taking +it with her into a corner of the deserted waiting-room just as the +engine announced its immediate departure. + +Without a qualm she watched "her crowd" jostle and push their way into +the small carriages, and the train, move out, leaving her alone--alone +in the desert town, alone with the dweller of that desert. + +A wave of exultation rushed through her as she thought of this her +great adventure, of this her freedom for at least a short while, and of +the unknown quantity she was mixing into her portion of daily bread +which, up to this moment, had consisted of the plainest, wholesomest, +most uninteresting bun-loaf, not even resembling that extremely dull +and unappetising cake named, I believe, Swiss roll, which hides its +staleness under the glass case of Life's shop window, lying fly-blown +on the plate and heavily and unimaginatively on the digestive powers of +those who consume it for the thin layer of jam to be discovered between +its wedges of sullen dough. A soul-stifling mess to be found in the +drab sideboards of most English households along with its sister made +of a pastry so flimsy that it chokes, filled with a cream that is +merely froth, the whole hiding its cheapness under an application of +highly coloured paint essence, the consuming of which will prove as +fatal as the Swiss roll. + +So she raised her hands to the grimy ceiling of the dirty waiting-room +and whispered to the dust, the buzzing flies, and vivid ray of sunlight, + +"Verily, and indeed I have burned my boats behind, or perhaps I should +say my liner before me!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Jill, very fair indeed to look upon, and with seven-and-sixpence in odd +money in her bag, stepped out bravely on to the road, scorched by the +midday sun, with a curl at the corner of her mouth, a medley of +disconnected thoughts in her madcap head, and a feeling of unromantic +emptiness somewhere in the vicinity of her white leather waist belt. + +A wisp of a boy, clad in very dirty garments, shrilled the equivalent +of "Carry your bag, miss," in the Egyptian tongue, calling down the +displeasure of Allah upon the foreign woman when she shook her head, +and changed the heavy dressing-case to the other hand. + +Ismailiah is no place for a beautiful English girl to wander in +unchaperoned, especially when out of respect to the slenderness of her +purse she gets off the beaten track in search of a cheap restaurant. + +Indeed Jill was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable at the way the +natives stared and even turned to look after her as she plodded on, so +that it was with a feeling of relief that she espied "Cuisine +Francaise" written across the window of a fairly clean-looking +restaurant in a small street, into which place she turned, to be +confronted by a fat, oily individual hailing from the Levant, who +looked as though his business was anything but that of the kitchen. + +Unsophisticated Jill, however, saw nothing wrong in the person who +bowed, and smiled, and rubbed the palms of his hands in a rotary +movement; and being taken up in trying to amalgamate the scantiness of +her money, the prices on the carte, and the enormity of her hunger, +neither did she notice the burning eyes in the handsome, sensual dark +face of a middle-aged native fixed upon her hungrily from behind a +half-open door, where he had been hurriedly summoned by the man who +advertised his skill in "_la cuisine Francaise_." + +To pass away the time Jill lingered over her meal until she was alone +in the place save for the waiter, who was aching to get away to smoke a +cigarette, and the native who had noiselessly entered and slipped into +a seat in the far corner. + +Once Jill, inadvertently looking straight into his eyes, and hurriedly +looking away, had picked up a paper lying on the chair beside her; +glanced at the first page, and dropped it like a hot plate, whilst a +wave of scorching red rushed over her neck and face. + +"Allah!" she thought, "what an awful place, and what on earth am I to +do with two shillings in my pocket, and not a cinema handy!" And +feeling the native's eyes still fixed on her, she beckoned to the +waiter, paid her bill, and once out in the street turned sharply up the +first on the right just as the native and the Levantine came to the +restaurant door in time to see the last inch of her disappearing skirt. +And yet through all her haste and her annoyance the inner membrane of +Jill's mind, that delicate fabric woven of intuition and divination, +which gives women the pull on so many occasions, and on certain courses +get her past the post lengths ahead of man, whispered to her that it +had not failed her earlier in the day, and that if she could but stick +out the next few hours she would find a sure reward for her present +distress. + +But she stopped short and clicked her teeth angrily when she met the +native of the restaurant face to face in a narrow street, and turned +and walked in the opposite direction as quickly as her dignity would +allow. + +But after the same thing had happened three times, and that it had +suddenly struck her that she was being headed in the direction of a +quarter where unveiled women peered from windows with great eyes made +larger by the rims of kohl smeared on the lid, and the cheeks rendered +dead white with the powder that proves so strangely attractive to the +eastern prostitute, she suddenly made up her mind to get herself out of +the danger and difficulty. She was utterly lost, and walking at a pace +that was almost a run, turned into the street she found nearest. + +Not one open door did she see; at least, not one that was not congested +with women sitting smoking or eating sticky sweetmeats, or drying their +heads plastered in the henna clay which would eventually dye their hair +the red favoured of man. + +She was wellnigh breathless and wondering for how long she could +continue when the man suddenly appeared at the top of the street into +which she had just turned, and seeing her salaamed deeply. + +Back she twisted like a hunted hare and raced up the street through +which she had just passed. + +It was empty, but on her left standing ajar was a door painted bright +blue. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +Without pausing to think she entered, closing it behind her just as the +man relentlessly pursuing her passed in ignorance on the other side. + +In the middle of the courtyard two Eastern women in the domestic act of +disembowelling a kid looked up lazily, and one smiling, pointed to the +upper storey of the house, through the small windows of which came the +sound of stringed instruments, and seeing that the stranger did not +understand, explained her gesture in broken French: + +"_Au premiez etase--voz amieze--les anglaiseez." + +No idea of any further possible danger entering her head, and at a +complete loss to understand, but thankful for her present safety, Jill +crossed the court, slipping unromantically on a piece of the animal's +entrails which lay about, and entering a low door mounted the stairs. + +Through a curtained archway the distinct twang of an American voice +came to her as a message of peace, so pushing back the stuff she +entered to find herself confronted by ten pairs of eyes of different +nationality. + +"Come right in," twanged the same voice, "guess you're from the same +boat! Cute of you to find your way here all by your lonesome!" + +The well-corseted wife of a Can-King, flanked on one side by her thin, +leather-skinned, neat daughter, and on the other by the inevitable +Italian marquis, whose tailor had evidently been a sartorial futurist, +pointed to a cushion on the nobleman's off side, on which perplexed +Jill squatted in imitation of the others. The party consisted of the +aforementioned trio, two flash-looking English women, who had in tow a +certain type of man who is only to be found on board ship, an obese +German, a French widow whose weeds grew more from utility than +necessity, and a dapper little Frenchman who twinkled his +over-manicured fingers for the benefit of a healthy, jolly looking +Australian girl sitting uncomfortably on the adjacent cushion. The +party's dragoman proffered a cup of coffee and a cigarette. The former +was excellent, the latter, after one puff, Jill extinguished on the +floor, for she knew tobacco when she smoked it, and guessed at hasheesh +without having to look at the slightly brightened eyes of those who sat +smoking the same brand around her. + +Then she glanced curiously round the room. Long, low, with four tawdry +glass and gilt chandeliers hanging from the not over-clean ceiling, +cushions spreading all over the floor excepting in the middle where lay +an exquisite Persian carpet, long mirrors on all sides, little inlaid +tables, and at the far end, built into the wall with steps leading up +to it, a bed behind gilt bars, the door in which was fastened by a gilt +padlock. + +It seemed that their dragoman had brought them to the house so as to +add yet more perquisites to his daily remuneration by regaling them +with an exhibition of Eastern dancing. + +"What kind of dancing?" asked Jill with a slight frown, as the +twinkling music suddenly stopped. + +"Guess we can't tell you!" replied the American mother, whose corsets +were not in exact accord with the cushions upon which she sat, +breathing heavily from her upper whaleboned register. + +"_Nous esperons le mieux_," said the Frenchman, winking at the dragoman. + +And that moment they were enlightened. + +The two English women emitted each a little screech, the American +mother caught convulsively at her daughter, who coldly raised her +long-handled lorgnettes the more fully to survey the picture before +her. The Australian girl sat quiet, as did the Englishman who had been +there before; the Italian ejaculated "_Per dio_," and the Frenchman +"_Mon Dieu_," as the widow, pulling one side of her veil across her +face, hid her over-crimson mouth, but in no way impeded her view, +whilst Jill looked round hastily for a way of escape, but suddenly +remembering the certain peril in the street decided, as she edged as +far as possible from the marchese, to sit out the difficulties of the +moment. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +To natives, a dressed or undressed dancer is nothing more than a +plaything, or something to help pass the hour; he will look at and +criticise her with much less enthusiasm than he would a she-camel, and +remunerate her or her owner according to the measure of pleasure he has +found in her posturing. + +But it is difficult, wellnigh impossible, to describe the feeling of +the occidental women when three orientals of their own sex, without a +vestige of clothing, suddenly one after the other, like ducks, sidled +into the room. + +They were none of them in their first youth, and the dragoman, after +watching their movements, decided once and for all to withdraw his +patronage from the house, and sat wondering how much he dared try to +extract from his patron's pockets for such an exhibition, while Jill, +who felt as though she had been suddenly struck between the eyes, sat +hypnotised by the undulating forms before her, until she was overcome +by a frantic desire to bury her face in a cushion and to give way to +unrestrained hysterical laughter. This same feeling has been known to +overcome one in Church when a hen, side-tracking through the open door, +takes a constitutional up the aisle on a Sunday morning in the country; +also it has been known to seize you in its grip at a levee, when your +predecessor's shoe-buckles, not having been properly adjusted, flip up +and down like shutters as their owner, in solitary state, stalks up the +audience chamber; worse and stronger still is it when your revered +bishop uncle, of whom you have great expectations, insists at morning +prayers upon those things which have been left undone, when before your +earthly eyes gapes the cotton dress of Eliza the cook, whose +comfortable dorsal proportions have forbidden the matutinal union of a +couple or so of buttons and buttonholes. + +Try as she would she could not overcome it, neither could she remove +her gaze from the three females who, poor things, were but doing their +best to add to the family coffers. Up and down, and round and round +they went, the string band twanging an accompaniment, until the gauze +scarf of the middle lady catching in the hanging chandelier put an end +to their rhythmical swayings, while like hens with a suspended cherry +they hopped in turn off the ground in their effort to disentangle their +one and only bit of covering. + +Everyone sat still until the disentanglement had taken place, upon +which event the dancers once more advanced in force, each selecting a +special man victim, until Jill, absolutely helpless and afraid of +raising native wrath by allowing even a glimmer of a smile to appear, +buried her pretty head on the marchese's over-padded shoulder, which +action he of course took for a sign of encouragement, responding to it +by slipping his arm round the girl's waist, but circumspectly enough so +that it should not be seen by the Can-King's relations, while Jill +prayed for strength to resist until the end. + +The end came in a positive Catherine-wheel exhibition of posturing, and +a deathly silence on the part of the audience; the men not daring to +make any comment, the women not daring to look at each other, until the +widow, suddenly seizing upon the situation, clapped her little hands +roguishly, and avowed in a babyish voice that "_C'etait bien gentil et +original, n'est ce pas_," which she didn't think at all really. + +Anyway her opinion served as a break, so that on the exit of the +dancers in single file, which was ten-fold more trying to the +spectators than their entry, with stretching of cramped limbs and +stereotyped utterances such as "how very Eastern," "so unexpected," the +entire party rose to their feet, the dragoman holding a hurried +whispered conversation with the men who each, and successively, and +vehemently, shook their heads, leaving the women asking of themselves +how on earth they were to continue existing relations with the men +during the interminable weeks to Australia. + +Jill, feeling almost faint from suppressed emotion and a revival of +hunger, stood a little on one side watching them. An Eastern dancing +house is a strange place in which to make the final decision of one's +life, but in just such a spot she made hers. She knew that she had +only to make up the tale of a lost boat, and something would be done +for her; in fact she could probably go as lady's maid to the Americans +on their _tour de monde_, having overheard them complaining bitterly of +their own French maid who had not been retrieved at Algiers. But her +whole soul suddenly rising in mutiny against the stultifying +civilisation of the West, she finally made up her mind to stay with the +strangers until the hour came when she could slip out of the hotel +where they were staying the night, into oriental liberty, and glamour, +and unknown possibilities. So she sat next the marchese at dinner, +whose love-making was on exactly the same line as his clothes, and +having found out from the maid in the ladies' room just how to get to +the end of the town in which was situated the Camel King's house, she +waited for a desirable opportunity, and slipped out of the hotel on the +pretence of looking at the stars, knowing that her unwitting hosts +would think she had simply gone to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +Jill's memory being of the kind which retains only the pleasant word +and act, the disagreeable episode of the afternoon had completely +evacuated that cell which in one second can raise us through the bluest +ether to the heaven as understood by the prayer-book, or send us diving +to the mud flats of the ocean bed to co-habit for a time with wingless +and non-temperamental oddities. + +Having stopped several times to discover by ear and eye if she was +being followed from the hotel, and being satisfied that the sight of +her dressing-case had in no wise aroused the hall porter's curiosity, +she propped her luggage against the base of a palm tree growing +casually in the middle of a small street and proceeded to take her +bearings. + +"Somehow it seemed quite easy to find when the maid was explaining," +she communed to herself as she dug a hatpin afresh into her hat as is +the way of woman when at a loss. "How stupid of me to try a short cut, +because she distinctly said I was to stick to the main street until I +came to two mosques side by side, and then to turn off sharply to the +right. Oh! well, I turned off too soon and am lost--and I don't like +these little streets--no! not one little bit, but that big red star +hangs right over the house so I can but follow it--here goes!" + +She picked up her case, and then drew back quickly behind the tree as a +white-robed figure slowly crossed the street, turned up another and +disappeared. + +"Oh! Moll and Jack, what on earth would you think if you knew I was +alone in Egypt. Alone! but free! free! at last, quite, _quite_ free!" + +And stretching out her arms on each side and giving herself a little +shake, Jill laughed ever so softly in pure exuberance of that feeling +of freedom, which seems to make an air pocket all about you and in the +middle of which you float contentedly, oblivious of the winds raging on +the outside. + +So glancing up at the red star, and once more picking up her bag, she +too crossed the street and disappeared up a narrower one, halting for a +moment at the sight of a man standing with bent head in the attitude of +prayer and the beads of Allah hanging from the hands crossed upon the +breast. + +Jilt's intuition was intense, and never once in all her life had it +failed her, and though to her all Eastern men seemed exactly alike in +the moonlight, yet her inner consciousness began to tap ont a message +of warning, and the bristles of her self-protection to rise at the +threatenings of danger. + +"Bother!" however, was her only comment as, keeping the star ahead, she +walked steadily onward. + +But she made a silent, strenuous, but unavailing struggle when +something white and soft was slipped over her head and a hand placed +firmly upon her mouth, as she felt herself lifted in a pair of strong +arms and carried some considerable distance until she heard the click +of a key, the opening and shutting of a door, and her captor's soft +footfall through what seemed to be a deserted house. + +She stood perfectly still when planted on her feet, and looked around +her when the cloth had been removed from about her head. + +White was her face indeed, but a little smile twisted the corner of her +mouth as she noted the oriental luxury of the room in which she stood. + +Ornate could hardly describe it so offensive was it in its +multitudinous hangings, mirrors, lamps, and clutter of stools, tables, +divans, and couches, inlaid or plastered with glittering sequins, bits +of glass, and coloured imitation jewels. + +But scorn simply blazed in the great blue eyes as she looked into those +of a man standing in front of the one and only door to the whole +apartment. + +"You brute!" she said undiplomatically and in French as he moved a few +steps nearer and salaamed deeply. "Why, you're the man who followed me +from the restaurant to-day! What do you want? Backsheesh? I haven't +any so you had better let me go at once unless you want the police +after you! You can't treat English women in this off-hand way with +impunity, I can assure you. Open the door immediately if you please!" + +Poor little Jill, who by involuntarily harking back to the insular +belief that the veriest heathen will quake in unison with the British +culprit at the mere threat of British law, showed the absolute +yarborough she held in this game, the stakes of which she guessed were +something more precious than life itself, and in which she held not a +single winning card. + +"Let not Madame cause herself worry," answered the oriental also in +French, as he approached nearer still, his eyes ablaze with passion of +sorts as be looked the girl up and down from head to foot. "The +police--the law--you are in Egypt, Madame, or I should say Mademoiselle +I think. Money! when a man holds heaven itself within his grasp, does +he open his hand to grasp a passing cloud?" + +"I should advise you to let me go _at_ once," repeated Jill, "if you +don't want my friends to raise trouble!" + +But her bluff was of no avail as she was soon aware when once more the +man salaamed with a world of mockery in the action. + +"But Mademoiselle has but now run away from her friends! No?--she has +but little--oh! _very_ little money!--yes?--and nowhere to go--it is +for that that I have thrown my protection around her!" + +Jill thought hard for a moment, wondering how much the man knew of her +escapade. + +"How do you know? _Who_ told you I had no money? I _have_ a friend as +it happens------!" + +"Mademoiselle has no friend but me," interrupted the man; "she left +them at the hotel when she went to take a walk." + +And Jill retreated step by step before him as he came closer still, his +voice sinking to a whisper, his hand within an inch of her wrist. + +"I will not harm you because you are oh, _very_ beautiful! You are a +feast of loveliness and I--I am hungry!" + +But still the little smile twisted the corner of Jill's red mouth as +she looked unflinchingly into the brown eyes in the depths of which +smouldered a something which was not good to look upon. + +"I suppose you have stolen my dressing-case too," was her next, +somewhat irrelevant remark. "Men of _your_ type I dare say can find a +use for everything from women to hair-pins. You black _dog_, who _are_ +you?" + +Red murder flared in the room for one moment and then died down, +leaving a little smoke cloud of uncertainty in the man's mind. + +He was used--oh, _very_ used to the breaking in of women, for was not +his name notorious in Northern Egypt and were there not whispers of +many young and beautiful who had mysteriously disappeared. + +Were not men and women in his pay in every corner of the big cities +posing as honest individuals? And was he not in direct communication +with them? And had he not a coterie of jackal friends who hunted with +him, though of a truth not half so successfully or artistically as he? + +And yet this slip of a girl, this pale white blossom, held him at bay, +more by her seeming indifference to the fate before her than by any +effort of will she made to combat the danger. + +Blase to tears of the exquisite women of his own country with their +lustrous brown eyes, marvellous languorous figures, and well-trained, +inherited ideas on love, the man was violently attracted by the +whiteness of this girl allied to her indifferent manner and an intense +virility which seemed to envelop her from head to foot. + +True, there are natives of a white and surpassing beauty, but which +whiteness when compared to the genuine colouring of a _very_ fair +Englishwoman has the same effect on the purchaser or temporary owner as +would a white sapphire bought in mistake for a diamond. + +Very, very beautiful, but somehow giving an impression of masquerade. + +"Your so _valuable_ dressing-case is behind those cushions, +Mademoiselle, but you shall have things of gold to adorn your +apartment, at least for a time. I tire easily even of the most perfect +fruit, but I have friends, oh, many who are not so easily wearied!" + +The man paused a moment as though awaiting some outburst, but none +forthcoming continued the enlightening discourse. + +"Who am I?--that will you know shortly. A merry chase you gave me this +afternoon, and even baffled me for a time, but surely I have not +enjoyed an hour so much for many a day. You are unique, therefore not +to be run to earth by a _common_ black dog, otherwise I could have +secured you earlier in the day and by now------" + +The man's lips, of an almost negroid fullness, curved in a smile, the +abomination of which sent a little shudder from Jill's high held head +to her steady little feet. + +"But I _have_ you now, beautiful maiden, and if you will not bend to my +will, I will break you to it, even if I spoil your satin skin and the +soles of your small feet by the lash of the whip!" + +"So!" said Jill after an interval in which the atmosphere, charged with +the electricity of anger, lust, scorn, and all the kindred sisters of +evilness, resembled what might be the result of a cross between a +spitting cat and a wireless installation. "So! Am I to understand +that you have vulgarly kidnapped me--and are holding me _not_ for +ransom, but for your evil pleasures and those of your friends?" + +"Quite so, Mademoiselle! Your words are as clear as the stream running +through a certain oasis which long I coveted, but which fell to my +greatest enemy because he had a few more piastres than I--and maybe a +little more diplomacy--a man who would kill me if he could but find the +excuse, the moral breeder of camels, the fanatic son of Solomon, Hahmed +the great, Hahmed the most noble--_pah_!" + +For one brief second Jill's eyes scanned the sensual face in front, but +seeing nothing more subtle than an intense hatred therein for the +absent man, shrugged her shoulders and then flung up her hand sharply +as the man's hand suddenly fastened on her wrist. + +"Let go my hand at once," she said as indifferently as though she were +asking for a glass of water, but she wrenched herself free and fled +behind a divan almost hidden in a bower of growing tropical plants as +the man let go at her command to suddenly grip her about the waist. + +"I shall scream the place down, and bite, and kick, and scratch, if you +touch me again." + +For one moment they looked at each other across the pile of silken +cushions, the dark shining leaves of the plants throwing up the girl's +wonderful colouring, the white petals of a flower falling like snow +about her as she stood waiting for the next move in the exceedingly +dangerous game in which she was taking part. + +The silence was absolutely deathly until the oriental broke it, smiling +the while as he might on a rebellious child. + +"If you make a noise you will bring women and servants, and perhaps my +friends, packing to the door from the most distant corners of the +house. They do not know that you are here as I brought you in by a +secret door and private way, also no one is allowed to place foot in my +own quarter of the house without my permission, with the exception of +the guardian of the big door itself, but their curiosity would outweigh +their prudence if they heard cries, for their delight is unbounded when +trouble reigns between their friend or master and a _woman_. If you +bite and kick and scratch I shall have you overpowered and bound to +_your_ great sorrow, and _their_ greater delight. It has been written +that you shall be one of those whom I honour with my favour, why then +try to fight against that which is ordained?" + +Jill answered never a word, contenting herself with keeping a watch on +the man's movements, though to the very innermost part of her she +longed to fling herself upon him to mutilate or to kill. + +"We will have coffee, O! very lovely daughter of the North, and +consider this little matter settled even before we were born. Does my +suggestion find favour in those eyes which are as the sky at night?" + +But for all answer Jill moved round the couch and sat herself down upon +the satin cushions, opened her hand-bag, and finding her cigarette case +lit a cigarette. + +"By Allah! but you are wonderful, you English girl. I do not +understand you. I have had women here screaming, fighting, fainting, +begging for mercy upon their knees. Pah! they sickened me, but +you--well! I will go and order the coffee, not wishing to bring a +slave into your presence, and give orders also, Mademoiselle, that no +matter _what_ noise may be heard I must on no account be disturbed! +And death by knife, or whip, or water, is the _ordinary_ punishment for +those who disobey!" + +Jill blew a smoke ring through another and smiled. + +"It's no good ordering coffee because I shan't drink it!" + +"You _will_ drink it," was the sharp reply. + +"Will you take a bet?" was the ready answer. + +For a moment the man who was becoming more and more amazed stared in +silence and then laughed softly as the absurdity of the situation +struck him. + +"Certainly I will, for do not we orientals love a seeming hazard? So +although I take an unfair advantage of you I will lay this emerald ring +engraven with my name against one kiss from your red mouth that within +the half of one hour you will have drunk the coffee." + +And taking the ring from his finger as he spoke he laid it upon a small +table beside Jill. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +She was sitting with her hands crossed on her lap when he returned, +carrying a small tray bearing two cups filled with coffee. + +"You have been a very long time," she remarked casually. + +"An especially delicious coffee had to be prepared for Mademoiselle, +and strict orders given that we were not to be disturbed until I give +the signal. Also that this quarter of the house, which is mine, is to +be cleared absolutely of all inhabitants. Therefore shall we be at +peace even until this time to-morrow if I make no sign. Also to +emphasise my orders, I ordered that a certain person be bastinadoed. +She sickens me with her outpourings of love, and was loitering about +this door seeking doubtlessly to enter. When she does she will most +certainly not enter upon her feet if my orders have been strictly +carried out." + +And even as he spoke a distant piercing scream, followed by another, +and yet another, rent the air, causing Jill's mouth to shut like a +steel trap, and her eyes to blaze like fires. + +"_That_ is what happens when I am _disobeyed_, Mademoiselle! Here is +your coffee, _drink it_!" + +The tone was brutal, and Jill meekly put out her hand to take the +little porcelain and silver trifle the man was bringing to her, laying +it beside the emerald ring upon the table as he turned to fetch his own +cup. + +"Drop that!" + +Jill had not raised her voice, but a certain unmistakable quality in it +caused the man to wheel sharply. + +He stared in blank amazement for a fleeting second, and then, still +carefully holding the cup, backed hastily and sideways out of the +direct range of a very small but very useful-looking revolver in Jill's +right hand. + +There was a curious lifelessness in the whole situation, and a quite +distressing lack of drama until the oriental smiled contemptuously. + +"Do not think to frighten me with that plaything, because I am totally +unafraid. We hear of the Englishwomen who shoot and ride like men, +but--well! we hear so many tales of Europe. Put up your little toy, +Mademoiselle, and remember in future that no one with any respect for +his life _ever_ gives me an order!" + +With an indifference that was not in the least assumed, he raised the +cup he was still holding. + +There was a crashing report in the luxurious room, a tinkling of broken +china, and a wisp of smoke between a smiling girl and a _very_ +surprised man. + +"Don't be a fool, and do as you're told if _you_ have any respect for +_your_ life," said Jill tersely, as she moved her hand slightly so that +her aim was on a dead level with a big button ornamenting an inch or so +of satin on the middle left of the man's undervest. + +He stood like an image carved out of consternation, whilst streaks of +rage seemed to flash across his livid face. Be it confessed, he was +not in the least afraid, but no word in the Egyptian or any other +tongue could be found to express the depths of humiliation in which he +stood neck deep. + +"Now, drink _this_ coffee!" said Jill pleasantly, pointing with her +left hand to the cup she had placed on the little table. + +"_Never_!" + +Jill smiled icily. + +"I _thought_ as much. You scoundrel! So it is drugged, and I, having +drunk it, would have lain unconscious at your mercy. God! to think +that such brutes as you are allowed to live." + +The man was watching the girl's every movement, ready to spring like a +cat from the area steps upon the unsuspecting sparrow in the road, but +neither her eyes nor her hand moved as she continued speaking very +gently. + +"Listen! I should have killed you myself to-night, feeling myself +justified, so that other wretched girls should escape the fate you had +prepared for me--you, lower than the beasts of the field; but I am not +going to do it, as happily I know of one more powerful than I who will +enjoy it thoroughly. Think of what I say when you see his messenger +with your ring upon his finger, to-morrow or next month or next year +perhaps--and when your time comes, watch the procession of betrayed and +tortured girls as they pass before you to catch your soul in their slim +hands as it leaves your body. Now! drink that coffee!" + +But the man stood stock still, and Jill frowned, for she was not a +paragon of patience at any time, and the obstinacy of the man fretted +her already jagged nerves. + +"Very well," she said, "I give you one more chance. If you refuse +again I shall put a bullet straight through your head just between the +eyebrows, as I shall now put one through that brooch kind of thing in +your turban." + +There was another deafening report, and the turban flew from the +oriental's head just as a paper-bag will fly before a March wind. + +"Go and pick that turban up and put it on your head. Hurry now, or we +shall have the police or someone coming to inquire about the shooting +gallery." + +The eyes of the boa-constrictor in the Zoo were gems of humanity in +comparison with those of the negroid-Egyptian's as he turned to obey, +and then stopped mulishly until a third little reminder chipped +splinters from the marble at his heel, whereupon he stooped and +recovered his headgear, minus the brooch, but plus a neat little hole +fore and aft. + +"Now come and drink the coffee! It won't be very nice as it is almost +cold. And remember in future if you are allowed to live, which I +_very_ much doubt, that such supreme indifference as mine could only +_possibly_ be the outcome of an absolute sense of perfect security." + +Jill patted the silly-looking little ivory and silver thing she held. + +"You mongrel!" she continued sweetly, "I was simply playing with you +until the right moment--the coffee moment which I knew must +happen--should arrive in which to give you a lesson. Why! when I saw +your eyes in the restaurant I took my little friend from my pocket and +made sure he was in order. I may look a fool, and I may act in a +manner still more foolish, but I am _not_ exactly what you would call a +_born_ fool! Now drink that, I am late already! And don't spill a +single drop or I'll shoot you on the spot!" + +There was nothing for it but to obey, though the brute took the only +revenge he could in pouring out a torrent of language beyond +description, until Jill suddenly rose and levelled her revolver at his +head, which seemed to send the sickly contents post-haste down his +throat, after which Jill ordered him to stretch himself comfortably +upon the flower-screened divan. + +He did so smiling stupidly, the drug having begun to take effect; and +the big eyes closed and opened and closed again, and the mouth relaxed +as a gentle snore told Jill that as far as the present danger was +concerned she was safe. + +She stood for a second looking idly down upon one of the world's +greatest criminals, and then at the thought of the dangers which might +still be awaiting her on the other side of the door, unloaded her +revolver and slipped a fully loaded clip into her little friend. + +Then picking up the emerald ring from the table, and her dressing-case +from behind the cushions, she crept gently across the room, and +gently--oh! so very gently, opened the door which yielded noiselessly +to her touch, and stepped into a deserted hall only to recoil violently +from something at her feet. + +Across the threshold lay a girl. + +The agonised eyes in the beautiful dark face gazed up in terror at +Jill, whilst a little hand searched weakly for a jewelled plaything of +a dagger at her waist. + +"Oh! Poverina!" said Jill, as she knelt to raise the little head, and +then stared in horror at the girl's shoulders and the hem of her satin +trousers. + +Some expert hand had flicked the delicate flesh off the back in a +criss-cross pattern; what was left of the feet lay in a pool of blood, +the deep red of which stretched across the hall far into the distance, +showing the path along which the child, left by her torturers for dead, +had dragged herself. + +"Poor little, little thing!" whispered Jill, as she made to raise the +body in her arms. But the dusky head shook feebly, and a dainty +henna-tipped finger pointed to a window across the hall, and Jill, +feeling herself pushed away ever so slightly, rose as three words were +whispered over and over again: + +"Vite--allez--mort--vite--allez--mort!" + +And understanding that there was nothing more to be done she bent and +kissed the child upon the cheek and turned away, looking back as she +opened the window which gave on to a balcony about ten feet above the +level of the deserted street, and even as she looked, saw the door of +the room she had just left being pushed back inch by inch as the dying +girl, strengthened by love and agony, dragged herself slowly into the +room in which lay the man she worshipped asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +Ten o'clock!--half-past!--eleven! + +The usual noises of a night in an Egyptian town were at their height. + +The distant and never-ceasing shuffling of slippered or naked feet on +stone, or sand, made a dull accompaniment to the sharper notes of men's +voices crying their wares of sticky sweetmeat or fruit, and the barking +and growling of innumerable dogs. + +Muffled ejaculations could be heard, little gurgles of laughter, which +in Egypt, thanks be to Allah, do not degenerate into giggles, the swish +of a whip in the shadow, followed by a woman's cry, and through all, +above all, unfinished catches of music. + +All kinds of humans, including tourists, writers, European officials +and desert dilettanti, have affixed every kind of adjective to Egypt's +music. + +Ethereal, melancholy, wailing, plaintive, nebulous, and pathetic are +but a few. Why--why try to tie a label to something which slips from +the fingers even as they close about it? Why _try_ to describe that +which cannot be described? There is, or was, a certain line which in +the heat of an Egyptian noon, or the stillness of an Egyptian night, +when the first notes of a human voice, or stringed instrument, or +rudely cut pipe-reed reach the ears, would creep out of some memory +cell. + +One loved the vagueness of those words: + + "Out of the nowhere, into here!" + +Loved the infinite space they opened up with their aloofness and +indefiniteness, until, alas! they took concrete shape when chosen as +title to the picture of a robust, Royal Academy, Fed-on-Virol looking +babe, which doubtless, when trying to grab some passing Olympian +butterfly, fell off the lap of the Gods into a sitting position upon +Mother Earth. + +Also, one thinks of that mist wraith which on a cloudless day stretched +across some mountain's breast, lies lightly upon the air, with +diaphanous ends coming out of and going into nothingness; for in just +such manner does the music fall across an Egyptian day or night. + +These catches of music have no end, and no beginning; they rise, linger +a moment, and are gone, leaving behind them an indescribable loneliness +of soul, and a longing to stretch one's hand back down the centuries to +pluck their meaning from the past. + +Under the sand, the granite, the marble, buried deep in the pyramids or +merely covered by the earth of shallow graves, there must surely be +many instruments of music wrought in gold or silver, studded in jewels, +or cut out of humble wood; many strings still unbroken, and near them +many whitened bones of dusky hands which, for all we know, at odd +moments of day or night set those strings a-thrumming, or lift the reed +pipes to ghostly lips. + +Who knows but that the British Museum at night, rid at last of those +who gape at Egypt's dishonoured dead, may not be filled with snatches +of music from throat or hand of those unfortunates, priest, priestess, +fair woman and honoured man, dug out and laid upon a slab of grass for +the education of the revellers of a wet Bank Holiday, or those others +from Northern climes, who bid their snuffling, sticky progeny to "coom +oop, lad, an' look at t' stuffed un!" + +And on this night of which I write, music was caught up, and carried +hither and hither upon the breeze which clittered the leaves of the +palms, and softly moved the flowing robes of Hahmed the Arab, who, +perfectly motionless, stood in the ink-black shadow cast by the +bougainvillaea, which trailed its purple masses over the walls of the +house, shining faintly pink under the silver moon. + +At the man's feet lay three camels, superb beasts. One red brown and +one-humped, packed with a seemingly huge load which in reality it +hardly felt, and two Bactrian or two-humped, pacing dromedaries of +Dhalul, one of deepest black and therefore most rare, with black saddle +cloth embroidered in silver, the third of a light golden colour, decked +out in cloth of softest silk patterned with glistening jewels, and +shimmering crystal specks, cushions padding the saddle-seat, to which +hung stirrups of silver. + +About this beast's neck, outstretched upon the sand, lay a garland of +flowers, upon the ground by its side lay an Eastern rug of purple +shade, covered inches deep in flowers of every kind. + +There was no grumbling or snarling, they knew their master and lay +still, until, with a slight grunt, one raised its head and looked +towards the East, as the man with a muttered "Allah" slowly moved +towards the gate. + +Putting his hands to his lips and forehead and murmuring, "Peace be +upon you!" he took Jill's dressing-case from her. + + * * * * * * + +"I'm sorry to be so late," she said in a voice devoid of anything in +the way of tone or inflection, "and I had to bring my dressing-case, it +would be so tiresome to be stranded in the desert with no looking-glass +or face cream, wouldn't it?" + +"It would be terrible!" was the answer, as though a dearth in dates was +in discussion. + +And then Jill sat down upon a convenient block of marble, and searching +in her cheap bag for one of those Russian cigarette cases of wood, +which had the advantage of being inexpensive and distinctive compared +to those of gold, silver, or silver gilt, which jingle so irritatingly +against the universal gold, silver, or silver gilt bag, took out a +cigarette, lit it, and began to make conversation. + +It is very difficult to describe the girl's frame of mind at this +moment when she stood upon the verge of great happenings, or in fact of +any moment when danger, possible or certain, confronted her. + +She was perfectly calm, in fact a little dull, with a heart which +physically neither slowed nor hastened. + +Yet it was not the fearlessness of blissful ignorance, or the +aggravating recklessness of the foolhardy. + +Three times she had been in actual danger of death: once when her horse +bolted, making straight for the cliffs a short way ahead; another time +when the receding tide had caught her, pulling her slowly out to sea, +and never a boat in sight; and again when taking a pre-breakfast stroll +on the Col di Tenda, she had encountered a fugitive of the law +desperately making for the frontier, who, half crazed with fear, +sleeplessness, and hunger, literally at the point of an exceedingly +sharp knife had demanded money, or bracelet, in fact anything which +could be transformed into a mattress, and coffee, polenta, cigarette or +succulent frittata. + +After each of the preceding incidents she had tried to analyse her +utter want of feeling, her inability to recognise danger, her almost +placid confidence in an ultimate happy ending. + +"It doesn't seem to be me, Dads," she had once explained, or tried to +explain, to her father, who, in the depths of an armchair and the +_Sporting News_, had no more idea of what she was talking about than +the man in the moon. "I seem to be standing outside myself looking at +myself. A sort of something seems to come right down, shutting the +danger right away from me. I know I'm in it and have to get out of it, +but though I pulled Arabia for all I knew, and swam for all I was worth +to reach Rock Point, and bluffed that poor devil out of taking Mumsie's +bracelet, I kind of did it mechanically, not with any intention of +putting things right, for I knew I was not going to die that time, +because I'm sure that I shall _know_ when I've got to die . . . +understand, Dads?" + +To which Dads had replied: + +"Quite so, my dear, quite so! Personally I don't see how it could be +otherwise. I agree with every word you say!" patting his red setter's +head, which in the firelight he fondly believed to be his daughter's. