Iskender, having roused his dear Emîr, went out to inspect the train.
It was then some half-hour later than the time appointed; yet neither
mules nor man were in sight, only the horse of the Emîr, with its neat
leather saddle and bridle, was being led up and down before the hotel
by a bare-legged boy. In a rage Iskender hastened to the khan whence
at the recommendation of Elias he had hired his muleteer. There his
reproaches caused extreme amazement. The man, he was told, had
received his order as for the following day. He was not on the
premises, and his house was some way off.
An idle witness of the youth's despair volunteered to go and fetch the
defaulter; he set off at a run, but was gone for more than an hour.
Iskender tired of waiting, and strode back angrily to the hotel.
Tidings of his dilemma having gone abroad, he was escorted by a little
crowd of the curious, among them some muleteers who were loud in their
offers of service. From a distance he beheld the missionary, with back
towards him, conversing with his patron at the door, and quickened
step; but before he could come up the dialogue, whatever it concerned,
was ended, and his enemy had moved on.
"Not about you this time," his beloved laughed; "though he declares
that you are none of you to be trusted out of sight. He has just been
warning me against our friend Elias, who, he says, once played a trick
upon some tourists--bribed the Bedouins to take them prisoner, and let
him rescue them. I assured him that Elias was not going with us; but
he seemed to doubt my word, and I shall begin to doubt it myself unless
those mules turn up. What has become of them?"
"The man bretends I told him for to-morrow. That is a lie, because I
sboke as blain as anythin'. I think it some trick of that Elias to
detain us here."
By that time all the unemployed muleteers in the town had joined the
growing crowd that watched their conference. One man had gone so far
as to bring a good-looking mule ready saddled with him, as a sample of
what he could provide. Iskender paid no heed to the prayers of all
these suppliants, whispered confidentially by those in front, shouted
with fierce gesticulations from those behind, any more than he gave ear
to the counsel of the sons of Mûsa that he should employ one of them.
He still had hopes of the person he had first engaged, who appeared at
length, but without any mules, and in a state of indignation even
greater than Iskender's.
The clash of words when they met electrified the whole street; the
mouths of the rival muleteers, now mere onlookers, grinned all
together, showing milk-white teeth. Accused of laziness, of breach of
contract, the delinquent hurled back the accusations in Iskender's
face. He said he knew his business, and was not going to start without
proper orders. The Khawâjah Elias, the responsible dragoman, was away,
and might Allah end his life immediately if he set forth without him at
the call of a beardless boy.
So the truth was out. Iskender reported to his patron that the man was
a mere creature of Elias.
"There's nothing for it," said the Emîr with a shrug. "We must engage
another man."
"But I baid this one already some money."
"Never mind. It will cost us more than that if we wait for Elias!"
So that muleteer was dismissed and retired, conscientiously objecting
in terms abusive and obscene; while the man who had had the wit to
bring a mule already saddled was promptly engaged in his place. This
individual had attracted the Frank from the first by his cheerful
looks, and the way he kept aloof from the group that pestered, only
smiling now and then to the Englishman and patting his mule
significantly. He now showed great alacrity, kissing first the Emîr's
hand, then Iskender's, asking where the tent and other baggage might be
found, and promising by the cloak of the Prophet, to have all in
perfect readiness within an hour. The other candidates then fell away,
one or two volunteering to help the winner with his preparations, the
majority sitting down on their heels in the shadows of neighbouring
walls to watch the outcome of it all, the actual start.
The new muleteer was punctual to his word. But by the time the laden
mules came up, luncheon was ready, and the sons of Mûsa insisted on the
Frank's partaking of the meal. An invitation, the first he had ever
received, to join them at their private table, reconciled Iskender to
this new delay. He told the muleteer to go on in advance, indicating
the road he was to take and naming a good place for that night's
encampment; and saw the mules start off with jangling bells, leaving
behind the horse he was to ride, which was tethered in the yard of the
hotel.
After the meal the Frank was lazy with repletion, and asked to rest
awhile; so that the afternoon was far advanced before they got on
horseback. The Frank was then for a gallop; but Iskender warned him
that that pace was not for travel, and kept him down to the walk.
Passing the house of Mîtri, he looked for the girl Nesîbeh, hoping she
would see him riding at his lord's right hand, but in vain.
After an hour's journey, having left the orange-gardens far behind,
they forsook the highway and followed a bridle-path through fields.
Big scarlet tulips shone among the green cornstems. Here and there
upon the fertile plain stood forth a grove of olives, their foliage
looking nearly white by contrast with its own dark shadow; a village of
mud-houses set upon a knoll and plumed with palms, with attendant barns
and ovens shaped like beehives; a man with oxen ploughing or a camel
browsing in the custody of a small child. The breeze grew fresher as
the sun declined. The colours of a dove's breast played upon the
barren heights which walled the land to eastward. The sun sank lower
and lower; shadows grew upon the plain; the sea-coast sandhills became
clearly outlined; soon rays went up like fire from off the sea, and the
whole rampart of the eastern heights became empurpled; then a shadow
rose, a cold breeze roughed the corn, and presently the evening star
shone out in a soft sky.
It was dark when they reached the appointed halting-place, in a wady of
the foothills, close to a village which possessed a spring of water.
They found their tent well-pitched, a good fire burning in the shelter
of a cunning wind-screen, and the kettle boiling. They had tea at
once, and afterwards Iskender went to cook the supper. His lord soon
followed with desire to help.
"It's splendid fun!" he cried. "You are a trump, Iskender!"
Iskender answered nothing, but gave praise to Allah.