The Garden of Allah

with Suzanne, who had evidently made a strong impression upon his susceptible nature. Hadj had been but slightly injured by Irena, but did not appear at the hotel for a very sufficient reason

seem to trouble him. When Domini inquired after Hadj he showed majestic indifference,

henceforth whether the Mehari w

lay its spirit and its paces before Domini, sitting it superbly, and shooting many sly glances at

ut it on the animal. Meanwhile she went upstairs to change into her habit. When she came out again on to the verandah Boris Androvsky was there, standing bare-head

ith deliberate friendliness. "To see if I

not, M

ion in his eyes, an admiration that was almost ferocious, and that was yet respectful and even pure. It was like the glance of a passionate schoolboy verging on young manhood, whose natural instincts were astir but whose temperament was unwarped by vice; a glance that w

he said, turni

see you get up?

p!" sh

the h

pressing the act of mounting. He was not a spor

if you like.

iority, but with the sort of bluffness age sometimes uses good-naturedly

eek. The horse fidgetted and tugged against the rein, lifting his delicate feet uneasily from the ground, flicking his narrow quarters with his long tail, and glancing sideways with his dark and brilliant eyes, which were alive with

ooking at Domini and at the horse

ction, began to plunge viole

said to the poet. "That's it

just touched his hand a

avement. His eyes were blazing with

that's dangerous. His mouth is perfect, but he's nervous and

ous barked in a light soprano. The Arab boys jumped on their bare toes, and one of them, who was a bootblack, waved his board over his shaven head. The Arab waiter smiled as if with satisfaction at beholding perfect competence. But Androvsky stood

onsieur too. Would Monsi

mply seductive voic

ide," he s

he best teacher in Beni-Mora.

ride, I t

bark, at the same time wagging his tail in a kindly, though not effusive manner. Androvsky looked down, bent quickly and patted him, as only a man really fond of animals and accustomed to them knows how to pat. Bous-Bous was openly gratified. He began to wriggle affectionately. The priest in his garden smil

said politely, raising his

aised devoutly towards the heavens. When he saw that it was the priest who had add

ontinued in a gentle voice. "He has

e arcade, and noted the sudden change i

Monsieur, or I should not have in

ed and slightly hurt. At this moment the soft thud of horse's hoofs was audible on the road and Domini came cantering back to the hotel.

th satisfaction at the thought of his commission. "

not go alo

s voice. She smile

rried off by no

e safe for a la

Madame's guide. I have a horse ready saddled to ac

ni's face suddenly clouded. The presence of the guide would take all the edge off her pleasure, and in

d you, Batou

inexorable, backe

pany Madame. I am respo

o into the desert alo

on the tower of the dice-thrower, and of how the presence of the stranger had seemed to double her pleasure then. Up the road from the Rue Berthe came the noise

Androvsky,

sta

dam

th me for a ride

carlet, and he came a step

h an accent of i

Will

drovsky shot a sideways glance at it and hesitated. Domini thought he was

lmost brutally in her vex

tou

g upon the horse when Andro

go," h

ous. "But Monsieur

h that made him feel as if his flesh were caught betw

Arab saddle,"

not matte

ce was

accustome

s no dif

n the high stirrup, but so awkwardly that h

re!" sai

ward against the high red peak of the saddle with his hands on the animal's neck. There was a struggle. He tugged at the rein violently. The horse jumped back, reared, plunged sideways as if about to bolt. And

n, speaking to Domini,

e rein!" sa

ict. Androvsky took the rein, and, with a sort of furious determination, sprang into the saddle and pressed his legs against the horse's flanks. It reared up. The priest moved back under the palm trees, the Arab boys

killed," sai

barked f

oet. "He told me himself just now

tell me so?" D

dam

her horse's hoofs lay the sparkling crystals on the wrinkled, sun-dried earth. The red rocks, seamed with many shades of colour that all suggested primeval fires and the relentless action of heat, were heaped about her. But her eyes were fixed on the far-off moving speck that was the horse carrying Androvsky madly towards the south. The light and fire, the great airs, the sense of the chase intoxicated her. She struck her horse with the whip. It leaped, as if clearing an immense obstacle, came down lightly and strained forward into the shining mysteries at a furious gallop. The black speck grew larger. She was gaining. The crumbling, cliff-like bank on her left showed a rent in which a faint track rose sharply to the flatness beyond. She put her

rmous," Domini thought wi

urned his head, saw her, and put his horse at the bank, which w

r. It sprang at the bank and mounted like a wild cat. There was a noise of falling stones, a shower of scattered earth-clods dropping downward, and he was beside her, white with