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +And so it was now as she sat under the African moon, whilst little +rings and puffs of smoke helped to irritate the insects ensconced in +the leaves of the creeper. She seemed to be standing on the other side +of a wall, watching the outcome of the tossing of a silver coin. + +"I've had a perfectly awful day," she announced with a ripple of +genuine amusement in her voice as she proceeded quite unconcernedly to +recount the doings of the last few hours. + +"So naturally I was followed from the restaurant," she went on after a +moment's pause, "and my bag was so heavy, and I was absolutely lost, +and only just managed to give the man the slip by hiding behind a +half-open door, painted bright blue of all colours." + +"Allah!" murmured Hahmed. "An English girl hiding in a house with a +blue door!" + +"But," she went on, having for some unknown reason omitted the dance +episode from her narrative, "that wasn't the worst part"--and +continued, quite unconcernedly, to give a detailed account of the +night's happenings. Whilst she was speaking the Arab moved nearer +until he stood over her, there was neither shadow nor frown upon the +fine face, or movement of lip or hand, but the air seemed to throb with +the intensity of the white-hot rage within him. + +"By Allah!" he said quite gently, as he took the emerald ring Jill held +out. "I do not need this, for behold for many years I have known of +the doings of this thing of whom you speak. And yet so great has been +his cunning, that until to-night I have never been able to lay hands +upon him in his guilt. But to-morrow will dawn a brighter day for +Egypt, in that she will be rid of one of her greatest evils. And were +you not afraid?" + +Jill smiled up into the eyes fixed with love, plus worship, plus +reverence, upon her. "I? Oh! no! Why should I be when I am supposed +to be one of the finest shots in Europe? Are you going to kill him?" + +"He will be dead ere the sun rises, and I beg you to forgive me if I +leave you for a while, for I must go to give orders as to his death." + +Jill's thoughts can be most aptly described as tumultuous, but her +smile was a festival of youth as she watched the Arab, in whom she had +put her trust, walk up the long avenue, stop, and clap his hands. + +She could hear no word of the orders given to the servant, who ran from +out a clump of trees to kneel at his master's feet, but she guessed +that it was the engraven emerald ring which passed from one to the +other to be hidden in the servant's turban; and she felt a wave of +absolute satisfaction sweep through her whole being at the thought of +the man's death before the dawn. + +At which sensation she mentally shook herself, feeling that the young +tree of her experience, unrestrainedly shooting out in all directions +within the space of a few hours, would require the sharp edge of the +pruning knife if it was to be kept to the merest outline of the shape +common to the ordinary life she had led up to now. + +"It is well! He dies before the dawn!" announced the Arab prosaically, +as he came towards this woman who, on the edge of a new life which +might, for all she knew, bring ruin, despair, or even death in its +wake, could so tranquilly talk of the risks she had already encountered +in the course of the first few steps she had taken upon the path she +had chosen to follow. + +"And tell me, O! woman, whose courage causes me to marvel, how once +happily escaped from the house of few windows and but one apparent +door, did you find your way to these gates?" + +"Oh! that!" said Jill, as she sat with her hands about her knee and her +face upturned to the moon, which, throwing a deep shadow from the hat +brim across the upper part of her face, made of the deep eyes a +mystery, and a delirious invitation of the red mouth. "Amongst other +till now useless accomplishments, I have learned to guide myself by the +stars, though I'm positive they move over here. I had noticed that big +one there, which we haven't got in England, that very big sparkling +one, hung over the quarter in which the waiting-maid told me lay your +house." + +"Yes!" replied the man who, though he knew the West so well, was +secretly wondering at the trait in a character which allowed a _woman_, +on the edge of something unknown, fraught, perhaps, with every kind of +danger, to talk unconcernedly of hotels, face creams, blue doors, and +stars. "That is the Star of Happiness, it hangs also right in the +middle of my oasis, right over my desert dwelling," and the string of +beads hanging from the waist slipped through the long fingers as words +of prayer fell softly on the perfumed air. + +The girl got up and walked over to the camels. + +"So I followed my star and suddenly found myself at the gates! Is this +my ship of the desert--and what a beautiful coat, the dear thing," +starting back as the dear thing turned its bead suddenly, bared its +teeth and snarled. + +"Don't be afraid, she is always nervous with strangers, also is she a +little spoilt, being the fastest and most perfect Bactrian camel in the +whole of Egypt and Arabia. Her pedigree, on parchment embossed with +gold, goes back almost to Ismael, and is kept in a Millwell safe in my +oasis, which shows that East does meet West occasionally. She has, up +to to-night, known no rider but me, and is used only for short journeys +of about seven days; you see these two-humped beasts can only go three +days with comfort without a drink, but their pace is so smooth that it +almost induces one to sleep. Also Taffadaln, which means welcome, a +name given to her after her mother had foaled three he-camels, has a +special guard both day and night, for there are many who covet her, for +she is the queen of camels, with her blood and breeding enhanced by +many years of training and special treatment. But alas! though her +coat is as silk, the cushions of her feet without fault, and her teeth +unblemished ivory, her manners are as ill-bred, and her indifference to +those who love her as great as that of the lowest of her species which +pollute the streets of Cairo." And leaning down he patted the beast's +head, speaking to her in the native tongue, whereupon she made juicy, +gurgling sounds in her long throat, and nuzzled the flowing sleeve, +which might have meant affection in any other animal but a camel. + +"More extremes," he added, as a long, soft blast of a motor-horn +sounded just outside the walls. "Will you not sit down whilst I +explain things for the last time," unwinding, as he spoke, the soft +black cloak from about him, and folding it to make a cushion for the +stone, standing silhouetted against the shadow of the walls, whilst the +slight breeze blowing the snow-white raiment outlined the tremendous +width of shoulder, the slimness of the waist, and the muscular leanness +of the whole body. + +And Jill sat down with a suddenness surprising in so controlled a +person, and to hide a sudden rush of rosy colour which swept +uncontrollably from chin to brow, extracted another cigarette from the +Russian case. + +"'Simon Artz,' I am sure! May I not offer you one of mine? They are +all made especially and only for me. And do you prize the case? No!" + +As the girl shook her head he took the wooden trifle from her, closed +his hand gently, and, crushing it to matchwood, dropped it soundlessly +on to the sand. + +And when Hahmed, the Arab, had finished speaking, Jill Carden, the +English girl, understood that with her only rested the decision, that +even now, at the eleventh hour, she was still absolutely free to go. + +Outside the gates waited the man's car, ready to take her wherever she +listed on her way home! At her feet lay the camels, ready to take her +to all the possibilities of the unknown! + +There was absolute silence as she sat motionless, looking into the +future. In the West she saw boats, trains, hotels, inner cabins, +middle seats, back bedrooms; felt women, mothers, and wives clutching +their mankind so as to keep them from the pariah, the penniless, pretty +companion; heard the clink of the five or ten shillings a week paid +monthly in silver, and all this to be repeated over and over again +until she died, unless she married a man she did not love and "settled +down" for ever and ever and ever; though even this possibility seemed +to have receded into the remote distance with the receding of her +fortune. + +Then she looked up to the stars, and down to the sand, and out to the +East, seeing her freedom if she dared grasp it, if she dared venture +out on the many days' journey which, to her astonishment, she had +learned stretched between Ismailiah and the oasis. + +She scrutinised the man before her--this Arab with the impassive face, +the camels at his feet, her life in his hands if she went with him. + +His what? Wife! to settle down for ever and ever and ever. + +His plaything? This was not the man to play or be played with, for had +he not said: + +"If you come with me, fear not that you will be a prisoner. The oasis, +the house, my servants, houses, camels, all will be yours, and there +will be nothing to prevent your leaving it all--nothing except the +desert, the miles of pitiless sand, trackless, pathless, strewn with +the white bones of those who have essayed to escape from Fate, the +never-changing, ever-different ocean which beats about my dwelling." + +Then once again she looked into the dark eyes which were reading every +passing emotion on the mobile face, and putting out her hands made one +step towards the camel, whilst the soul of the desert laughed with her +scarlet mouth. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A sharp word of command and the pack-camel rose, moved a few paces on +its noiseless feet, swaying from side to side as though to readjust its +load, whisked its miserable tail, and stretching out its long neck +began to nibble the leaves of a flowering shrub. + +Jill followed the beast, stroked its silky coat, and prodded one of the +water skins filled to bursting. + +"Will that be enough to last us all the way? And what happens when we +want to rest? And do we do all the cooking and washing-up ourselves, +just like a picnic? What fun!" Which shows that Jill had no idea of +what unlimited money can do to mitigate the discomfort of desert +travelling by providing every possible comfort, even luxury. + +"My servants have gone ahead with a caravan containing all that I think +will be necessary for your comfort. The journey takes many nights of +travelling when the cool wind has tempered the scorching sands. At +sunrise we shall find our tents pitched, and you shall rest from then, +an hour after dawn, until just before sunset, for it is unwise to be +asleep at sunset in the desert. When we halt your bath will be ready, +your meals as you desire, your bed as soft and spotless as your own." + +"Really!" said Jill, who had imagined herself camping out under the +stars with scorpions and spiders as bedfellows. "But if the men have +to go on ahead of us, we shall have to get up early so as to let them +pack and give them a start." + +The Arab gravely shook his head, with never a glimmer of a smile rear +the mouth or eyes. + +"Ah! no! you need not worry, a caravan of many persons has preceded us." + +"Many _people_!" ejaculated Jill. "What a lot of servants for two!" + +"Let me explain! In Egypt, Arabia, or Persia, when we speak of sheep +or horses we say so many 'head,' but not so of the camel. The camel is +the most cherished possession of the Arab. + +"There are three events which bring joy to us, and which are occasions +of greatest festival, namely, the birth of a son, the birth of a +she-camel, and the birth of a mare. The she-camel provides her master +with food for both himself and his horses; for in an area, or season, +where there is little water but an abundance of juicy grass in which +the camel finds both food and drink, the camel's milk is given to the +horses in lieu of water, the master's covering and tent are made of the +hair, the waterless places are known to him through her. There are +many other ways in which the animal is useful, and for which we daily +return thanks to Allah, therefore we speak of them as persons, so many +persons in a herd, because as the proverb says, 'God created the camel +for the Arab, and the Arab for the camel.' + +"Therefore for each resting-place there are two one-humped camels to +carry all things necessary for your night's sojourn." + +"Why one-humped?" asked the girl, who was of an inquiring turn of mind, +and was getting slightly mixed with her first endeavour to grasp +something of Eastern life. + +"The one-humped or, as we say, the Dyemal-mai, which means water-camel, +although they cannot carry so heavy a load as the Bactrian, can go even +up to eight or nine days without water. + +"There is only one well between here and the water, and it is usually +surrounded by caravans, with water as thick as the mud in a London +street in November, and dirtier, being polluted by the filth of man and +beast. + +"This we will pass, contenting ourselves with the water we carry for +ablutions and cooking, and with wine or coffee to drink. If there is +water to spare the camels can have it, if not they can go without, with +the exception of the two that carry us. + +"But you will find the going irksome even on Taffadaln, and so that you +may rest, beautiful woman, whose name even I do not know, Howesha, +which name, being translated, means that she is a past mistress in the +art of grumbling, carries all that will give you repose if you should +desire to stop before we reach our caravan." + +And just as though she understood, Howesha the Grumbler, opening wide +her mouth, proceeded to give a series of very fine imitations, +including those of a nest of spitting snakes, a sobbing woman, and a +choking dog--all of which she concluded by her masterpiece, of a child +masticating sticky sweets, when her master, to stop her querulous +upbraidings, thrust dates between her polished teeth. + +And then he turned to Jill, who was laughing delightedly, and stroked +her camel's coat. + +"Later you shall have servants, many of them, who hand and foot, shall +do your bidding, and carry out your slightest wish, but to-night and +for ever I am your slave. Allah! to think that I, the worst feared man +in Egypt, whose word is law, who condemns to death by the lifting of a +finger, of a race who looks upon women as a useful plaything, at the +most as a potential mother of sons, _I_ crave to serve you from your +lying down in the heat of the day to your rising up, when the sunset +breeze shall blow the soft curls about your flower-face. Do you think +I would allow a servant, some low-born son of a bazaar-dweller, to +throw his shadow upon the ground over which your lovely feet must +tread, or to touch a vessel which your white fingers might hold, to +breathe the air which maybe has just passed from your sweet mouth, on +this night when you make your journey into Egypt, _real_ Egypt; for to +us, Cairo and other such places are but tourist centres which we give +to the foreigner readily, traversing many miles of sand and rock and +hills ourselves, before we can lie down upon the soft breast of our own +motherland. + +"Come, woman! The moon tarries not, neither does the sun, and we have +many miles to go." + + * * * * * * + +With the exception of a twopenny ride at the Zoo, few Europeans ever +mount or ride a camel, thereby missing an art or a pastime or sport, +which to the novice, until he has been thoroughly and literally broken +in, is the most back, heart, and nerve-wearing means of locomotion he +could possibly choose in all the wide world. + +Jill stood ankle-deep in flowers looking down at her mount, the prize +of the desert. + +"I do not know how you will fare, woman of the West. I dare not put +palanquin on Taffadaln for fear that she might bolt from terror and +take you far into the desert, there to die. But arrived at our +destination she shall be broken in at once, however, for in all my +stables there is no other camel with her sliding step, not one who +would not make you feel as though your spine had snapped after one +hour's journey upon its back. We Arabs can sit a camel in more than +one way, but the easiest for you, and Allah knows it will be hard +enough after a time, is, if your skirt permits, to sit astride and put +both your feet round the pummel in front. That, anyway, will prevent +you from being twisted as you are with the shocking ladies' saddle you +use in England." + +"Oh, but I ride astride," volunteered Jill, as she raised her skirts, +settled herself, and taking the gold-studded rein, held firmly to the +front and back peak of the saddle as instructed, and awaited the word +of command. + +A camel rises from its front or hind legs just as the fancy seizes it, +so that if you do not keep a fair balance, also yourself in complete +readiness to lean forward or backward according to your mount's final +decision, you will assuredly find yourself ignominiously pitched in a +heap over the quadruped's nose, or just as ignominiously hanging head +down in the vicinity of its tail, either of which positions will cause +her to chortle gleefully before the next lurch, which gets the rest of +her feet into order. + +A final touch is given by the imitation of an infantile earthquake as +she arranges you to her taste, and then you may consider yourself ready +to start out on a journey which may make you more sea-sick than any +rough channel-crossing in boat or aeroplane. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +It was with a feeling of exultation that Jill, from her elevated seat, +looked down into the Arab's face, outlined in the scented dimness of +the garden by the snow-white head-cloth, and her brilliant mouth +widened in a low laugh of pleasure as she pulled down a bough of fluffy +mimosa to sniff its perfume, and she also gave a little shriek of +dismay as Taffadaln, taking matters into her own enormous feet, and +utterly ignoring the frantic tugging of the silken reins, suddenly +stalked off towards the gate. + +There was a sharp word of command bringing the animal to a standstill, +then a throaty exclamation from somewhere in the long neck as she +pitted her hereditary obstinacy against the man's will. + +Five times, with a blatant wink towards her sisters; and a sneer on her +hideous mouth, she journeyed towards the gate, and five times was she +brought back to the starting-place, to be fastened at last by a strong +lead to the bridle of her more submissive sister, who was making +disgusting masticatory noises over a tough twig. + +Then, upon the fastening of the lead, there arose a concerto of such +growlings, fretting, sobbing, groaning, and roaring, as to make the +inexperienced Jill beg to be allowed to dismount, for fear of having +caused hurt to the hateful brute. + +But it seemed that all the fuss came about through the Queen of the +Desert's objection to the unknown lady on her hack, an objection which +was causing her to twist her long neck backwards in the diabolical hope +that the loose-lipped mouth in the spite-contorted face might reach +something to bite, be it foot or saddle, cloth or skirt. + +"O! hateful, impatient descendant of a dissatisfied mother!" suddenly +ejaculated the man. "More foolish than an ostrich, and as poisonous as +a scorpion, yet have I to put up with thy whims and fancies because of +thy specially formed stomach. I, who long to strike thy repellent face +again and again, and dare not, for the fear that thy evil, dwarfed +brain, twisted with jealousy, might make thy beautiful rider the object +of thy revenge, tearing her limb from limb, and rolling upon her;[1] +but behold! in as much as Allah made thee, yet shalt thou, through thy +disobedience and ill-manners of to-day, be put to stud with thy elder +brother, who, for a camel, rejoiceth in seeming good manners. Then +shalt thou be chastened, and thy milk given to the feeding of horses." + +This harangue might have been a paean of praise for all the change it +made in the beautiful Eastern voice, and the girl's low laughter rang +out like bells on the night air, as the man explained that the animal +was inordinately jealous of all and sundry who, in her sin-laden brain, +she feared might do her out of a handful of sugar or bucket of water. + + * * * * * * + +From all time women have revelled in a novel sensation, but never +surely so much, or in such a one, as did Jill in hers, as, with peace +restored, she passed through the gates with her companion, on her way +to a life about which she had not allowed herself the slightest +analysis. + +And a great silence fell on the girl as they left the town, padding +noiselessly through the outskirts where no one met them, and no sound +was to be heard save for the barking of dogs, and the occasional wail +of an infant; for the strangeness of everything had suddenly made her +realise that of her own will she was standing on the threshold of a new +life, laden--though this the usual narrow outlook and education of the +West prevented her from understanding--with a love and passion and +womanhood which cannot, and never will be, realised in countries where +the dominant colour is grey. + +Gone was her laughter, and vanished the merry exclamations and remarks, +as she began to glean some idea of the width and breadth of the desert +which was slowly engulfing her. + +Once or twice she had looked behind at the ever-receding town, with the +sheen of the fresh water canal becoming fainter and fainter at each +step, until it at last vanished into nothingness. And the living +silence of the desert seemed to close in upon her, and the canopy of +heaven, weighty with stars, to press down upon her, and the snapping +and breaking of generations-rooted conventions to deafen her, until +like a lost child she suddenly sobbed, and dropping the rein, held out +her hands to the man who, although she knew it not, had been watching +and waiting for just such an outburst. + +For he worshipped the sand and pebbles and rocks and dunes and hills of +his adored desert, and knew the effect it sometimes made, even at the +paltry distance of a mile or two from some teeming city, upon both male +and female denizens of the West, who bloom palely in the heat of a +coal-fire, and lift their faces thankfully to the red lozenge which, +for eight months of an English year, represents the sun shining through +fog or cloud. + +Also must it be confessed that Jill's head was beginning already to +swim a little with the sway of the camel, though of nausea she suffered +not at all, and it was with a feeling of joy that she felt the animals +come to a halt, saw the black one, upon a word of command, get docilely +to its knees, heard Howesha grumbling fiercely to the moon as she went +through the same gymnastic performance, and felt her own rocking and +pitching until it came to the ground. Whereupon she dismounted +lightly, and reeled against the man as the entire desert, herself and +camels included, turned a complete somersault, after which she meekly +sat down on Taffadaln's back and watched proceedings. + +The pack-camel lay supinely as its master with strong deft fingers +unbound and unknotted the various ropes until everything desired was +found. + +A rug of many colours was laid at Jill's feet, and cushions thrown +thereon, upon which, with a great sigh of relief, she laid herself +down, until something softly crawling round her neck brought her to her +feet shaking with disgust. + +"It is doubtlessly a sand-spider," explained the man. "They are +perfectly harmless and to be found everywhere, and are even welcomed in +some houses as they help to reduce the plague of flies from which we +have suffered, with other things, since the time of Pharaoh. I am so +sorry, but insects are a nuisance we have totally failed to conquer, +though in your house, believe me, there will be none, not even the +smallest." + +Upon which assurance Jill sat down, took off her hat, arranged her hair +in a pocket mirror, flicked a shadow of powder upon her nose, and +settled down to watch and wait. + +The man's agile fingers arranged some charcoal, which he lighted +quickly in some desert fashion inside a square of four bricks, over +which he placed a brass tripod. + +There was a gurgling sound as water ran from a skin into a brass pot +which hung from a hook on the tripod, and in a few minutes the water +began to bubble furiously, as the fire, leaping and falling, cast giant +shadows on the Arab's flowing robes. + +Small boxes were opened, and the contents laid on plates: sandwiches, +cakes, sweetmeats, fruit, and wine, red and white, in skins, poured +into empty earthen-ware jugs in which to cool it. Small cups of +Egyptian coffee, a "Cona Machine" for the Western idea of coffee, and a +box of cigarettes. + +"If I had known you would be a-hungered, I would have brought the +wherewithal to make a repast of substance!" + +"Oh, but it is all so topping!" cried the girl, and then stopped. + +The slang words had suddenly struck her as foolish and silly, and out +of place in a country where the syllables of words sound sonorously, +and time passes like a slow moving river with its banks unchoked with +"hustle weeds." And from that day, or rather night, Jill gave up +slang, and one by one all the little dreary habits which rub the bloom +off the Western maid. + + +[1]To revenge the lash or whip camels have been known even after a +lapse of months to seize their victim, tearing and trampling him to +pieces, and then with infinite relish proceed to roll time and again +upon the remains. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A striking and unrealistic picture the two made as they lay on their +cushions alone in the desert. The girl in her white dress, which in +truth was somewhat crumpled, her white neck rising like a gleaming +pillar from the low-cut blouse, the little curls rippling round the +face which, under the moonlight and the stress of the past hours, +showed white with shadow-encircled eyes, gazing at the man who rose and +knelt with a towel of softest linen, and a basin of brass filled with +water. + +Jill happened to be one of those lucky individuals who can with +impunity wash their face anywhere, and at any time of the day, and look +the better for it. Neither had she to fear a futurist impression in +vivid colours of Dorin rouge and blue pencillings mixed with liquid +powder appearing on her face after a sudden rain storm. + +So she put her face right into the basin, lifted it sparkling with +laughter and rainbow drops to bury it in the snowy cloth. Her sleeves +she turned back, and ran the water up and down her arms. + +"And you must wash your feet, woman, for so small are they, they must +assuredly be fatigued!" + +And without hesitation the girl proffered her shoe to be unlaced, +whilst without lifting her skirt, with a quick movement she undid the +suspender which held her last pair of real silk stockings to the +infinitesimal girdle she wore instead of the usual figure-distorting +corset, peeled off the silken hose and put the prettiest foot in the +world in flesh, painting, or marble, into another basin of brass laid +upon the ground, and also filled with water. + +"Allah!" whispered the man, as he dried each little foot, "so small, so +slender, rivalling the arch of Ctesisphon, dimpled as the sky at dawn, +never in the most perfect Circassian have I seen feet so wonderful, +glory be to Allah, whose prophet is Mohammed." + +And then the Arab, filling another basin, moved to the far corner of +the rug, where facing towards the East he made ablutions of his mouth +and hands and feet, and raising his hands to heaven, gave praise to his +God for the wonder of the day, and bowed himself in obeisance. + +"I was returning thanks to Allah for you, O! Moon Flower," he said +simply, and led her to the cloth of finest damask upon which the repast +was spread, praising Allah anew as he poured the contents of the wine +jars upon the sands when Jill announced that she only drank water. + +Rested and cheered, the girl chatted merrily all through the al fresco +meal, in her turn inwardly giving thanks for the Arab's perfect manners +and knowledge of table methods, for in her heart she, particular to the +point of becoming finicky about the usually so unpleasant process of +eating, had looked forward with absolute horror to the moment when the +man's fingers should close upon some succulent portion of a mess of +pottage or chicken, and convey it to his mouth with charitable +distribution of rice grains upon the beard. + +Reassured, her laughter rang out sweetly when the absence of methylated +spirit for the "Cona Machine" was discovered. + +"And I would really rather have yours," said she, "for am I not to +become an Eastern------" and suddenly stopped, for looking up she found +the man gazing at her with eyes ablaze with love. + +And once more a great silence fell between them, as they both sat +staring wide-eyed over the desert, and up into the starry heavens. + +Few, very few of those who live in the West have had the privilege of +sitting alone under the stars in the desert. + +This does not mean riding out on a tourist track with dragoman and +camel-driver, and retiring a few yards from their perpetual chatter to +gaze at the heavens in what _you_ imagine to be the approved style, to +the accompaniment of correct gasps, after which, finding you have left +your cigarettes behind, you look at your wrist watch and wait another +five minutes, until you can with decency saunter back to your +camel-driver with the feeling of something quite well done, and the +unuttered hope in your mind that everyone would not have gone to bed on +your return. + +No! it means, when wearied from long travel you call a halt, perhaps +just before the dawn, when the very stars seem to commune with you. + +Leaving your servants to pitch your tent, urge your camel to the +distance when the clattering of pans, and the jar of inter-domestic +feud shall not assail your hearing, then urge your camel to its knees, +and set you down at a distance so that the pungent odour of the beast +shall not assail your nostrils, and then removing little by little the +outer covering of the worries and pin-pricks which have made the +passing of the day unbearable, give way to your soul, or second self, +or whatever you call that which causes you to joy in the coming of the +spring, and to mourn when the fire refuses to heat but a portion of the +room in winter. + +For this is what happened to Jill, the English girl, as she sat on her +cushions in the Egyptian desert, and has nothing to do with +table-turning, or ten-and-six-penny visions in Maida Vale, or +whisperings, or touchings in a conveniently darkened room; neither must +you put it down to magnetism or hypnotism, or any of those "isms" which +we, of a glacier-born country and a machine-made life, so irreverently +tag on as terms descriptive to all that which we cannot label and place +upon a museum shelf, or conveniently start by motor power. + +A long dissertation on the Eastern's power of concentration, love of +meditation, and utter detachment from self, would doubtlessly prove +wearisome in the extreme, neither for a true explanation thereof can +help be got from highly or lowly born native. Without movement for +hours he will sit or squat, as becomes his station, staring, as we +should say, vacantly into space, in reality seeing and hearing that +which others, blinded by material enjoyment, can never hope to +visualise or hear. + +Jill afterwards tried to explain the outcome of this, her first step in +the meadows of meditation, which she took without help and without +intention, and in which she has become so versed, to the mystification +of those about her, who look upon woman as a bearer of children, a +plaything for sunny hours, useful in time of rain, endowed with the +brain of a pea-hen, and as much soul as the priests see fit to mete out +to her. + +"Something had left me," Jill explained later. "My body seemed to be +sitting on the cushions, and I could minutely describe the way Hahmed +was sitting, and the exact shape of the shadow cast before him by the +moon, which was setting behind us. But inside I was quite empty, +whilst all sorts of little things I had known so long, crept out and +stole away into the desert. I was just a husk, with no more impatience +or quick temper or restlessness, and I can remember wondering if I were +likely to break in two or crumble into dust, I felt so thin. And then +I heard all sorts of whisperings, just as though thousands of people +were standing near me, trying to make me understand something, and a +violet shadow suddenly appeared between Hahmed and myself, seeming to +get deeper and deeper in colour, and then get less and less; and as it +lessened, so did my feeling of being a mere husk leave me, until at +last, when it had all gone, I felt--well _full_ is the only way to put +it, and my heart was thudding, and the blood pounding in my head, and +well--that's all!" + +Very indefinite and very unsatisfactory, and of which the whispering +can easily be put down to the snuffling of the camels, the passing of +the faint breeze, or the intake of the Arab's breath; and the purple +shadows to the folds of his black cloak. For the effect of fatigue, +excitement, and strong Egyptian coffee upon the mind of a Western maid +is quite likely to turn the buzzing of a fly into the flight of an +aeroplane, or the dripping of a tap into the roar of a Niagara. + +Be that as it may, the Arab made no sound or movement when with a low +cry the girl sprung suddenly to her feet, and with both hands upraised, +although she knew it not, turned towards the direction in which Mecca +lay. + +For a full minute she stood absolutely motionless, then gently moving +towards the man, who had risen and was standing behind her, she put out +her hand, saying softly, "Behold! I am ready to come with thee." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +It was close upon dawn when the two figures suddenly and silently +emerged from the tree shadows in which they had been hiding for some +considerable time. + +Very simple and harmless they looked too, the taller one in spotless +galabeah and red fez, his smallpox pitted face softened by the light of +the dying moon; the other, a mere bundle of clothes with the yashmak +covering all except the eyes, dragging back from the hand which pulled +her ruthlessly up to the door of a house conspicuous by its length of +wall unbroken by windows. + +The faintest sound of music from somewhere about the immense building +sounded as out of place at that hour as would a boy's shrill whistling +in the middle of High Mass, but unperturbed thereby, the pitted-face +man knocked gently three times upon the door, vehemently upbraiding the +while his shrinking and protesting companion, who tugged still more +forcibly at the restraining hand. + +"Behold, art thou the daughter of ungrateful parents and not fit to be +honoured by the great lord who awaits thee. Raise thy voice in +protest, speak but one word, and thy back shall resemble the red +pattern upon thy raiment, which has cost much hard toil to provide for +thee." + +The female figure suddenly sank back, in all humility at the feet of +the upbraider, as unperceived--maybe--by both, a small portion of the +door above their heads slipped noiselessly back to show a gleaming eye +glued to the little grille, taking in the scene beneath it. + +Unperceived or not, the elder man, taking a deep breath, continued in a +slightly raised tone to administer his admonition. + +"Comely art thou, and young, and good is the price paid for thee, and +may he who has purchased thee be not annoyed at the hour in which I +bring thee, for in truth was thy mother against thy flight from the +nest, being not awake to the advantages of the new bough upon which +thou wouldst come to rest--therefore was I forced to bring thee by +stealth. Perchance------!" + +The gentle voice stopped suddenly as the door was thrown open by a much +armed individual, who angrily demanded the meaning of the disturbance. + +"The peace of Allah be upon thee and upon this house, into which, by +the order of thy master, O! brother, I bring a flower which he has +deigned to pluck from within the city. Comely is she, and gifted in +music and the dance, but young, is affrighted at the honour before her. +I------" + +Here the armed individual broke in ruthlessly upon the paean of praise, +drawing a most gleaming and curved weapon from somewhere about his huge +person. + +"Begone, disturbers of the peace," he ejaculated with the difficulty +natural to one who has had his tongue split. "My master awaits a +flower in truth, being even now o'ercome in sleep in the waiting, but +the flower will show a warrant the which will pass her through this +door of which I am the guardian. By Allah! it is not opened at the +tapping of every chance weed which the wind of poverty may cause to +flutter across this path!" + +Things began to look somewhat awkward for the humble flower wilting on +the marble step, until her friend, speaking suddenly and sharply, saved +the situation by leaning down and quite violently snatching something +from the little hand fumbling most awkwardly among the many feminine +draperies. + +"Behold the warrant, O! unbeliever. So desirous of this maiden is thy +master, upon whom may the blessing of Allah rest, that he even gave +unto her father the ring of emerald from off his right hand. Art +satisfied, or is't best to risk the tempest by still further +questioning and delay!" + +The guardian of the door, not a little astounded, snatched in his turn +at the jewel, and seeming perfectly satisfied after a prolonged +scrutiny, stood aside and motioned the two to enter, and shutting the +door behind them and ordering them to stand where they were until he +returned from his dangerous mission of disobeying, by breaking in upon +his master's privacy, stalked off with much dignity into the perfumed, +half-lit, enormous hall. + +Now if only he had been afflicted with one iota of the curiosity +apportioned by time to Lot's wife, that man might have been alive even +to this day. But he neither turned his head nor pricked his ears, +thereby failing to note that with the lightning methods of the eel the +comely flower had in some miraculous way slipped from her all +enveloping sheath of draperies to stand revealed a wiry, +glistening-with-oil youth, who, without a moment's pause, with knife in +teeth, and as silently as a lizard, glided across the dividing yards of +Persian carpet separating him from his quarry. + +Across the hall and through endless deserted rooms they passed, the +companion of the camouflage maiden bringing up the rear. Right to the +far quarter of the house they went, one after the other, and the +guardian of the house felt little more than a pin-prick when, just as +his hand pulled aside the curtain screening a door, the youth behind +him raising his right arm drove the knife clean under the left shoulder +blade, catching the dead body as it fell backwards to lay it +noiselessly upon the floor just as his friend appeared upon the scene. + +"It was well done, O! brother--neatly, and with strength--leaving no +trace of blood to speak of. But now must we proceed with cunning, else +may we too be lying lifeless upon our backs. Take even thy knife, my +brother, 'twere a pity to leave it in yon carcase!" + +Indifferently turning the body over, the boy drew the knife, as +indifferently wiping it on the dead man's raiment, and stood for a +moment as still as any one of the exotic specimens of statuary which +ornamented the whole house. + +Truly and implicitly had the orders of the master been obeyed; there +was no sound of any living thing in or near the place, so that after a +few whispered words the curtain was gently pulled back and the door +opened just as gently inch by inch. + +For a long minute the two men peered in through the crack, their eyes +searching swiftly for sign of him whom they searched. + +Unavailing at first, until with a motion of the head the younger one +pointed. + +"Look! Yonder he sleeps!" + +The room was still brilliantly lighted by the many lamps hanging from +the ceilings and the walls, but the shadow of the great mass of growing +plants fell upon the divan upon which Jill had sat some few hours ago. + +Inch by inch the door was opened, until it was wide enough to allow the +dusky slender body of the boy to slip in. Round the wall he slid, his +eyes a-glisten, and the knife fast held between his teeth; then down +upon his hands and knees he sank to crawl as quietly as a cat up to the +back of the flowering plants. And then he quite suddenly sprang to his +feet, beckoning to his companion, who sped straight across the room, +knife in hand. + +"Behold! O! brother!" + +And a world of disappointment rang in the whispered words as the youth +pointed disgustedly to the picture before him. + +Very peacefully lay the man whose name had been a byword in the land of +Egypt, and whose delight had been in the moral and physical terrors of +women. + +His eyes were closed and his mouth slightly open, showing the white +teeth; the hands were gently clasped, but over the spot where should +have been his heart, and on the silken coverings of the cushions, +spread a great crimson patch of blood, whilst at his feet, lying prone +across the couch, was the body of a girl. Her eyes were open, and a +little smile widened the beautiful mouth, but from the spot above the +heart which had so unwisely and so well loved, glittered the jewelled +hilt of a dagger. One hand touched the hem of her master's coat, but +what the bastinado had left of the little feet seemed to shriek aloud +for vengeance, vengeance for the dead child, and vengeance for all +those who had likewise suffered. + +"Allah! Allah!" The cry cleft the stillness of the room as the boy's +eyes fell upon the terrible sight; and the knife flashed twice and +thrice, and yet again, until the evil beauty of the dead man's face had +been entirely obliterated, and a strong hand gripped the supple wrist. + +"Come, O! brother! Waste not thy strength upon the dead. Behold! Yon +little maid has carried out our master's wish, may she rest in the +delights of paradise with the beloved of Allah whose prophet is +Mohammed, and may the spirit of him who is accursed enter into the body +of a pig to live eternally in filth and dishonour!" + +And the sun had risen upon a cleaner day when the twain departed from +the house of shadows. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +It was close upon dawn when to Jill's ears was borne a faint melodious +sound. + +Inexpressibly weary was she, exhausted to the point of fainting, for in +spite of numerous haltings, the drinking of tea, coffee, and sherbet, +and the eating of cakes and curious Egyptian sweetmeats, had in no way +lessened the agony of her lower limbs, which she moved this way and +that in the vain effort to relieve the terrible cramp that seemed to +creep from her spine to her brain, and down again to her feet. + +The stars danced before and around her, as she swayed to and fro to the +deadly lurching rhythm of the camel's pace; one thing, and one thing +only, having so far saved her from the utter dissolution of fatigue, +and that being when, urged by their master's voice, the three animals +had broken into a gentle trot, ending in a pace which literally took +away the girl's breath; but even that relaxation had had to be +abandoned as the nature of the ground changed. + +Most people's conception of the desert is that of one huge expanse of +smooth sand, with here and there a palm tree to break the monotony; an +entirely wrong conception, bred partly, I think, from the highly +coloured scriptural pictures of our youth. + +There are tracts of sand extending for many miles, such as those around +big cities into which you wander on camel-back at so much an hour, and +with the description of which you hold your less travelled neighbours +enthralled, as you intersperse the munching of muffins with the words +"dragoman," "backsheesh," and "Cheops." + +But even on a week or ten days of genuine travelling you are likely to +pass through and over a variety of grounds, from hard gravel which is +delightful for tent-pitching, ground covered with a liberal supply of +rocks, under which lurks the festive scorpion, great mounds of +limestone which in the desert take on the proportions of mountains, +marks of long-dried pools left by long-dried torrents, defiles almost +as narrow as the camel's scriptural needle, and in places, an earth, +the curious marking of which will almost lead you to believe that it is +cloud-shadowed, if the heat of your head, the state of your throat, and +the lamentable leathery appearance of your skin did not tell you that +for months no such thing as a cloud had been known to appear in the +blazing heavens. + +At the first faint, flute-like note Jill thought that she must have +awakened from sleep or delirium, and, it must be confessed, really did +not care which was the solution of the mystery; sinking back into a +state of apathy so exhausted was she, until the three camels came to a +standstill, and the Arab, with something that looked like a dark cloak +across his arm, drew his beast alongside of hers. + +"Behold, woman, the hour of Namaz is at hand, when throughout the land +the Muezzin is called, for it is the hour of dawn. The hour when the +curtains of heaven are drawn about the stars, so that they may not be +blinded by the glory of their golden master, as I shall draw this cloak +about the fairness of your sweet face, and the outline of your gracious +figure, which Allah in his bounty has placed within my unworthy hands, +to hide them from the eyes of the high-born, and the eyes of the +low-born, such as yonder slave who, though he be the sweetest maker of +music in all Egypt, is but my head camel tender, though before Allah +who is God, his worth as such could not be purchased for the price of +rubies. + +"And now shall your weary form rest a while, while I give praise to +Allah, whose prophet is Mohammed." + +Grumbling, the three animals subsided. + +"Is all well with you?" + +The girl nodded as she stumbled from her seat and stretched herself +full length upon the sands, the convulsive twitching of her cramped +limbs giving way at last to the peace of oblivion. + +"Will you forgive me if I leave you in your stress, for behold, the +hour of Namaz waits neither for weariness or joy, nay, nor even death." + +But Jill heard nothing, neither his light footfall as he moved some +yards from the unclean Christian whom he loved, and placing his +prayer-rug upon the ground turned towards Mecca, which in Islam is +called Keblah, which, being translated, means "centre"; nor the +splashing of water as he washed three times his nostrils, his mouth, +and hands and arms to the elbow, the right first as ordained, then head +and neck, and ears once and feet once, whilst murmuring a prescribed +form of words, these words being repeated in different positions, +standing erect or sitting, with inclinations of the head and body, and +prostrations in which the Arab in all humility touched the ground with +his forehead. + +For Hahmed was a true Mohammedan, carrying out the precepts of his +religion as laid down by the Koran as fully and conscientiously as is +within the power of man. But, you will say, he was voluntarily +consorting with a Christian, who, by the edicts of the Koran, is +considered unclean, inviting pollution by touching the bare skin of her +hands and feet. + +True! but the man was no evil liver, picking up to throw away, buying +to regret the purchase within the hour, attracted by this pretty face +or that lovely form. Nay. He loved the girl as it is unhappily given +on this earth for but few women to be so loved, and with all the +strength of his will he intended the outcome of this love to be one +more triumph to the glory of Allah. + +As for the pollution of her satin skin, did he not murmur the prayer of +purification when in contact with it? + +Neither did Jill notice that the man, his purification and his prayers +ended, had come over to her, standing gazing down at the almost tragic +picture she made out-stretched on the sands. + +Her death-white face was buried in the curve of one folded arm, the +other, flung out, lay with the palm of the hand uppermost. The little +feet were crossed under the crumpled skirt, from which peeped the folds +of her last white silk petticoat. + +"Poor little bird," he murmured, as the sense of mastership rose strong +within him at the sight of the helpless child at his feet. "So weary, +so beautiful, and so young. Behold, shall a nest be built for thee in +which thou shalt rest, shaking off the plumage harmed in thy short +passage through life, to appear at last more beautiful than the most +glorious bird in Paradise," and bending he touched her gently. + +But Jill, who had had no real sleep since she had left the boat, had +passed at last into an almost comatose condition, from which it was +doubtful she could have been awakened, even at the sound of Israfil's +Trumpet.