Except for the camels, that never seemed to be affected by any
weather, everything at Camp Verde had sought the nearest shade. It was
hot, Ali admitted to himself. The Syrian sun at its fiercest was not
more savage than this blazing sun of Texas. But it was not unendurable.
Since for the present there was no reason to endure it, Ali and Mimico
sat cross-legged in the shade of the camel khan. Wan and weak, Mimico
was still recovering from some devastating malady that had almost cost
his life. For an interval neither spoke. Then Mimico broke the silence.
"I came to this thrice-accursed camp while winter was still with us," he
growled. "I have been here since, doing the work of a stable boy and as
a stable boy regarded. All this I endured without complaint--"
Ali smothered a quick grin. Throughout a very monotonous period of doing
nothing worthwhile, as they waited for somebody to decide what should be
done, no voice had declared more loudly or more frequently than Mimico's
that camels and camel men belonged out on the trails. They should not be
restricted to a rest home for obsolete Pashas--Mimico's personal title
for Camp Verde--who could do nothing except talk because they had grown
too old or too fat to ride.
Mimico saw the grin and lapsed into a sulky silence. Then he resumed,
amending his narrative to conform with truth.
"All this I endured with little complaint, for I knew that it was a
passing thing. Sooner or later, there would be work for men, and men
would be needed. Now that the opportunity is here--"
Mimico's voice trailed off into silence, and he gazed moodily at the
sun-shriveled horizon. Ali's heart went out to his friend.
Camp Verde had indeed proved dull. Ali would have taken Ben Akbar and
gone elsewhere weeks ago, except that he, too, foresaw a need for both
camels and camel men. Now that time was not only at hand, but it
promised to be the most exciting caravan of Ali's life.
A full-scale expedition was to be commanded by a Lieutenant Beale, an
officer Ali had not met. The object was to survey a wagon road.
According to rumor, a great deal of the proposed route lay through
wilderness, of which none was well-known and much was unknown. There was
more than a fair chance of encountering Indians, America's own savage
tribesmen!
Most important and most exciting, the expedition was to provide a major
test for the camels. Twenty-five were to go along, with Ali as a sort of
overseer-teacher. Besides handling the camels, he was to instruct others
in their proper handling.
Ali could well understand his friend's disappointment. Mimico, who
otherwise would have accompanied the expedition, had been declared
physically unfit by the post surgeon and ordered to remain at Camp
Verde.