, standing quietly, lowered their narrow, graceful heads

ost th

stop

great gasping breat

e of the earth, or-I don't know

N

monosyllables as yet. S

ore trouble just now.

ar desert, at the verge of which was a dull gree

y shook

rhaps you aren't accustomed to

gain, drew a tremen

I'll go on, I

e foam from his streaming fore

't go

dust and the sweat; like the face of a man in a fight to the death, she thought, a f

on t

the oasis, slowly on the sandy waste among the littl

the fall?" she said.

er I was. I don't c

almost

with you," he added.

that suggests the treading of a spring board rather than of the solid earth. And Androvsky seemed a little more at home on it, although he sat awkwardly on the chair-like saddle, and grasped the rein too much as the drowning man seizes the straw. Domini rode without looking at him, lest he might think she was criticising his performance. When he had rolled in the dust she had been conscious of a sharp sensation of contempt. The men she had been accusto

iked the tribute, almo

r now," she said at la

it?" h

don't

s or riding. I have not been on

as am

o back then,"

-I will ride. I do i

ire your pluck. But why have yo

pause he

I had not the

Anteoni's garden. The thousands upon thousands of sand humps, each crowned with its dusty dwarf bush, each one precisely like the others, agitated her as if she were confronted by a vast multitude of people. She wanted some point which would keep the eyes from travelling but could not find it, and was mentall

far as that?" she asked Andro

, Ma

oasis. Don't

can go

mouth. You don't mind my telling you

ou," he

. I'm sure you could teach me a thousand things;

atitude in it, but much more; a fiery bitte

hing to tea

ody, dipped in the dry and thin air as in a clear, cool bath, did not suffer from the burning rays of the sun, but felt radiant yet half lazy too. They went on and on in silence as intimate friends might ride together, isolated from the world and content in each other's company, content enough to have no need of tal

as by an uncertain hand, but impossible to distinguish palm trees. The air sparkled as if full of a tiny dust of intensely brilliant jewels, and near the ground there seemed to quiver a ma

nd grave things no place. For the blood was full of sunbeams dancing to a lilt of Apollo. Nothing mattered here. Even Death wore a robe of gold and went with an airy step. Ah, yes, from

as of all else. The green line broke into feathery tu

at

ce, with the cessation of motion, the mysticism of the desert came upon them and the marvel of its s

" he sa

ll, dim islets. Yes, there was water, and yet-The mystery of it was a mystery she had never known to brood even over a white northern sea in a twilight hour of winter, was deeper than the

he said to him al

enly she

is, it

longing to understand exactly what he was feeling. His mystery-the mystery of that which is human and is forever stretching out its arms-was as the fluid mystery of the mirage, and seemed to blend at that mome

urned and lo

and he finds there mirage. He travels right out and that's what he reaches-or at least he can't reach it,

d a fierceness of some strange passion in his words, there had been struggle in his manner, as if the pressure of feeling forced him to spea

know better than I

I

know what it has to give-whether there's only mirage, or s

know," he replied. "Well, I d

savage sound

aid quietly. "And I feel as if it was

deser

n't k

again to

hat there is

nd what

e anythi

she answered. "I am li

eyes and there was something

e world holds anything but a mirage," he said slowly. "Well

g his strong legs against his animal's flanks and holding his thin body bent forward, he looked at Domini's upright f

upon thousands of mighty trees were bounded by long, irregular walls of hard earth, at the top of which were stuck distraught thorn bushes. These walls gave the rough, penurious aspect which was in such sharp contrast to the exotic mystery they guarded. Yet in the fierce blaze of the sun their meanness was not disagreeable. Domini even liked it. It seemed

n the road-suggested some hidden purpose and activity, some concealed personage, perhaps an Eastern Anteoni, whose lair lay surely somewhere beyond them. As she had felt the call of the desert she