[1] + +Crossing to the camels Hahmed considerably lengthened the lead, and +attaching the camels Taffadaln and Howesha one on each side of his own, +he bade the two former rise, which they did with alacrity, leading one +to believe that they heard the flute-like music calling them to the +cool of the palm tree's shade, the doubtful bucket of water, and the +certain repast, terminating with a handful of luscious dates. + +Stooping, the man raised the unconscious girl from the ground, holding +her as lightly as a feather on one arm, and draping the dark cloak +around her so as to cover the red-gold hair, drew a corner across the +face. + +Perhaps some may enjoy restraining the vagaries of a lead horse, which +sees fit to proceed sideways at the encounter of anything in motion on +the road, or execute a _pas seul_ on the hind legs at the flutter of a +leaf, without referring to what happens if a white paper-bag should +attract the nervous eye. + +But it is mere child's play compared with the leading under certain +circumstances, of one or more self-willed, obstinate, vain-glorious +camels. + +Seated across his black camel the Arab drew the girl's head against his +shoulder, holding her gently but firmly in his left arm. + +A word, and the camel pitching and tossing finally acquired an upright +position. Things went well for a score or so of yards, the three +animals proceeding at a stately demure pace, until verily the devil +entered into Taffadaln. + +Suddenly she rushed sideways, then with front legs wide apart came to a +dead stop, jerking the black camel violently. + +"Thou awkward descendant of clumsy parents, what aileth thee?" +exclaimed her master, as Jill's head bumped violently against his +shoulder. "Take heed to my words. Enjoy this thy last ride through +the glory of the desert, for verily at the end shalt thou, between the +periods of bearing young, be put to the lowest tasks apportioned to the +lowest of thy species." + +Whereupon Taffadaln turned solemnly towards the speaker, and lifting +her upper lip laughed, and with no more ado faced towards the palm +trees, which to desert-trained eyes showed faintly some miles away, +took two steps forward, humped herself together, collapsed on the +ground, and stretching out her neck, half-closed her eyes. + +Imagine the helplessness of her master, seated so high upon his camel +as to render useless any chastisement with the _courbaash_, which whip +applied deftly to certain less tough portions of the camel's body will +usually bring the brute to reason, if he who wields the whip cares to +risk the accumulation of revenge which the punishment will infallibly +store up in the camel's brain. A veritable storm of anger raged in the +man as he looked down upon the girl lying peacefully in his arms in a +sleep which even the camel's uncouth procedure could not disturb. + +Once more groaning bitterly his camel and Howesha grounded, which +latter word describes best, in condensed form, the camel's method of +lying down. + +Out of one corner of her half-shut, insolent eye, the beautiful +Taffadaln watched proceedings, and just as her master, holding Jill +gently in his arms, was slipping from the saddle, with a positively +fiendish squeal of triumph, and one gigantic effort which beat any +record, for swiftness established in any camel's family history, she +rose suddenly, and rushing forward once more to the end of her lead, +caused the black camel to fall sideways and the dismounting man to +stumble, and in order to save her, to place Jill with distinct vigour +upon the sand. + +Not one syllable did he utter, not one line appeared on the perfectly +calm face, as he raised the girl and carried her further from the +camels, where she lay as still as though the angel Azrael[2] had +separated her soul from her body. + +Walking to Taffadaln he stood for some minutes absolutely motionless in +contemplation, whilst the object of his thoughts, blissfully ignorant +of what was in store, and because it suited her mood of the moment, +came meekly to ground on the word of command. + + +[1]In Islamism there are four angels particularly favoured by Allah, +who is God. Israfil is the name of one whose office will be to sound +the trumpet at the Resurrection. + +[2]Azrael--Angel of Death. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +I am sure that those who read the following and know the East will say +that I exaggerate, that under no circumstances or stress of emotion +would an Arab so treat a camel, especially the most perfect of her +species. + +But against this wish to hurt must be weighed the love that consumed +the man, a love mighty and sudden, and for the advent of which, and the +enjoyment thereof, he had trained himself from his youth, abstaining +from aught which might cause his perfect body to deteriorate, and all +that which by satisfying the senses might dull his mind. A love, in +fact, which, stronger than the wind of the hurricane, swifter than the +raging torrent, swept all before it. + +The Arab's love for his camel is a love of gratitude, for does not the +Koran say, "And hath also provided you with tents and the skin of +cattle, which ye find light to be removed on the day of your departure, +and easy to be pitched on the day of your sitting down therein, and of +their wool, and their fur, and of their hair, hath he supplied you with +furniture and household stuff for a season." His love for his horse is +a love of delight in her beauty, and her endurance and her swiftness, +causing the master even at the point of death in battle to pour forth +the praises of his mare, and with his last breath call aloud her +pedigree to the lucky person, to whom she falls as booty. + +But once let an Arab love a woman, with the love which has nothing to +do with the arranged marriage of his early youth, or his attraction to +some beautiful face which causes him to take the possessor thereof to +wife, of which Allah in his bounty allows him four, or his desire for +some one of his concubines, to the number of which there is no limit; +_then_ I say will the love of sons, love of beast, and thought for all +save his religion, go down before it as a young tree before the storm. + +Hahmed the Arab loved the English girl with just such a love, also had +she been hurt through the brutish manners of the animal, who had been +expressly chosen for the honour of carrying her, therefore his love for +his camel had turned to seething hate, and when that happens in the +East, it is time to remove thyself, and that hastily. + +Unfastening the lead from the pack camel, the man knotted it firmly to +the back of her flat saddle, which usually makes the foundation for the +animal's burden, then urging her to her feet led her in front of +Taffadaln, who, a little at sea as to the proceedings, was marking time +with her head. The same thing happened to the black animal, and then +with a swiftness which thoroughly befogged the small brain of all this +trouble, the leathered thong across her soft muzzle was tightened to +the verge of cruelty, and the reins twisted twice round the back of the +head, and then knotted to the leading reins fastened to the saddlebacks +of her two inferior sisters. + +"Thus will I show thee who is master, O! shrew!" observed her master, +as he surveyed his handiwork. "Thou wilt not walk, then shall thy +sisters force thee to run; thou wilt lie down, then shall they drag +thee until thy mouth runs blood. + +"Behold has thou brought misery to thy fair mistress, O! curse of +camels, and for each moment that thou shalt have lost unto her the +shade of the palm tree, for each moment shall thou shed a drop of +blood." + +Howesha of her own free will scrambled to her feet, whilst the Arab +raised the girl, who, sunk in a sleep resembling unconsciousness, took +no heed of these untoward events, and placing her so that her head lay +softly against his shoulder, mounted his camel and brought the animal +to her feet. + +The forcing to their feet of three camels by voice persuasion alone is +no mean performance, but no voice, not even the vocal chords of the +Archangel Gabriel, would have moved the cause of all this pother, for +at the word of command, in a tone which should have put fear of death +into her black heart, she slightly shifted her hind-quarters and lay +still. + +"So thou wilt not move, thou daughter of a desert snail! Verily then +shalt thou so remain!" + +A sharp word, and the two upstanding camels moved forward, coming to a +standstill as they felt the weight of their recumbent sister. There +was then heard a sharp swish, as the _courbaash_ delicately flicked +each astounded quadruped, astounded indeed, for never had they felt the +like before, and be it confessed, never had their master been possessed +of such a fury. + +Simultaneously they bounded forward, if so one can describe their +action, bringing a snarl of rage from the unrepentant Desert Pearl. +Straining and tugging, with the whip constantly flicking and stinging, +they slowly dragged Taffadaln over the sand, until gradually the agony +of the tightening muzzle-thong cut not only into the flesh, but into +the very soul of the rebellious camel queen. + +Foam began to gather round the bruised mouth, dripping from the teeth +only half closed by the leather strap; a drop of blood showed red near +the corner, cut by the cruel knot, sweat poured from the silky coat as +again and again she vainly tried to scramble to her feet, whilst the +eyes of her master, ablaze with hate, watched her futile efforts. + +Suddenly he halted the animals, and sat contemplating the beautiful +Taffadaln, panting and moaning upon the sand. + +"Get up!" he suddenly cried, with a ring of steel in the usually soft +voice, and obediently the brute scrambled to her feet, leaving red +patches where had rested her mouth. + +"Now that I have almost broken thy neck, will I essay to break thy +heart." In which endeavour the Arab entirely failed.[1] + +"Thou wouldst halt, therefore shall thou run!" + +But Taffadaln was no fool, no, not one bit. For the first few yards, +as her sisters raced ahead, she hung back, pulling on the blood covered +thong, and tearing her tongue between her vicious teeth. Faster, and +faster, sped the forerunners, and how fast that can be may only be +understood by one who has pressed this swift moving animal's pace. +Resisting less and less, Taffadaln raced after, until the agony and +outrage of the proceedings suddenly drove her mad, and also to her +fastest speed, until with a positive shriek of hate she rushed upon the +pack camel, regardless of the slackened reins which were like to trip +her at every step, a scream of agony announcing the fact that the +bloody teeth had met in the camel's side. "Allah!" ejaculated Hahmed +as again and again he struck at the animal's infuriated face, when she +turned her attention to her black sister, whom she had the full +intention of savaging, what time the three were tearing like the wind +towards those palms under which figures in white could easily be +discerned. + +Finding she was unable to wreak her vengeance with her teeth, her +crafty brain conceived the idea of harassing her fleeing companions, to +whom she was ignominiously fastened. + +What were they but snails in speed compared to her, and if she could +not pass them for the bonds which held her captive, she could, at least +urge them on until they dropped from exhaustion. So into first one and +then the other she bumped, with an occasional nip at the tails, whilst +the air was rent with agonising shrieks, through which tumult Jill +slept sweetly upon the man's heart, until at last they raced up to the +caravan. + +Many camels and four men watched the arrival, the former grunting and +groaning as they scented the trouble, the men calling upon Allah to +witness the madness which had befallen their master. + +At the sight of the tents and the men who had tended them from birth, +Howesha and the black camel stopped dead, but too terrified to pay heed +to the voice that bade them get down, stood literally shaking with +fear, or wheeling sharply to dodge the gleaming teeth which seldom +failed to leave their mark, until Howesha, in a moment of absolute +terror, twisted and met her teeth in the upper portion of the back part +of Taffadaln's hind-leg, of which there is no tenderer part in the +camel's anatomy, following which action ensued a pitched battle. + +With a scream, the rage-filled Taffadaln flung herself upon the two +camels and then upon her master and she who lay in his arms and who was +the real cause of this unseemly fracas. The Arab, essaying to hold the +cloak around the girl, so as to save her from the insult of a man's +gaze, struck again and again at the mouth which tore great pieces from +his flowing robes, the girl's covering, and chunks of hair from the +shrieking camel's body. + +Blood and foam covered the animal's chest, the girl's cloak, and the +garments of the men, who, on account of the inextricable knotting of +the leads which bound the animals one to another, and the three sets of +teeth which were snapping and tearing at everything within their reach, +found themselves helpless to calm the tumult. + +But suddenly there was peace, just as Jill opening her eyes murmured, +"What a dreadful noise the sea is making," and closed them again, for +the maker of sweet music, and head-tender of camels, had grasped the +danger to his beloved master, also the disaster impending among the +seething herd, who were all upon their feet and straining at their +tethers. + +Swiftly divesting himself of his long, white, outer garment, he waved +it in front of the Glory of the Desert, whose price was above rubies, +and temper a direct gift from Eblis.[2] + +To her everlasting undoing, she paused for one moment to stretch her +neck at length and eye the new menace. A fatal delay in which the +offending object lighted upon and around her head, shutting her +completely into outer darkness, whereupon she stood like a lamb whilst +hobbles were placed about her feet; after which the shade was lifted +slightly, leaving the eyes covered, whilst the blood-soaked thong was +cut away from the torn flesh, and a kind of leather cage slipped over +the muzzle, which would certainly prevent her from biting, or indulging +in her usual wide yawn of indifference. + +The covering being lifted from her eyes, her bonds were undone, and +herself likened by the maker of sweet music, unto all that the Koran +calls unclean, even unto the vilest of the vile, the pig, into the +company of which she was relegated for all eternity. She was then +ordered to ground in a manner reminiscent of the tones used to bazaar +dogs, which order was emphasised with a flick of the _courbaash_ upon a +part which had known the meeting of Howesha's teeth. + +But when at sunset Jill opened her eyes all sounds and signs of battle +were stilled. + + +[1]Having four times successfully foaled a she-camel, Taffadaln, the +Glory of the Desert, was ultimately shot on account of her demoniacal +temper. + +[2]The devil. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +The sun was sinking when Jill moved, stretched a little, half opened +her eyes, and closing them turned over and went to sleep again for +about two minutes. + +Then she half opened her eyes again, stretched out her hand to pull +uncomprehendingly at the white netting round her bed, through which she +could see a blaze of red, gold, and purple; and laughing in the vacant +manner of the delirious, or those but half-awake, tried to collect her +thoughts sufficiently to explain the strangeness of her surroundings, +sitting up with a jerk as the doings of the last twenty-four hours +suddenly stirred in her awakened mind. + +Wide-eyed she sat with her hands clasped round her knees, whilst the +deadly stillness seemed to rise as a wall around her, cutting her off +from laughter, love, and life, until wild unreasoning fear, seizing her +very soul, caused her to tear and rend the mosquito nets, and force a +way through them and out of the tent. + +For a while she stood holding to the tent rope, looking this way and +that for the sign of some living thing. Before her stretched one vast +plain of gravel, miles upon miles of it receding into nothingness, on +each side the same, behind her tent above, the palm trees waving gently +in the evening breeze, and above again, a sky such as is to be seen +only in this part of the world, for travel you ever so widely, you will +find nothing to rival a desert sunset in its design and colour. + +Above her head seemed to be stretched a canopy, made by some Eastern +magic, of a mixture of colours woven by the hands of Love and Hate, +Passion and Revenge, underneath which she stood disheartened, +dishevelled, in crumpled clothes and shoeless feet, with fear-distended +eyes in a fatigue-shadowed face, searching vainly for something alive +and near, be it human, dog, horse or camel. + +Owing to a sudden nervous reaction brought about by the cessation of +all physical and mental effort, the girl's power of reasoning had gone, +along with her will, her common sense, and her fearlessness. + +That there was another tent beside her own made no more impression on +her mind than the fact that a slight smoke haze softened the intense +blue of the sky on her right. + +She was absolutely terrified and ravenously hungry, also unwashed, +therefore altogether unhappy, so with no more ado she flung out her +arms, and with a great sob rushed headlong into that which frightened +her most, the unlimited, uninhabited desert. + +Her shoeless feet made hardly a sound as she sped like a deer from the +desolation she imagined, to the certain desolation and death in front +of her, but she had hardly cut her little feet over more than twenty +yards when Hahmed, the swiftest runner in Egypt, was speeding after her. + +"Allah! Be merciful to me! For behold, I fail to keep from harm that +which Thou hast placed in my keeping," he murmured, as he ran abreast +with the girl for a few yards, then putting his arm around her lifted +her off her feet, holding her gently to him, and speaking no word until +the paroxysm of sobs had subsided. + +"Where to fly you, O! woman, and whyfore are you thus afraid?" + +"I was simply terrified. I--I--thought you had left me all alone to +die, and I just ran and ran to find someone or something else beside +myself in the desert," answered a voice, muffled by the snowy garments +of the man who held her so gently against his heavily beating heart. + +"I will take you back to your tent, to the bath and repast which awaits +you. I dared not loosen your raiment without your permission, so +having removed the shoes from off your feet, laid you upon your bed, +but when you are bathed, I pray you wrap yourself in the soft garments +you will find, and clapping your hands make known to your slave that +you are ready to eat." + +"Oh, there is a servant to wait on me. I thought we were quite alone." + +"I am your slave," simply replied the Arab, as he placed Jill upon her +feet in front of her tent, where she stood with her hand on his arm, +rooted to the spot by the glory of the sky, whilst the man gazed down +upon her, as the dying sun struck the gold of her hair, the blue of her +eyes, and the cream of her neck. + +"You, who are of those who are versed in music, and of those who can +make poetry, describe that glory to me," imperiously demanded Jill, +after a moment of silence, with that suddenness and complete change of +mood which falls occasionally upon all women, causing the meek to +scratch like cats, and the strong to give in, often to their +everlasting undoing. + +"Bathe the white body of thy beloved in the blue-green of Egypt's +river, so that the coolness and fairness may give delight to thee! +Drape the satin veil of deepest blue about the red glory of thy love's +hair, and bind a band of gold, set deep is sapphires, above the twin +pools of heaven, which are her eyes. Set turquoise, threaded with +finest gold, a-swing in the rose-leaf of her ears, to fall and wind +about the snow of her white neck. + +"Fasten the blue flower which spies upon thee from the shelter of the +golden corn, within the glory of her hair. + +"Perfume her hair and her breasts, anoint her hands and her feet, and +wrap thy delight in a garment of passion, sparing not the shades +therein, for in them shalt thou find thy delight. + +"Let the garment be heavy with the gold of love, rich with the purples +of passion, aflame with the crimson of thy desire, forgetting not the +caress of the rose, nor the light mingling of opal and saffron, and the +faint touch of amethyst and topaz, in which shall _she_ find _her_ +delight. + +"Bind thy love with the broad bands of the setting sun so that she +cleaves unto thee, and carry her unto the twilight of thy tent, which +shall slowly darken until the roof thereof is swathed in purple gloom, +through which shall shine the stars of thy beloved. + +"And there lie down in thy delight, until the hour of dawn calleth thee +to prayer." + +The voice was stilled, whereupon Jill lifted her face bathed in rosy +colour, which might or might not have been the reflection from the sky, +whilst her red mouth quivered ever so slightly, and her great blue eyes +looked for a moment into those of the man, and as quickly looked away. + +So seductive was she in her youth and utter helplessness that the man +stepped back two paces, and saluting her for whom his whole being +craved, gathered his cloak about him and departed to his tent. + +And Jill also entered her tent, and having earlier and under the lash +of terror departed therefrom in blind haste, stood amazed. + +She had imagined a mattress, a rug, an earthenware basin on the ground, +and sand over everything, and on the top of the sand scorpions, +spiders, and all that creepeth and flieth both by day and by night. +Not at all. + +A carpet of many colours stretching to the corners of the desert tent, +which is not peaked like the European affair, into which you crawl +fearing to bring the whole concern about your ears, when if you should +be over tall you hit the top with your head. It was as big as a +fair-sized room, high enough for a man of over six feet to stand erect, +not so broad as long, with sides which, lifted according to the +direction of the sun, and through the uplifted portion of which the +faint delicious evening breeze blew refreshingly. A white enamelled +bedstead covered in finest, whitest linen stood in the centre of the +carpet, surrounded by a white net curtain hanging from the tent +ceiling, each foot in a broad tin of water. In the corners were a +canvas folding dressing-table, a full length mirror, a long chair and a +smaller one, over which hung diaphanous garments of finest muslin, and +a shimmering wrap of pearl white satin, and through a half-drawn +curtain which hung across the narrower end of the tent, the vision of a +big canvas bath filled with water, big white towels, and another canvas +table upon which stood all the things necessary to a woman's toilet. + +So that it was a very refreshed Jill who, wrapped in a loose Turkish +bath-gown, with little feet thrust into heelless slippers, went in +search of raiment. And wonderfully soft, simple things she found into +which she slipped, and out of which she slipped again, holding them out +at arm's length for inspection, then burying her face in the soft +perfumed folds in very thankfulness. + +And she laughed a delicious little laugh, of pure glee as she replaced +the garments on the chair, and slithering hither and thither in her +unaccustomed footgear, tidied the tent and made her bed, regarding +ruthfully the torn mosquito curtain. + +"Oh, for a maid," she sighed, as she wrestled with the mattress, and +"Oh, for dear Babette," she sighed again, as she wrestled with the +masses of her hair. + +And the tent was filled with a blaze of light, as, wrapped in her +bath-gown, she stood in front of the steel mirror, plaiting and +unplaiting, twisting and pinning her hair, until with an exclamation of +impatience she let it all down, holding great strands out at arm's +length, through which she passed the comb again and again, until the +red-gold mass shone, and curled, and rippled about her like a cloak of +satin. + +It is hopeless to try and describe the shining, waving masses which +curled round her knees, and fluttered in tendrils round her face, and +it would have been hard to find anything anywhere so beautiful as Jill +when, clad in the loose silk garment and soft satin wrapper, with her +perfumed hair swirling about her, she stood entranced at the opening of +her tent, until the sun suddenly disappearing left her in darkness, +whereupon she clapped her hands quickly. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +Jill had finished the first of many evening meals she was to partake of +in the desert, and was lying on a heap of cushions listening to the +clink of brass coffee utensils and porcelain cups, whilst sniffing +appreciatively the aroma of Eastern coffee Easternly made, which is +totally different to that which permeates the dim recesses draped with +tinselled dusty hangings, and cluttered with Eastern stools and tables +inlaid with mother o' pearl made in Birmingham, in the ubiquitous +Oriental Cafe at which we meet the rest of us at eleven o'clock on +Saturday morning at the seaside; nor does it resemble in the slightest +that which is oilily poured forth in London town by the fat, oily, +so-called "Son of the Crescent" who, wearing fez and baggy trousers, in +some caravanserai West, Sou'-west or Nor'-west, has unfailingly been +chief coffee-maker to the late Sultan, _vide_ anyway the hotel +advertisements. + +She was smiling as she lay stretched full length with her chin in her +palms, thinking of the meal just eaten. Whilst waiting for it she had +imagined a mess of pottage perhaps, or stewed kid as _piece de +resistance_, with honey or manna as sweets, and a savoury of fried +locusts, which she, with many others, imagined to be the all-devouring +insect. She knew by now, and returned thanks, that the man neither ate +with his mouth open nor gave precedence to his fingers and teeth over +knives and forks, but in her wildest dreams she had never imagined that +such exquisite things, served in such an exquisite way, could be laid +before her in a desert. + +When the light had suddenly closed down upon the two adventurers on the +Road of Life, she had been led to the tent adjoining hers, a sudden +shyness preventing her from asking where the Arab slept, which she +found alight with the soft glow of many candles, and spread with a +carpet upon which were many cushions. The table had certainly been the +ground, but everything upon it had been of the daintiest, and all that +she had eaten, although she had had no notion of what it had consisted, +might have been the outcome of some _cordon bleu's_ genius. + +"Our life is one long picnic," had replied the Arab to her question +anent the cooking facilities in waste places. "So why should we not +all, high and low born, learn to make the picnic pleasant, for behold, +we know not what a day may bring forth, nor in what place the night +shall find us." + +And Jill came quite suddenly out of her reverie when asked if she would +like to go outside for coffee and cigarettes. "For though the moon in +her youth has gone early to bed, the stars are shining like your eyes." + +"Oh," said she, as she got into a half-sitting position, "I thought we +should have to pack up; it's late already, isn't it?" + +"You are tired from unaccustomed travelling, and your limbs must ache, +therefore if it pleases you we will wait until to-morrow night, so that +with many baths and much refreshing sleep you will feel glad to mount +your camel, who is not the begotten daughter of sin, Taffadaln, and +come still further into the desert." + +So Jill went outside the tent and looked up to the blazing stars, and +the soft wind blew her hair so that a burnished red-gold perfumed +strand fell across the man's mouth, and behold he trembled, for great +was his desire, but greater still his love for this woman. + +And when she sat down upon the cushions he stood apart and watched her, +until a little hand, like a white moth fluttering in the dark, beckoned +him, and he moved towards her and sat at her feet; and the wind, +whispered to the palms and the hours fled as the English girl lay on +the cushions and listened, and she had learnt of many things before she +rose and passed into her tent to sleep again. + +Hahmed was of Southern Arabia, and therefore with truth could claim +direct descent from Kahtan. He was the first-born of the great Sheik +el Has'ad, his father, and his favourite wife who, on her marriage, +besides much wealth, had brought a dowry of purest blood, and wonderful +beauty, to her lord and master, so that the man who sat at the English +girl's feet under the stars, and who trembled at her nearness was _pur +sang_, and further than that you cannot go. + +Worshipped by his father, idolised by his mother, at the age of ten he +bad been betrothed to the daughter, aged seven, of the Sheik el Banjad. +She was also _pur sang_, and already of looks promising great beauty. + +And so he had grown in the warmth of his parents' love, trained in what +we call outdoor sports, but which are life itself to the Arab, until at +fourteen no one could surpass him in running or horsemanship or +spear-throwing, whilst with rifle or revolver he could clip the hair +off the top of a man's head, the which strenuous accomplishments he +balanced in passing his leisure moments in the gentle arts of +verse-making and even music, in spite of the latter being condemned by +religion; also did he learn to converse in foreign tongues. Do not +think that these qualifications were enumerated with the zest and +glorification which usually precede the distribution of dull books at a +prize-giving, for the man might have been talking of the sunshine or +the sand or the flies or any other part of that which goes to the +making up of Egypt, rather than that which had helped to make him the +finest man in the country. + +And yet another trait which he touched upon lightly, and which had +served to make him the subject of comment in the bazaars, and of gossip +in the harems. + +In regard to his womenfolk there is no man sterner the world over than +the Mohammedan, shielding them from harm, and insisting on the absolute +privacy of their lives and their bodies. Upon just this subject, from +the first day of his understanding, Hahmed the Arab was stern to +fanaticism, intolerant even to injustice. He disapproved of licence in +all things, but especially in speech, food, and religion. When forced +by circumstances, he went to the feasts to which he was invited, eating +sparingly as was his wont, taking no more interest in the more or less +clothed dancing women than in a set of performing dogs, departing +thankfully when the hour came. + +Let me recount, in his own words, the happenings of his youth, which +served to change the whole tenor of his life, and was to culminate in +the high adventure of an English girl. + +"At the age of fourteen I was to marry and was content, for the desires +of my own woman had come upon me, and I longed to possess the beauty of +which my mother told me, and which, save for her father, had been seen +by no man. + +"My own woman I desired, I say, for bought women were not for me, and I +had refrained therefrom, therefore was I unsoiled at the time of my +wedding. + +"True my marriage had naught to do with my horoscope cast at birth, for +it had been read that water would bring me joy, and water would bring +me grief, and that water again would bring me everlasting happiness, so +I thought with others that it had lied, and was amazed. + +"But behold, when after great festival and feasting my bride was in the +care of her handmaidens who prepared her for my coming, one came, and +casting herself at my feet, covered her head in dust, begging a word +with me. + +"It seemed she was a master in the art of tinting the fingers the pink +which we Arabs love. + +"I thought she had a boon to crave so listened to her, but when she +told her news I took her by the throat to strangle her, but in choking +breath she vowed the great vow, therefore I listened again, and though +I were like to die of shame I took counsel with her, asking her the +price of her information, whereupon she merely muttered 'revenge,' and +showed her breast which was a festering sore caused by the boiling +water which her mistress had flung upon her when the scissors had +proved over sharp. + +"Whereupon I withdrew the handmaidens from the beautiful Zuleikha with +the exception of one, cross-bred of French and Tunisian, who, though of +passing beauty, scorned all men, it seemed, and passed her days in +waiting upon the whims of her mistress, and tending to the beauties of +her body. + +"I know not how far the women of the West are versed in the knowledge +of evil, therefore will I speak in words that are veiled. Be it that +I--I, Hahmed, the son of my great father, demeaned myself to spy +between the perfumed curtains of my bride's chamber, to witness the +passionate farewells of the two beautiful women. Allah! That such +things should be. Tears streamed down the cheeks of she who was to +share my couch, as the slave, the unclean half-caste, beat her breast +in her despair, and letting loose the strands of thick black hair which +covered her to the knees, knotted it around until it covered, as a +mantle, the body of she who had been anointed for my pleasure. + +"And then I tore down the curtains and strode in upon them, bound one +to another in their disgrace, and clapping my hands brought eight women +as witnesses to my shame. And still bound with the thongs of hair I +threw the sinners naked across my horse, and made my way to the woman's +house, and before a great assembly, for behold, the guests had not yet +departed, I flung them at the feet of the woman's father, and calling +my witnesses spake my tale. And when I had finished, the wailing of +grief was heard in the land. And then they were unbound and brought +before me, and the half-caste mocked me. Me! Until I took her hair +within my hands and twisting it about her neck, stopped her speech for +ever, and when she fell dead, Zuleika my wife, Allah! hear me, my wife! +screamed in terror, for I ordered my slaves to seize her. And then the +Sheik el Banjad, her father, pronounced judgment, quoting from the +Koran as is written in the second verse of the 24th Sura. + +"'Shall you scourge with a hundred stripes, and let not compassion +towards them prevent you from executing the judgment of God, if ye +believe in God, and the last day.' + +"And to the scourging was added the punishment of death, for behold, +the Moslem law is less lenient than the Holy Book, also of such a case +is it not written in the Koran. And Zuleika, my wife, was bound naked +to a pillar and scourged with a hundred stripes. And the city in which +had taken place the marriage, and in which both her father and my +father had great property being built upon flat ground, there was, +therefore, no height from which to throw her, neither well in which to +fling her without fear of polluting the water, for time, alas, is +making us softer towards misdeeds, so that such places of punishment +are disappearing quickly." + +Hahmed the Arab stopped short as with a little rustling sound Jill +raised herself to her knees, her hair sweeping to the satin cushion, +her hands stretched before her face as though to blind her eyes to the +word-picture which the man was painting in a perfectly indifferent +voice. + +"How awful! How awful!" she whispered. "Surely, surely you never let +them _kill_ her!" + +For a moment the Arab sat silent, as he forced his mind to an +understanding of the Western outlook upon what to him was so simple a +matter. + +"But she was unchaste, woman, therefore there was nothing else to do!" + +And at the tone of finality in the gentle voice, Jill sat back on her +heels and said, "And then?" and listened without interrupting until the +tale was done. + +"So," continued Hahmed, "she was taken screaming to a public spot and +there buried to her waist, and after that her mother had thrown the +first stone, was put to death by men and women who, following the +edicts of the Moslem law, meted out death by stoning to the unchaste. +And from that day I fled my country and my home. East and West I +travelled, passing many moons in England, hence it is that I can +converse with you in your own language. + +"There are many good things in your country and there are some bad, the +greatest of the latter, to an Eastern mind, being the freedom of the +women, who, even in their youth, go half-naked to the festival, so that +all men, yea, even to the slaves who serve at table, may cast their eye +of desire upon wife, or wife to be, taking from the husband the +privilege of possessing all the beauty of the woman for himself. Also +did I see the women of the West go down to the salt waters to bathe. +Naked were they save for a covering which clung as closely as the skin +to a peach, so that if I had had a mind I could have discoursed upon +the comeliness of the wife of el Jones, or the poor land belonging to +el Smith. Allah! I remember well a bride-to-be of seventeen summers, +comely in her outer raiment, displaying to her future husband, without +hesitation, the poor harvest of which he would shortly be the reaper, +for I think that the majority of the women of the West strive not to +render themselves beautiful, develop not the portion of the body which +maybe lacks contour from birth, bathes not her body in perfumed waters, +feeds not her skin with delicious unguents, cares not if her hair +reaches in wisps to her shoulders, or falls below her waist as a +natural covering under which she may hide at the approach of her +master, neither does she daily perfume it, nor her hands, nor her feet, +nor any part of her." + +Once again Jill snapped the story thread, but this time with laughter, +for her mind's eye, aided by her companion's scathing comments, had +called up picture after picture of friends and acquaintances who, at +balls, theatres, or by the sea, had draped themselves or not according +to what they imagined to be their menfolk's outlook upon life. + +"How funny!" she laughed, "how too funny!" And added: "And then?" as +she lit another cigarette which she did not smoke. + +"For many years," continued Hahmed, "I wandered, even unto Asia and to +America. In truth whilst there the desert suddenly called me. My body +craved for the sun, my eyes for the great distances of the sand, my +ears for the familiar sounds of the East. + +"But I could not return to the place of my shame, likewise were my +parents dead, leaving me an equal part of their great wealth. + +"So I went to other parts and bought 'the flat oasis' as it is called, +on account of the many miles of perfectly flat sand surrounding it, +absolutely unbroken by rock or bush or sand-dune. And perforce because +I needed it not I acquired wealth, and yet more wealth, buying villages +and great tracts of ground, breeding and selling camels and horses, +diverting myself with my hawks, hunting with my cheetahs, or +greyhounds, to occupy my time, heaping up the jewels in my bank at +Cairo, keeping the best of everything for my wife, the woman predicted +in my horoscope, for there can be no real happiness without a perfect +helpmate, and real happiness has been promised me. + +"And all these things I have done for her, yet am I looked upon as mad +by many in that at twenty-eight years I have not begotten me a son, for +they could not understand the disgust which had taken root in my whole +being, so that in love or passion or desire I laid not hands upon women. + +"You cannot understand, woman of the West, what it means when I say +this to you, for in the East a man's greatest desire is to propagate +his race, to have sons, many sons, with a daughter or two, or more as +Allah wills, and to satisfy this longing in the shadow of the law, +Allah, who is God, in His all-powerful goodness and bounty has allowed +us as many as four wives, and as many women slaves or concubines as a +man can properly and with decency provide for, the children of the +latter, if recognised by the father, sharing equally with the offspring +of the former. Though why a man who has found his love should wish to +cumber his house with other women, seething with jealousy and peevish +from want of occupation, is beyond my power of comprehension. + +"So I have none, because it is within me to love one woman only, and to +find the light of my life in her and the children of her loins, and if +Allah in his wisdom sees not good to grant me this woman, who must come +to me of her own free-will and love, then will I go to my grave in +Allah's time without wife, without child, although the Koran sayeth +that he who fails in his duty towards his race is accursed among men." + +And behold, a great trembling fell upon the English girl, as rising to +her feet she stood to look out upon the desert, and drawing the glory +of her hair about her so that she was covered from the gaze of the man +who stood apart, passed into her tent. + +And the hour of prayer being at hand the man purified himself, and +turning towards Mecca praised his God, and divesting himself of his +outer raiment laid himself across the entrance of the woman's tent so +as to guard her through her sleep, until such time that Allah, who is +God, should open the entrance of her chamber unto him, and place the +delights thereof into his hands for ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +And the first day was like unto the second and the third, for these two +desert farers went but slowly. + +Each dawn, if they had travelled in the night, they found their tents +pitched; each night they moved on, or not, as pleased the girl's mood, +each hour of the day strengthening the love in the man's soul, each +minute of the night passing over him, as he lay outside the entrance to +her tent, so that, at the slightest sound from the dim, sweet, scented +interior, he might spring to his feet, awaiting the little call for +help which never came. Jill slept as peacefully as a babe, stirring +only at a dreamed of, or imagined, swaying of the bed, as does the +seafarer sometimes who sleeps for the first time after many months upon +a bed, the four feet of which stand firmly on the ground. + +During the waking moments after her first night's rest, uninitiated +Jill had in imagination gone through and ardently disliked the +frightful hour in which she would help collect, and clean, and pack a +litter of soiled pots and pans, and other such abominations, which +collecting, etc., seems to constitute one of the chief charms of a +Western picnic; so great had been her relief on hearing that there was +absolutely nothing to do but to see that the cushions and coffee were +safely strapped upon Howesha's back, the only patient part of the +animal. They were standing in front of the tents with the animals at +their feet, the man watching the girl's every movement. Jill herself, +being vastly rested, was absolutely radiant as to looks; strange dishes +and hot winds and cold causing no havoc to the skin, nor the lack of +Marcel methods unsightliness to her hair. + +The dusk hid the dilapidation of her tailor-made, which looked the +fresher for being pressed under the mattress; she always travelled +boot-trees, so her shoes were all right, and the two Jacob's ladders, +falling on the outside of her stockings, looked just like clocks neatly +mended; her lovely hair rioted under her blue hat, and her high spirits +rioted in her blue eyes, as she fed the camels with dates and wiped her +sticky fingers on the silken coats. + +"What!" she had exclaimed. "You don't mean to say that you are going +to leave all this for the first thief to collect," withdrawing as she +spoke her basket of dates from the vicinity of her new camel's mouth. + +Verily, a beast of great beauty and worth was she, but shining as a +mere rushlight, in comparison to the Bleriot head-light radiance of the +fallen Taffadaln. + +"The Arab does not steal!" + +"Oh! but------" said Jill, putting a date into her own mouth by +mistake, and therefore speaking with difficulty, "but they do steal, +and murder, and do all kinds of _dreadful_ things like that--I learnt +it all in school!" + +"No," reiterated the man calmly, "the Arab does _not_ steal, he merely +carries out the order of Allah, who, when Abraham turned his son +Ishmael from his door, gave unto the boy the open plains and deserts as +a heritage, permitting him to take and make use of whatever he could +find therein. + +"And as it is written that every hand was turned against Ishmael, so +his descendants turn their hand against the descendants of those who +persecuted the son of Abraham; but amongst their own tribe, or to those +who ask of their hospitality, you will find the greatest honesty. + +"In a camp everything is left unguarded, and nothing goes astray. If +you, clothed in fine linen and arrayed in jewels, were to enter the +tent of some half-starving Arab, and ask of him hospitality, he would +share his last few coffee beans with you, and give you his couch, if by +chance he was possessed of such a luxury, and speed you on your way the +morrow, and believe me, you would not find a ribbon missing from your +attire, even though you had left him without the wherewith to make his +beloved coffee." + +The girl laughed, for she really cared not a rap either way, and was +only arguing for the sake of drawing the man out, having found argument +the best and simplest method of breaking through the Eastern reserve, +up against which she had more than once found herself during the last +few days. + +"Well! I call that splitting hairs. I really can't say I see that the +persecution of Ishmael makes stealing different from stealing; to my +mind, taking sugar from a bowl that is not yours, and diamonds that are +not yours from a safe, are one and the same thing, as both ornamental +and necessary booty belong to someone else." + +"And yet," replied the Eastern, "in the West a man who cheats at cards +is damned everlastingly, but a nation is acclaimed who takes the land +with all its wealth from some wretched, half-educated native; takes it +by force of arms or diplomacy, which, nine times out of ten, means +trickery. Yes! Acclaimed with such adjectives as valiant, strong, +beneficent, applauded to the skies, whilst reams are written anent the +glorious, victorious campaign. Victorious! Allah! When the nation +goes out with artillery and unlimited forces to meet a handful of men, +whose strength lies in a spear, and pride in some dozen flintlocks, +which have been sold to the benighted heathen for solid gold or shining +lengths of purest ivory. + +"Besides, the Arab requires 'what he gains,' as is his way of +expressing himself. No people on earth endure such hardships as this +my people; never enough to eat, burnt in the summer, frozen in the +winter, buried in sand, tortured with thirst, fleeing from place to +place, never at peace, yet always happy in his miserable tent. + +"For the _gazu_ or raid on caravan or camp, which will yield booty of +horse, or camel, or women--well! that is in the blood, and both sides +are prepared. If you or they should have the better horses, or the +better cunning, both of which we of the East so dearly love, one can +hardly be expected to sympathise with those who lose from want of +forethought." + +And as he spoke, he raised a light spear, which he held in his hand, +and drove it through one edge of the tent flap which covered the +entrance, deep into the sand. + +"That is a sign that I am coming back, and believe me, the worst of +Arabs would pass this way and seeing the sign would leave my belongings +unmolested. Yes! even if many moons passed, until the skins had +rotted, and the sands had covered the rotted remains." + +After which explanation, Jill remained silent for a space, and then +approached her camel, feeling that the rapping of her knuckles, however +slight, had been quite unwarranted, for her sympathy in human beings +and their feelings was great, and the understanding which kept her from +wounding the sensibilities of those humans even greater. + +Her wish to draw out the man had caused her figurative feet to make a +_faux pas_, in fact she felt that her pedestal had tilted ever so +slightly, causing the drapery of decency, and courtesy, to swing aside +for one moment, exposing a particle of clay upon the ivory of her +beautiful feet to the eyes of the man whose outlook on life was so +broad, whose principles were so stern, and whose people she had so +rudely criticised. Therefore she was dissatisfied with herself. +Though, if she had known it, the man looked upon her with the same +solicitude and tenderness, as you or I would look upon the babe, who, +in its first efforts to get from table to chair, pulls the table-cloth +about its unsteady little feet. + +Also sensing that the woman he loved was troubled, there was no +gladness in the heart of the Arab, so that, in his anxiety to remove +the pebble from the path, he approached her, as she stood with skirt +lifted in readiness to mount her recumbent camel, whereupon she looked +up at the grave face and apologised truly and sweetly, and by her sweet +and humble act, causing the man of the East to marvel at her strength, +and to salaam deeply before her as he accounted himself as the sand +beneath her little feet. + +"Now wait a moment!" laughed Jill, whose worries disappeared beneath +the warmth of her happy nature with the vanishing celerity of the dew +beneath the sun. "I am going to try my hand with the camels. I really +have a good deal of influence over animals--domesticated ones, I +mean------ Oh! Yes! I suppose they are, but of course in England we +don't have them hanging around as we do horses and dogs, you know. I +don't like cats, however--I simply can't stand the way they look past +and through you, at the spirits I always think, which we humans cannot +see standing beside us. + +"I had one once, I found her in the picture gallery one night, who +positively made me creep. She would get up suddenly from the fire and +go sidling and wriggling across the room in the most absurd fashion, +purring and simply confused with delight, to rub herself up and down +the empty air, and by the way her tail was flattened down and then shot +up again, I was positive she was being stroked. She almost lived in +the picture gallery, sitting staring at the pictures of an ancestor of +mine, who had the most _frightful_ reputation. + +"The worst of it all was that the whole village began to suffer from +catalepsy as Dads said, and then it all got into the newspapers, and +occult societies camped at the gates, water diviners drilled on the +lawns, the _Merry Harvester_ was filled with 'ologists hailing from +this country, and some genuine catamaniacs, until I had the bright idea +of fastening a placard on the gates to say that the cat was dead, +though she had suddenly disappeared the night the picture of the +ancestress fell, owing _honestly_ to a faulty plug in the wall. Now! +let me try and see if my knowledge of the Arabian tongue is good enough +to be understood by the camel." + +Lowering her voice a tone, she suddenly cried "Get up!" + +Whereupon the animal rose clumsily to its feet, as the girl, laughing +aloud, clung to the man's arm. + +"Oh," she cried, "did you ever know anything so funny, though why, I am +sure I can't say--fancy a camel obeying me." + +"Get down!" she suddenly ordered in her sweet, broken Arabic, at which +the camel knelt, leaving the Arab astounded, for the beautiful, lazy +woman of the East troubles not her soul in the training of beasts, nor +has she any command over them. + +Having mounted and got the three animals to their feet, Jill laughed +delightedly, announcing her intention of starting the trio and leading +them for a short space, to which the man, craving to satisfy the +slightest wish, consented, fastening the pack camel to the off-side of +Jill's beast, so that she should be in the middle, upon which they +started off triumphantly, leaving the tent to the stars and moon. + +For an hour they travelled over the sand, covered in patches with low +shrubs, and broken here and there by sand dunes, until Jill suddenly +stopped her chattering and pointed. + +"There's a caravan or something over there, and we seem to be heading +straight for it--it's--yes--it's a tent under some palms--why! +Yes--no! yes it is--oh, it's our tent--how _can_ it be our tent when we +have been going straight ahead all the time, haven't we?" + +Without the glimmer of a smile, the Arab shook his head. + +"We have been describing a circle ever since we started." + +"But no!" argued the girl, who was half mortified, half ready to laugh, +"there is no left rein, and I left the right one hanging------" + +"Yes, but quite unconsciously you kicked your camel with your left foot +when we were some way from the tent--you didn't notice, but she +immediately began to turn to the left; after that, you patted her +continually on the left side, and camels, who, from pure stupidity or +hereditary instinct, will go straight on to eternity untouched, are +trained to turn in the direction of the side touched by hand, foot, or +whip; the single rein is of very little use, and hardly ever used by a +native, for once a camel bolts, nothing will stop him, excepting a +cloth flung over his head, or the birth of some passing fancy in his +head, which serves to divert the evil tenor of his benighted brain. +And I defy anyone unused to the desert and its markings to know if they +are really going straight or in a circle, and you were too taken up to +notice the stars. Try again! Keep that red star straight ahead, those +two close together, just behind your right shoulder, and you will +unfailingly reach the so-called mountain, in the shadow of which we +shall find our tent." + +And the maker of sweet music bowed low from afar, and salaamed with +fervour, when, just before the hour of dawn, three camels came to a +halt, and knelt on the word of command of this veiled woman, who spoke +his language sweetly, but as a stranger. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +Few have or ever will make use of the route which the Arab was +explaining by means of a sharp stick and a flat stretch of sand. And +in truth 'twere wise to leave it to those who are born of the desert, +for even if ignoring the danger signals of her cumbersome covering, the +body, the soul should urge the would-be traveller to tread the unknown +path, he will, if he sets foot thereon, find the discomforts out of all +proportion to the interesting dangers. + +'Twere best to eschew it, keeping to the normal route of boat or rail; +even if the soul of the desert, wrapt in mystic garments, stands with +plump, henna-tipped, beckoning forefinger; for she is but a lying jade, +outcome of some digestive upheaval; the spirit of the sand, the +scorpions and the stars, beckoning to but the very few, and baring +herself to none; though the wind may lift her robes of saffron, brown +and purple, revealing for one sharp second the figure slim to +gauntness, and blow the thick, coarse black hair from before her face, +exposing those eyes of different colouring, and flaming mouth, luring +to kisses, which will steep the mind in intoxication, and rasp the lips +with stinging particles of burning sand. No! take rather the boat from +the round ring, which the Arab drew in the sand, christening it +Ismailiah; whereupon Jill got up from her place in the moon, and +crossing over to the man, crouched down beside him, the better to view +the map, taking it for an offering of prayer, when the sweetness of her +breath, and the savour of her perfume, assailing the man's nostrils, he +suddenly raised his hands to the starry heavens, praying to Allah to +give him strength. + +The stick starting from the ring christened Ismailiah turned slightly +to the West and continued in a line which curved at every inch. + +"I haven't the vaguest idea where we are," remarked Jill, as she took a +proffered cigarette, and proceeded to blow smoke rings in the still +night, from a mouth contracted until it looked like one of those little +leather jug purses, whilst her head, thrown back, showed the beauty of +her bare throat. Are we going towards Cairo?" + +"Nay, woman! Having crossed the fertile land, outcome of the fresh +water canal at Ismailiah, we continued to the West for a space, and +then came South, winding in and out so as to miss the higher hills and +sand dunes. + +"To-morrow we pass through the mountains of the Jebel Aweibid range, +and find the Haj road, which, glory to Allah, will be free of pilgrims +until next moon. That road we will follow as far as the fertility of +Airud, passing that spot afar off, as even in this month caravans will +congregate there; then crossing the canal a space higher than Suez, +where crowds embark and disembark, we will pick up the Haj road on the +far side, making use of it to pass through the Jebel Rabah range, +leaving it, once through, to strike to the East, and find our way at +last to the peace of my own habitation." + +Upon which explanation Jill sat back on her heels, and wrinkled her +brow. + +"But surely the easiest way would have been by boat to Suez!" + +"True, O! woman, whose eyes ringed with the shadows of fatigue are as +blue flowers growing in the mountain's purple shade. I pondered long +before I made decision in my choice of roads. Upon the one we +traverse, you could but meet fatigue, and in this month, but few +travellers upon the way that leads to Mecca. + +"Upon the boat you would have met many of your land, friends maybe, who +perchance would have turned upon you the eyes of suspicion, the +shoulder cold with disdainful convention, whilst their tongue, more +poisonous even than the forked tip of the _cerastes cornutus_,[1] +might, nay, _would_, have striven to corrupt your mind with a festering +mass of doubt and suspicion and misgiving. Therefore have I brought +you on this journey, which is so much longer, and is likely to kill you +with fatigue. Verily, for behold the half is not yet accomplished." + +Jill, who had unconsciously taken the sharp stick from the Arab, and +had also, unconsciously, been drawing monstrous beasts in the sand, +lifted her head and made a slight grimace. + +"Oh! but you will kill me, you will really! And to think that I +thought you lived quite near Cairo! Where _are_ we going _really_?" + +And Hahmed, overcome by an almost irresistible longing to take the girl +in his arms and hold her close against all dangers and discomforts, +suddenly rose to his feet, standing towering over her, and when she +held out both her hands, asking to be helped up, leant down and raised +her as lightly as though she were of thistle's down. + +Then there came about one of those pauses which sometimes do come to +pass between man and woman, a pause in which, as there is no midway, +either much is won or lost. + +As still as a mouse, Jill lay in his arms, until he very gently set her +upon her feet; and though a little ripple akin to disappointment +disturbed the smooth surface of her content, she said "Thank you," and +smiled sweetly into the grave face which showed no sign of a pulse +disturbed by a thudding heart. And then Jill sat down again upon her +cushions, drawing her knees up under her chin and clasping them with +her hands, and the shadow of the man falling upon her, left her well +content, and still more content did she feel when he stretched himself +full length beside her and continued speaking. + +"Where are we going? Oh woman, who has placed her hand in mine, we +journey to my own country, unto the desert of Arabia, until we shall +come to the place which was mine, but now is yours. Although, verily, +it is unworthy of your eyes, you will bear with it for a few moons, +until a habitation worthy of your beauty is erected. Nay, as oasis, it +is not over large, but it is fertile beyond thought. Many have essayed +to steal it by force of arms, or buy it, but I prevailed through the +magic of much wealth and the virtue of patience. I bought it bit by +bit from those who owned it, and now they rent it from me--I did not +want their money, but I desired to make the ground productive and the +people happy. + +"The grain plains require good workmen, also my date groves, my +paddocks, and stables for camels and horses. The fruit and vegetables +and other produce, which were once mine and now are yours, are +cultivated and tended by some hundreds of especially trained men, who, +with their wives and numerous offspring, live in the shadow of the +acacia, loving, quarrelling, hating, dying, but always happy. My own +habitation is in the shade of the palms, removed from the unseemly +wailing of children and barking of dogs, and as I have told you, no +woman has placed foot therein, save for the hunchback. Verily the flat +oasis is unique in the desert annals, and to bring unto perfection +requires but a son to take on the work, when these mine hands are +clasped in the handshake of death." + +But those very hands showed no sign of their master's desire to close +them upon those clasped whitely round the girl's knees, neither did his +voice portray the desire of possession raging within him as he +continued speaking. + +"If later you should desire to travel, then shall the boats, the cars +which were mine, but are now yours, be at your disposal, so that in +comfort shall your journey be made, wiping out the bitter memory of +this your first." + +But there was no doubt about it that Jill was suffering acutely from a +cumulative fatigue, engendered by the unaccustomed mode of travelling, +the intense heat through which she essayed to sleep during the day, the +biting cold at night, when the temperature fell many degrees, as is its +agonising wont in that part of the world, the strain of the mind as it +valiantly essayed to accustom itself to the new way of everything; but +above all, the inability to change her under raiment, which, strive +against it as she would, managed to conceal particles of sand and +insects, which, though they did not bite, crawled most successfully and +irritatingly. + +So that as in a dream she passed down the Haj road to the water, with a +vague recollection of a few wayfarers and beggars squatting on the +roadside, many men who salaamed with fervour at the water's edge; a +boat, a quick passage, and more of those who salaamed, and a three +days' rest, when the tents were pitched on the near side of the +mountains. Three days in which she slept, and slept, and slept, rising +to bathe and eat, grateful to the man who spoke only when she asked a +question, and who, though sign of servant there was none, forestalled +her every unuttered wish. Then followed they the Haj road through the +mountains and left it to take a line in the Eastern direction, which +they also followed until the hour when the Arab called his camels to a +halt, and pointing straight ahead, exclaimed: + +"Behold, woman, your land!" + +Upon which Jill strained her eyes in vain, for her untrained sight +revealed nothing but sand, and yet more sand. + +"Yonder lies the oasis, O! woman of the West, and beneath the star of +happiness the dwelling which will serve to throw a shadow upon your +path in the heat of the day, and from the roof of which you may watch +the changing of the moon; and learn the way of the Eastern stars, +whilst listening to the million voices of the desert night." + +The girl made no reply, neither did she turn to look at the man. + +There was no sound, save for an occasional grunt of satisfaction from +one or other of the beasts, who sensed their home and the termination +of their labour. + +There was nothing to break the silence, and nothing to break the +never-ending stretches of sand, as the two, caught in the inevitable +fingers of Fate, sat motionless, looking ahead beyond the oasis, beyond +the stars, to the moment when the first wind blew a particle of sand to +find its mate, with which to multiply and form the desert, the +birthplace and burial ground of so many; whilst gnarled hands playing +with Life's shuttlecock drew a golden thread to a brown, proceeding to +weave them in and out with the blood-red silk of the pomegranate, the +orange of the setting sun, the silver of the rising moon, and the +purples of the bougainvillaea, until upon the background of dull greys +and saffrons appeared an amazing pattern of that which is called Love. + +And suddenly the girl looked up into the man's face, and stretching out +her hand spake softly, calling upon him by name, so that his heart +quaked within him, and his being was suffused with love. + +"Hahmed! O! Hahmed! Is it happiness?" + +And Hahmed the Arab, raising his right hand, called heaven to witness. + +"As Allah is above us, O woman, it is happiness. Glory be to Him Whose +prophet is Mohammed." + + +[1]The most poisonous snake in Egypt. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +Little by little the face of the desert began to change, just as +changes the face of a fainted woman, which, drawn and grey and pinched +about the mouth, starts to relax and fill out and to colour faintly, +when life begins to return to the limp form. Rough shrubs grew in +patches, giving way to rough grass growing about the roots of short +trees. A clump of palms and then another, a mimosa tree scenting the +air from its diminutive yellow lanterns, and then great stretches of +land, some light with the grain silvered by the waning moon, some dark +from the plough's drastic hand, undivided by hedge or wall, yet as +evenly marked out as a chess-board, reminding Jill of a very great +patchwork quilt held together by some invisible feather-stitching. + +Her questions fell like rain, and in them the man seemed to find great +joy. That was an artesian well, and this a grove of Tailik dates. +Yes! the rivulet which would sing her to sleep on its way through the +sand was a very bounteous spring, more precious than gold or jewels, +holding only a second place to Allah, Whose prophet is Mohammed, in the +esteem of the fellaheen, but being a playful spring, almost +disappearing at one moment to gush out the next, artesian wells had +been made so that the oasis should not depend solely upon her caprices, +though, be it confessed, she had bubbled and laughed her way +contentedly through many years, and had even deigned to widen into a +diminutive lake, which lay between the principal dwelling-place, which +contained the sleeping apartments and living rooms of the master, and +the house which had been built on the same principle for the +innumerable guests, and the quarters, hidden from view by a belt of +palms, in which such servants as were necessary to the well-being of +the house cooked and worked and entertained such wayfarers as were of +their own station. + +Many figures had seemingly sprung from nowhere at the sound of the +padded feet, which were only prevented from breaking into a swift trot +by the voice of the man who guided them. + +These figures had salaamed deeply, and lifted up their hands to the +starry heavens as though to call down a blessing upon the heads of +those who passed, but they had not approached until the Arab suddenly +cried aloud a name, whereupon a figure, standing apart, had sped +quickly forward, salaamed, listened to his master's words, and had sped +away as silently as a panther, as swiftly as a deer. + +"Your runner, O! woman, who, after your slave, is the swiftest in all +Asia and Africa. If ever you would speak with me, and I were perchance +afar off, bid that man to your presence, give him your message in +script or word of mouth, and say but, 'Thy master--Cairo,' or wherever +I might sojourn, and he will find me, over desert sands or mountain +range; he would die for me, and therefore he would die for you. + +"We approach the grounds around your dwelling, may it find favour in +your eyes." + +Gradually the grass had deepened and softened, until like a velvet +carpet it lay spread. Great groves of dates threw ink-black shadows, +slender palms with feathery heads swayed slightly in the dawn-coming +wind, when suddenly of their own accord the camels stopped. + +To right and left as far as the dim light allowed, Jill saw what looked +to her like an impenetrable wall. + +"This is the dividing line, a high wall with its nakedness covered in +creepers, which separates your dwelling from the land upon which common +feet may tread. No one can pass without the permission of Mustapha, +the blackest of all black negroes; no one can leave, not even my +guests, unless they are accompanied by some one of the servants of my +house. Thus will you be safe in the care of black Mustapha, even if I +should be called to a distance from which I cannot guard you from harm. +Enter, O! woman, and may the blessing of Allah fall upon you, even as +the petals of the purple flower will fall upon your head." + +And they fell in showers from the purple bougainvillaea which trailed +its length over the wrought arch above the gate, of which one half +swung back by the hand of the biggest, blackest man ever dreamed of in +nightmarious slumber. + +"Master! Master!" cried the product of Africa, and, prostrating +himself, flung the desert sand upon his woolly pate; then rising, ran +towards the man who owned him, lifting the black cloak to his huge +mouth through which scintillated white, unblemished ivories. + +The Arab stretched out his hand, and laying it upon the girl's cloak +spake but one word, upon which the negro once more prostrated himself +before Jill's camel, covering his already sandy hair with yet more +glistening particles, murmuring something unintelligible, until a sharp +word brought him to his feet, whereupon he backed towards the gates, +flinging them wide apart, falling upon his knees as the camels stalked +disdainfully through the opening. + +Through a long avenue of trees they passed, the trunks twisted into +uncouth shapes, the heads of long spear-shaped leaves glistening as +though drenched in dew, the roots buried in masses of flowering shrubs, +behind all of which showed an occasional glint of distant water. + +The camels made their sedate way across a great plain of grass, +stretching without a break from the avenue up to a belt of palms, +before which they stopped, swayed a moment, grunting disapprovingly in +chorus, and knelt. + +"Your journey's end is here, and even though it should prove the last +effort of your will to combat the fatigue which surely crushes your +slight form, yet will I ask you to give me your hand so that I may lead +you to your dwelling, as by the will of Allah I will lead you slowly or +quickly to that which we call happiness." + +And as he spoke the Arab slipped from his camel, to stand tall and +straight beside the little figure enveloped from head to foot in a long +dark veil, from out of the folds of which stretched a little hand, +pulling the flimsy covering from the lower part of the face. + +"Nay, that you must not do, for behold! although you see them not the +tenders of my camels hover around, waiting till we have passed on to +fall upon those three beasts and lead them to their stables. Come!" + +The silence was intense between the two as Jill, with her hand in that +of the Arab, passed slowly over the grass up to a long, low, +two-storeyed house which, with two wings, made a quadrangle round a +great court, in the middle of which splashed a fountain. A multitude +of figures stood absolutely motionless under the palms surrounding the +house, who, even as the two passed, with one accord, called aloud as +they raised their right hands to heaven: + +"Allah--Jal-Jelalah!" which, being translated, means: "Praise to God +the Almighty!" disappearing on a sign from their master as he turned to +explain to Jill that this being his first visit in six months, his +servants, with twenty-four weeks of grievances and domestic feud upon +their minds, and a near prospect of being able to unburden themselves, +were doubtlessly delighted to see their master. + +Jill passed into the house too dazed to notice much of her +surroundings, heard the swish of silk curtains closing behind her, and +stood alone in a most exquisite room. + +Six lamps, hung from the ceiling by bronze chains, threw a shaded light +upon the soft-toned Persian rugs covering the floor; a divan piled high +with silken cushions of every shade of mauve, covered with silken +sheets, and smothered in the white folds of a mosquito net, stood +against the far wall; there were small inlaid tables, piles of +cushions, and a dressing-table glittering with crystal and silver in +the light of the lamps, and a small fire which flung out sweet resinous +odours from the burning logs; stretching right across one wall, a low +cupboard showed gleaming satins and soft silks behind its open doors, +and through an archway of fretted cedar-wood she saw a Roman bath of +tiles, into which you enter by descending shallow steps, and over which +hung a lamp with glass shade of many colours. Little white tables +smothered in towels and bottles and little pots stood about, and across +a low seat was thrown a garment of shimmering gold and silver cobwebby +tissue. Dusty, tired Jill stretched out her arms, opened the cupboard +doors wider, and inspected the garments therein one by one. + +And she frowned. + +A net had been spun in which she had been caught, her silly ears had +listened to an absurd tale, she had stretched out a greedy hand to +pluck an unknown fruit to find it bitter; in one brief word she had +been fooled. Whereupon she pulled back the silken curtain, of the door +with a vicious rasp, which seemed to have spread to her voice when she +called aloud. The curtain swung back as the Arab entered, murmuring +the Eastern prayer of greeting, and though furious, and therefore ripe +to cut and hurt with woman's weapon, the tongue, the girl stood still +and silent for a moment, instinctively feeling that tale or no tale, +net or no, the great man before her was master here, though no one +would have guessed at her momentary weakness as she flung open the +cupboard doors to their widest, and taking an armful of soft feminine +attire, held them out for the inspection of the grave Arab, whilst her +voice rang through the room, giving exactly the same impression of +trouble as does the wind which, springing from nowhere, usually +precedes the storm. + +"You said no woman save an old peasant had ever placed foot within this +house. If so, what do these Eastern things mean?" holding out as she +spoke a feminine something which seemed to be composed of sea-form, and +pearls. + +"For myself I only see a few bedroom wraps, and--and a garment in--in +the bathroom." + +And her heart suddenly stopped a beat, and then made the blank up by +multiplying the next, for she had seen the man's face as he had taken +the offending garment, and tearing it across and again across, dropped +it at his feet, before he moved slowly towards her across the dividing +space to take her two hands in his, holding them against his breast in +a clasp that hurt. + +"Listen," he said. "I shall speak this once and never again! Listen!" +For a moment the quiet voice stopped, so that the gentle cracking of +the burning logs could alone be heard above the heavy thud of the +girl's heart, which to her ears sounded like thunder of the surf at +dawn. "You are _mine, mine_, do you understand? You are no silly +child, you knew what you were doing when you came with me, neither am I +a man, for man or woman to play with. And now I have you, as Allah is +above us, I will never let you go, for although the oasis and the +camels and horses are yours, you will find no soul to lead the beast +across the sands so covered with the bleaching bones of those who have +gone astray. Oh! be not afraid," for the little face beneath his was +white. "You are mistress here. You need but draw the curtain and no +one will enter, no one until you clap your hands and _call them by +name_. You will forgive the lowly room which entours you, and the +unseemly garments which in haste I ordered, guessing at what you might +require. Tomorrow you shall order what you will, and your slaves shall +bring all from the great cities at the greatest speed, for as I have +said, a dwelling worthy of your beauty shall be erected before many +moons have sped. I will leave you, for doubtless you would remove your +dust-laden raiment. I will send your slave, who even now is returning +thanks to Allah in that I have found her worthy to wait upon you, and +who also prepares some dishes for your refreshment. You are not +hungry, and you do not wish her presence! Then shall she not disturb +you." + +And Jill found herself alone, upon which she took stock of herself in a +long mirror which stretched from floor to ceiling, and hurriedly +removed her outer garments. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +It was a very beautiful girl who stood by the fire listening to the +intense silence which precedes the dawn. The golden shimmering garment +fell from her shoulders in soft folds, clinging here and there as +though it loved the beautiful form it covered; her feet slipped in and +out of the golden mules, in which, try as she would, she could not +walk; her hair fell in two great plaits far below her knees; she was +perfumed with the perfumes of Egypt, than which there is no more to say. + +And she was afraid. + +There was absolutely no sound, save for the fall of a charred log which +sounded like a pistol shot, the rustle of her raiment, which sounded +like the incoming tide of some invisible sea, and the quick intake of +her breath, which might have meant unadulterated terror, and--did. + +She shivered slightly, for of a sudden she saw a woman's face in a +corner unreached by the light of the lamp. A long brown hand drew back +the coarse hair, which curled and tangled under a veil, black brows +frowned down on great eyes, which looked at her steadily, but the +mouth, crimson as blood, parted in a smile wonderful to behold in its +understanding, as Jill called softly: + +"Speak, woman! who are you?" + +But when the silence remained unbroken, and the girl, rushing swiftly +across the room, touched just ordinary wood, she looked quickly round +for escape; then hesitating, raised her hands and clapped them softly; +raised them again when the silence remained unbroken, dropped them and +once more shook with terror, which was really fatigue, when a something +rustled behind, being in truth the catching of her garment on the +fretted edge of a table; then once more she clapped her hands as she +whispered, so low that the words hardly seemed to carry beyond the +firelight: + +"Hahmed! Hahmed!" + +Whereupon there was a faint rustle, the swinging to and fro of the +curtain door, and the man stood before her. Not a sound broke the +stillness, not a movement caused a flicker to the name of the shaded +hanging lamp, which, just above the girl's head, threw down the light +on the radiance of her hair, and the wonder of her body which the +diaphanous garment half concealed and half revealed. + +Not a sign on the Arab's face, this dweller of the desert, whose +forefathers in wonderment had watched the ways of wisdom with which +Solomon in all his glory had ruled more than one fair and obstreperous +woman among the scented Eastern sands. + +Face to face they stood, whilst the racing blood fled from the girl's +face down to the finger-tips of her contradictory hands. The hands she +knew so well, the square back, the square finger-tips, the long, +square, high-mooned, deeply laid nail. Hands which, coming to her down +the centuries through Quaker and through Puritan, were calling to her +to stand firm and hold the scales well-balanced, whilst the soft, +rounded palm, hidden in the golden fringe of her garment, and the +over-sensitive finger-tips, with little nerve-filled cushions at the +end of each, clamoured aloud for beauty and sweetness, tenderness and +mastery, as the great man, with the beads of Allah slipping noiselessly +through his fingers, reading the girl's thoughts as though they were +written on the wall, marked and watched with sombre eyes in the +breathless silence of the coming dawn. + +Slowly the girl raised her eyes and scanned the man, from the +snow-white turban on the dark head, the softness of the silken shirt, +showing through the long, open, orange satin front of the voluminous +coat, which reached almost to the ankles, leaving exposed the trousers +of softest white linen, fastened close above the leather shoes, whilst +quite subconsciously she wondered what he would look like in European +evening dress. + +Slowly she stretched out her long thin arms, until they almost touched +the golden embroidery on the coat, as slowly she turned her hands, and +looked at the glittering nails, the hands she knew and feared so much, +and turning them back again, with a little smile drew a finger-tip over +the hills and valleys of the palms. Higher still, until the pink and +scented palms were on a line with the man's stern mouth, whilst a sigh, +faint as the passing of a fly's wing, left his lips, as taking the +little hands in his, he drew the girl closer yet. + +"Behold, you are beautiful, O! woman, whom I would take to wife. You +start! Why! For what manner of man have you taken me? Did you think +that being an Arab means being without honour? Nay! When my eyes fell +upon you standing in the sun, I knew that my heart had found its +desire, that the woman who for all these years had, invisible to +others, walked beside me in my waking hours, and hovered near me in my +dreams, had come to life; that before me, if Allah willed, stood my +wife and the mother of my children. I know that the English race, from +lack of sun perchance, love not in a moment with a love that can +outlast eternity. I do not ask you if you love me, only that you will +be my wife, honouring me above all men, delighting me with such moments +as you can give me. + +"Listen, O! woman. I ask of you nothing until you shall love me. You +shall draw the curtains of your apartment, and until you call me, you +shall go undisturbed. _When_ you shall call me--then--ah!" and his +voice sank to infinite depths of tenderness as he drew her to +him--"then you will be all mine--all--lily of the night you are +now--rose of the morning you will be then, and I--I will wear that rose +upon my heart. You are even as a necklace of rich jewels, O! my +beloved. Your eyes are the turquoise, your teeth are the white pearls, +even as the ravishing marks upon your face,[1] and may be upon that +part of your body upon which my eyes may not rest, are as black pearls +of the rarest. Your lips are redder than rubies, and your fingers are +of ivory. + +"And one day shall that necklace be placed in my hands, and not alone +the necklace, but the white alabaster pillar of your body, from your +feet like lotus flowers, to the golden rain of your hair, shall you be +mine. + +"And you shall not make me wait too long, for behold, I love you. +Allah! how I love you---as only we men of the desert love. Allah help +me," and holding the girl in the bend of his left arm, so that she felt +the racing of his heart, he raised his eyes and right hand to Heaven. +"Allah! God of all, give me this rose soon!" + +For one long moment the girl was still, with face as white as death, +and great eyes troubled even as the ocean when swept by gusts of wind; +for to the very depths of her stirred her heritage of tremendous +passions, untouched, unknown, whilst that which is in all women, from +queen to coster, coming down from the day when they were slaves, that +which urges them to cry aloud, "Master! Master!" upon their bended +knees, stirred not at all; so that even as her eyes, so was her soul +troubled, knowing that love had not yet laid hand to draw the curtains +from about her womanhood. + +Freeing herself gently, she moved towards the fire, trailing the golden +raiment after her so that it pulled against the beauty of her body. +For a moment she stood unconsciously silhouetted against the wall, +virginal in her whiteness and her slimness, and yet, in her build +alone, giving such promise of greater beauty, in the maturity of love. + +Slowly, whilst her mind worked, she traced the blue vein from her wrist +up her forearm, up until the finger stopped suddenly, upon a tiny mark +tattooed just above the elbow. + +A faint shadow of incomprehension swept across the man's face, for from +nowhere, in one brief instant, a little wind, laden with straying +particles of fear, distrust and memories, swept between the two, as the +girl's voice, biting in its coldness, searing great scars upon the +Arab's raging, storming, totally hidden pride, let fall slowly, +cruelly, light-spoken, mocking words of French. + +"Please tell me my woman's name, so that I may call her, for I would +disrobe, being overcome by a great desire to--sleep!" + + +[1]Moles are considered a great beauty among the Egyptian races. