I longed to get north again quit of this relaxing
camp. He had large eloquent eyes, likeblack velvet in richness.
One day I entered to find him sitting upright and
wide-eyed with a spotof red in either cheek.
Our valley pinched together, and wewent round a
sharp spur, ascending steeply. The mixture of Egyptian troops with tribesmen was a
moralweakness.
So we plodded soberly on forsix hours in great
heat. His generosity kept him always poor, despite the profits of a hundredraids.
This counted as a bull, and was very popularwith everyone but him. The fluency had a
lack of grammar, which made my talk aperpetual adventure for my hearers. The plans
were made, and the preparations advanced.
The mixture of Egyptian troops with tribesmen was a
moralweakness. His generosity kept him always poor, despite the profits of a
hundredraids. The walls each sidewere of regular bands of sandstone, streaked red in
many shades.
So we cut short our second night in paradise, and
at two inthe morning went on up the valley. He would not go onraids himself, and
hardly encouraged those who did. The aeroplanes from it had flown uphere and were
established. Nasir was wrought up; he commanded rice forsupper, and the friends to
feed with us.
Shakir joined wildly in the sport, but would
smartingly punish aliberty.
Then he waved the rest of the camp on to the large
supply. He was devout, but hated Mecca, and playedbackgammon while Abdulla read the
Koran.
Sheslipped, so that he crashed off and broke an
arm. Firstly, that irregulars would notattack places, and so remained incapable of
forcing a decision.
The edges of the cliffs about us were clipped
strangely,like fantastic parapets.
I longed to get north again quit of this relaxing
camp. There entered a tall, strong figure, with a haggard face,passionate and
tragic.