I always feel expectant. I always feel as if som

you?" but looked at

adame,"

frica. This is my first visit here. I

s to her. She had assumed that it was. Yet as he spoke Ar

eak it well,

ed foliage swayed in the little wind. The desert had vanished, but sent in after them the message of its soul, the marvellous breath which Domini had drunk into her lungs so long before she saw it. That breath was like a presence. I

rse ne

is coming

thrusting forward venomous heads, showing their teeth and barking furiously. Hens fluttered in agitation from one side to the other. A grey mule, tethered to a palm-wood door and loaded with brushwood, lashed out with its hoofs at a negro, who at once began to batter it passionately with a pole

peace to this vivid and con

fety, then stood up and surrounded them, staring with an almost terrible interest upon them, and surveying their horses with the eyes of connoisseurs. The children dance

he only honest man. I will show Madame everything. I will take Madame to the inn. Look-my certificates! Read th

d by some filthy men in rags, who cried, "Oosh! oosh!" to clear the way. The immense man, brandishing his recovered certificates, plunged forward to encounter them, shouting in Arabic, hustled them back, kicked them, struck at the camels with a stick till those in front receded u

Monsieur Alphonse! Monsieur Alphonse! Here are clients for dejeuner. I have brought

s. She scarcely knew how she had come there. Looking back she saw Androvsky still sitting on his h

arden. She is tired, fainting. She will eat and

we are? This is the famous Sidi-Zerzour, where the great warrior is

, Ma

ed in a l

st Mustapha and have dejeuner in the garden. It is twelve o'clock and I am

and looked at her in silent hesitatio

rathe

rse neighing and trampling, a scuffling of feet, but she did not glance round. In about three minutes Androvsky joined her. He was limping slightly and bending forward more than ever. Behind the

she said abruptl

ere covered with soft, loose suede gloves, she beat and brushed the dust from

that's

ical. He did not mo

t I can, Monsi

amazement, that there were tears in his

a small doorway beyond which could be seen three just shot gazelles lying in a patch of sunlight by a wired-in fowl-run. Domini went after him, and A

ng patterns of deep shade upon the earth in sharp contrast with the intense yellow sunlight which fringed them where the leafage ceased. An attempt had been made to create formal garden paths and garden beds by sticking rushes into little holes drilled in the ground, but the paths were zig-zag as a drunkard's walk, and the round and oblong beds contained no trace of plants. On either hand rose steep walls of earth, higher than a man, and crowned with prickly thorn bushes.

the end of the garden near the stream. With the furious assistance of honest Mustapha he carried it there and quic

rees peered. His aching limbs relaxed. His hands hung loose between his knees. And Domini half closed her eyes. A curious peace descended upon her. Lapped in the heat and silence for the moment she wanted nothing. The faint buzz of the flies sounded in her ears and seemed more silent than even the silence to which it drew attention. Never before, not in Count Anteoni's garden, had she felt more utterly withdrawn from the world. The feathery tops of the palms were like the heads of sent

on either side of the deal table covered with a rough white cloth, and Mustapha, with tremendous gestures, and gigantic postures suggesting the untamed desce

re self-conscious. He seemed afraid to eat and refused the gazelle. Mustapha broke out into turbulent surprise and prolong

omini, who was eating it. "But p

o see him look at her as if with sudden suspic

part of her impression of the desert, and now, as they sat under the fig tree between the high earth walls, and at their al fresco meal in unb

g out over the regions of the sun, of her dream upon the tower, of her vision when Irena danced. He was there, part of the noon, part of the twilight, chief surely of the worshippers who swept on in the pale procession that received gifts from the desert's hands. She could no longer imagine the desert without him. The almost painful feeling that had come to her in the gar