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +The sun in a great red-gold ball was slipping behind the sharp edge of +sand which like a steel wire marked the far horizon, the sky resembling +some gorgeous Eastern mantle stretched red and orange and purple from +the West, fastened by one enormous scintillating diamond star to the +pink, grey, fawn and faintest heliotrope shroud which the dying day was +wrapping around her in the East. + +Terrific had been the heat throughout the month, wilting the palms, +drawing iridescent vapours from the diminished stream, making the very +sand too hot even for native feet. + +The green reed blinds sheltering the great balcony room, and over +which, in the heat of the day, trickled a continuous stream of water, +were drawn up to allow the sunset breeze to pass right through the long +two-storeyed building which, the essence of coolness, comfort, and +beauty, in the past months by the efforts of countless skilled workmen, +hailing from every conceivable corner of Asia and Egypt, and regardless +of expense and labour, had been built for one beautiful English girl, +who, in a moment of ever regretted contrariness, had refused to +participate in the planning and devising of the work, thereby shutting +herself off from that most fascinating pastime, house-building; leaving +everything down to the minutest details to the imagination, ingenuity, +and inventive genius of the Arab. For months she had listened to the +monotonous chant of the men at work, the tap of hammer, swish of saw, +and dull thud of machinery, and also to the grunting and grumbling of +the camels who, in great caravans from every point of the compass, had +complainingly brought their burdens of riches. + +The groves of great date palms around her temporary abode had prevented +her from seeing the outcome of all the noise, her misplaced pride or +temper, or whatever you will, likewise preventing her from inquiring as +to the progress made from the Arab, who, at her bidding, would come and +sit with her, talking gravely upon absolutely indifferent subjects, +neither showing by word or gesture if she were any more to him than the +rug beneath his feet. + +Just a mouth ago, when the moon was at the full, Jill had made what she +whimsically called the moon-light flitting. + +Veiled closely, she had put her hand into that of the man, and +confidingly walked with him through the pitch blackness of the palm +groves, and out into the moon-filled space beyond the lake, until they +reached and stopped before a heavy iron door let into a massive wall, +the top of which bore a crown of flashing, razor-edged, needle-pointed +steel blades. + +"The treasure of the world will be safe behind those walls, for behold, +there are but two golden keys with which to open the door, one is yours +the other mine. To Mustapha has been confided the safe-keeping of the +walls, and with it power to kill whoever should approach within ten +yards without your permit." + +And the girl turned quickly as the door swung to softly, with the +scarcely perceptible click of a lock, and then moved forward with as +much indifference as she could muster on the spur of the moment, +feeling the eyes of the Arab upon her. Gardens stretched before her +with groves, and arbours, and every device conceivable for throwing +shade upon her path. The stream, bending in an S, rippled and laughed +its way under the little bridges; fountains splashed, seats of marble, +seats of scented wood, little tables, silken awnings and screens, +hanging lanterns of many colours, and swinging hammocks made of the +place a fairyland; until suddenly, as she turned the last curve of the +stream, she saw the marble building, built as it were by the waving of +a magic wand, glistening in the silver light. + +Imagine four buildings about the height of Buckingham Palace, without +the attic windows, or whatever they represent, built to form a square +of snow-white gleaming marble, with verandahs built out and supported +by fairy marble pillars, so as to throw the lower rooms into complete +shade; more fairy pillars springing from the upper side of the +verandahs to support the wide edge of the roof, and so make a great +covered-in balcony to the second floor. + +The French windows, divided by columns of different coloured marble, +terminated in perfect arches, studded with great lumps of uncut +amethyst, turquoise matrix, and blocks of quartz in which dully gleamed +the yellow of gold, reminding Jill somewhat of the outer decorations of +a shop she had once seen in the Nevski Prospekt, the owner of which, +dealing in _objets d'arts_, and precious bibelots of jade and sich, had +quite successfully thought out the novel and expensive advertising +method of plastering the front of his shop with chunks of the precious +metal with which the bibelots were made. The drops of a myriad slender +fountain jets, caught in the light of the hanging lanterns, sparkled +and flashed like handfuls of precious stones, and an almost +overpowering perfume filled the air from flowers only half-asleep. + +A great gate of silver and bronze opened silently to admit them to the +inner courtyard, only the rolling, glistening eyeballs of Mustapha, the +eunuch, showing that there was any life whatever in the massive black +hulk standing within the shadow. + +Just for a moment the girl stood absolutely motionless, and then turned +sharply as a noiseless shape stole past her, and purring loudly rose on +its hind feet and laid its velvety paws upon the Arab's shoulder, +dropping back in a crouching position as Jill, exclaiming softly, +involuntarily stepped forward and laid her hand protectingly upon the +man's arms. + +It takes a long time to write, but hardly a second had passed before +the great animal, snarling viciously, shot out its velvety paw, plus a +row of steel-strong claws, and ripped the girl's cloak open from neck +to knee. And then indeed did black Mustapha rise to the occasion, and +in his master's esteem, as also without a sound he shot out an ebony +black arm, gnarled and knotted like any centuries old bough of oak, +terminating in an ebony black hand, which could have easily been +divided between four normal men, and still left a bit over, and picking +up the fighting, clawing animal by the neck, held it lightly at arm's +length, whilst awaiting dumbly his master's order. + +"Kill it," said Hahmed briefly. + +And whilst Jill pinched herself to see if she was really there or no, +the eunuch, with joy-filled eye, and teeth glistening in a smile of +utter satisfaction, gently tightened his grip on the velvety, tawny +throat. + +There was a stifled growl, a click, and the dead animal was laid at the +girl's slender feet. + +"My favourite hunting cheetah, O! woman! Behold, Mustapha, shalt thou +spread the news of its untimely end as a warning to all those who, by +sign of hand or word of mouth or thought of brain, should desire to do +harm to thy mistress. And even shall thou tell me how yon dead beast +came to be prowling in the seclusion of thy mistress's abode." + +Great beads of perspiration broke out on the face and neck of the +scared man, as he salaamed deeply before his master, and knelt to beat +his forehead upon the ground before the woman. + +"Behold, O! master! And may Allah grant me years of life within the +blessing of thy shadow. A slave returning from the exercising and +feeding of four, O! master, of thy hunting cheetahs, came to me this +noon full of idle curiosity. Behold, I spoke with him outside the open +gate, and perchance yon dead brute crept in unnoticed, whilst I pointed +out the evil of his ways and those of his ancestors; also, perchance +fatigued and full of meat, the animal lay down and slept until she +heard the tread of thy honoured footsteps; perchance also thy slave, +fatigued and also full of meat, passing the hours in slumber, troubled +not to count the animals in his care." + +For one moment there was silence as the Arab stood looking at the +trembling man, then Jill, laying her little hand gently upon the satin +sleeve of him whom she loved, whispered softly: + +"A boon, O! Hahmed! I know--I _feel_ that you are planning the death +of this wretched man. I ask his life!" + +By this time Mustapha was prone upon his face, piling imaginary dust +from the spotless mosaic pavement upon his woolly pate, scrambling to +his shaking knees on a word from his master. + +"Get to thy feet and make obeisance to thy mistress, who in her +manifold bounty has saved this time thy worthless life. For behold, I +had planned to give my people a holiday in which to see thee whipped +round the wall of thy mistress's dwelling, until thou had died; then +would thy black skin have been ripped from thy worthless carcass, and +pinned to the ground before the camel paddock, so that in their goings +in and coming out they would have befouled what remained of thee +uneaten by the vultures." + +And taking Jill's hand he crossed the square, leaving the eunuch +absolutely gibbering with relief. + +Through a massive iron door they passed into the house, Jill exclaiming +softly at the beauty of the place. Room after room they traversed +until they came to a standstill before a satin curtain. Hahmed lifted +it and Jill entered a great room, the floor of which was of pink +marble, covered in Persian rugs, their colouring softened in the +passing of many, oh! many moons; the walls panelled in soft brocade, +and great mirrors reflecting the simplicity of the exquisite hangings, +the tint of flowers, the statuary gleaming half hidden in the corners, +the great chairs, the piles of cushions, and the swinging lamps +suspended from the ceiling by silver chains. + +"I will explain, O! woman, how this house has been built, though verily +would I have had your help in these past months, for how was I to know +in what or which your desires lay. + +"Behold, the rooms upon the level of the ground are rooms for your +repasts, and rooms for receiving your guests; above are the rooms for +your slumber, and your toilet, for the bathing of your white body, and +for your entertainment. In the latter you will find all that +appertains to music, to the dance, to the study of books, to the flash +of the needle. Above again are the rooms open to the breezes of the +night, screened by light screens to enable you, unveiled, to look out +upon the world, and yet keep you hidden from the curious eyes of your +many slaves who, under the rule of black Mustapha, live within the +walls and near to hand to do your slightest bidding, but hidden until +you call so as not to disturb you by their unseemly presence. They may +not die within the wall, neither may they give birth therein, still +less may they make merry without your permission. The slightest breach +of your laws will see them flogged to death and cast out into the +desert sand. One suite of rooms is pink, and one white, and one is +palest heliotrope, and yet another black, and there are many others. +May it find favour in your eyes. If perchance it pleases not, then +shall it be razed to the ground, and rebuilt upon your design." + +And Jill had walked through a building such as she had not dreamed of +in her wildest fantasies, and having very sweetly thanked the Arab, had +clapped her hands, and being of perverse mood, had indifferently bidden +him good night, and entered the rose pink sleeping-room where the couch +had been designed by love, and the colouring reflected by the great +mirrors by passion; to slip from out her perfumed raiment, and step +down into the pink marble Roman bath and hide beneath the rose-tinted +waters, the rose-tinted glory of her perfect body. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +And just as the dead cheetah was laid at Jill's feet, a huge bull dog, +with a face like a gargoyle to be seen on the Western transept of +Notre-Dame, and a chest like a steel safe, supported on legs which had +given way under the weight, walked across from Sir John Wetherbourne, +Bart., of Bourne Manor, and other delectable mansions, to lay his +snuffling, stertorous self at the feet of his mistress, the Honourable +Mary Bingham, pronounced Beam, in whose sanctum sat the man on the +bleak November evening, and of whom he had just asked advice. + +People always asked advice of Mary, she was of that kind. On this +occasion she sat looking across at the man she loved, and had always +loved, just as he loved and had always loved her, since the days they +had more or less successfully followed the hounds on fat ponies. She +sat meditatively twisting a heavy signet ring up and down her little +finger. _The_ finger, the one which advises the world of the fact that +some man in it has singled you out of the ruck as being fit for the +honour of wifehood, was unadorned, showing neither the jewels which +betoken the drawn-up contract, nor the pure gold which denotes the +contract fulfilled. Those two had grown up in the knowledge that they +would some time marry, though never a word had been uttered, and being +sure and certain of each other, they had never worried, or forced the +pace. And then Jill had disappeared! Gone was their pal, their little +sister whom they had petted and spoiled from the day she too had +appeared on a fat pony, gone without a trace, leaving these two honest +souls, in a sudden unnecessary burst of altruism, to come to a mutual, +unspoken understanding that their love must be laid aside in folds of +soft tissue, that they must turn the key upon their treasure, until +such time as definite news of the lost girl should allow them to bring +it out with decency, and deck it with orange blossom. And worry having +entered upon them, they both suddenly discovered that uncertainty is a +never-failing aperitif, and they both hungered for a care-free hour +like unto those they had carelessly let slip. + +Foolish perhaps, but they loved Jill, making of themselves brother and +sister; hurt to the quick when after the _debacle_ she had sweetly +declined all offers of help, and worried to death when she had started +out on the hare-brained scheme of earning her own living off her own +bat. + +Mary Bingham was one of those delightful women peculiar to England, +restful to look at, restful to know. Her thick, glossy brown hair was +coiled neatly in plaits, no matter what the fashion; her skin, devoid +of powder, did not shine, even on the hottest day; her smile was a +benison, and her teeth and horsemanship perfect. + +Her clothes? Well, she was tailor-made, which means that near a horse +she beat other women to a frazzle, but on a parquet floor, covered with +dainty, wispy, fox-trotting damsels, she showed up like a double +magenta-coloured dahlia in a bed of anemones. + +Jack Wetherbourne was of the same comfortable and honest type, and they +loved each other in a tailor-made way; one of those tailor-mades of the +best tweed, which, cut without distinctive style, is warranted with an +occasional visit to the cleaners to last out its wearer; a garment you +can always reply on, and be sure of finding ready for use, no matter +how long you have kept it hidden in your old oak chest, or your +three-ply wardrobe, or whatever kind of cupboard you may have managed +to make out of your life. Although no word of love had ever passed +between them, you would have sworn they had been married for years, as +they sat on each side of the fire; Mary in a black demi-toilette, cut +low at the neck, which does not mean decollete by any means, but which +_does_ invariably spell dowdiness, and Jack Wetherbourne with his chin +in his hand, and a distinct frown on his usually undisturbed +countenance. + +A great fire crackled in the old-fashioned grate, the flames jumping +from one bit of wood to another, throwing shadows through the +comfortable room, and drawing dull lustre from the highly polished +floor and Jacobean furniture. It was an extraordinarily restful room +for a woman, for with the exception of a few hunting pictures in heavy +frames on the wall, a few hunting trophies on solid tables, some books +and a big box of chocolates, there were no feminine fripperies, no +photographs, nothing with a ribbon attachment, no bits of silver and +egg-shell china. + +Oh! But the room was typical of the Honourable Mary Bingham, into +whose capable hands had slipped the reins controlling the big estate +bounded on one side by that of the man opposite her. + +"There is only one more thing I can suggest," said the deep, clear +voice, "and that is that you go over to Egypt yourself. Who knows if +you might not pick up a clue. Detectives have failed, though I think +we made a mistake in employing English ones, they hardly seem tactful +or subtle enough for the East." + +Certainly one would have hardly applied either adjective to Detective +John Gibbs, who, bull-necked and blustering, had pushed and bullied his +way through Egypt's principal cities in search of Jill. + +"How like Jill not to have sent us a line," remarked Jack Wetherbourne +for the hundredth time as he lit a cigarette. + +"Oh, but as I have said before, she may have had sunstroke, and lost +her memory, or have been stolen and put away in a harem. She's not +dead, that's certain, because she had her hand told before she left on +her last trip, and she's to live to over eighty." + +"That's splendid," was Wetherbourne's serious answer to a serious +statement, as he rose on the entry of Lady Bingham, who, having at the +same moment finished her knitting wool and the short commons of +consecutive thought of which she was capable, had meandered in on +gossip bent, looking quickly and furtively from one to the other for +signs of an understanding which would join the estates in matrimony, a +pact upon which her heart was set. And seeing none, she sat down with +an irritated rustle, which gathered in intensity until it developed +into a storm of expostulating petulance when she heard of the proposed +programme. + +On the stroke of eleven Mary got up and walked down the broad +staircase, and through the great hall, and out on to the steps beside +the very splendid man beside her, and they stood under the moon, whilst +a nightingale bubbled for a moment, and _yet_ they were silent. + +"Dear old girl," said Jack Wetherbourne, as he pushed open the little +gate in the wall which divided their lands, and waved his hand in the +direction of the old Tudor house. + +"Dear old Jack," murmured Mary as her capable hand reached for a +chocolate as she sat on the window-seat and waited until she heard the +faint click of the gate, upon which she waved her handkerchief. + +Prosaic sayings, prosaic doings, but those three prosaic words meant as +much, and a good deal more to them, than the most exquisite poetical +outburst, written or uttered, since the world began, might mean to us. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +By degrees Jill had become accustomed to the habits of the East, +sleeping peacefully upon the cushion-laden perfumed divan, sitting upon +cushions beside the snow-white napery spread upon the floor for meals, +eating the curiously attractive Eastern dishes without a single pang +for eggs and bacon and golden marmalade, revelling in her Eastern +garments, from the ethereal under raiment to the soft loose trousers +clasped above her slender ankles by jewel-studded anklets, delighting +in the flowing cloaks and veils and over-robes and short jackets of +every conceivable texture, shape, and colour, passing hours in +designing wondrous garments, which in an incredibly short time she +would find in the scented cupboards of her dressing-rooms. + +Then would she attire herself therein, and stand before her mirror +laughing in genuine amusement at the perfect Eastern picture reflected, +and drawing the veil over her sunny head, and the yashmak to beneath +her eyes, and a cloak about her body, would summon the Arab to her +presence. + +Which shows that knowing nothing whatever about the Eastern character, +she merely added a hundredfold to her attractions, for if there is one +thing a man of the East has brought to perfection, it is his enjoyment +of procrastinating in his love-making, passing hours and days and +weeks, even months in touching the edge of the cup, until the moment +comes when, raising it to his lips, he drains it to the last drop. + +To keep herself physically fit she had found strenuous recreation in +two ways. Firstly, she had made known that her wish was to learn +something of the dancing of the East, whereupon for a sum which would +have made Pavlova's slender feet tingle in astonishment, the finest +dancer in all Egypt and Asia had, for many months, taken up her abode +in the beautiful house especially built for honoured guests just +without the wall. + +The supple, passionate Eastern woman found it in her soul to love the +slender white girl who laughed aloud in glee, and showed such amazing +aptitude in learning the A.B.C. of this language, especially reserved +in the East for the portrayal of the history of love and all its kin. +Presents were showered upon the teacher who, with the craft of the +Oriental mind, in some cases forbore to fully explain the meaning of +certain gestures, so that unintentionally a veritable lightning flash +of passion blazed about Jill's head one night, when with the innocent +desire of showing the Arab how well she was progressing in the art, she +suddenly stood up before him and made a slight movement of her body, +holding the slender white arms rigidly to her side, whilst her small, +rose-tinted right foot tapped the ground impatiently. + +"Allah!" had suddenly exclaimed the Arab, as he had seized her arms and +pulled her towards him. "You would mock me, make fun of me, you woman +of ice! + +"How dare you make me see a picture of you in--ah! but I cannot speak +of it in words, suffice that one day I will--Allah! you--you dare to +mock me with a picture of that which you refuse me------!" + +"I haven't the faintest idea of what you are talking about," had +replied a very ruffled Jill, as with golden anklets softly clinking she +withdrew to a distance. "If that is the effect of my dancing I will +never dance for you, _never_!" + +"But, woman, do you mean to tell me that you have no idea of the +translation put upon your movements?" + +"Evidently not," haughtily replied the inwardly laughing girl. + +"That you do not know the movement you made just now meant that in the +dimness of the night I--oh! I cannot tell you, but I swear before +Allah that _I--I_, Hahmed, who have known no woman, will teach you the +translation of every movement of all that you have learned." + +Whereupon Jill, having seated herself upon the stuffed head of an +enormous lion skin, murmured "_soit_," and proceeded to light a +cigarette. + +Her second and favourite pastime was riding, and, in as few words as +possible, so that my book shall not ramble to unseemly length, I will +tell you how the fame of her horsemanship had come to be spoken of, +even in the almost untrodden corners of Asia and Egypt. + +The whim seizing her, she would bid the Arab to her presence, sometimes +to her evening repast, sometimes to sweet coffee and still sweeter +music, sometimes to wander on foot or on camel-back through the oasis, +to the desert stretching like a great sea beyond, and still beyond. + +Everything, as you will note if you have the patience to get through to +the end of this book, happened to Jill in the light of the full moon. +On this night in question, clad all in black, with the moonbeams +striking rays from the silver embroidered on her veil, and the anklets +above her little feet, she seemed small and fragile, altogether +desirable, and infinitely to be protected to the man beside her on the +edge of the sand. Still more so when she waxed ecstatic with delight +on the approach of two horses, one bay ridden by a man clothed from +head to foot in white burnous, and a led mare as white as the man's +raiment. + +"Hahmed! O! Hahmed! Stop them!" had she cried, forgetting the ice +out of which she had elected to hack herself a pedestal. "Oh, you +beauty, you priceless thing!" she continued, when the mare, whinnying +gently, rubbed its muzzle on her shoulder; whereupon she took the rein +from the servant who had dismounted, and led the beast up and down. + +Perfect she stood, the Breeze of the Desert, with her flowing tail high +set, her streaming mane, the little ears so close together as to almost +touch, her great chest, and dainty hoofs which scarcely deigned to +touch the sand. + +Bit and bridle she had none, her sole harness consisting of a halter +with a leather rein on the right side, and a rug upon her back hardly +kept in place by a loose girth. It seemed that she was of the Al +Hamsa, which, being translated, means being a direct descendant of one +of the five great mares of the time of Mohammed; also she was a +two-year-old and playful but not over friendly, therefore was it +astounding to see her as she listened to the girl's musical voice, and +showed no fretfulness at the touch of a strange hand. + +And then there was a quick run, a cry, and a rush of tearing hoofs! +For Jill, in the twinkling of a star, had let fall the enveloping +cloak, standing for one second like some exotic bit of statuary in her +black billowing satin trousers and infinitesimal coatee over a +silver-spangled frothy vest, her great eyes dancing with glee over the +face veil. She had swiftly backed a few yards, and before either man +or horse had guessed her intention, with a quick run and a full grasp +of the great mane had swung herself into the native saddle, and was +away over the desert to wherever the horse listed. Neither was there a +second lost before the bay was racing after the mare; and Jill, riding +with the loose seat of the native, turned and waved hilariously to +Hahmed as he tore like the wind beside her, shouting something she +could not distinguish in the rush of the air past her face. + +Half-frightened, half-maddened by her own tremendous pace, the Breeze +of the Desert laid herself out to beat all speed records. + +Mile after mile flew under her dainty feet, whilst Jill by little cries +urged her still faster yet, the all-enduring bay keeping alongside +without any apparent effort, until at last the Arab, leaning forward, +struck the mare lightly upon the left side of the neck, whereupon +without slackening speed she turned instinctively in that direction, +turning a little each time she felt the light touch, until Jill at last +perceived the outline of the oasis and the figure of the Arab servant +standing with folded arms awaiting the return of his beloved horses or +not, as should be the will of Allah; being, however, shaken from his +native calm when this woman when some hundreds of yards from him in a +straight line, without stopping the speed of the racing horse, suddenly +slipped from the saddle, remaining upon her feet without a tremor, +whilst the "Breeze" stopped of her own free-will within a few feet of +her attendant. + +"And our master whom Allah protect," as recounted the native afterwards +to an astonished, almost unbelieving bevy of listeners, "bringing his +horse in a circle, suddenly picked up that woman rider. Yea! I tell +thee, thou disbelieving son of a different coloured horse, a +woman-rider, even she for whom the palace has been built; and swinging +her across the saddle so that her feet, as small as thine are big, thou +grandchild of a reptile with poisonous tongue, as I say her little feet +hung down on one side, and her head, and may Allah protect me from the +wrath of my master if I say that it was as the sun in all its glory, +hanging down on the other, dashed into the night with her, but _where_ +it is not meet for me to know." + +The "where," as it happened, being Jill's palace, in which, lying full +length upon a white divan, with a small brazier of sweet smelling +incense sending up spirals of blue haze around her dishevelled head, +and an ivory tray laden with coffee and sweetmeats at her side, she +promised never to run the risk of getting lost in the desert again, on +condition that the Breeze of the Desert became her own property, and +that she could ride untroubled whenever and wherever she liked; +cheerfully promising also to have made a habit, or rather riding-dress, +which, would combine the utility of the West with the protective +covering properties of the East. After which she got to her feet, +standing the very essence of youth and strength in the soft glow of the +lamps, smiled into the Arab's stern face with a look in the great eyes +which caused his mouth to tighten like a steel trap, clapped her hands +and disappeared through a curtain-shrouded door without even looking +back. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +The recounting of which true episode has taken me from the evening when +the sun had just slipped behind the edge of sand. + +Jill sat motionless in a corner of her beautiful room, with a pucker of +dissatisfaction on her forehead. + +Jill, the girl who only a few moons back had taken the reins of her +life into her own hands, and had tangled them into a knot which her +henna-tipped fingers seemed unable to unravel. English books, +magazines, papers lay on tables, the latest music was stacked on a +grand piano, great flowering plants filling the air with heavy scent +stood in every corner, the pearls around her neck were worth a king's +ransom, the sweetmeats on a filigree stand looked like uncut jewels; in +fact everything a woman could want was there, and yet not enough to +erase the tiny pucker. + +Months ago she had played for her freedom and lost. + +This exquisite building had been built for her, horses were hers, and +camels; jewels were literally flung at her feet. + +She clapped her hands and soft-footed natives ran to do her bidding, +flowers and fruit came daily from the oasis, sweetmeats and books each +day from the nearest city. Her smallest whim, even to the mere passing +of a shadow of a wish, was fulfilled, and yet------ + +A few months ago her mocking words had swung to the silken curtains of +her chamber, and since then she had been alone. + +Verily, there were no restrictions and no barriers, but the yellow sand +stretched away to the East and away to the West, and obedience in the +oasis was bred from love and her twin sister fear. + +True, the girl had but to bid the Arab to her presence and the curtain +would swing back. + +But upon the threshold he would stand, or upon the floor he would seat +himself, motionless, with a face as expressionless as stone. + +By no movement, word or sign, could she find out if she was any more to +him than the wooden beads which ceaselessly passed between his fingers. + +Nothing showed her if he remembered the first night, when for a moment +the man had broken through the inherited reserve of centuries. Had it +been merely the East clamouring for the out-of-reach, longed-for West? +Perhaps! Just a passing moment, as quickly forgotten, and against +which forgetfulness the woman in her rebelled. + +It had even come to her to lie awake during the night following the +days in which the man had been away from his beloved oasis. The swift +rush of naked feet, taking her as swiftly to the roof, where peeping +between the carved marble she would look upon a distant scene, which +could well have illustrated some Eastern fable. + +Either the great camel would stalk slowly, solemnly out of the night, +kneeling at a word; or a pure bred Arabian horse would rush swiftly +through the palm belt, its speed unchecked as its master threw himself +from the saddle. + +She could even distinguish a murmured conversation between the eunuch +and his master, guessing that he was inquiring as to her welfare, and +issuing orders for her comfort, before passing out of sight to his own +dwelling, she imagined, though she would rather have died than have +asked one question of those around her. + +She craved for the nights when he would send to inquire if she would +ride, often from sheer contrariness denying herself the exercise she +longed for. + +In fact, feeling the mystery of love germinating within her, she showed +herself rebellious and contrary, and infinitely sweet, surpassing in +all things the ways of women; who, since the beginning of all time, +have plagued the man into whose keeping their heart is slowly but +surely slipping. + +And as the shadows fell, so did the pucker of discontent deepen, and a +tiny blue-grey marmoset sprang to the top of the piano, chattering +shrilly, when a book swished viciously across the floor, and a +diminutive gazelle, standing on reed-pipe legs, blinked its soft eyes, +and whisked its apology of a tail when a henna-tipped finger tapped its +soft nose over sharply, before the girl clapped her hands to summon her +body-woman, who, as silently as a wraith, slipped into the room. + +"Light all the lamps and come and tell me the news." + +The little woman obeyed, and came to kneel beside the girl, gazing up +at the fair white face with positive worship in her eyes. + +"Great is the news, O! mistress." + +"Tell it." + +The words were sharp, and the faintest shadow of a smile glinted for a +moment in the native's eyes. + +"Behold, O! beautiful flower! Unto us, the slaves of our great master, +under whose feet we are but as dust, it has been told that he upon whom +may Allah's greatest blessings fall, is about to take unto himself a +wife." + +Silence! Save for a little breath indrawn too quickly. + +"Well, proceed with the wonderful news!" The words were icy, but a +smile flickered for a moment across the native's face, and was gone. + +"Behold has he, the greatest man in Egypt and Arabia, before whom all +are but shadows, and unto whom is offered the love and respect of all +those who live within the bounty of his great heart, yea! behold has he +deigned to look upon Amanreh, the thirteen year old daughter of Sheikh +el Hoatassin, second only in wealth and prowess to our own master. +Fair is she and young, in very truth meet to wed with him who rules us +with a hand of iron, bound in thongs of softest velvet. + +"Beautiful, yes! beautiful as the day at dawn, and straight as yon +marble pillar, and as delicately tinted, rounded as the bursting lotus +bud, and fit to carry the honour of bearing her master's children! In +a few moons it------!" + +"Begone!" + +The word cracked like a whip through the scented room, but as the +little hunchback crept swiftly through the curtains, the smile passed +from the eyes to the mouth, as softly she whispered to herself: + +"It is well done!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +Out on to the balcony and back, this way, that way, to and fro, paced +Jill in her black room. Black skins lay upon the black marble floor, +black satin cushions upon the skins. Curtains of scented leather, as +soft and supple as satin, hung before the doors let into the walls of +black carved wood. + +A long couch of ebony, untouched by silver or by gold, stood under one +of the gigantic black marble statues, which represented an Ethiopian +slave or some wild beast, holding in hand or mouth a lamp with shade of +flaming orange, the one touch of colour in the whole room. + +There was no sound save for the occasional crackle of resinous log +burning in a brazier placed in a far corner, before which Jill suddenly +crouched, shivering, though the night was warm. Weary was she from +want of sleep, weary was her heart from loneliness, weary her mouth, +laden with unuttered words of the great love, which, day by day, hour +by hour, yea! even from the moment she had turned to find her fate +behind her, had been growing and expanding until naught was left of her +but love and fear. For fear had been her companion in the hours of the +night, which she had passed in restless pacing upon the balcony. + +For two of these restless hours she had put on and discarded the +garments within her cupboards, until she had found that which she +desired. And an hour she had spent likewise in the adorning of her +beauty, before she stood satisfied in front of her mirror. The +voluminous trousers of softest black fabric, hardly revealing the +exquisite whiteness of her perfect limbs, were caught by heavy golden +anklets above the little feet, with henna-tipped toes and reddened heel. + +Her bare waist shone like a strip of creamy satin above the belt and +stomacher of black leather encrusted in black pearls, her arms were +bare, also the supple back and glistening shoulders, but the rounded +glory of her breasts was hidden by a covering of soft interlaced +ribbon, sewn with pearls. Her hair wound round and round her head, +and, fastened by great combs, shone like a golden globe, and over it +she had thrown a flimsy veil, and around her a swinging cloak. + +There was no touch of paint upon her face, nor did she, with the +exception of her anklets, wear loose jewels, or the ornaments which +cause that nerve-breaking clatter so beloved by the Eastern woman, and +so superlatively irritating to the Western ear. In fact she was the +most ravishing picture of delight imaginable, her first shyness and +awkwardness of her unaccustomed attire having long since vanished, +though, be it confessed, that until this night she had never intended +that human eye should rest upon her loveliness. + +But the earth of discontent and the waters of loneliness make fertile +soil for the seeds of fear, even if those seeds be planted by the hand +of a misshapen slave; but a little smile and a sigh of satisfaction had +been the outcome of a prolonged scrutiny in a mirror, before which she +had stood whilst quoting certain words which ran thusly: + +"Beautiful as the dawn, rounded as the bursting lotus bud." And then +she had shrugged her glistening shoulders and frowned, and smiled +again, before stretching her long arms towards the silken curtains +which, though she knew it not, gently blew against the figure of a man, +who, prone upon his face, clenched his fingers in the soft stuff, +striving to quieten the mad beating of his heart at the sound of the +footsteps or the rustle of the raiment of the woman he loved, yea, and +desired. + +"Hahmed! Oh, Hahmed!" + +As faint as the rose of the breaking dawn, as tender as the notes of a +cooing dove calling gently to its mate, as soft as the touch of a +flower-petal the words drifted through the curtain. With a whispered +cry to Allah, his God, the man was upon his feet. With the strength of +the oriental, which has its root in patience and its flower in +achievement in all that appertains to love, he had uncomplainingly +waited through month succeeding month, making no effort to further his +cause by either word or movement, content to leave the outcome to the +Fate which had inscribed upon the unending, non-beginning rolls of +eternity the moment when that voice should break across the desert +place in which lay his seed of love. + +A rustle of the curtain, and he stood before the woman who loved and +desired him, until her soul waxed faint within her. + +For a space they stood, the light from one great lamp striking down +upon the little veil-wrapped figure and the man in flaming orange cloak +over soft satin trousers and vest of black, one huge diamond blazing in +the turban upon his dark head. + +Silently Jill pointed to a chair carved out of ebony, the ends of the +arms representing the snarling face of some wild beast, with great +fangs of ivory, and staring ruby eyes flashing in the lamplight. + +As silently Hahmed sat down, never once removing his eyes from the girl +who stood motionless upon a black panther skin, looking back over her +half-turned shoulder at him for whom she was bidding against the +unknown. Have you ever watched a rosebud unfold in the warmth of the +sun, each petal quivering, widening, until the intoxicating scent of +the flower goes to your head like wine as you faintly perceive the rose +heart within? + +In just such a way did Jill unfold her treasures to the Arab, sitting +as some carven image in the shadow. The veil from her head slipped to +the ground, leaving exposed her white face with its crimson mouth and +shadow-laden eyes; slowly the cloak dropped from her shoulders, so that +the whiteness of her skin blazed suddenly in the black marble room. +For one long moment she stood before her master in the strength of her +virginal beauty, and even as a faint sigh broke the stillness, she +moved. + +Do not imagine for one moment that she copied the strenuous movements +of Salome as understood at the Palace Theatre, London, or the +disgusting contortions of certain orientals born in Montmartre, and +favoured by the denizens of Paris. + +Of very truth she moved not her lower limbs at all, though her +exquisite body swayed as if by a passing breeze, her little hands +elaborating that which the body originated, the tiny feet punctuating +the love story of both. + +By one slight movement of her right arm she had told the man she loved +him, by half-arrested gestures, a little shrug, an infinitesimal +undulation of her body, a faint tapping of the left foot or the right, +she described the delights of love, she who knew _nothing_, to him who +knowing _all_, had denied himself all. + +Heaven alone knows if she really understood that which she described; +be that as it may, the man rose to his feet as she turned with +outstretched arms towards him, moving almost imperceptibly from the +waist, telling him that which her lips would not utter, until suddenly +with a great cry he sprang towards her, and sweeping her into his arms, +tore the coverings from her breasts, until indeed like a lotus-bud she +lay silent upon his heart. For one second he stood, and then he raised +her above his head upon his outstretched hands, so that the great pins +fell from her head and the perfumed hair like golden rain about his +shoulders, then he flung her upon the bed of cushions and stood above +her with blazing eyes and dilated, quivering nostrils. + +And then he knelt beside her, covering her gleaming nakedness with the +cloak, and spoke softly in the Eastern tongue. + +"I leave you, woman, to go and give orders for your journey to Cairo. +There shall you become my wife, my woman, for behold, I will no longer +wait. + +"Let not your thoughts dwell upon caprice or tricks of woman, for if +you say me nay, _yet_ will I make you my wife, and force you unto me. +But you will not gainsay me, for behold you love me, so rest upon your +bed for the three weeks which must pass before the caravan is ready for +the journey, so that in health and strength and surpassing loveliness +you will come to me." + +And having knelt to kiss the rosy feet, he withdrew from the presence +of his beloved, and the English girl turned on her face and sobbed, and +then, gathering her cloak around her so as to hide the dishevelment of +her raiment, passed to the roof above to hold conclave with the stars. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +It seems wellnigh impossible that an English maid could look with such +equanimity upon the prospect of marriage with a man, an Eastern, of +whom she knew nothing outside the tales and anecdotes recounted to her +of his exploits and prowess, the which stood good to rival even the +adventures of Haroun al Raschid. + +As if an English girl, you will say, could ever _dream_ of such a +thing--a girl brought up in England's best society! + +True! brought up within a wall of convention, with her ears for ever +filled with the everlasting tag, "It's not done, you know," that +shibboleth which for stultifying all original effort surpasses even the +mythical but revered sway of Mrs. Grundy. A girl whose brain, and +originality, and deep passions, must under the said circumstances and +environment inevitably culminate in the same silver-haired, +pink-cheeked, grandchildren-adoring old lady, who sees the regulation +ending in England of the _brilliant_ girl, just as she sees the end of +the girl whose brain registers the fact that the seaside is a place to +be visited only in August; whose originality finds vent in the +different coloured ribbons with which she adorns her dogs and her +lingerie; whose passions--oh well! who bothers about the little placid +stream flowing without a ripple between the mud flats of that drear +country habit? + +No doubt about it, if money troubles had not given her the opportunity +for which she had always craved, Jill _would_ have finally +metamorphosed her brilliant self into that dear old dame who is as +beloved and ubiquitous and uniform as the penny bun. But seeing her +chance she had clutched at it with eager out-stretched hands, and in +all these months she had not had one single regret, or one moment of +longing for peaceful, grey-tinted England, or the friends with whom she +had visited and hunted and done the hundred and one trivial things +wealthy beautiful girls are accustomed to do in England, and who in her +case had continued their social career without breaking their hearts or +engagements on account of the monetary _debacle_ of their one time +companion. Her instinct had not failed her in regard to the man who, +without consulting her in any way, was even at that hour starting forth +to arrange their marriage, and she troubled not her head with the +thought of what _might_ have happened to her _if_ her instinct had +failed her, though the chances are that rather than have even the outer +petals of her womanhood bruised by the closing of a trap into which she +might have placed her feet, she would have sent the vessel of her soul +afloat down the great wide river ending in the ocean of eternity. + +She was that most interesting and most rare cross-bred result of the +elusive something, be it soul, imagination, or ecstasy which had turned +a woman ancestress, created for the great honour of bearing children, +into the nun, whose maternal instincts had feigned find solace in the +marble or plaster child-image, and even that out of reach of those +hands which should have trembled over swaddling clothes; and that +passion for love and light which had driven the dancing wayward feet of +a Belle Marquise ancestress from love to love, until they had come to a +standstill before Madame la Guillotine, who bothered not herself with +those two minute extremities. + +So that on waking after sweet slumber, Jill kissed the misshapen slave +upon the cheek and told her the news, whereupon the dusky little woman +raised her eyes and hands heavenwards, gibbering like a monkey, albeit +she had just left an excited coterie of serving folk who, in the +mysterious native way, had become acquainted with the news of the +impending function without the uttering of one word from those most +interested in an event which would mean fulfilment of dreams to more +than one of those who had, for months past, pondered and commented on +the strangeness of their master's love-affair. + +And Jill in the softest pink raiment sat like the perfect heart of a +perfect rose in the scented coolness of the pink chamber, and passed +the days designing garments of which it is useless to give a +description, seeing that the womenfolk in Northern climes have only two +notes on which to ring the changes of their wardrobe; the long, +shroud-looking thing in silk or crepe de Chine or good honest nainsook, +picked out in different coloured ribbons, or the romance killing, +stove-pipe giving effect of the masculine pyjama. + +From camel back Jill had watched the departure of the first caravan of +swiftest camels, laden with gifts on their way to Cairo. The jangling +of bells, the musical cries of the drivers, and the roaring and +grumbling of the beasts, causing her to laugh aloud from sheer +happiness; whilst the natives, many of whom had not seen the mystery +woman their master was about to take to wife, fumbled with the packs so +as to get a good look at the little figure, who, Allah! had intercourse +with the man before the wedding. + +"And may the blessings of Allah fall upon her, for it is not for us to +inquire into the strange ways of our master upon whom may the sun +shine, and beside whose path may a stream of purest water for ever run +for long years has he lived alone, knowing no woman; may she whom he +hath chosen be fruitful, bearing many sons, so that our children may +live in the blessed shadow of our master's children for generation +after generation." + +That was the outlook of the happy oasis upon the most untoward +proceedings, for in the East the betrothed child passes her life in the +seclusion of her family until the very moment of the wedding, the man +depending absolutely upon the words of his mother or female relatives +as to the appearance and character of his future partner. + +On the second day started, another caravan of camels, laden with the +household goods with which the wealthy Eastern always travels, yet more +caravans following, carrying the wherewithal of the enormous retinue +with which Hahmed the Arab saw fit to surround his bride; the ensuing +days passing in the preparation of the greatest caravan of all, that +which was to take Jill to the place where, steam up, the great white +yacht at the water's edge was waiting. + +Hahmed and Jill were on the broad balcony the night before the start, +the Arab lying at the feet of the woman sitting in an ebony chair +covered with cushions of every shade of purple, with the faint haze of +incense about her little head, and the light of a great love in the +softness of her eyes. + +Holding the hem of her cloak in his hands he made love to her by words +alone, for in all the time since their first meeting, his hands had not +held hers, neither had their lips met; but the music of his words +served to send the blood surging to her face, then to draw it back to +her heart, leaving her as white as the crescent moon above her. + +"Tell me, O! Hahmed," she suddenly exclaimed softly, after a long +silence, "will not your people think it strange that I, a bride, should +have lived these many months with you? Will they _believe_ that I am +pure, will they not think harm of me, throwing your good name in +shadow?" + +The man raised himself so that his face was on a level with hers as he +laid one hand upon her chair. + +"Woman, I speak not in pride when I say that I, Hahmed the Arabian, +have never sought and never desired the opinion of those about me. I +do as my heart inclineth, let that suffice. Were I a poorer man these +things could not be, but with my wealth I have bought my freedom, +loosening the iron shackles of convention from about my feet with a key +of gold. Wealth can accomplish all things. + +"This oasis is mine because I was the only bidder with wealth enough to +pay the exorbitant prices demanded, other oases are mine, and villages +and tracts of rich lands. Also the respect of my neighbours, also are +their tongues tied on account of my riches. + +"I live for years without wife, or woman or child, they say no word. + +"I marry a Christian and a white woman, and they will say no word; that +she is _my wife_ will suffice them, though doubtless whispers in the +harems will not be all sweet, seeing that for years the quarry has +eluded the traps laid by the henna-tipped fingers of relentless hunters +and huntresses. Wealth! It buys peace and freedom, O! woman, so let +not your thoughts disturb you. You will be the greatest woman in all +Egypt and Arabia--but listen, some one sings the bridal song, which has +come down to us unchanged from the time of the great Sesostris." