"My head upon it," Crawford said.
"And why do you tell us of these Cheyenne, these great warriors of the
plains of the land of your birth? The story fails to bring joy to
hearts already heavy with the troubles of the Tuareg."
It was time to play the joker.
Crawford said carefully, "Because there was no need, O Amenokal of all
the Ahaggar, for the Cheyenne to disappear before the sandstorm of the
future. They could have ridden before it and today occupy a position
of honor and affluence in their former land."
They stared at him.
"And give up the old ways?" Guemama demanded. "Become no longer
nomads, no longer honorable warriors, but serfs, slaves, working with
one's hands upon the land and with the oil-dirty machines of the
Roumi?"
The chiefs muttered angrily.
Crawford said hurriedly, "No! Never! In our great conferences, my
viziers and I decided that the Tuareg could never so change. The
Tuareg must die, as did the Northern Cheyenne before he would become a
city dweller, a worker of the land."
"Bismillah!" someone muttered.
"Too often," Crawford explained, "do the bringers of these things of
the future, be they Roumi or others, fail to utilize the potential
services of the people of the lands they over-sweep."
"I do not understand you, El Hassan," Melchizedek grumbled. "There is
no room for the Tuareg in this new world of bringing trees to the
desert, of the great trucks which speed across the erg a score of time
the pace of a _hejin_ racing camel, of larger and ever larger oases
with their great towns, their schools, their new industries. If the
Tuareg remains Tuareg, he cannot fit into this new world, it destroys
the old traditions, the old way which is the Tuareg way."
Homer Crawford now turned on the pressure. His voice took on overtones
of the positive, his personality seemed to reach out and seize them,
and even his physical stature seemed to grow.
"Some indeed of the ways of the bedouin must go," he entoned, "but the
Tuareg will survive under my leadership. A people who have throve a
millennium and more in the great wastes of the Sahara have strong
survival characteristics and will blossom, not die, in my new world.
Know, O Melchizedek, that it has been decided that the Ahaggar Tuareg
will be the heart of my Desert Legion. In times of conflict, armed
with the new arms, and riding the new vehicles, they will adapt their
old methods of warfare to this new age. In times of peace they will
patrol the new forests, watching for fire and other disaster, they
will become herdsmen of the new herds and be the police and rescue
forces of this wide area. As the Cheyennes of the olden times of the
land of my birth could have become herdsmen and forest rangers and
have performed similar tasks had they been shown the way."
Homer Crawford let his eyes go from one of them to the next, and his
personality continued to dominate them.
The Amenokal ran his thin, aged hand through the length of his white
beard beneath his teguelmoust and contemplated this stranger come out
of the ergs to lead his people to still greater changes than those
they had thus far rebelled against.
* * * * *
Crawford realized that the Targui was divided in opinion and inwardly
the American was in a cold sweat. But his voice registered only
supreme confidence. "Under my banner, all North Africa will be welded
into one. And all the products of the land will be available in
profusion to my faithful followers. The finest wheat for cous cous
from Algeria and Tunis, the finest dates and fruits from the oases to
the north, the manufactured products of the factories of Dakar and
Casablanca. For Africa has always been a poor land but will become a
rich one with the new machines and techniques that I will bring."
The Amenokal raised a hand to stem the tide of oratory. "And what do
you ask of us now, El Hassan?"
Instead of to the older man, Crawford turned his eyes to the face of
Guemama, the leader of the young clansmen. "Now my people are
gathering to establish the new rule. Teda from the east, Chaambra from
the north, Sudanese from the south, Nemadi, Moors and Rifs from the
west. We rendezvous in ten days from now at Tamanrasset where the Arab
Legion dogs have seized the city as they wish to seize all the lands
of the Sahara and Sudan for the corrupt Arab Union politicians."
Crawford came to his feet. His voice took on an edge of command. "You
will address your scouts and warriors and each will ride off on the
swiftest camels at your command to raise the Tuareg tribes. And the
clans of the Kel Rela will unite with the Taitoq and the Tegehe Mellet
in a great harka at this point and we will ride together to sweep the
Arab Legion from the lands of El Hassan."