Beginning at her stern and bearing to the starboard side, Ali set out
to become more intimately acquainted with the ship. Almost every step
brought to light a fresh marvel. As a camel driver who traveled with
caravans, at one time or another he had been in every port that a
caravan can visit, and he was not unfamiliar with ships. But never
before had he seen anything to compare with the _Supply_.
A hundred and forty-one feet over all, the wooden three-master had a
main and a quarterdeck. An official United States Navy ship, she was
armed with a battery of four twenty-four pounders. One glance revealed
that her crew of forty officers and men believed in and strictly adhered
to the rules of first-class seamanship; the _Supply_ was as spotlessly
clean as she was trim.
Had she been a conventional ship, Ali would have considered her
impressive enough. As it was, he found her overwhelming.
Jefferson Davis, United States Secretary of War, was one of several
outstanding Americans who'd long cherished the notion that camels might
very well help solve some of the troublesome problems of transportation
involved in settling America's vast, arid and little-known Southwest.
Finally, granted official permission to subject this theory to a
practical test, the _Supply_ had been rebuilt for the sole purpose of
importing an experimental herd.
A well-built stable, sixty feet long, twelve feet wide and not quite
seven feet six inches high, extended from just behind the foremast to
just in front of the quarterdeck. On either side were twenty portholes
that could be left open when weather permitted, but each porthole was
equipped with a panel of glass that closed from the inside in cold
weather and wooden shutters that swung from the outside and were to be
used during violent storms or in heavy seas. Midway was a hatch that
offered direct entry to the stable, and that could be lowered for
loading or unloading and raised when the ship was at sea.
Front and rear, high enough above the main deck so that even the most
turbulent waves would not wash over them, were other hatches fitted with
wind sails--canvas funnels--that admitted air but excluded everything
else. Thus, even when it was necessary to close the portholes, there was
no danger that the camels would suffocate.
Every stall was fitted with a harness, so arranged that the stall's
occupant might have complete freedom of movement when the _Supply_ was
in smooth sailing, or be strapped firmly in a kneeling position and
unable to move at all, when the ship was in stormy seas. Further to
minimize injuries that might result from being tossed about, bags filled
with hay were secured to every beam and anything else that a camel might
bump. The stable floor was covered with clean, fresh litter. Reflector
lamps would illuminate the stable if it should be necessary to attend
the camels at night.
A supply of fresh water was contained in two huge tanks, each holding
thirty thousand gallons, and a fire extinguisher was arranged so that it
could draw on either tank or both. A sterile cabinet held an ample
supply of every known remedy for any aliment that might afflict a camel.
The hold of the _Supply_ was filled to the bursting point with a store
of the finest and cleanest hay and grain. No necessity or luxury that a
camel might need--or that somebody fancied a camel might need--had been
omitted.
There were twenty camels already in the stable and they were making
themselves at home there. Twenty-four, including Ben Akbar, remained to
be brought on board.
Thirty-seven of the herd were young females, many of which were with
young. Every one of the forty-three beasts that the American buyers had
selected was an outstanding creature, all in their prime and none with
any blemishes or deformities. But even though he must concede that the
Americans knew how to choose camels, Ali was both baffled and dazzled by
their sending of the _Supply_, obviously representing a tremendous
investment, to carry a mere forty-four of even the finest camels all the
way to America. Few of the desert-roving camel breeders of Ali's
acquaintance would consider it worth their while to drive so small a
herd to market, not even if the market was only four miles away.
Rounding the front of the stable and continuing sternward on the
opposite side of the _Supply_, Ali felt a tense ripple travel up his
spine and reassured himself that his dagger was at hand when he saw
another camel handler approaching. Eight natives in all, seven besides
Ali, had been retained to accompany this herd to America and Ali hadn't
the faintest doubt that each one knew all the details of his story. But
far from any hostile gesture or incident, nobody had even mentioned
Mecca, to say nothing of the punishment sure to attend any who shed
blood in the Holy City. There was a variety of possible explanations for
such forbearance. Maybe the seven were lukewarm Moslems, who simply
didn't care; perhaps, like Ali, they had personal reasons for wanting to
go to some land where Moslems were few; possibly they intended to take
action but were waiting for the right moment.
When he was near enough to his fellow camel handler, Mimico Teodara, Ali
said decorously, "I greet thee."
"And I thee," the other replied.
Ali relaxed. If Mimico knew his story--and beyond doubt he did know--and
if he were a strict Moslem, he would not have spoken to Ali at all. For
a moment they remained side by side and both glanced toward the tethered
camels that remained on shore. Ali, who somehow felt that Mimico might
become his friend, spoke of the riddle that had been puzzling him.
"It is strange, almost past understanding, that Americans would send
such a ship, at vast expense, to carry only forty-four camels to
America."
"Strange indeed," his companion agreed. "Even more to be wondered at is
the fact that, the first time they came, they returned with only
thirty-three camels."