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +The love-song broke the stillness of the desert night with the +suddenness and sweetness of the nightingale's call in the depths of an +English garden, laden with the perfume of June roses. + +So softly as to be hardly distinguished from a whisper, the wonderful +voice called--called again and stopped, whilst the stars seemed to +gather closer until the sky hung as a canopy of softest purple velvet +picked out in silver lightings over the heads of those who listened to +the call of love, and from very ecstasy were still. + +Again, and yet again, the voice cried aloud to its hearts desire, +rising like incense from some hidden spot in the village, twining among +the feathery leaves of the palms to drop like golden rain upon the +heart of some maiden, who doubtless sat upon her roof-top, modestly +veiled if in company of friends or relations, but otherwise, I am +positively certain, might be found peeking over the top of the +balustrade as have peeked the hearts' desires from the beginning of all +time. + +Jill's face was white as death, as she too sat motionless, listening to +the love-song, whilst her great eyes blazing like the stars above +watched the man at her feet. + +Closely veiled was she, for this was the eve of her wedding journey to +Cairo, also had the spirit of perversity prevailed within her for the +last month, causing her to resemble the coldness, warmth, eastiness, +sweetness, and general warpiness of the English climate, sparkling one +day with the dew-drop-on-the-grass-freshness of an early summer +morning, to hang the next as passing heavy on the hand as the November +fog upon the new hat brim; veering within twelve hours to the sharpness +of the East wind, which braces skin and temper to cracking point, and +to make up for it all, for one whole hour in the twenty-four, +resembling the exquisite moment of the June morning, in which you find +the first half-open rose upon the bush just outside your breakfast-room. + +She was consumed with love of the man who lay at her feet, with the hem +of her rose-satin veil against his lips, and her heart had melted +within her as the love-song thrilled; and sobbed, and cried its love +through the night; melted until she suddenly leant forward and +stretching out her hand laid it for one moment on the man's dark head, +whereupon he rose to his knees so that the dark beauty of his face was +on a level with hers, the tale in his eyes causing her heavy white lids +to close, whilst speechless she lay back among her satin cushions. + +"Woman! O! woman! The touch of your hand is like the first breeze +after the scorching heat of the day, and yet must I await your word +before the love that consumes me may throw aside its coverings to stand +in the perfumed freshness of the wind which maketh the delight of the +desert dawn. + +"Together we have watched the goings out of the caravans on their way +to Cairo, laden with gifts and all that is necessary for the feasting +of those who are invited to attend the marriage of one who, by the +wonder of Allah's bounty, has been allowed to gather the glory of his +harvest. In your graciousness you have troubled your heart with +misgivings as to the outcome of a marriage between a Mohammedan and a +Christian, and I have answered you that there are many such marriages +in the East, of which great happiness has been the outcome, though not +such happiness as shall well forth from the union of our love." + +And the man rose to his feet, standing straight as a pine against the +fretted wood-work of the balcony, and the girl watching him from under +the half-closed lids, suddenly tearing the veil from before her face, +sprang also to her feet, and stood against him with her face upraised, +so that the glory of her red mouth came to the level of his shoulder, +and the thudding of her heart caused the diamonds on the embroidery of +her vest to flash in the starlight, and the perfume of her skin to +scent the night air. + +And the man bent down until it seemed that their lips must meet in this +their first kiss, but instead he withdrew one pace, though the agony of +love drew all blood from his face, until it shone palely in the gloom. + +"Yea, woman, you love me, else would not your eyes be suffused with the +pain of unsatisfied longing! Yet have I not said that until you come +to me, and whisper, 'Hahmed, I love you!' until that moment I will not +in love touch even the fairness of your hand, though as Allah is above +us it taxes my strength to the uttermost shred. + +"Perchance I am foolish, missing the untold and unknown delights of +wooing the woman of my heart, but in such wise am I built. I will have +all the fruit at the plucking or none, for where is the delight of the +sweetest peach if the stem, the leaves, the bloom have been bruised by +much handling. + +"One day, nay in the stillness of one night shall I hear you call +me--then, ah! Allah!" + +The voice stopped suddenly, though the man made no other sign, when the +girl before him, beside herself with anger which springs from love +denied, suddenly struck him full upon the mouth, and then shaking from +head to foot, with rage, and love, and fear, broke the deadly silence. + +"Nay, man! In that you are mistaken, for you shall never hear my voice +calling you in love. That may become the woman of your land, but not +the woman from the West. I will marry you, for I will not bring +derision upon a man who has treated me with such courtesy and +gentleness. But love! Nay! better far buy some beautiful Circassian +upon our wedding-trip, for surely you shall never hear my voice +upraised in love!" + +And gathering her swirling draperies about her, she made to depart, +knowing that she had spoken hastily, making vows she could not keep for +the very love she denied. Her hand was upon the silken hangings of her +door when she was swung round by the shoulder to face the very essence +of cold rage. + +"So, woman, you are one of those who have ever hidden an inner chamber +of perversity, for surely had I thought to have come to the end of your +store of moods and whims. Listen! By striking me across the face you +have but made my love the greater, but as Allah is above me, I will +make you pay, as you say in your far cold country. You will come to me +one day, because such love as ours is not to be denied, and when you +come, for that blow I will bruise your lips until the red blood starts +from them, and I will bruise your body until marks of black show upon +its startling fairness, but above all will I bruise your soul with +unsatisfied longings, and unrequited desires, until you lie half dead +at my feet; then only will I take you in my arms and carry you to the +secret chamber, which Fate has prepared somewhere for the fulfilment of +my love." + +And as the love-song died on the night, Jill passed slowly into the +inner chamber, failing to see the man kneel to kiss the rug impressed +by the passage of her little feet. + + + + +PART II + +THE FLOWER + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +The Rolls Royce containing representatives of the Savoy and Shepherds +in the shapes of beautifully gowned, handsome, placid, somewhat dull, +the Honourable Mary Bingham, pronounced Beam, her friend Diana Lytham, +and the rotund personalities of Sir Timothy and Lady Sarah Ann +Gruntham, drew up behind the menacing hand of a policeman alongside a +limousine containing representatives of Shepherds and the Savoy in the +shapes of two rotund-to-be daughters and one thin son of the race of +Gruntham, and the Honourable Mary's faded mother, who were all racing +home in the search of cool baths, or cooler drinks, or a few moments' +repose in a darkened room in which to forget the stifling half hours of +a series of social functions, given in honour of Cairo's most festive +week of the season, before starting on a dressing campaign against the +depredations made upon the skin by flies, heat, sand, wind, and +cosmetics. + +The past middle-aged Sir Timothy of the latest birthday honours, +partner in life of Lady Gruntham, and therefore part possessor of the +Gruntham family, was whole owner of an army of chimney stacks which, +morning, noon, and night, belched thick oily smoke across one of +England's Northern counties in the process of manufacturing a +substitute for something; also he owned a banking account almost as big +as his honest old heart. + +_La famille_ Gruntham were breaking their first wide-eyed, open-mouthed +_tour de monde_ in Cairo, having selected their hotel from an +advertisement in the A.B.C. + +The Honourable Mary's nondescript mother sat patiently waiting the +decisive moment which would see her _en route_ once more to tea in her +bedroom and the last chapter of a Hichens novel, as she had patiently +awaited decisive moments for years, having uncomplainingly allowed the +reins which controlled the large estate, and large fortune, to slip +into the large, capable hands of her daughter, just as she had also +either as uncomplainingly criss-crossed the world in the wake of her +daughter's unaristocratically large footsteps, or submissively remained +at home for the hunting, in which field the Honourable Mary excelled. + +Diana Lytham, spinster, through no want of trying to remedy the defect, +expert at bridge, razor-edged of tongue, but still youthful enough to +allow the lid of Pandora's casket to lift on occasions, also to be +described by those who feared the razor-edge as petulant instead of +peevish, and cendree instead of sandy, passed the tedious moments of +waiting in a running commentary upon the idiosyncrasies and oddities of +the people and refreshments of the past hours, with a verve which she +fondly believed to be a combination of sarcasm and cynicism, but which, +in reality, was the kernel of the nut of spitefulness, hanging from the +withering bough of the tree of passing youth. + +She, having an atrocious seat and knowing it, with the excuse of +England's winter dampness had fled the hunting. The Gruntham's younger +generation, knowing not the difference between a hunter and a +carriage-horse, had not given the subject a thought, but Mary Bingham +had made a whole-hearted sacrifice of the month she loved best because, +although loving her horses with a love of understanding, she knew that +the love in her heart for just the one man, was a love passing all +understanding whatsoever; feeling, therefore, that the sacrifice +brought its own reward in the qualified bliss of being near the one man +of her heart, whilst he passed weeks and months in the vain endeavour +to find their friend, who had been lost to them in the land of the +long-dead Pharaohs. + +"Most annoying indeed--great negligence on the part of the city police +to allow a hold-up like this at _this_ hour of the afternoon. No +wonder Egypt's in the mess of ruins it is if this is the way traffic +has always been regulated," fumed and fretted Sir Timothy, whilst Mary +Bingham twirled her sunshade over her hat and gazed unseeingly at the +domes, cupolas, and minarets of the distant mosque of the Mohamet Ali; +and the thin heir of the race of Gruntham pondered upon the allurements +of the yashmak, which hid all but the eyes of the few Eastern women who +glanced timidly in passing at the occupants of the motor-cars. + +"Now then, dearies," smiled the irate old knight's comfortable wife, +"don't you take on so, though I do allow it's a nuisance, considering I +have to get into my apricot satin to-night, with all those hooks. Pity +Sir John Wetherbourne ain't--isn't here, it u'd never have happened I'm +sure if he had been, seeing the way he has with him, though I can't say +as 'ow I approve of him so young and good-looking--and all these +Eastern hussies around--wandering about so much by himself. I do +wonder what 'appened--all right, lad, there's many a slip between the +aitch and the noovoh rich lip, _h'appened_ to the girl he's looking +for. Over a year ago you say, Mary, my dear, since she disappeared at +Ishmael, and not heard of since, and Sir John scouring Egypt with all +the energy I used to use to the kitchen floor, and not half the result +to show for it, eh, Timothy lad? Do you think he was in love with her, +or is it a case of--oh, what's them two words which mean that you can't +think of anything but one thing." + +"_Ide fixe_," enlightened Diana Lytham. + +"Eyedyfix! Sounds like one of those cocktails that heathen +feller-me-lad's always trying to poison me with, eh, Miss Diana," +chuckled the old manufacturer, who worshipped the cloth of aristocracy, +and even reverenced the fringe. + +"Oh, you bet he was in love all right, don't you think so, Mary +dearest," and the small grey eyes snapped spitefully across at the +good-natured, healthy girl, who had raised a weak resemblance of hate +in her whilom school friend's breast, more by the matter-of-course, +jolly way she had helped lame dogs over stiles than the fact that such +obstructions had never lain in her path. + +"Are you talking about Jack and Jill? Everybody loved her, and she was +made to be loved, was beautiful, wilful Jillikins. I wish he could +find her, or a trace, or some news of her! Oh, but surely we are +intruding upon his own affairs too much, and I _wonder_ what has---- +Oh, but listen--do listen, did you ever hear such a noise, and just +_look_ at the crowds! Why, the whole of old Cairo is coming this way." + +Even as she spoke, two Arabs, mounted on superb horses, and brandishing +spears, dashed past the cars, shouting continuously what would be the +equivalent of "clear the way" in English, just as to the sound of +shouting and singing, the beating of drums, and clashing of cymbals, a +stream of natives, dancing and waving their arms, poured into the +square. + +Round and round they spun about six great camels, which, hung with +bells and decked from head to stubbly tail with glistening harness and +embroidered saddle-cloths, stalked ahead, unheeding of the tumult; +whilst riders of restless horses did their best to regulate the action +and pace of the nervous animals. + +Behind them walked scores of young men in snow-white galabeah, their +impassive, delicately curved faces surmounted by the scarlet tarboosh, +chanting that old-Egyptian marriage song of which the music score was +lost some few thousand years ago, lying perhaps securely hidden in a +secret chamber, undiscovered in the ruins of Karnak, but which song, +without a single alteration of note or word, has descended from Rameses +the Second down through the history-laden centuries to _us_, the +discoverers and worshippers of ragtime. + +But the greatest crush surged round two camels which walked +disdainfully through the throng, seemingly as oblivious of the excited +multitude as the one made herself out to be of the man who walked +beside her with a fantastic whip, and the other of the golden chains +which fastened her to the blackest eunuch of all Africa. + +Upon the one of the golden chains, rested a golden palanquin, closed +with curtains of softest white satin, a-glitter with precious stones. + +Around the brute's neck hung great garlands of flowers, from its +harness chimed golden bells of softest tone, whilst tassels of silver +swung from the jewel encrusted net covering her shining coat. + +What or who was inside, no one seemed to be able to coherently explain, +though the setting alone told of some priceless treasure. + +There was no doubt as to the rider of the other camel! + +"Hahmed! Hahmed! Hahmed!" rose the unceasing cry from old and young, +whilst blessings ranging from the continued comfortable shape of his +shadow, to the welfare of his progeny unto the most far-reaching +generation, through a life perpetual of sun, sweetmeats, and shady +streams, rose and fell from the pavements, roofs, and balconies crowded +with the curious, upon the impassive man who held his camel harnessed +with native simplicity, just one pace behind its companion. + +The crowning touch was added to this delirious moment of festival by +the simply scandalous distribution of golden coin, _golden_ mind you, +which attendants clothed in every colour of an Egyptian sunset, and +mounted upon diminutive, but pure bred donkeys, threw right and left +with no stinting hand, to the distribution of which largesse responded +shrill laughter, and still shriller cries, and thwack of stick on dark +brown pate and cries of pain upon the meeting of youthful ivories in +the aged ankle or wrist. + +No doubt about it, Cairo, _real_ Cairo I mean, had been in an uproar +from the moment two special trains had chugged into the Central Station +a few hours back. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +Crowned and uncrowned queens travel in comfort all the world over, a +comfort of over-heated special trains, the most stable part of the +boat, the most skilful chauffeur, allied to the most speedy car, an +elaboration of the luncheon basket, and the heartening effect of strips +of red baize; but the comfort of a church pew compared to the downy +recesses of a Chesterfield, against the comfort and regal luxury of +Jill's mode of travelling. + +Surrounded by an armed guard under the absolute control of black +Mustapha, armed to the teeth, chaperoned by Mrs. Grundy in the shape +or, as I should say, represented in the shapeless person of a dusky +duenna of many moons, a good heart and a vitriolic tongue, who coyly +peeped from behind the sombre curtains of her middle-aged palanquin, +Jill started on her wedding journey. Over a carpet of flowers, through +a long lane of palm leaves, held by veiled maidens, so as to form an +arch, she passed, whilst the sweetness of the girls' voices rose to the +tops of the acacia and mimosa trees, and gigantic date palms, in the +Egyptian bridal song. + +In no way did Jill's return journey across the desert and through the +mountains to the canal's edge resemble the out going. + +She did it with leisure and comfort this time, to find the Arab's great +white steam yacht waiting to race her to Ismailiah. + +She had looked round for the man she loved, but had seen him only when, +with great pomp and circumstance, she landed on the other side. + +The whole of the town had turned out, so that the white car in which +she made the short trajet between the landing-place and the station +passed between a lane lined with male faces, dusky, dark brown, and +light tan, thousands of soft eyes sparkling over the all-hiding, +all-attractive yashmak, and a dotted line, well in the forefront of the +leather-brown, European physiognomies, of those who nudged and pointed, +exclaiming aloud, so that their words carried even into the interior of +the closed car, upon their luck of seeing a _real native show_. + +With grave obeisance to the woman, Hahmed the Arab had entered his +special train, which preceded Jill's by ten minutes, so that when she +arrived at Cairo Central Station, surrounded by her armed guard, and +with her duenna rocking painfully by her side in a pair of over small +shoes, a little scared at the sea of faces, and the echo of the voices +of those who stood outside, kept in order by the swash-buckling native +police of fez ornamented heads, she had stood transfixed, wondering +what on earth she should do next. + +Verily, the Eastern can carry off a situation which would undoubtedly +fill the Western with consternation. + +Perhaps the clothing has as much to do with it as any national traits, +for surely no man in stove-pipe trousers, and all that goes to the +well-looking of these garments, could have so composedly traversed the +broad flower-strewn carpet, laid with the consent of the authorities +and no little distribution of backsheesh upon the dusty station, and +making deep obeisance, have so serenely led the little cloaked and +veiled figure to the gorgeously caparisoned (if one may apply that term +to the ship of the desert's rigging) camel, which sprawled its neck +upon the ground for the benefit of the motley crowd without. + +Anyway, it was an unbelievable thing to happen in Egypt, the land of +veiled and secluded women. It was wonderful enough to know that the +great Hahmed was taking unto himself a wife, but that that wife should +suddenly appear from out of the desert unknown, unseen--well, it took +one's breath away, indeed it did, but well again--seeing the wealth and +power of the man, it was wiser to rejoice than to quibble and gossip +upon such doings. + +So all along the Sharia Clot Bey, which is the electrically lit, motor +filled, modern shop-lined road leading from the station, Jill peeped +between the curtains at the throngs of jubilant natives, and the +surrounding Western looking buildings. + +She felt hurt to the soul by the modernity of the latter, just as she +had been hurt on arriving in Rome and Venice, until later on she had +found balm in the old stones and streets and buildings of both places +hidden behind the twentieth century. + +Jill knew that she was being taken to the palace of the old Sheikh, +uncle of the man she was about to wed, but where it was she had no +idea, nor of the names of the streets, the mosques or the palaces and +the mansions she could spy upon, from between her satin curtains, on +her way to the Bab-es-Shweyla gate. The route they had taken in the +glow of the setting sun, once they had left European Cairo behind, lay +through the El Katai quarter, having chosen the road leading from the +mosque of Sultan Hassan, through the Bazaar of the Amourers to reach +the great gate, the very heart of old Cairo. + +And the girl's whole being seemed inundated with the light of the +gorgeous heavens above her as she passed down the Sukkariya, the broad +and pleasant path running under the gate, and her eyes shone as they +rested on the huge and ancient El-Azhar, the university of all Islam. + +Past mosque and tomb in the El-Nahassin, whilst minarets turned from +gold to rose, and rose to crimson in the dying sun, up through the +Gamahyia, danced and sang the ever increasing multitude, until the +armed guard suddenly came to a standstill, forming a circle round the +two camels, who had haughtily condescended to kneel, as Jill with her +hand in that of her chaperon, passing between rows of salaaming +servants, wondering what had become of Hahmed, and where she was going, +and if tea could possibly be forthcoming instead of coffee, entered a +courtyard, beautiful beyond words, and passing through the gates +leading to the harem, heard them shut behind her; whilst with little +cries of greeting, the four wives and many inhabitants of this secluded +spot swept down upon her, their dainty, henna-tipped fingers quickly +removing her cloak and veil, their little exclamations of astonishment +testifying to their appreciation of the radiant little vision who +smiled so sweetly upon them, and returned their greetings in such +prettily broken Arabic. + +Only one contretemps had marred the perfect organisation of the +proceedings, and that happened when the advance guard, turning a corner +at full speed, regardless of the life and limbs of the seething mass of +adults, babies, and dogs, had found themselves forced to edify the +spectators with an exhibition of _haute ecole_, as their terrified +horses, suddenly rearing, pawed the quivering air above a brace of +camels, who had lawlessly and obstinately stretched themselves forth +upon the soft bed of mud and house garbage spread liberally throughout +one of the narrowest streets in El-Katia. + +Proddings of spears, and kickings of tender anatomical portions +availing nothing, the last means for the hasty moving of obstreperous +camels had been resorted to with success. + +The following is the recipe: + +Take two or more camels, fully laden for choice, stretched at length +across a narrow street. For removal of same, apply a vigorous drubbing +by means of a stick or sticks. If no result, apply foot with yet more +vigour. If this fails, gather an armful of good dry straw, fix it +cunningly under the animal's belly, apply match, and fly for your life +to the nearest sanctuary. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +Jill had been married a fortnight. Everything down to the minutest +detail had passed off perfectly, everything had been duly signed and +sealed and conducted in the most orthodox and binding manner, leaving +the witnesses breathless at the thought of the land, jewels, houses, +and cattle with which Hahmed the Arab endowed this woman who brought +him nothing excepting beauty, which was not exactly beauty, but rather +colouring, plus brain and charm. + +Not even love had she brought it seemed, or obedience, for had not her +lord and master uncomplainingly allowed her to keep the door of her +apartments closed, neither had he insisted on the dyeing of her golden +hair to that henna shade, of which so much is thought in the land of +black hirsute coverings. + +The feasting and rejoicings of the past ten days had surpassed anything +ever dreamt of on the banks of the Nile. + +There had been tournaments and exhibitions of strength and agility and +horsemanship in the day, and dancing by the most famous dancers in the +land by night--dances, let me tell you, in spite of what you gather by +hearsay or ocular proof in such cesspools as Port Said and kindred +towns, which were lessons in modesty compared to that blush-producing +exercise called the Tango and its descendants. + +The harem was a cage of excited love-birds to whom were duly brought +detailed accounts of the nightly and daily doings. Never had there +been such a commotion within the somewhat over-decorated walls, nor had +the great mirrors reflected such sheen of wondrous silks, and satins, +and flashing jewels; whilst sweetmeats, coffee, and cool drinks were +the order of the day for the sustenance and refreshment of the +never-ending stream of high-born ladies, who from far and near and in +all kinds of covered vehicles hastened with the excuse of greeting the +wife of the great Arab, to gather first hand delectable morsels of +gossip anent her strange methods of procedure, and her master's still +stranger leniency towards her. + +"Truly," remarked Fatima (which is not her real name), the +thirteen-year-old and latest addition to the harem, and therefore +favourite of the old Sheikh, as for the eighth time she changed her +costume, and with the tip of her henna pink finger skilfully removed a +too liberal application of kohl from about her right and lustrous eye, +whilst chatting with her maid. "Truly, I say, the man is either +besotted with love, or suffering from some strange malady. Nigh upon +the passage of ten days and nights, and yet he bends not the woman to +his will, and she more luscious than a peach from the southern wall. +Thinkest thou it's love, oh Fuddja? And thinkest thou the whiteness of +my bosom shows to advantage against the gold of my neckband?" + +CHAPTER XXXV + +Having just wrested a promise from Hahmed that he would take her one +moonlight night to the summit of the Great Pyramid, in spite of the +strict rules against such nightly excursions, Jill sat very still and +quite content upon her camel gazing at the Sphinx. She turned and +looked in the direction where the great eyes were staring, and then +turning once more towards the mystery of all ages, she urged her camel +on until it stood close to the base, and then, dissatisfied, she urged +it back until she could look once more from a distance, and shaking her +head with a little sigh, spoke in a whisper to the man at her side. + +"I wonder, Hahmed," she said, holding out her hand as was her habit +when perplexed or distressed, "I wonder who conceived the idea. No! I +mean something quite different--it is--how shall I say--I wonder who it +was who, having the _meaning_ of that face in his mind, had the power +and the will to hold it there while he carved or chipped it--oh! so +slowly into stone. It is easy enough to paint from a model, or hew +blocks of marble in the shape of a man or a woman or animal, isn't +it--when you have them in front with their expressions and their forms? +But how did the man who did this with only a picture in his _mind_ to +rely on _dare_ to use a chisel? Because you can't rub out mistakes in +stone, and sketches wouldn't have helped him, would they, because even +photographs give one no real idea of all the Sphinx means? And I +wonder where the look lies--in the eyes or the whole face, or the set +of the head, or what? The eyes are rather like a dog's, aren't they--a +sort of wistfulness and steadfastness." + +"Many have asked, O! woman, though not many who have looked upon the +Sphinx have, I think, thought upon just your first point. What do we +know about this living stone before which the mightiest, and most +wonderful, and most beautiful works of even the greatest masters seem +as nothing? Who was he? Whose brain conceived, and hands gave birth +to this mystery? Why is his name not engraved somewhere for us pigmies +to read? Though doubtless it is in the depths of the hidden chambers +in the base which up to now have only been superficially examined." + +"Yes!" broke in Jill, "but whoever he was, slave or prince, captive or +free, _who_ taught him what eternity _looks like_; for that surely is +is what the Sphinx sees, the circle with no join, the world--not this +one--not Egypt--without end. We all say for ever and ever, but _our_ +brains reel when we _think_ for one minute on eternity. Do you think +his brain snapped when he put the last stroke? Do you think he was +buried with decency with his chisels beside him?" + +"No! surely not! Otherwise, Moonflower, somebody would have dug him +out along with the Pharaohs, and priests, and courtesans, so that we +should have learned something about him by turning his mummified body +inside out, and unwinding the burial cloth from about those fingers +which have given us the Sphinx. Strange! that a woman's whim, born of +vanity, should be spoken of with bated breath, even to this day! A +woman melts a pearl and the world continues to cry Ah! through all +time; a man creates this, and no record is left of him. Verily Allah +has blessed me in giving you into my hands, for behold your thoughts +are as sweet to me as the wind that blows through the mimosa trees at +dawn." + +The girl turned a serious face towards Hahmed and smiled sweetly. + +"How small and futile we are, Hahmed, in front of this great thing. +See how it, I say it because surely there is no sex in any one part of +it, brushes us aside, not in indifference, but just because to it we +simply do not exist any more than the sand, even less so, because the +sand in time would even blind those eyes. How I wish I could see it +lying uncovered on its base. And I somehow can't imagine that Mary +laid the Infant Christ to rest between its paws! How did they cross +the desert on one poor ass? How would they, so humble and so poor, be +able to approach the Sphinx with its guards about it? And I wonder if +they will ever open up the shaft and search until they find the history +on the walls of the base which, I am sure, buries somebody down in its +depths. + +"Eternity! and yet I fret and worry, get cross--_cross_, Hahmed, which +is so much more little than angry--and love to tease and give pain. +Forgive me!" + +And something had crept into the girl's voice which caused the man to +lean forward, and very gently to tilt Jill's face upward so that the +moon struck down full upon it. + +But the heavy lids veiled the eyes, so that nothing could be seen of +the wonder of all-time reflected therein. A wonder of the birth of +which there is no record; a mystery which has a million times million +shapes, each shape fashioned afresh, yet always the same; a mystery +besides which the Sphinx is as a grain of sand. The mystery of Love. + +And Hahmed the Arab, who had waited since all eternity for this moment +of time, raised one hand to heaven and praised his God, and then leant +forward to readjust the veil before the woman's face. + +"The Sphinx shall not see your face, neither shall the stars, nor shall +the wind touch your mouth, O! my beloved! For I would take you to the +ruins of the Temple of Khafra, where the rose colour of the stone shall +tint your face and your hands, where eyes shall not see nor hear the +story of the love I have to tell you." + +And leaning across he put his arm about Jill and lifted her from her +saddle, and laid her across his knees with her head in the hollow of +his shoulder. + +"I am of the desert, O! my woman, of the sandstorm and the winds, the +rocks, and the heat--I have no desire this night for soft cushions, nor +for the fragrance of the hanging curtains of your chamber. I love you, +Allah, and this time I will not wait. You have played with me for many +moons! Not even once have I laid my lips upon even the whiteness of +your hand since Allah in His greatness made you my wife in the name +before the law. At your wish I have denied myself all, until I have +longed to bring you to my feet with the lash of the whip--yet have I +waited, knowing that the moment of your surrender would be the sweeter +for it. + +"And the spirits of the past shall be your hand-maidens, and the moon +shall be your lamp, and the sand shall be your marriage-couch this +night--and I, O! woman--I shall be your master." + +And who knows if it was not love who wrought upon the granite until the +Sphinx was born? For after all Love is eternal, and eternity is Love. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +The silver shafts of the full moon struck down into the ruined outer +courts of the Temple of Khafra, turning the rose-colour of the granite +to a dull terra-cotta, and picking out the pavement with weird designs +of gigantic beasts and flowers, the which, when Jill put her foot upon +them, proved to be nothing more harmful than the shadows thrown by the +walls and huge blocks of fallen masonry. + +Slowly she crossed the court and as slowly climbed the incline leading +to the chambers of long dead priests and priestesses, pausing at the +opening with a little catch of the breath, and a quick glance at the +man she loved beside her. + +The darkness of Egypt is a common enough expression on the lips of +those who know nothing of what they are talking about, and Jill, who +had often used the words, stood transfixed at the abysmal blackness in +front of her. + +Outside it was as clear as day, inside it was darker than any night, +and like a flash, the girl compared it with her life at that very +moment. + +Up to now she had been her own mistress, in that she had deliberately +and of her own free will done the things she ought and ought not to +have done, and had been content with the result. + +True, she was married to the man beside her, bound to him by law, his +in the eyes of the world, and of Allah Who is God, but she knew full +well that until she called to him and surrendered herself in love, that +she was as free as any maiden could be in that land, and, she thought, +that doubtless in time he would tire of her caprice and let her go, +taking unto himself another as wife. In which surmise she was utterly +mistaken! + +Should she move forward into the darkness? Should she turn back into +the light? + +If she crossed the threshold she knew she would seek the protection of +his arms against the threatenings of the shadows which surely held the +spirits of the past; and in his arms, why! even at the thought her +heart leapt and her face burned beneath the veil. + +If she turned back she would return to her position of honoured guest +in the man's house, a barren, unsatisfying position for one in whom +youth cried for love and mastery. + +If only Hahmed would make a sign, a movement; if only he would say one +word. But he stood motionless just behind her, waiting himself, with +the oriental's implicit belief for some deciding sign from Fate. + +There was no sound, no sign of life as they stood waiting, and then the +night breeze, gently lifting a corner of the Arab's full white cloak, +wrapped it like some great wing about the girl. + +A thrill swept her from head to foot as she pressed her hands above her +heart, and then with eyes wide open and alight with love stepped across +the threshold into the shadows, unknowingly turning the corner of that +block of granite which hides the opening, leaving one in complete and +utter darkness. + +She flung out her hands and felt nothing, turned swiftly and flung them +out again, vainly searching for the Arab's cloak, and finding nothing +let them fall to her side. + +"My God!" she whispered, and moved a step forward, stopped and listened +and moved back. "Hahmed! Hahmed!" + +She called aloud in fear, she who had never known what it was to be +afraid, and she gave a little sob of pure relief when the Arab answered +from the distance of a few feet. + +"Wherefore are you afraid, O! woman? Behold I am near you, watching +you, for my eyes are trained for the night as well as for the day, even +though your eyes, which are as the turquoise set in a crown of glory, +may not pierce the darkness, being unaccustomed to the violent +contrasts and colourings of the East." + +Then fell a silence. + +And then the perfume of the night, and the scent of the sand and the +spirit of the dead women who had lived and loved even in that temple +chamber, assailed the nostrils of the girl, entering in unto her and +causing a wave of longing and unutterable love to rise and flood her +whole being, so that she smiled sweetly to herself and held out her +arms, and trembled not at the thought of the moment awaiting her. + +"Hahmed! Hahmed!" she called softly from love, and hearing no sound +called again and yet more softly. "Come to me, Hahmed! come to +me--because--I love you!" + +And her master held her in one arm whilst he gently removed the veil +from before her face, which she turned and laid against his heart as he +poured forth his soul in an ecstasy of love. + +"Behold!" he cried, as he removed the outer cloak from about her. +"Behold is my beloved like unto a citadel which has fallen before my +might, and the gates thereof are unbarred before the conqueror! + +"Behold," and Jill's head veil fell to her feet, "is the citadel fair +to look upon, from the glistening of the golden cupolas to the feet +awash in the River of Love. + +"Surrounded by the ivory wall of innocence is she, and unto her lord is +the glory of measuring the circumference thereof. + +"Even as a flowering tree is she, and beneath my hands shall the bloom +of love turn even unto the passion flower. + +"Like unto a Court of Love is my heart's delight, and many are the +chambers therein, in which in the heat of the day and the coolness of +the night I shall find repose. + +"Her fingers are as the lattice before the windows of her joy, through +which she shall peep; looking for the coming of her lord; her lashes +are the silken curtains which she will draw before the twin pools of +love which are her eyes; her body is as a column of alabaster in the +shadow of which I shall find my delight! + +"Yea! the citadel has fallen, and the walls about it are riven at my +approach. Allah! Allah! Allah!" + +And the shadows crept gently about them as once more the silence fell, +and gathered again into the corners as Jill sighed softly. + +"Tremble not, my beloved! for behold I love thee! Gentle is love to +such as thee, and soft is the sand of Egypt which shall be thy couch. +And yet, thou child of love, even at this moment when my heart waxeth +faint within me from love of thee, yet will I listen, and take thee +back unto thy dwelling and thy fragrant chamber if so thou desireth!" + +But Jill, lifting her arms, laid her hands in utter submission upon the +man's breast, and sighed again in perfect content beneath the kisses +which covered them, and her arms and her breasts and her beautiful +mouth. + +"As thou wilt," she whispered softly, "only as thou wilt." + +And verily as a young tree she stood in the glory of her youth with her +feet upon the sands of Egypt, and verily was her heart glad when she +was carried into the inner chamber, and passed into the keeping of her +master for ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +Some months had gone, and the sun sparkled on the water of the little +singing stream, though bitter winds had blown and all-enveloping sand +had swirled about the palms which surrounded Jill's beautiful home in +the oasis, of which the reins were gradually slipping into fingers +skilled in driving anything from a four-in-hand to a donkey in a cart. + +Three mornings a week, an hour after dawn, she gave audience to all +those who, with grievance or in difficulty, desired her help or advice; +for which ceremony, and having the dramatic instinct, she had caused a +clearing to be made in the shade of the palms, under the biggest of +which she had also had placed a great chair of snow-white marble, in +which, clothed always in white, she would seat herself, her passionate +mouth smiling happily behind the yashmak whilst over it the great eyes, +into which had crept a look of infinite tenderness in the months that +had passed, would scrutinise the people standing humbly and astounded +before her. + +She would look across upon mothers with obstreperous sons who would not +work, or would not wed; mothers who beat their breasts in despair at +the utter lack of looks or grace in the unfortunately multiplied +feminine arrows within the parental quiver; young men who craved a word +of recommendation so as to obtain a certain post; older men who craved +an overdraft at the bank of her patience; young mothers whose infants +were either too fat or too lean, or with eyes half-eaten away with +disease; all of whom having received a full measure of help, pressed +down and running over, and having bestrewn themselves upon the ground +around her chair, would depart in high fettle to spread the news of +this wonder woman, their mistress, in whom they felt such inordinate +pride; so that one, then two, then more, from distances long and short, +would creep into the council with pretexts ranging from the thin to the +absolutely transparent, until one morning the whole seance ended in an +unseemly fracas between the legitimate and the illegitimate seekers +after help in word or kind, whereupon Hahmed, rising in his wrath, +smote them verbally hip and thigh, and Jill departed in high dudgeon, +leaving the culprits to wilt in the frost of her keen displeasure. + +And from about that date, a month ago, everything seemed to have gone +wrong. + +Days of depression would follow days of mad spirits, hours when she was +as the sweetest scented rose within the hands of the Arab, followed by +interminable, stretches of time when the points of the "wait-a-bit" +thorn were blunt compared to the exceeding sharpness of her temper. + +Days when all that was right was wrong, and all that was wrong _was_ +wrong, so that her women crept quietly, and Hahmed wondered sometimes +if some "afreet"[1] haunted the soil and had taken possession of the +soul of his beloved. + +Jill swung to and fro in a hammock slung between two palms at a very +early hour indeed of this morning late in December. + +She had neither veil before her face nor shoes upon her feet, and the +flimsy mauve robe clung to the supple body as she restlessly swung, +until she clapped her hands to summon her breakfast, and clapped them +again sharply so that a figure came running at high pressure. + +"Go, ask thy master if he will break bread with me in the shade of the +palms, oh Laleah, and let not the shadows lengthen unduly in thy going +for fear that I give thee cause to hasten thy footsteps!" + +Which manner of speech shows that Jill had not unduly tarried either in +acquiring knowledge of things Eastern. And Hahmed, as he stood before +her and greeted her in the beautiful Arabian tongue, wondered if in all +the world there could be found such another picture as that of his +wife, with the riot of red-gold hair about her little face, which +somehow seemed over white in the shade of the palm, and the blueness of +her eyes, and the redness of her mouth, which neither the one nor the +other smiled at his approach. + +"Do sit down and help yourself!" said she indeed, and clapping her +hands sharply ordered fresh food and drinks, both hot and cold, to be +brought upon the instant. + +And her next remark, after the breakfast of tea in a real teapot, a +hissing kettle, strange loaves, purest butter, honey, and fruits of +every conceivable colour had been laid upon a cloth upon the grass, +fell like a bolt from the blue, though the man made no sign of +disturbance from the impact. + +"I want eggs and bacon, Hahmed!" + +For a moment he pondered the remark, whilst he offered Jill a cigarette +and lit one for himself. + +"The eggs, my woman," and