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.