sh stream, while honest Mustapha bounded, with motions suggestive of an ostentatiou

ke," sh

d to smoking. She lit a cigarette, and saw him look at her with a sort of horrified surprise which changed to staring interest. There was more boy, more child in this man than i

slow waters of the stream slipping by towards

nged t

, Ma

red a little whether you h

for the first time the

n I

es

he sun, the lizards creeping over the hot earth, the flies circling beneath the lofty walls, the palm trees looking over into this garden from th

d in draperies of vivid magenta, who carried in her exquisitely-shaped brown hands a number of handkerchiefs-scarlet, orange, yellow green and flesh colour. She did not glance into the au

e of the stream, and tugged as if, suddenly endowed with lif

esh pose into which she fell, while the water eddied about her, strengthened the suggestion. With the golden sunlight streaming upon her, the brown banks, the brown waters, the brown walls throwing up the crude magenta of her bunched-up draperies, th

rned round, and, no longer preoccupied with her task, looked under her level brows into the garden opposite and saw Domini and her companion. She did not start, but stood quite still for a

!" she said, more to he

e made her consciously demand hi

re beautiful and more charact

slow, stern voice, "I

felt

?" she r

e was cloudy an

nterest me," he said. "I see

ls in Tahar's cafe? Anger rose in her. She said to herself then that it was anger at man

elieve that," she

ked at e

?" he said. "If

could make her almost afraid, that could prevent her even, perhaps, from doing the thing she had resolved t

ly I am bound to take your w

e rigid defiance that had conf

helped Androvsky to it. She had to make a great effort to perform

you,

eady, unflinching eyes. Domini smiled grimly. Fate gave her an opportunity. She beckoned to the girls. They looked at each other but did not move. She held up a bit of silver so that the sun was on it, and beckoned them again. The magenta robe was lifted above the pretty knees it had covered. The yellow, the scarlet, the deep purple robes rose too, making their s

full of

e narrow girdles, worked with gold thread, and hung with lumps of coral, that circled the small, elastic waists. Her inventory was an adagio, and while it lasted Androvsky sat on his low straw chair with this wall of young womanhood before him, of young womanhood no longer self-consciou

fierce exclamation, saw Androvsky's arm push the prett

d not come back. Some minutes passed. Then there was an exclamation of triumph from the stream. The girl in magenta held up the dripping cross with the bit of silver chain in her dripping fingers. Domini cast a swift glance behind her. Androvsky had disappeared. Quickly she went to the edge of the water. As she was in riding-dress she wore no ornaments except two earrings made of large and beautiful turquoises. She took them hastily out of he

nt as if she had saved a

e turned when he heard her. His eyes were still full of a light that revealed an intensity of mental agitation, and sh

o visit the vi

t me bother you if

me. I wish

as silently enduring had acted as an irritant to the mind. She remembered that it was caused by his determination to be her companion, and the ice in her melted away. She longed to make him calmer, happier. Secretly she touched the little

it the mosque, I

, Ma

of the various trades, the clamour of hammers on sheets of iron, the dry tap of the shoemaker's wooden wand on the soles of countless slippers, the thud of the coffee-beater's blunt club on the beans, and the groaning grunt with which he accompanied each downward stroke mingled with the incessant roar of camels, and seemed to be made more deafening and intolerable by the fierce heat of the sun, and by the innumerable smells which seethed forth upon th

ence of its level monotony. But as they walked on it grew deeper, stronger. It was like the sound of countless multitudes of bees buzzing in the noon among flowers, drowsily, ceaselessly. She stopped u

that?"

ed at An

Madame. It mu

can they

mosque where Sidi-Zerzour

his sudden reverence. It was impressive in such a fierce and greedy scoundrel. The level murmur deepened, strengthened. All the empty and dim alleys surrounding the unseen mosque were alive with it, as if the earth of the houses, the palm-wood beams, the iron bars of the tiny, shuttered windows, the very thorns of th

of the mirage, and of the airs that stole among the palm leaves. It was the perpetual heart-beat of this

was raised, had Domini felt the nearness of God to His world, the absolute certainty of a Creator listening to His creatures, watching them, want

walking slowly

sn't hurting you

gether. He shook his head silently. She looked at him, and felt that he was moved also, but whether as she was she could not tell. His face was like that of a man str