the musical voice made a poem even of the +absurd words, "now that thou hast taught thy slaves to poach and +scramble and prepare them in divers and pleasant ways, are easy--but +bacon--no! that canst thou _not_ have amongst these my people!" + +And Jill swung ceaselessly to and fro, looking at the man sitting a few +yards from her on a rug, before she answered in tersest English: + +"Don't be dense, Hahmed! I want eggs and bacon, and a starched finger +napkin--toast in a rack--covered dishes--marmalade--I'm--I'm------" + +"Fed up!" + +The deep voice filled in the pause also in tersest English. + +For one moment Jill sat up as straight as the hammock would allow, and +then for the first time in many days broke into a peal of sweetest +laughter, and swinging herself clear of the net ran over and laid +herself down upon the rug beside the man, with her chin in the palms of +her hands, to find herself the next moment in his arms, whilst he +looked down into her eyes without speaking. Whereupon she turned her +face on to his shoulder and burst into tears. + +And Hahmed, being wise, let her cry until there were no more tears, +only little sobs which tore at his heart, which lightened considerably +when having mopped her eyes with the edge of his cloak, she twisted +herself into a sitting position, and smiled as she laid her golden head +against his dark one, and entwined her slim fingers in his. + +And Hahmed smiled also, knowing that this was the preliminary to some +request of which his wife had doubts as to the granting, but never a +word did he utter, nor made sign to help, whilst Jill, somewhat at a +loss, lit a cigarette, and proceeded to blow rings which on account of +the breeze refused to pass one through the other. + +"Hahmed!" she managed at last and stopped, and then continued as she +got up and moved away: "Hahmed! I'm feeling absolutely _miserable_. I +think I want a change--I really do want all I said just now, so--so +_can't_ we go to Cairo and stay at an English hotel for the New Year? +We could _just_ do it if we started at once--_couldn't_ we? I know you +have important business or something next month--_can't_ you put it +off?" + +Hahmed looked at her for a moment, as she stood very fair and straight, +with her beautiful feet peeping from under her trailing gown; and +frowned a little, noticing the shadows round the big eyes, and the +suspicion of a collar-bone showing above the embroidery of her bodice. + +"And why didst thou hesitate, little one, to ask--knowing as thou dost +that thy wish is law absolute to me? Business affairs, what are they? +Let them wait--let the world wait as long as thou art happy. Verily +thou art pale and thin------" Upon which unfortunate remark Jill +turned like the spitfire she had lately become. + +"Seeing that you are allowed four wives, Hahmed, there is no reason to +bemoan your fate; this is not Europe, where once married you are for +ever tied to the one girl, who, a bud in her youth, may as time passes +turn to one of those dreadful cabbage-roses, which go purple and fat +with age. I'm sorry," she continued, as she held out both her hands, +"you simply must not notice me these days. I think I am bewitched--I +have even sent my darling old Ameena away because her deformity +suddenly irritated me, and I told Mustapha I would have him thrown as +breakfast to the cheetahs if he dared to make himself seen, and he +believed it, and no shampoo will _ever_ get the sand out of his hair." + +"But he _shall_ be thrown to the cheetahs if it would please thee, +beloved!" + +And the uncalculating cruelty in the man's voice sent the red to the +girl's white face, and moving over to him made her lean down and kiss +him upon the mouth. + +And then she seated herself upon the ground and made tea, laughing like +a child when to please her the Arab drank it protestingly. + +"By Allah! it is a poison which you drink in Europe, and yet you would +go and drink it in a crowded city." + +"Are we going, Hahmed, oh Hahmed, _are_ we?" whispered Jill, half +afraid to break the spell by the raising of her voice. + +"But of course, beloved--hast thou not expressed the wish--though +surely it were better to go to thine own dwelling, for it will go hard +with thee to keep thy face covered and remain undiscovered to thy many +friends, who doubtless will be seeking the solace of Egypt's winter +sun; for the time is not yet at hand when I will permit thee to make +thyself known to them." + +But Jill was ready to accept anything as long as her craving could be +satisfied, and Hahmed, longing to satisfy her craving, looked with eyes +of love upon the sweetness of her face aglow with anticipation, so that +both were well content. + +And an hour passed in which they ate and drank, and Jill balanced +pieces of sweet bread upon the noses of two great hounds, who, scenting +their master from afar, had broken bounds and raced to him, leaping the +breakfast table to Jill's infinite delight, whilst their groom lay upon +the ground out of sight anticipating the thrashing his carelessness +merited him, but from which he was spared by reason of his mistress' +sweetness. + +"And so, Light of Heaven, I must leave thee, for there is much to +prepare if we would start at once, for it is difficult to secure the +strict privacy due to my wife in these times when the world is overrun +by the tourist ants who should by right be underground. + +"And my heart inclineth to hours spent with thee, O! Flower of the +Desert, hours spent at thy feet in the heat of the day whilst thou +slumberest, hours upon the roof of thy dwelling, watching the day +prepare herself for the coming of her lover, the night; and yet must I +leave thee when my being is overwhelmed with love of thee, thou wind of +caprice! Would that I could tell the meaning of my gentleness towards +thee, I, Hahmed, who, like a love-sick youth, sleeps the night without +the silken curtain of thy door and dare not enter in unto thee." + +And his hands suddenly gripped the girl by her shoulders and pulled her +towards him, at which roughness she smiled, as women do when so +treated, and rested her sweet-scented head above his heart. + +"Ah, Hahmed! Who knows if thou are not over timorous even for a +love-sick youth," she sighed. "And _must_ thou go when my heart +inclineth to hours spent with _thee_? And yet at night the stars come +out so 'tis said, and can be seen from the roof of my dwelling; and +when the wind sweeps over chill across the sands the fire throws +shadows in my room of roses, where the love bird with little wings +hovers above my couch suspended by a little silken cord." + +And the man bent her back towards him so that the ribbon of her bodice +snapped and the beauty of her lay under his hands, and she stretched +both arms outwards and whispered so that only he could hear, "Kiss me, +Hahmed, oh my heart's desire! Kiss me, for I am faint with love of +thee." + +And even as he bent downwards to her she fell unconscious at his feet, +whereupon he raised her in his arms and looked into the white face, +speaking so that only she might hear. + +"And the love bird shall fly down to thy couch this night, Delight of +my Heart, and the shadows upon thy sweet face shall deepen ere the +dawn," and he kissed the closed eyes and the red mouth and the white +throat and the shadow of a collar-bone which showed above the roundness +of her breasts, and then he laid her upon the cushions on the ground, +and, clapping his hands, gave her into the care of her handmaidens. + + +[1]Evil Spirit. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +An hour and more had passed before Jack Wetherbourne suddenly awoke, +and stretching his arms above his head apostrophised the full moon +shining down upon the Great Pyramid in the shadows of which he was +sitting. + +"What the dickens Lady Moon brought me to this place of all places +to-night," he said lazily, as he struck a match and lit a cigarette. +"Let's hope my ship of the desert hasn't upstreamed for Cairo all on +her own, else I see myself here until the advent of the next Cook's +party. Decent of the camel wallah to let me take the apple of his +commercial eye into the desert unaccompanied." He stretched and +settled himself more comfortably, continuing to talk aloud. "What a +night--what a country--wish I'd brought Mary with me--ideal spot for a +heart-to-heart talk. I might have shaken her out of her 'eyedyfix,' as +old Gruntham calls it. Silly idea that she won't get married until +Jill has been found--why! what! who in heaven's name are coming down +the pyramid? Well, I'm blessed! two native wallahs been breaking the +rules, and I had no idea they were perched up there above my head." + +Safe in the protecting shadows he watched Hahmed and Jill descend. + +Little ripples of laughter fell on the night air as Hahmed, letting +himself down easily from one gigantic block to another, held out his +arms and lifted Jill down, bending his head to kiss her each time he +put her on her feet. + +They were at the last step but one when, with a little scream, she +swayed, and nearly fell to the step beneath. + +"Hold me, Hahmed," she cried, "I'm dizzy, everything is going round!" + +And Hahmed caught her and lifted her gently down the last steps to the +sand, bending to kiss her on the mouth, and shifting her suddenly to +his left arm so as to catch Jack Wetherbourne by the throat as he +dashed shouting from the shadows upon them. + +"Jill! Jill! It's I--Jack! don't let-----" + +Until the grip tightening choked back his words, when with a surprising +swiftness the Arab let go his hold, and getting one in on the point, +sent the Englishman reeling backwards to fall in a heap against the +base of the pyramid, and then to scramble to his feet, too dizzy to +stop his adversary, who, flinging the veil over the woman's face, +passed swiftly to the place where awaited the camels. + +And too slow was Jack Wetherbourne to gain the spot in time to stop the +flight of the camel which with its double burden was already racing +straight ahead into the desert; and too bemused by the blow to +recognise the fact when he did get there that the hired brute he was +staggering too was built for speed in the image of the tortoise +compared to the hare-like-for-swiftness contour of the abandoned beauty +who had strolled to the spot from the other side of the pyramid, and +quite undisturbed was watching her sister's hurried departure into the +unknown. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +All our lives we all chase wraiths in the moonshine! Be the wraiths +the outcome of proximity in the garden under the silvery moon rays, +which so often snap the trap about our unwary feet by rounding off the +physical angles of our momentary heart's desires, or lending point to +the stub ends of their undeveloped mentality; or the wraiths of the +midnight soul, otherwise disarranged nervous or digested system, which +float invitingly, distractingly, tantalisingly in front of our +clogged-by-sleep vision at night; turning out, however, in the early +light heralding the early cup of tea, to be nothing more soul +distracting than the good old brass knob adorning the end of the +bedstead. + +But Jack Wetherbourne's wraiths, which he was chasing in the moonlight, +were good honest humans with the requisite number of legs and arms +wrapped in good, white raiment; one of which humans with the other in +his arms sat astride a camel, who made up by her muscular development +whatever she might lack in goodness of heart and honesty of purpose; +she too being wrapped in the silvery drapery which the moon throws +pell-mell around pyramid and mud hut, humble fellah, descendant maybe +of some long dead Pharaoh, and the jocular, jubilant millionaire, who +with luck can trace a grandfather. + +But chase he ever so eagerly, Jack Wetherbourne could barely keep his +quarry in sight as on and on sped the racing camel with that curious +slithering gait which denotes great speed, whilst the wind caught at +Jill's veil, blowing it this way and that until she impatiently tore it +from before her face, and struggling against the arm which held her +like a vice, managed to screw herself round to look behind, whereupon +the Arab jerked her suddenly back, looking down into her white face +with eyes ablaze with jealousy. + +"Hast thou no circumspection, O! wife of mine?" he cried, the wind +carrying the words from his lips almost before they were uttered. +"Mine, all mine thou art, and yet thou strivest to look upon the +countenance of that madman who would have outraged my honour by looking +upon thy face!" + +"Oh, but Hahmed! you don't understand--that was Jack Wetherbourne, my +neighbour and brother and friend, and do for pity's sake make the camel +go slower, I am being bumped to bits!" + +Which of all foolish utterances was the most foolish she could have +uttered, fanning the man's jealousy to a pitch where it burned right +through the barrier of self-restraint, making him desire to stop her +foolish words with kisses, and long to strangle her as she lay in his +arms, and cast her on to the sands for the vultures to pick at. + +"Thy friend and brother! How could any man unborn of thy parents be +anything but the would-be lover and husband of thy beautiful self! +Verily, woman, could I beat thee for such words until thy shoulders ran +blood. I know of him and his foolish futile searchings for thee, yet +it is _I_ who hold thee, and in very truth can call thee wife; nor will +I stay this my camel so that thou mayest have speech with him; this +pale faced yearling, who dared to look upon thy shadow; but by the +grace of Allah, I will so bewilder him who blundereth after thee +astride the product of the bazaar, that his sightless skull shall stare +blindly at the moon to-morrow night, whilst I shall feast my eyes upon +the whiteness of thy satin skin." + +And Jill lay still, knowing that she was up against something with +which she could not cope, noticing not at all that the camel began a +wide circle to the left, therefore being excessively surprised when an +hour before the dawn, upon the very outskirts of Cairo itself, the man +caused his camel to kneel, and placing the girl like a bundle of hay +upon the ground, turned towards Mecca; and the time of prayer being +passed, came to her suddenly and held her to him, raining kisses upon +the fairness of her face, shining pale and shadowed in the light of the +coming day. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +You have only to stare long enough at it to get the image of some +distinct object imprinted upon your retina, then you need but stare +again at some space of indistinct colouring and you will see the +impression of your distinct object reprinted a hundred times upside +down. + +Who has not tried the experiment in their youth with the aid of the +ceiling and red-lettered advertisement of chocolate or soap, and later +in years upbraided the reflected blobs of sun which usually choose a +critical moment in which to obscure your vision when you have turned +your back upon the sunset. + +Jack Wetherbourne distinctly saw the fleeing camel in front of him, +when he at last got his own to its feet, and being eager to keep his +quarry well within his vision, continued to stare and strain his eyes, +whilst he raced for hour after hour over mile after mile of sand, until +in the end he saw the fleeing camel ahead of him when in reality it was +well on its way back to Cairo; and continued, with eyes staring out of +a white, dust-covered face, to pursue the phantom until the first ray +of the sun hitting him fiercely, caused him to cover his eyes a while, +and after, to look about him with refreshed sight, which showed him in +the midst of the desert, alone, with a cloud of sand rising before the +wind some miles behind him--an infant sandstorm, but strong enough to +hide the distant peaks of the pyramids from him, and to send his +terrified, idiotic camel fleeing straight ahead through hours of +increasing heat, without a drop of water upon its foolish back or in +its master's pocket flask, until with a sudden silly chuckle the man +jerked the reins and tumbled headlong from the saddle, laughing +stupidly with sudden sunstroke. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +The midday sun of the same day blazed down upon a picture which for +ghastliness surpassed even the horrors painted by the madman Werth, +which, if your mind is steeped in morbidness, you can see for a franc, +or for nothing, I really forget which, when next you visit Brussels. + +Upon a hillock of sand, the summit of which continually trickled to the +base in fine golden streams, a little mound built with the aid of a +pair of pumps, sat Jack Wetherbourne, laughing sickeningly, just as he +had sat since the moment he had waved a delirious adieu to the quickly +disappearing camel. His dress coat, trousers, white waistcoat, shirt, +undergarments, socks and shoes, lay upon the sand arranged by the +disordered mind in the fantastic design of a scarecrow. + +As I have said, the man himself, naked save for a vest twisted round +his waist, sat upon the mound gesticulating violently, whilst keeping +up a one-sided, unanswered conversation with the figure on the sand. +His bronzed face, burnt almost black even in the few hours of sun +beating down upon his unshaded head, turned restlessly to the right and +left; his long fingers plucked without ceasing at the great blisters +which the heat drew up upon his body, bursting them, so that the fluid +mingled with the sand blown upon him by the light wind, and upon which +flies, thousands of them, settled, to buzz away when he rose to run +this way and that in an effort to stay the awful irritation. + +Two o'clock by the clocks in Cairo, the hour when workers and idlers, +rich and poor, seek the coolest spot in their vicinity in which to lay +them down and sleep a while--the hour when Mary Bingham drove up to +Shepherds, having raced here, there, and everywhere during the morning +in a vain endeavour to awaken a little interest in the minds of those +who listened, and shrugged, and looked at each other significantly, at +the tale of a man who had got lost in Cairo for a night and a +morning--a tale told agitatedly by a charming woman who could give no +reason for her agitation. + +Also she had tried, desperately hard, with the aid of the hotel porter, +to make head or tail out of the narrative as recounted by the hirer of +camels--a woebegone tale in which the undercurrent was a dismal +foreboding as to the fate of the priceless quadruped; the fate of an +Englishman seemingly being of small account when compared to that of +the snarling, unpleasant brute who represented the native's entire +fortune--at least so he said. "Yes, the nobleman had hired the camel +as he so often did, and being acquainted with the ways of the animal +had gone alone as he always did. No! upon the beard of his grandfather +he had no idea in which direction he had gone, though verily upon the +outskirts of Cairo there had been a festival in which La Belle, the +well-known dancer, was to dance--who knows------" And the Hon. Mary +had flung out of the place in disgust, knowing with a woman's +intuition, sharpened love, in comparison with which a _kukri_ is blunt, +that no such place hid the man she had been searching for so +desperately ever since she had suddenly wakened and sprung out of her +bed the night before, for no reason whatever, and, having rung up +Shepherds and ascertained the fact that Sir John Wetherbourne was not +in the hotel, had paced her room until she could with reason arouse her +maid, and, having bathed and breakfasted, had started out on the +seemingly mad pursuit of someone who had failed to return to his +habitat during the night--and in Cairo too! + +Is it surprising that men winked secretly at one another, and that +their wives, sharers of their joys and sorrows, scandal and gossip +inclusive, jingled their bracelets and pursed their lips, and did all +those things which jealous women--not necessarily love jealous--are +feign to do when the object responsible for the conception of the +green-eyed monster within their being is bent on making a fool of +herself? + +"Come now, dearie," mumbled Lady Sarah Gruntham, who insisted on +keeping Lancashire meal hours to the consternation of the hotel staff, +native and otherwise, as she mopped her heated brow with her +handkerchief and with the other hand patted the dark head leaning +wearily upon the row of scarab buttons adorning her tussore front, from +which she had forgotten to remove her finger napkin when the girl had +entered. "Come now--come now. Don't 'ee take on an' fret so. The +lad'll coom back to ye, never ye fear now. Well I remember when yon +Tim of mine was down t' mine in t' big explosion--I took on just as ye +are takin' on, love, but down in me heart, lass, I never really feared +me, because I knew that me love for me lad was that great, lass, that +I'd pull him out of danger--and sure and I did, lass, black as a sweep +and with a broken arm, but alive, and a champion tea of shrimps and +cress we had, jest as ye'll have with yer lad when he comes back, lass!" + +Which motherly comfort served to lighten the heavy heart, but brought +not the faintest shadow of a smile to the steadfast eyes. For even the +vision of watercress, shrimps and tea on the verandah at Shepherds will +not force a light to the windows of the soul when they are blinded with +anxiety. + +So Mary Bingham, in her cool white dress, lay back in the long chair, +with a glass of iced lemonade on a table by her side in a room darkened +so as to induce slumber, whilst out in the desert with choked cries of +"Good dog! At it! Good dog!" a man began scratching the sand as a +ratting terrier does the earth, until he had excavated a hole big +enough in which to curl himself, where he lay until desert things that +creep and crawl drove him out again, shrieking for water. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +And the full force of the storm crashed about Jill's defenceless head +at the midday hour also of the same day, when she ought to have been +searching the coolness of her midday sleeping chamber, and +forgetfulness of the last few hours in sleep. + +Not quite defenceless was she, however, as she sat back in the chair, +her eyes ablaze and her veil torn to shreds at her feet, ripping the +moral atmosphere with words which seemed to have been dipped in some +corrosive verbal fluid. She was angry, hurt, and deathly tired, and +was doing her best to pass some of her mental suffering anyway on to +the man who leant with folded arms against the cedar wall. + +The inevitable crisis had come! + +The independence of Western womanhood had clashed with the Eastern +ideas on the privacy and seclusion of the gentler sex. Jill simply +could _not_ understand that there was any cause for the terrible +jealousy which had suddenly blazed up in the Arab when she had +innocently repeated her request to be allowed to see her old friend; +Hahmed was as incapable of understanding the request, having failed in +his sojourn in the West to fully realise the everyday kind of jolly, +good, frank camaraderie which can exist between certain types of +English man and woman. + +Half a word of tenderness, half a gesture of love, and she would have +been sobbing or laughing happily in his arms, but like a prairie fire +before the wind, the terrible Eastern rage was blazing through the man, +too fierce, too terrific to allow him to analyse the situation, or +remember that the upbringing of his girl-wife had been totally +different to that of the women of his country. + +Jill suddenly sat forward, clasping one slim ankle across her knee in a +slim hand, a position she knew perfectly well would rouse Hahmed to a +frenzy, and spoke slowly and mockingly in English instead of the pretty +lisping Arabic which always entranced him. + +"You may lecture, and remonstrate, and admonish, which all comes to the +same thing, until night falls, but you will never make me see eye to +eye with you in _this_. It is simply _absurd_ to threaten that you +will shut me in my apartments until I learn reason. If you lock me in, +or place guards about me, I will jump from the roof and gain my freedom +by breaking my neck. Why Jack Wetherbourne--oh------" + +Hahmed had leant forward, and gripping her by the shoulders had very +suddenly, and not over gently, jerked her to her feet, holding her by +the strength of his hands alone, as she desperately tried to liberate +herself. + +"Let me go, Hahmed! let me go! You are hurting me dreadfully. You +must _not_ hurt me--you must _not_ bruise me. Oh! you don't +understand!" + +She struggled furiously and unavailingly, resorting at last to cruelty +to gain her end. + +"Let me go, Hahmed! Take your hands away--I--I _hate to feel them upon +me_!" + +He let her go, pushing her away from him ever so slightly, so that she +stumbled against the chair, cracking her ankle-bone, that tenderest bit +of anatomical scaffolding, against a projecting piece of ornamental +wood. + +It was a case of injury added to insult, and she crouched back furious +in her physical hurt as she tore the silken covering from her arms, +where already showed faint bruises above the little tattoo mark showing +itself so black against the white skin, and upon which she put her +finger. + +"Oh! who would have thought when you tattooed that, Jack----!" + +But she stood her ground and shrugged her naked shoulders irritatingly +when Hahmed crossed the dividing space in a bound with his hand upon +the hilt of his dagger. + +"Bi--smi--llah! what sayest thou? This mark upon the fairness of thy +arm which I have thought a blemish, and therefore have not questioned +thee thereon--sayest thou it is a _dakkh_, what thou callest a tattoo +mark? And if so what has it to do with the man whose name is +unceasingly upon thy lips?" + +Jill stood like a statue of disdain. + +"What _is_ the matter now, Hahmed? Please understand that I will not +tolerate such continual fault-finding any longer! That is a tattoo +mark of a pail of water--you may not know that we have a rhyme in +England which begins like this: + + "Jack and Jill went up a hill + To fetch a pail of water!" + +Oh! shades of ancient Egypt, did you ever hear or see anything so +pathetically absurd as Jill as she solemnly repeated the old doggerel. + +"That makes no difference--a pail of water or the outline of a +flower--did this man--this--this _Jack_ make the mark upon thee?" + +Jill hesitated for a second and then answered with a glint in her eye. + +"Yes! he did--and he did Mary too--put the dinkiest little heart on her +arm--we were under the cherry tree in the vegetable------!" + +"Go!" suddenly thundered the Arab. + +And Jill, gathering her raiment about her for departure, turned to look +straight into the man's eyes, whilst her heart, in spite of the little +scornful smile which twisted the corner of her mouth, leapt with the +love which had blossomed a hundredfold under the torrent of jealousy, +wrath, and mastery which he had poured forth upon her during the last +hour. + +"Behold! art thou weak," she said sweetly in his own tongue, "having +not the strength to kill that which offends thee. 'Thou shalt not know +this man, or any other man,'" she mocked, quoting his words, "and yet +canst thou not break me to thy will! Of a truth, I have no further use +for thee in thy weakness!" + +But Hahmed's control had only been slightly cracked, so that he merely +pointed to the curtain which divided Jill's quarters from the rest of +the house. + +"Go!" he said simply, "go to thy apartment, wherein thou shalt stay +until thou seest good to come to me in obedience and love. Thou shalt +_not_ go forth except to the gardens; neither shall thy friends visit +thee, neither shalt thou climb to the roof; and thou _shalt_ obey +me--many, aye, many a woman were dead for far less than this thy +disobedience--but thou--thou art too beautiful to kill, except with +love--go!" + +And Jill went, with beautiful head held high, heart throbbing from +love, and blood pounding in her ears from downright rage. + +"I will not obey you! I shall do exactly as I wish!" she proclaimed, +with the curtain in her hand. In which she was mistaken, for the +simple fact that love held her fast. + +And the curtain swinging to hide her from the Arab, as she stood for +one moment holding out her arms toward him; and for the same reason she +did not see him pick up her torn, scented veil, to thrust it between +his inner silken vest and his sorely perturbed heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +Night with her blessed wind had come at last, which means coolness for +a space beneath the stars, and oblivion for a while in sleep for those +who have untroubled heart and good digestion. There was just one black +patch in all that silvery stretch of sand, upon which the moon shone, a +patch that came neither from rock or tree or cloud, and which moved +occasionally in fitful jerks, until it raised itself and collapsed +again, and spread itself in a still stranger shape as from underneath +garments which had the form of arms and legs and disjointed feet which +fell apart, there crawled a man. + +A man, though the face was cracked in great seams from brow to chin, +whilst the black tongue protruded from the split mouth drawn back from +the even teeth until the great bloated face seemed to laugh in derision +at the moon's softness. + +The body, covered in a mass of sores coated with sand, raised itself to +the knees, whilst the hands tried painfully to scoop up the silver +moonbeams and raise them to the mouth. There was no sound in all that +deathly plain, which Allah knows is accustomed to such scenes, and when +the body had fallen forward once more upon the sand, so that the open +mouth was filled with grit, neither was there movement, until upon the +pale light of dawn a silent shape, and yet another, and still another +one, sailed serenely across the sky, and with a faint rustle of folding +wings settled down around the heap; to soar noiselessly skyward when it +suddenly twitched convulsively; to settle again with faint rustling +when all once more was still. + +"Verily, O! brother, I am led towards that spot upon which the birds of +death have come together." + +So said the Egyptian who was partner in the small caravan proceeding +leisurely towards Cairo, as he shaded his eyes and pointed first up to +the ever lightening sky, across which from all parts floated small +black dots, and then to a distant place upon the sand, where the black +spots seemed to mingle until they formed a blot of shade. + +"Nay! Raise not thy voice in dissent, O! my brother, for behold we +have made good time, and water faileth us not." + +And well was it that they turned aside, and shouted as they approached +so that only one beak had time to tear a strip of flesh from beneath +the naked shoulder, ere the flock of vultures rose, hovered a second, +and were gone. The two men drew near, and having dismounted, turned +the poor thing over, and feeling the faint beating of the heart, with +no more ado than if they were setting down to food, undid one of the +goatskins from the nearest camel, and soaking the flowing bernous until +it dripped with the precious water, wrapped the body in its folds; and +collecting the gold watch, money and card-case strewn upon the sands, +slipped everything back into a waistcoat pocket with the exception of a +three day old programme announcing a cotillion at Shepherd's Hotel, a +sketch of which hideous building was elaborately and mendaciously +reproduced on the cover, so that to the mind of uneducated Yussuf, +unversed in the English tongue, there was but one thing to do, and that +to go straight to the well-known caravanserai with his burden, and +deliver it safely into the proprietor's hands. + +So Yussuf, euphoniously termed a benighted heathen by some enlightened +Christians, seated himself upon the fastest camel in the caravan, +receiving into his arms the thing that was still a man by their good +efforts, from the hands of the other heathen, who, with hands raised to +heaven, called down the blessing of Allah upon men and beast as the +latter departed at her swiftest for the great city, leaving him to +follow in more leisurely manner. + +So that consternation and excitement were great among those who sat +upon the verandah after dinner, partaking of coffee and cigarettes +before undertaking the more strenuous task of entertaining themselves, +when in the glare of the electric light a great camel suddenly appeared +out of the night, and totally disregarding the upraised voice of the +enormous hotel porter, subsided in the gutter, thereby causing a block +in the street; whilst a man clumsily dismounted and staggered up the +shallow steps, tenderly holding some covered burden the while in his +arms that were breaking with fatigue, and who, speaking with authority, +demanded speech of the proprietor, who, furious at being disturbed, +came forth as furiously to annihilate the disturber, but instead, at +the first word from the Arab, who clutched a dirty piece of paper in a +hand almost paralysed with cramp, lifted a corner of the cloth from +about that which lay so inertly under the all-hiding cloak, and choked, +and stuttered, and then recovering himself, blandly led the Arab to the +lift which whirled them to the first floor, leaving the occupants on +the verandah all a-twitter, whilst the coffee grew cold and the +cigarettes went out. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +Days and nights passed, and still more days and nights, in which the +man, bound from head to foot in soft wrappings soaked in unguents, +tossed and raved, screaming for water, tearing at the bed-linen which +to his distorted mind was alive with every conceivable insect, beating +blindly at the faces of the two women who, refusing any help, watched +over and tended Jack Wetherbourne through his days of distress. + +"Aye, lass! Now don't 'ee lose 'eart," whispered Sarah Ann Gruntham to +the girl who, having held consultation with the doctor, was sobbing her +heart out on the elder woman's motherly bosom which covered a heart of +purest gold. "Don't 'ee listen to such fash, lass, for what's he +likely to know outside of Lady Jones's wimble-wambles and me Lor' +Fitznoodles' rheumatism. Why 'e couldn't even tell that I 'ad 'ad a +touch of my old complaint, and me with an 'andle to me name. Come, +lass, oop with ye bonnie head, for I'll tell 'ee the great news--I sees +a bead o' perspiration on Sir John's brow--an' so I'm off to take me +'air out of crackers. Though Tim does find it more home-like, 'e says, +when I 'ave 'em h'in--oh, dearie! dearie! I often wish I was plain +Mrs. Gruntham again with no aitches to mind. I'll be with you in ten +minutes, and then, lass, ye'll just run away and have a bath--I managed +the aitch that time--and come back as fresh as a daisy, if there were +such a innocent thing in this land of sphinxes and minxes--and ye'll +see ten beads then, which sounds as tho' I be a Roman instead of a +strict Baptist. I'll run along, love, and don't let 'im see tears in +them bonny eyes of yours when he comes to know ye, lass." + +And the dearest old soul in the world waddled away to take her hair out +of the crackers which had made a steel halo round her silvery hair for +many a night, and waddled hack again to see Mary with a great glow in +her eyes, and her hand clasping the skeleton fingers of Jack +Wetherbourne, who had known her at last, and was gazing blissfully at +his beloved. + +His lips moved, though so weak was he that no sound came from them, so +that Mary had to bend to catch the whisper until her ear just touched +the lips still distorted from the effects of the desert sun. + +She sat up, blushing from chin to brow, and smilingly shook her head. + +"I will marry you, Jack dear, as soon as we find Jill!" + +Wetherbourne made a feeble and unsuccessful attempt to frown, and then +turned his eyes as Mary turned her head on the opening of the door +between the bedroom and the sitting-room. + +In the doorway stood the bewildering picture of an Eastern woman. + +Wrapped round in the voluminous cloak of the East, with the face and +head veils hiding all but her eyes, she stood quite still as Lady Sarah +bustled across the room towards her, and Mary held up a warning hand. + +A twitching of the man's fingers drew Mary's attention, and once more +she leant down to him. + +"We're engaged," came the faint whisper, "_it's Jill_!" + +CHAPTER XLV + +Decked out in Mary's trappings Jill lay on the couch, her pale face +shining like an evening flower, whilst she passed the brush over and +over again through the burnished strands of her wonderful hair. + +Mary had sat spellbound, almost open-mouthed, at the Arabian Nights +tale Jill had poured into her astounded ears. + +"Hahmed!" she had exclaimed when Jill had told her of her marriage; and +be it confessed that Jill had tautened to meet the coming attack, and +relaxed when Mary, clasping her capable hands, had suddenly and +whole-heartedly beamed upon her. "Why, I've heard the most wonderful +things about him since I have been out here, in fact I've been almost +wearied to death listening to the accounts of his Haroun al Raschid +methods and qualities. His wedding put Cairo in an uproar--I saw the +pro------ But _Jill_, darling, is it possible it was you inside the +palanquin on the wonderful camel?" + +Jill nodded as she busied herself in plaiting her hair into great ropes. + +"And you've run away--escaped, you say?" + +Jill nodded again. + +"Yes!" she said, with three big tortoiseshell combs between her teeth. +"We had a _frightful_ flare-up--all the fault of my tearing temper. +You see I've been absolutely spoilt these last months, and I simply +behaved anyhow the first time I got scolded. But I didn't deserve it +all the same!" she added as an afterthought, as she wound the plaits +round her head. "And," she went on, "I should never have got away if +Mustapha had been with us." + +"Who's Mustapha?" + +"My own special bodyguard! But as he _wasn't_ there I managed to +thoroughly examine the high wall round the grounds, and found just one +spot to give me a foothold. I scrambled up in the heat of the day when +everyone was asleep, and had a terrible time with my garments." + +She pointed as she spoke to a scented heap of silk and satin thrown on +a chair. + +"I had to partly disrobe whilst sitting on the top of the wall, and was +terrified in case some pedlar might chance along. I tied my face and +head veil round my waist, but the _habarah_, that big black cloak--by +the way it belongs to one of my women, and I borrowed it with the +excuse that I wanted it copied, mine you see are rather ornamental, as, +of course, I never walk in the streets--well, I threw that on to the +ground, tucked up my _sebleh_, that dressing-gown sort of thing, and +scrambled down the other side, as I did not want to jump, ripping the +knees of my _shintiyan_--the wide trouser kind of things we wear------" + +Mary's face was a study. + +"Thanks to my borrowed cloak I was able to walk through the streets in +comfort--drawing my _burko_, face veil, dear, across my face so that +only one eye should be seen,[1] and a blue one at that. When I got to +Cairo I hired a car--speaking in Arabic to the astounded and fluttering +Englishman--drove to the Savoy, where I guessed you'd be--found you'd +moved here--came here--and being mistaken for what I am by marriage, +namely, a high-born lady of the land, was conducted straightway to you +in spite of the invalid--_et voila_!" + +Mary got up, and crossing to Jill sat down beside her on the couch. + +"And what now, Jill? Hahmed will come and fetch you." + +"Not Hahmed," said Jill, with a shadow in her eyes as she remembered +his parting words after what she had tersely called the flare-up. +"Besides, he trusts me _really_!" she added as an afterthought, and +continued with a note of feverish excitement in her voice: "So I I'm +going to stay with you, Mary, if you'll let me, until something or +another happens to help me make up my mind. I want to do a lot of +sight-seeing, and wear white skirts and a silk jersey and blouse. I'll +find a maid somewhere, I expect." + +"Oh!" broke in practical Mary, "don't worry about that--servants are +such a nuisance. Do you remember Higgins? Well! she came out with me, +and gave me notice the second week--'couldn't abide the 'eathen +ways'--and wanted to get back to her home in Vauxhall. But the +proprietor found me a native woman, a perfect treasure, whose one +complaint is that she hasn't enough work to do!" + +Silence fell for a time whilst Mary studied the face of her friend, +suddenly leaning forward to stroke the pale cheek and pat the little +hand. + +"You don't look well, Jillikins! Are you sure you are happy?" + +"Perfectly," said Jill, turning her face to the cushions and bursting +into uncontrollable weeping. + + +[1]A custom. