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.