" Mustapha said, "and remain at th

ords in deep, almost growling, voices. Their fingers slipped over the beads of the chaplets they wore round their necks, and Domini thought of her rosary. Some prayed alone, removed in shady corners, with faces turned to the wall. Others were gathered into knots. But each one pursued his own devotions, immersed in a strange, interior solitude to which surely penetrated an unseen ray of sacred light. There were young boys praying, and old, wrinkled men, eagles of the desert, wi

rical curves and lines, dots and dashes. The teachers squatted in the midst, expounding the sacred text in nasal voices with a swiftness and vivacity that seemed pugnacious. There was violence within these courts. Domini could imagine the w

Allah!

he mind of Mohammedanism, that measureless hauteur which sets the soul of a Sultan in the twisted frame of a beggar at a street corner, and makes impressive, even almost majestical, the filthy marabout, quivering with palsy and devoured by disease, who squats beneath a holy bush thick with the discoloured rags of the faithful, was not abased at the shrine of the warrior, Zerzour, was not cast off in the act of adoration. These Arabs humbled themselves in the body. Their foreheads touched the stones. By their attitudes they seemed as if they wished to make themselves even with the ground, to shri

sunk away from it, leaving it white beneath the brown tint set there by the sun. He stayed quite still. The dark shadow cast by the towering mosque fell upon him, and his immobile figure suggested to her ranges of infinite melancholy. She sighed as one oppressed. There was an old man praying near them at the threshold of the door, with his face turned towards the interior. He was very thin, almost a skeleton, was dressed in rags through which his copper-coloured body, sharp with scarce-covered bones, could be seen, and had a scanty white beard sticking up,

ot take her eyes from him. His perpetual gesture, his perpetual shriek, became abominable to her in the midst of the bowing bodies and the humming voices of prayer. Each time he struck at the mosque and uttered his piercing cry she s

ky's arm. He starte

e whispered. "Can'

ced at him for

him, Mad

's hor

ion to tell Androvsky why the

wish me to

might be able to stop

n and spoke to the

s trembling shriek. It pierced the sou

got up

, still in a whisper. "It's

old man again, this time

d while the whole world worshipped? And that one cry of

n't st

s voice made he

wish to

man struck at the mosque an

tay here,"

wed by the guardian of the mosque, who

take off their boots. Th

e without waiting to see whether Androvsky was following. A

, Domini slowly threaded her way among them, following a winding path whose borders were praying men. To prevent her slippers from falling off she had to shuffle along without lifting her feet from the ground. With the regularity of a beating pulse the old man's shriek, fainter now, came to her from without. But presently, as she penetrated farther into the mosqu

pillars. They were painted green and red, and fastened with clamps and bolts of hammered copper that looked enormously old. Against them were nailed two pictures of winged horses with human heads, and two more pictures representing a fantastical town of Eastern houses and minarets in gold on a red background. B

erzour," whispered Mustapha

mosque fell on his k

is M

s not there. She stood alone before the tomb of Zerzour, the only human being in the great, dim building who was not worshipping. And she felt a terrible isolat

lt such a sensation of

olic Church. But that was not possible. Even when she saw nothing, and turned her soul inward upon itself, and strove to set this new world into which she had come far off, she heard in the long murmur that filled it a sound that surely rose from the sand, from the heart and the

it and began to mount a winding stair. The sound of prayer mounted with her from the mosque, and when she came out upon the platform enclosed in the summit of th

saw them from the minaret, and she saw the town that had sprung up round the tomb of t

bar! Alla

e soul of prayer. She gazed at the far-off desert and saw prayer travelling, the soul of prayer travelling-whither? Wher

striking at the mosque and shrieking out his trembling imprecation.

of prayer into the sunshine,

ined in the dark s

an's vagrant fancy-but she wi

II. TH