Oriental Encounters / Palestine and Syria, 1894-6

TAIN G

thirty travellers. I had to find a stable for my horse elsewhere. A dining-table was provided, and we sat on chairs around it; but the food was no wise European, and the cooking was degraded Greek. A knife, fork, and spoon were laid for every guest but several cast these on the floor and used their fingers. In the long bedroom were a dozen beds on bedsteads. By offering a tri

or we honest men here present will wring thy neck and take thy woman from thee. Dost thou understand?' H

er?' said the monitor to

some danger from the fierce attacks of pariah dogs, found out the vault in which my horse was stabled. Ten minutes later I was clear of the village, riding along a mountain side but dimly visible beneath the stars. The path descended to a deep ravine, and rose again, up, up, interminably. At length, upon the summit of a ridge, I felt the dawn. The mountain tops were whitened like the crests of waves, while all the clefts and hollows remained full of night. Behind me, in

e better qualified to judge than I was. For peace and quiet I pretended acquiescence, and my purpose thus acquired a taste of stealth. It was with the feelings of a kind of truant that I had set out at length without a word to anyone, and with the same adventurous feelings that I now drew

out my business till I had had breakfast. Luncheon had been arranged for me, he said, but that could not be ready for some hours. Would I be so kind as to excuse a makeshift? Even as he spoke, a soldier entered with a tray on which were slabs of Arab bread, a pitcher of sour milk, and heaps of grapes. Another soldier began pounding coffee, while yet another blew upon the charcoal in a brazier. I refused to eat unless my host ate with me, which he did only after much polite resistance. After the meal, we sat and talked, the soldiers joining in the conversation. They told me of old wars and deeds of valour. Hasan Agha was, it seemed, a fam

the discharge Rash?d required. Hasan Agha stamped both documents with an

tness that Rash?d, the son of Ali, called the Fai

s this: that, when obeying orders, he is apt to think, and so invent a method of his own, not always good

ntly to some standing joke unknown to me. Rash?d look

as I am-one who has been what thou art, and so knows the tricks. Serve him freely with thy mind and soul and conscience, not waiting for commands as in the Army. Come hither, O my son

ere Rash?d's, so were the eyes of

mine which I had brought for him, while Hasan Agha, talking of him

is friends, so he informed me. It might be worth my while to buy it for him, he suggested later-the price was only eight pounds Turk, the merest trifle. The whole garrison escorted us to the last houses, where

found for me an empty house to which he brought a mattress and a coverlet, a lot of cushions, a brazier, and the things required for making coffee, also a tray of supper-all of them borrow