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +With short steps the native woman shuffled quickly along the outside of +the wall surrounding the house of Hahmed the Arab, stopping in front of +the great gates, which were closed at sunset, to peer between the +wrought bronze work, standing her ground unconcernedly when a Nubian of +gigantic proportions suddenly appeared on the other side. + +Terrifying he looked as he towered in the dusk, his huge eyes rolling, +and his hand on the hilt of a scimitar, which looked as though it had +been tempered more for use than for ornament. + +"What wouldst thou?" he demanded in dog Arabic of the woman whose eyes +flashed disdainfully over the veil which hid her pock-marked face. + +"Speech with they master, who has bidden me to his presence, and move +quickly, thou black dog of ill repute; tarry not in saying that his +servant from the big house in the city has news for his most august +ears." + +The son of ill repute stared inquisitively for a moment, and then moved +off slowly with the inimitable gait of these ebon specimens of mankind, +increasing his pace almost to a run once out of the female's range of +vision. + +Like a shadow she followed the different people, who, passing her from +one to another, led her through rooms and halls into an open court, at +the far end of which sat the man she sought, watching two jaguars being +led up and down before him. + +"Peace unto thee, O! my daughter, and fear not to approach," Hahmed +said gently as the woman made deep obeisance, and shrank from the +animals who snarled at her viciously. "And thou, my son, take these +products of the bazaar hence, for surely hast thou been fooled by him +who brought them from distant climes. Verily, the sire may have been a +jaguar, but his mate, judging from the shape of the offspring, must +most surely have been a jackal. Bring not such trash to me, if thou +wouldst not incur my wrath!" + +The snarling products of the bazaar were hurriedly jerked out of the +court as Hahmed turned to the woman. + +"Is all well, O! faithful one?" + +"All is well, O! Most High," answered the Honourable Mary's perfect +treasure of a maid. "Behold the gracious flower, upon whom it is my +joy and honour to wait, changeth her mood one hundred times in the +passing hour. She laughs at noon, and her pillow is wet with salt +tears at night; her feet, like lotus-buds, carry her hither and thither +in the day, the dimness of her room sees her face downwards upon her +couch. + +"As unto a sweet rose she clings to her friend, the great lady, who +forsooth is as pleasing as a well-cooked dish of the flesh of kid +mingled with tamarind and rice; but the rose mixeth not with other +flowers, and about her heart rests thy most honourable picture." + +For some long time Hahmed stared unseeingly in front and then he spoke. + +"Thou hast worked well, my daughter, even from the moment when thou +didst take the place of the great lady's white servant, to report to me +upon the doings of the white man who strove to find my wife. + +"Ask what reward thou will'st, it shall be granted unto thee!" + +And the man, knowing the cupidity of his race, was somewhat astounded +when, casting herself at his feet, the woman craved to be taken into +his household so that, as she put it, "I may dwell in content in thy +shadow, and the shadow of the snow-white dove when she wings her way +back to happiness." Just for a moment the Arab looked into the eyes of +the woman, as, greatly daring, she lifted her right hand. + +"For so it is written, O! my lord! the blessing of Allah is upon thee, +and thy heart shall be at rest." + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +The day following the native woman's surreptitious visit to the great +Arab saw Jill and Mary and Jack, followed discreetly by the same native +woman, set sail at an early, gay and blithesome hour for Denderah, +where are to be seen the ruins of the Temple of Hathor, the Venus of +Ancient Egypt. + +Upon arriving, after much dallying on the way, Jill insisted upon +walking along the narrow tracks through the stretches of corn and +sweet-smelling flowering bean, among which, to the general horror, +cattle ranging from cows to goats were allowed to roam at will. + +A temple of love calls up visions of marble halls, marble fretwork, +basins with splashing waters and marble doves, pillars crowned with +intertwined marble hearts and lovers' knots tied with marble ribbons; +therefore Jill stood transfixed as she entered the great hall of +columns, with the goddess's somewhat forbidding head carved on each +side of each pillar. + +She walked across slowly to peer into the inner court, shrouded in deep +shadows, shuddered and moved back towards the other two, whose +mentality, psychology or temperament responded not in the least to +light and shade. + +Together they traversed the place, Jill running her hand over the +hieroglyphics which cover the pillars to their beautiful capitals, +until she stopped before a representation of Hathor the wanton, +standing naked and verily unashamed before the image of a man, whose +name I know not, but whose beauty and nudity are as great as hers. + +Turning sharply she glanced hurriedly at Jack and Mary, and slipping a +hand through the arm of each, almost pulled them across the floor to a +stairway made in the wall and leading to the roof. + +For, taken up in their own love story, those two had noticed nothing, +not even the uncountable figures of stone in the bas-reliefs which, +appearing to turn and whisper to each other, seem in the shadows to +take a delight in portraying by pantomimic gestures a love wholly +allied to voluptuousness and license. + +But Jill had seen, and her ultra fastidiousness had dyed face and neck +crimson, and caused her to try and spare her companions similar +uncomfortable moments. + +For a moment she stood on the roof watching the clouds of twittering +birds as they flew in the direction of the Libyan Hills, and then she +slipped quietly down the stairway, leaving her friends, supremely +oblivious of her presence or absence, weaving their love-tale on the +roof of the ruined temple of love. + +With nerves a-jangle and heart disturbed Jill longed for shadows and +solitude, so that she shrank back, hesitated, and then advanced slowly +towards the veiled figure of a woman standing watching her from the +shadows of the very heart of the ruins, the holy of holies, the hall of +past mysteries and solemn rites. + +"What wouldst thou?" Jill asked her in Arabic, which was as wellnigh +perfect as any European can make it, and although she could hardly make +out one whole sentence of what she took for a dialect spoken by the +woman, she grasped enough to understand that the Egyptian, draped in +the peasant's cloak, was anxious to read her fortune in the sand she +carried in the black handkerchief, and which sand she said she had +gathered on the steps of the temple's high altar at the full moon. + +Jill sat down on a fallen block of masonry, looking very fragile, very +sweet, very fair, with her white throat gleaming above the white silk +blouse and jersey, soft blue hat pulled over her sunny head to shade +her face, death-white save for the shadows which seemed to make a mask +about her eyes, as she drew hieroglyphics on her own account in the +sand with the tip of her small white shoe. + +She had heard of the extraordinary powers possessed by some of the +Egyptian people; Hahmed had told her of their gift of reading the +future in the sand; among her own household she had come across +authentic cases where the most unlikely things predicted had come to +pass. + +And the cloud about her was so thick, and weighed so heavily upon her! +Of her own free-will she had flung her happiness away, and with her +happiness had gone her content and light-heartedness. She laughed with +others, and cried softly by herself at night; she shared the amusements +with others, and sat up at night, bewildered and afraid, to steal to +the mirror and look upon a pinched face with tightened nostrils, and to +wipe away the dampness gathered under the golden curls. + +Had her marriage been a mistake or not? If not, why had she fled +before the first little sign of storm? If it had been, why was she +utterly miserable now that liberty was hers? + +Her friends would surely be taking their departure soon. Should she go +too, or should she go back in all humbleness to the man she loved? Did +he want her, having shown no sign or desire for her return? Did +he--did he not? A decision must be made, and soon, but what was it to +be? Round and round, like a flock of startled pigeons, went her +thoughts, one breaking away to whirr into the back of her mind, another +to drift into the shadows, and another, and yet another, whilst the +rest flew on, round and round! + +And then she shrank back, gripping the stone with two cold little hands +as great drops gathered and trickled down her face, her breath coming +in silent gasps. + +Stricken with terror she threw out her arms passionately. + +"Speak, woman, speak! Spread the sand, and read to me what thou seest +therein. Thy finger shall point the way, and that way will I follow +wherever it may lead." + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +Whereupon the woman of the shadows, turning towards that which had once +been an altar, and raising her arms straight above her head with hands +out-turned at an acute angle, thrice repeated words that were +absolutely unintelligible to Jill. + +And then kneeling, she spread the sand upon the ground, dividing it +into circles and squares, drawing curious signs with the tip of her +hand, which as Jill noticed was passing white and slender for that of a +peasant woman, and spoke--in modern tongue. + +"Behold, O! woman, who emerged from a grey cloud to enter into the +radiance of the sun, thou art beloved by the gods who rule the earth +through the countless and eternal ages. Thou dost pause upon the +threshold of the temple of love, fearing these shadows which will pass +away when thou shalt stand within the great radiance of the goddess. +Yea! and fearful art thou of the sand out of which shall spring a tree +of many branches, and in the shade of which thou shalt encompass thy +life's span. Behold," and the finger drew a line upon the sand, "the +grey cloud encloses thee yet once again, and the goddess weeps without! +Yet will she rejoice! Before many moons have come and gone, the great +god Amen shall tear aside that which blindeth thee, and placing a man +son upon thy breast shall lead thee into the innermost temple. + +"Six times shall Amen strike thee in love, so that thou bearest sons, +and once shall he strike thee upon both breasts so that a woman child +shall spring from thy loins. + +"Love is thy portion, thy meat, and thy drink, bringing unto thee those +who travailing in love shall come for thy wisdom, and those labouring +in grief for thy succour. + +"And thou shalt not die before thy time, and thou shalt pass to the +gods with thy hand in thy master's, for he shall not leave thee through +all thy life, nay not even at the last. And thy name shall ring +throughout the land of Egypt, and be engraven upon the walls of time. + +"Behold Hathor, behold I say!" and three times the unintelligible words +rang through the place as Jill sank back staring open-eyed. + +The small white hand had pulled the veil aside from about the face, and +head, and body of the fortune-teller, so that for a moment she seemed +to stand outlined against the pillar, with flashing eyes, scarlet +mouth, and brow encircled with a golden band, from which sprang +something round with wings set in precious stones; the glory of her +gleaming body shone white as ivory in the gloom, her perfect arms +stretched straight downwards with hands turned sharply in so that the +finger-tips rested on the rounded thighs. + +And then Jill rubbed her eyes and stared, and stared again; for the +spot was empty, save for a square of sand with strange signs drawn upon +it; neither was there sound of retreating footsteps or swish of drapery. + +Jill stumbled to her feet, swaying as she caught at a pillar for +support, and then with a violent effort of will walked to a great shaft +of sunlight which struck the ground in front of the ruins of the high +altar from an opening in the roof. + +"Am I mad?" she whispered. "Did I dream that woman--and yet the sand +is there!" + +A pitiful little smile flickered across the ashen face as she stood +motionless and alone in the ruins. + +"The temple of love," she cried softly, flinging out her arms, "the +temple of love and I am alone. Hahmed beloved, where are you? I feel +so--I--I wish you were here to take me in your arms. Hahmed--I want +comforting--I do--I'm lonely--I--I'm--oh, oh! God--God have mercy on +me--I--we------" + +For a moment the transfigured girl stood upright, her face one blaze of +wonder in the light of the sun, her eyes wide open and filled with a +great surprise and a greater awe. + +And then she slowly sank to her knees and bowed her beautiful head to +the sand, whilst the echoes took up her words and carried them to the +far corners of the vast ruins. + +"I am not worthy, my beloved, for this great honour--I am not worthy in +that I am not with thee at this moment when thy child stirs within me. +I am covered in shame in that I doubted. I am bowed down with shame +and yet lifted up to the heavens with joy." + +For long minutes thus knelt she alone with her happiness, and then she +raised herself whilst a great sob shook her from head to foot. + +"Hahmed," she cried as she flung her arms out wide, "Hahmed, wherever +thou art I am calling thee. Hahmed, Hahmed!" and fell face downward +unconscious upon the sand covered floor. + +Noiselessly an Arab stepped from behind a pillar, crossing to the still +figure on the ground, and gently he picked her up in his arms, covering +her in the folds of his great white cloak. + +"Little bird! little bird!" he whispered in the beautiful Arabian +tongue, "why willst thou beat thy tender wings against the bars of +happiness around thy dwelling? And thou wert frightened--frightened by +yon peasant woman. What said she, my dove, to strike thee senseless to +the ground? + +"Thou art pale, O! my heart's delight, and weigh but as a handful of +down upon my arm, and yet must thou learn thy lesson, to the end; and +even will I forsake thee, leaving thee guided by the star of happiness +to find thy way alone to thy dwelling in the desert. Yea! there will I +await thee, O! my beloved--beloved!" + +And Hahmed passed swiftly through the hall of shadows, and down the +fields of waving corn and sweet scented bean to the banks of the Nile, +and there he placed his sweet burden in the arms of the faithful native +woman, who tenderly wiped the sand from the golden curls and raised her +right hand in fealty to her master as he turned away, neither did she +falter in her tale to Mary and Jack when, goaded by anxiety and in +spite of the heat, they ran down towards the boat. + +"Sunstroke!" said Mary, who had a certificate for first-aid, and +speaking with the certain flat determination which even her best +friends found most trying at times. "You simply _cannot_ go about in +Egypt without a green-lined umbrella. Yes! it's a slight, quite slight +attack of sunstroke," she continued, without noticing the radiance of +Jill's eyes, "and I will apply this damp handkerchief to your medulla +oblongata." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +Jill sat on the edge of her bed in an hotel at Suez. + +That she was absolutely alone in Egypt, and ought not to have been +alone, never entered her head once, as she gazed through the open +window towards the sea. + +Her eyes shone like stars, her mouth was a beautiful sign of content, +her hands were clasped peacefully on her knee, and she simply radiated +happiness. + +Mary and Jack, Lady Bingham, Diana Lytham and Sir Timothy and Lady +Sarah, had started that morning for England in the great liner which +Jill had watched unconcernedly until it disappeared up the canal. + +And so for the first time for many weary weeks she was alone, though it +must be confessed that the liberty had only been gained by a deliberate +perversion of the truth. + +Fussed by kind-hearted, though, somewhat scandalised Lady Gruntham, +driven to the point of madness by the never-ending stream of wisdom, +advice, and plans which from morning till night flowed unceasingly from +the store of Mary's book-gleaned knowledge, Jill had cleared up the +situation all round by suddenly announcing the imaginative fact that +Hahmed was coming to Cairo to fetch her home. Whereupon Mary Bingham +had arranged everything to her own entire satisfaction in the twinkling +of an eye, told Jack Wetherbourne that she and her mother were leaving +for England if he'd like to come too, had worked her maid to death with +packing, distributing quite a fair supply of backsheesh, and had +bundled her bewildered mother and contented fiance down to Suez, where +Jill had seen them off to the accompaniment of a last final flood of +advice which was mercifully lost in the scream of the siren, the rasp +of machinery, and the manifold sounds which add hilariously, especially +in foreign climes, to the pandemonium that reigns to within a second of +the cry which invites some of us to descend to terra firma on the +occasion of the sailing of a passenger boat. + +Jill suddenly came out of a reverie which had painted her cheeks a most +exquisite pink, and caused her teeth to show in the faintest smile. + +Then she frowned and shook back her mane of hair, as was her habit when +perplexed, and spoke softly to the night wind which was blowing +straight in at the window from the other side of the canal. + +"The oasis is calling me, night wind, calling, calling, and yet I do +not know. You who come from the oasis, tell me, is my beloved there, +or shall I find my dwelling empty, and my happiness but as a +turned-down cup?" + +Who can explain what it is that leads the spirit astraying from its +material covering? + +Are love and longing its sole companions upon the road of shadows? +Surely no! for is not revenge, or jealousy, or the near approach of +that which is called death as potent to span the stretches of the +world; and will not a vision of stark terror blot out the sun at the +commonplace hour of noon, and may not the body, squatting on the market +pavement, find it a place of rest, even as unto a seat in paradise +through the spirit's communion? + +The soul's wireless, mental telepathy, the sympathetic chord, and so +on, and so on, good honest words to describe that which no one +understands, and which caused the girl sitting on a prosaic bed in a +prosaic hotel to smile suddenly as she sat so very still. + +For her soul had wandered until she stood with her feet in the sand, +looking in at a wide-open door through which a beam of violet-orange +light struck across the night. + +Two men sat motionless within, until one slowly turned his head and +looked through the door straight into her eyes. + +For one long moment, with unutterable longing he gazed, and then the +vision faded just as Jill, saying softly, "Beloved! I come," stretched +out her arms, and with a sudden shiver awoke to her surroundings. + + + + +PART III + +THE FRUIT + + + + +CHAPTER L + +"Doubtless my beloved sleeps!" thought Hahmed the Arab, as he looked at +the watch on his wrist to find it pointing to midnight, and clapped his +hands for fresh coffee, then lit another cigarette whilst his guest +who, like himself, sat cross-legged on cushions on the floor, inhaled +contentedly from a _shibuk_[1] in a house of rest on the outer edge of +a distant oasis. + +Weary to death was he of the uninterrupted flow of words which +unceasingly streamed from the mouth of the cross-bred man, who was +gleefully rubbing the hands of his soul over what he imagined to be the +clinching of a remarkable bargain with the Camel King, whereas if he +had but known it, his host had merely put a little difficulty in the +way so as to lengthen the deal, and thereby kill a few moments of the +dreary hours of the dreary time he had passed since had left the woman +he loved alone to learn the last words of her lesson. + +Turning he called sharply to the servile proprietor of the house, which +for the first time was honoured by the presence of its redoubtable +landlord. + +Salaaming until his tarboosh reached the level of his knees, the +inwardly shaking Achmed stood before his two guests. + +"Hast thou naught wherewith to entertain thy guests, O! Achmed, or must +they perchance pass the hours in counting the flies which flit about +the none too clean lamps? Thinkest thou that this house is solely a +roof to shade thy head from the sun, or perchance is it a dwelling of +comfort for those who pass East and West?" + +By this time the oriental's head was bobbing like a mandarin's, whilst +in a spasm of terror his mouth opened and shut unceasingly. + +"Find thy tongue, O! fool, before I turn thee from the door. Hast thou +aught of entertainment, and hast thou other than this mud thou callest +coffee? Speak I say!" + +With a gulp which served to clench Hahmed's fingers, the wretched +Achmed vowed he had music of a kind and dancers of sorts, and that at +that moment his first wife was preparing a brew surpassed only by that +drunk in the Gardens of Delight by the chosen of Allah, who had passed +to their well-earned rest. + +"Choose, O! my guest! doubtless they will both be as forlorn as this +coffee, for which I crave thy forgiveness--our business is at an end, +and some hours stretch unendingly before us." + +Ali 'Assan, dying to satisfy his cross-bred inquisitiveness which, with +the curiosity of Egypt entire, had been aroused by the strange rumours +of some catastrophe happened in his host's household, had not the +slightest desire for bed, rather would he have sat up for an entire +week of nights, if only be could have got an inkling of the truth; so +he plumped for music and dancing whilst his host sat motionless, the +light of the hanging lamps throwing strange shadows on the stern, +relentless face. + +Hahmed the Arab, it is true, sat upon the cushions in the dingy room; +you would have certainly touched a human body if you had laid a hand +upon his arm, but by an effort of will which left him sitting +absolutely motionless with half-closed eyes, he, in spite of the heat, +the irritation of his guest's presence, and all that went to make the +evening intolerable, had sent his spirit, or soul, or what you will, +adrift, searching for his beloved; so unutterable was his longing, so +wracked was his heart with love, so utter was his detachment, that +neither piping of reed, twanging of stringed instrument or patter of +feet could bring him back to his surroundings. + +And then under some unexplainable impulse Hahmed turned his head +slowly, looking across the shoulder of his guest to the door behind, +and his eyes glowed like fires in the darkness of night as in the +doorway he saw framed the face of her for whom body and soul craved. +The face was pale even unto death, but the red mouth smiled softly, and +the golden curls clustered and twisted as they had ever done; the blue +eyes were wells of love, in which the Arab's soul sank as he called +though his lips moved not, neither was there sound of words in the room. + +"Come to me, beloved, beloved! Come to me!" + +And the vision faded, and Hahmed's spirit returned to its dwelling as a +faint sigh from Ali 'Assan made him remember his duty towards his guest. + +The Arab does not indulge in nerves, though Allah only knows how long +it will be before he resorts to bromide if he continues to fraternise +with the European, but Hahmed, unknown to himself, was suffering from +the almost unendurable strain of the past endless empty days. + +He was consumed with thirst for his beloved, agonising with hunger for +his heart's desire, forcing himself to do business in out-of-the-way +places in his land so as to keep his thoughts from the exquisite face +of his own woman. + +True, he could have stayed in Cairo, and waited for further news of +her; true, he could have seized her and carried her forcibly back to +his own lands, but the pride of centuries raged within him, and until +she came back of her own free will he would neither move hand nor foot +to compel her. + +Anyway, let us put the following episode down to the months of strain +culminating in an intense irritation wrought by the babble of Ali +'Assan's meaningless chatter, and the vileness perhaps of the coffee. + +He lifted his eyes and looked at the picture before him. + +The room was low, and the lighting bad, the air suffocating, whilst a +few particles of sand blown in by the hot wind heralded an approaching +storm. + +Standing before him with a piece of tawdry gauze about her quite +unprepossessing form stood the over aged dancer with a set simper upon +her silly vacant face. + +"Allah!" ejaculated Hahmed, as he lit a cigarette, whilst Achmed, +peeping through the door, suddenly smote his forehead. + +Now dancing women were no more to the great man than a troupe of +performing collies, but his artistic sense demanded the best, and when +it was not forth-coming he felt the same annoyance as you or I would +feel if arrayed in purple and fine linen we adorned a box at the opera +with our presence, covered with as many diamonds upon it as possible, +to find a street singer deputising for a Melba or Caruso. + +"Thou dog," he said pleasantly to the cringing man, who tremblingly +explained that indeed he had one better--yea, even fair to look upon. +"Behold, if thou offerest yet another insult to this mine guest I will +have thee and thy woman whipped into the desert and left to die." + +Whereupon Achmed fled precipitately in the wake of her who had annoyed, +and snatching a whip beat her smartly on her plump but ill-formed +shoulders, the while he urged the prima ballerina of the establishment +to anoint herself and depart right quickly to the pacifying of the +great Hahmed, which order, alas, put a totally wrong idea into her +Tunisian-Arabian pate. + + +[1]Long native pipe. + + + + +CHAPTER LI + +La Belle, a rank cross-breed of Tunisian and French with a dash of +Arabian, was the one good part of a bad debt which had overwhelmed +Achmed when he had inadvertently over-reached himself. + +Her body was passable, lithe, sinewy, with a faint hint of rib and a +wonderful bust; her brain was good, intuitive in its non-educated +state, and subtle from inheritance; her ambition was superb, it knew no +limits, it saw no obstacle. + +Born in a kennel in Tunis, she had figuratively and literally fought +her way to the upper reaches of the gutter, sleeping in filth, eating +it, listening to it, living it; dancing for a meal, selling her +strangely seductive body for a piastre or so, settling her quarrels +with a knife she carried in her coarse, crisp, henna-dyed hair, with +one goal before her slanting orange eyes, that of dancer in chief, +prima ballerina, or what you will, in some house of good repute; the +explanation of which phrase would overtax my oriental knowledge I fear. + +Dance she could, if dancing is the correct term for the subtle +portraying of every conceivable vice by every conceivable gesture and +posture; and she had felt herself content on the day she had for a good +round sum sold herself to take up a dancing position of some importance +in the house of him who, unknown to her, had got himself entangled in +more than one human money-spider's web. + +If her dancing was correct or not, men had begun to foregather in the +house, where--if her temper allowed--she would dance o' nights fully +clothed or fully unclothed; also her reputation was beginning to be +used as a lure to the uninitiated freshly arrived in Cairo, therefore +her usually fiendish temper was as hell unloosed when, as part payment +of a debt, she found herself willy-nilly strapped to a camel and carted +by slow stages to the house of rest whose proprietor was Achmed, and +landlord Hahmed, the Camel King. + +"Dance I will not, thou descendant of pigs," she stormed at Achmed, +who, reducing his fez to a pulp, raved at her as she crouched in a +corner with something a-glitter in her hand. "Send in thy wife who +ambles like a camel in foal, and whose ankles are thick enough to serve +as prop to a falling house." + +"Thou fool," hissed the man with sweat pouring down his face, and who +through the working of his oriental mind already felt the swish of the +whip about his shoulders, and the agony of the desert fly's bite on his +flagellated anatomy. "It is _Hahmed_--the great _Hahmed_, who orders +thee to his presence. It is thy chance, thou fool--it is------" + +And his dull eyes brightened, and his sensual month widened in a grin +as the girl sprang to her feet and sped to a mirror on the opposite +side of the room. + +"Dullard," she cried, as she pulled her clothing furiously from her, +and stood with nothing but a plain coloured shawl of gauze covered in +tinsel twined about her slim waist, "why hast thou wasted precious +moments? Why has thou imperilled my chance by infuriating the great +man? Out of my way, thou snail." + +And as she fled precipitately from the room she caught the man by the +throat and flung him against the wall with the ease of muscle trained +to the last point. + +"Ow!" exclaimed Ali 'Assan at the apparition in the doorway with the +flaming henna head and taut brown body, with long, thin, brown arms +stretched down stiff as ramrods to the sides, and "Ow!" he said again, +as she suddenly moved and again stood still with the gleaming orange +eyes fixed on his host, who looked at her for an instant, and looked +away again to the far corner, as he indifferently lit a cigarette. + +And then La Belle danced for all she was worth, and for all she knew, +whilst the guest watched in sensual enjoyment, and the host took not +the slightest notice. + +Nearer she came, and nearer still, until the pungent odour of the +insufferable Eastern perfume of which the body is musk, suddenly struck +the nostrils of the man for whom she danced, bringing a slight frown to +his face, and causing him to thoughtlessly raise his right hand, which, +as perhaps the reader may not know, is an oriental sign of appreciation. + +A flash of triumph swept across the face of the woman, who was +absolutely on the wrong tack, as she sidled so near that her bare limbs +almost touched the flowing cloak which swept round the man. His mind +was full of his exquisite, delicate, tantalising, fastidious wife, his +body ached for her, his soul fainted for even a touch of her little +hand, so that once again he raised his right hand as though to sweep +away some pestilential insect from his path, just one little careless +gesture which proved a woman's undoing. + +Back bent La Belle, and still farther back until her evil face was on a +level with that of the man she was trying to subjugate, and when for an +instant his eyes rested on hers, which peered at him from the strange +angle of her upside down position, she whispered one little word. + +And then a great fury suddenly blazed in Hahmed's eyes, a sudden storm +of hate swept across the stern face, as his hand steel strong closed +fiercely about the long thin neck. + +"Thou daughter of gutter dogs," he whispered, so low that the words +were hardly caught by Ali 'Assan, who with fingers twining +uncontrollably in his white garment, sat petrified by the suddenly +arisen storm. "Thou essence of evil, go back to the devil who spawned +thee." + +There was a choked gurgling cry as the hand closed tighter, a little +click like the closing of a safe door, and the body of the dead woman, +was hurled into the middle of the room, whilst Hahmed lit a cigarette +and clapped his hands for the presence of Achmed, who, his legs +refusing to support his shaking body, crawled in on his hands and knees. + +"Carry that carrion out, O! thou trafficker in evil, and throw it to +the jackals." + +"Master, O! master! May the light of Allah shine upon thee in thy +wisdom, may the houris of paradise make thy couch one of delight when +thou art gathered to thy forefathers! In all ignorance I sent yon +ignoble female to dance before my honoured guest--a great price I paid +for her in the market." + +"Thou liest," gently replied his master. + +Whereupon Achmed gathered good handfuls of dust from the floor and +massaged it into his oily hair, whilst Hahmed, rising to his great +height, prayed forgiveness from his guest, who was even then thinking +what a waste of good material the dead woman represented. + +"Let this serve thee as a lesson, thou perverter of Allah's truth," +spake Hahmed, in a voice as caressing as that of a woman, "and teach +thee to acquire property which does honour to thy house. Camels, a +male and female, shall be sent in payment for that for which thou hast +not paid one piastre. + +"Breed with them so that the milk refreshes the traveller, and the hair +spins soft covering for their bed, and fail me not again, for behold +when I strike it is as the lightning which blasts the tree." + +And the two men stalked silently from the scene of the tragedy, leaving +Achmed rubbing his hands in glee, with intervals of removing particles +of dust from his eyes and mouth, whilst his virago of a first wife +ambled in to ascertain the proceeds of the evening, an account of which +caused her to raise dirty hands to heaven and praise Allah, before she +ambled out again, contemptuously kicking the dead body _en passant_, +which action nearly upset the equilibrium of her cumbersome body, as +she hastened to summon the help necessary to lift and carry to the +jackals the body of La Belle who had missed her chance. + + + + +CHAPTER LII + +The full moon shone down on the scene, which surely had not changed +since the wise men of the East--led by a star--came to find a Babe. + +The palms swayed slightly in a faint breeze, the sand stretched a +restful grey, and there was no sound whatever save the faint ripple of +the life-giving stream singing its way through the oasis. Neither was +there sign of human life excepting the figure of an Arab standing as if +carved in bronze in the black shadow of the palms. Immobile, with arms +folded he stood, eyes intent on the road leading to civilisation, +watching and waiting, as he had watched and waited through many a night +until dawn. + +"Allah!" and the words were indistinguishable from the brook's +murmuring. "God of all, send her back to me. Behold! with patience I +have waited these last long months--and yet would I wait even until +death--for thou, O! Allah, in Thy greatness hast allowed me dimly to +understand this woman's mind--my woman, my heritage of all time. + +"The Eastern night will draw her back, as surely as the moon will make +a silvery path for her return; for she has but tried her soft white +wings, and I have no fear that she will have sullied them in her flight. + +"But this time, this time there shall be no escape." + +The long brown hand stretched out as if to seize and hold, the slender +fingers closed gently, but with a grip of steel, as though upon the +whiteness of some woman's throat. + +"When she comes back my wife," continued the voice, as the moon slowly +swung up to her throne, blinding in her power the million twinkling +eyes that had watched for her coming. "Yet, when she comes it will be +for very love of me, her lover, and for love of the night and the scent +of the dawn, for the stillness of the dusk, and the longing to lay her +pure whiteness at rest within my arms." + +And then he threw his hands heavenwards with a great cry. + +"Allah, be praised! Oh Allah, unto thee I give thanks." + +And sank upon his knees, touching the sand with his forehead, and +rising with hands outstretched strode quickly to the clump of palms +near the gate in the wall surrounding Jill's dwelling, to meet three +camels stalking upon the road leading from civilisation towards him; +one golden-brown with a closed palanquin swaying upon its back, the +others dark brown, one laden with great skins, almost empty of water, +and bundles of every size and description, the other mounted by the +head keeper of camels, who, having brought the animals to their knees, +ran to his master and knelt before him with his mouth open as though to +speak, and a look of wracking anxiety and indecision upon his usually +imperturbable countenance. + +But a slight motion of his master's hand sent him hurriedly towards the +servants' quarters, where he was received by scores of his own kind +simply bursting with curiosity, whilst Hahmed silently held out his +hands to help Jill from the palanquin. + +She stumbled badly as her feet touched the ground, and bit on a cry as +the man's strong hand caught and steadied her as she stood swaying +slightly. + +"Remove thy veil for I fain would see what winds have blown upon thee!" + +The little figure, wrapped in countless yards of the soft purple satin +habarah, recoiled a step as the words fell with the hiss of icy water +upon red hot steel; a little nervous laugh rising like thin vapour on +the strained atmosphere. + +"And so the great Hahmed would expose the face of his wife to the +driver of camels? Behold, has his pride fallen." + +And she continued with the sharp edge of an approaching nerve storm in +her voice. + +"Methinks it would be better for him to send his fleetest camel to the +great city, and bid it wait without the house of the Blue Door, wherein +are to be found those who, unveiled and unashamed, will come and dance +upon the sand before such men as--yon camel driver!" + +A slight sound of tearing silk and the scented veil lay in Hahmed's +hands, whilst the great moon threw its rays mercilessly on the little +face. + +Deep purple rings made the eyes seem twice their size, the nose looked +pinched, the mouth slightly twisted, whilst great drops from the damp +brow fell upon the silk covering she held heaped up around her. + +"Allah!" ejaculated Hahmed, as he looked and looked again. "Methinks +the winds have been ill which have blown upon thee. Thou lookest +stricken unto death--and I know not how, but thou hast changed +inconceivably--thou art shorter. No! I know not what it is, but +hearken. + +"Thou hast filled my cup of endurance, O! woman, to the brim. Yea! +until the drops of bitterness have overflowed and fallen upon the +sands, but now thou art come back, rather than let thee go I would +drive this dagger through thy heart. + +"Fear not that I will pass uncalled the silken hangings of thy chamber, +or force upon thee the sweet title of wife which against my wish thou +hast so long disdained, but thou art my prisoner. If love could not +bind thee to me, then shall care be taken that thou strayest not again +from thy home. + +"Thy body woman has orders to come to thee only when I command her to +do so, though such is her love for thee that she beats her shrivelled +body in despair at thy absence, and is like to die for weariness of thy +empty chamber. So when thou wilt retire, if perchance the silken +ribbon of thy raiment has become knotted, there are no hands but these +to the unravelling of the mysteries of thy toilet. + +"If thou hast need of me, thou needest but call me, and I will speed to +thy bidding, for behold! I will lay across thy portal, as I have lain +these many moons since thy nest has been without the bird for whom it +was my pleasure to build." + +For a moment fell a mighty silence between the two, broken only by the +stream which hurried past them on its way to the great green Nile. + +Not a frond stirred, neither did the breeze even move the multitudinous +folds of Jill's raiment. + +From the West the sand swept up to her feet, and as far as eye could +see to the East it stretched. + +Slowly she turned and looked at the motionless figure under the palms, +then silently she held out her hands with a little movement of utter +submission, as a sound, twixt a sob and a moan, fell gently on the soft +air. + +For one long moment they looked across the sand at each other, these +two who had been tried to their utmost limit, and then the man was at +her feet, with, flimsy veil held in his hands, lower he bent and lower, +as his white cloak swept out on each side of the girl like great +protecting wings, as catching the hem of her dress he raised it to his +forehead, and then rising to fasten the veil before her face, led her +by the hand to the door of her dwelling, pulling back the white silk +curtain for her to pass. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII + +A very ecstasy of love radiated upon the Arab's face as he stood behind +Jill, who in amazement stopped dead on the threshold. + +Beautiful her many rooms had been, but none to compare with the +snow-white beauty of this. Great white Persian rugs with faint +tracings worked in gold and silver lay upon the white marble of the +floor; white cushions, with little corner gold and silver tassels, lay +piled upon a great divan raised a foot on ivory feet above the floor, +and half hidden behind white damask curtains hanging from a finely +wrought arch carved out of creamy stretches of ivory held together with +gold and silver clasps of rare workmanship. + +Stools of ivory, and one great perfect chair, made of innumerable tusks +with each tip blunted by a ball of crystal, shone in the dim light cast +by the hanging lamps, which drew countless rays from the four fountains +playing in the four corners. Bibelots, jewelled boxes, rare books in +rare age-dulled covers, things of use and things of luxury lay in every +corner, and yet so big was the room that it gave Jill an infinitely +refreshing feeling of space as she walked slowly through to another +one, leading out from the far side, where crystal and ivory gleamed +from low tables, and full length mirrors reflected the water in the +Roman bath over which hung flowering plants scenting the air from the +great gold and white cups, whilst two snow-white doves cooed to each +other in a silver cage at the approach of the coming dawn. + +"So would I have it for my--ah----!" Hahmed stopped suddenly, as with a +little cry the girl falling forward clutched frantically at his fine +white clothing, tearing it in many places under her weight. + +"Woman--wife, art thou stricken with fear of him who loves thee--Allah! +That I should have lived to see thy face distorted in anguish in my +presence. I spoke in anger, O! my heart, but my wrath waxeth faint +within me in thy beloved presence," and speaking soft words of love he +raised her in his arms, causing the voluminous mantle which she held so +closely about her to slip from her shoulders to the ground. + +Speechless she stood before him with her hands before her face, and +speechless stood Hahmed, as, holding her at arm's length, he gazed upon +his woman, gazed until a great tremor suddenly shook him. + +For behold he saw that the glory of womanhood had descended upon her, +and that her hour was nigh. + +"Allah!" he whispered, as he gently drew her into his arms. "Thou art +with child, O! my beloved. Why was I not stricken blind for this my +senseless folly? Why was I not stricken dumb for those my words of +wrath spoken to _thee_, thou tree bearing the fruit of love? Oh! glory +be to Allah in this most wonderful thing." + +He picked her up, and carrying her into the first room, laid her upon +the divan and knelt beside her with her hand against his mouth whilst +she whispered to him the great, the everlastingly wonderful and new +tidings of the coming of her babe. + +"Oh, dearest of men and most little understanding. Truly it is that +within me I hold thy great gift. How was it thou didst not guess when +I no longer raced thee across the sands upon my horse, or sprang to the +ground to greet thee on my return. + +"And even when my moods changed even as changeth the colour of the +sands, even then, dear heart, thou didst not guess; and I in my foolish +woman's way was contrary, and could not even then be sure that my +happiness lay here in the desert. And so I left thee, to try thee and +myself, and not until I could no longer see thee, and have speech with +thee, did I------ Hahmed! Ah, beloved! Nay, 'tis nothing--it can be +nothing--because two moons have yet to rise and wane before--ah, and +yet--maybe--maybe the journey, although not tedious, has brought about +my happiness before its time. Beloved, I------" + +With eyes alight, with a great pride and face aglow with tenderness, +Hahmed bent and kissed the little agonised face. + +"I go one instant, Queen of Women, to bid thy body woman come, she, +praise be to Allah, being well versed in the mighty miracle of birth. + +"She will tend thee with the tenderness of a mother, and the skill of +the greatest doctor in the land. + +"Fret not, beloved, I am gone but for one moment." + +Jill lay silent, and then smiled sweetly as out of the shadows ran a +little hunchback figure who stood without word, for a moment gazing +with love-laden eyes at the white woman, then kneeling suddenly, kissed +the cushion upon which rested the girl's dainty feet. + +For half an hour Jill submitted to the adoring little woman's +ministrations, who made water to splash, and scented the air with +aromatic perfume, and spread white loose gowns and softest linens +before her mistress for her choice. + +"Leave me, Ameena, now," whispered Jill, and she was alone with the +golden glory of her hair falling about her, as she pressed her hands +against her mouth, until uncontrollably and insistently her cry for her +master tore the air. + +"Hahmed! Ah, Hahmed! Come to me!" + +And he was beside her. + +The Arab had faced death more than once, had witnessed things unmoved +which had served to freeze the very blood of others; but never had he +heard such a cry as this which cleft the shadows in the room. + +Great drops of sweat shone upon his forehead as he stooped above the +couch, his strong white teeth biting into his under lip. + +Swiftly he crossed the room, pulling back the silken curtain which +served as a door, leaving an opening through which the dying moon +struck a mighty silver spear. + +And as swiftly he passed out into the gardens scented with sweet +flowers, a little gate in the wall swinging back at his touch, through +which he sped on and on to the great plains of his beloved desert. + +It was the hour before the dawn, and turning in the direction of Mecca +he prayed, and the prayer finished, advanced yet another twenty yards +and, divesting himself of his cloak, laid it upon the ground, and then +turning, sped back to his woman who honoured him before all men. + +A little breeze heralding the coming dawn blew the silken curtains +gently to and fro as the man knelt beside the low divan. + +"Hahmed! the hour strikes--I am afraid--I--oh! Hahmed, I cannot see +thy face, beloved." + +Two little white hands sought and grasped the strong ones held out to +help, for through the faint voice had crept a note of fear. + +But even though the little teeth had bit until red drops of blood had +spilled from her mouth on to the white cushion, the great eyes smiled +up into the man's tortured face as he bent closer to the golden head. + +"Harken! Woman of women, thou who bringest honour unto me, in this +thou shalt please thyself, for art thou not in this moment a very +queen, and I but a slave at thy feet. + +"Behold is it the custom of my tribe, dwellers of the desert, children +of the sand, that the woman give birth to her first-born upon the very +sand of this mighty desert. + +"Not upon couch and silken cloth does the first-born draw its breath, +but upon the sand with the desert wind upon his little head. + +"I have no command for thee, beloved, because thou art of the West, +where different customs rule, and I--I mind not--for my love for thee +is above all custom, and all manner and fashioning of mankind! Choose +then and I am satisfied!" + +Once again two little hands shone dimly as they were raised, searching +blindly. + +"Take me into thy arms, beloved, and carry me to the desert sand, for +behold, thy will is my will and my ways are henceforth thy ways! But +hasten! for the moment is at hand. Hold me in thy strength for I +faint!" + +Tenderly the great man stooped and gathered the girl to his breast. +Swiftly he crossed the threshold, and passing through the gate gently +laid her down upon his mantle, stretched upon the ground. + + * * * * * * + +The wind of dawn blew the stars out one by one, the great plains of +sand changed from purple to steel, to grey, to yellow. + +The palms whispered gently together, the water sang on its swift way to +the river, a faint movement everywhere heralded the coming of the day. + +Motionless, Hahmed knelt beside Jill, whose snow-white face, +half-ridden in the folds of cloth, looked like some faint spring flower +in a world of shadows. + +And then, as the woman whose unbound hair rippled in golden streams +about the Arab's feet, put out her hands to grasp her master's robe, a +long-drawn cry which spoke of pain and joy, death and ecstasy and Life, +crept over the sands, rising, rising to the very heavens, to sink back +in faintest moan to her who in that moment had fulfilled the miracle of +Love. + +A hush fell upon the earth, a mighty stillness upon those two. + +And then! + +A little sound, soft as a bird's call at dawn, broke the silence of the +sands! + +And at the little sound the man sprang upright, with hands and blazing +eyes upraised to heaven. + +And as he stood towering over the motionless woman at his feet, the +sound of rejoicing was great in the land; for over the yellow sand, +tearing apart the last dim shadows of the night, up struck the sun's +first golden shaft, and as it spread, piling gold upon red, and red +upon gold, across the great plains and up to the very highest of high +heaven thundered the Mohammedan's tumultuous, triumphant hymn of praise. + +"_La Allah, illa Allah! Muhammed rasul Allah!_" + + + + +THE END + + + + +[Transcriber's note: The word "Amourers" in Chapter XXXIII should +probably be "Armourers" (weapon makers).] + +[Transcriber's note: In the "La Allah" line above, two characters are +supported only in Unicode. They are the second "a" in "Allah" and the +"a" in "illa", both of which should be a-macron (U+0101), and the "u" +in "rasul", which should be u-macron (U+016B).] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Desert Love, by Joan Conquest + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DESERT LOVE *** + +***** This file should be named 15242.txt or 15242.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/2/4/15242/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/15242.zip b/15242.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..575b548 --- /dev/null +++ b/15242.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a73980c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #15242 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15242) |