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While we were at Biskra there was a wedding in one of these dingy black tents, and a very queer place it seemed to us to bring a bride to; nevertheless, she was conducted thither in triumph, riding upon a mule, while the Arabs in front of the tent fired feu-de-joie amid the most noisy demonstrations of welcome and rejoicing.
He was with Stephen when Roslin arrived, and they consulted together as to what should be done next. "Roslin must buy me a ticket for Biskra, of course," said Stephen. "I'll hang about the station in an overcoat with my collar turned up and a cap over my eyes.
"No," said Abdullah; "it is a question of how I can keep the woman I love, and still keep my commercial integrity. She is consigned to me by her father, to be delivered to Mirza, the mother of the dancers, in Biskra. I am the trusted caravan owner between El Merb and Biskra. In the last ten years I have killed many men who tried to rob my freight of dates, and hides, and gold-dust.
There was, indeed, something of the hero about this simple-minded Saharaman. We were at the edge of the oasis, in a remote place looking towards the quivering mirage which guards dead Okba's tomb. A tiny earthen house, with a flat terrace ending in the jagged bank of the Oued Biskra, was crouched here in the shade. From it emerged a pleasant scent of coffee.
"What remains," said the old man, and there was a twinkle in his eye, "belongs to Allah's poor, of whom I am one." "I regret," said Abdullah, with some heat, "that I did not treble my usual price. I merely doubled it for you." The old man's face clouded, but only for an instant. "My son," he said, "I am glad that I have intrusted my daughter to you. You will bring her to Biskra in safety.
"True," said the old man; and, after an interval, he added, "I think I may trust you." Abdullah shrugged his shoulders and rolled a cigarette. "Would it please you," said the old man, "to take a passenger for Biskra?" "At a price," replied Abdullah, striking a match. "What is the price?" asked the old man. "Do you pay in dates, hides, ivory, or gold-dust?" "In dust," replied the old man.
During the time we remained at Biskra we only twice made excursions beyond the limits of the oasis once to some hot sulphur springs a few miles out in the desert springs of such wonderful efficacy in all rheumatic affections that were they in Europe they would speedily make the fortune of any watering-place.
It was only a "hold-up." She did not suppose the Arabs had even really meant to hurt any one, but they were excited and some one's shot, aimed wide, had found an unexpected billet. It could only be that. It was too near Biskra for any real danger, she argued with herself, still straining on the reins.
She had been rather bumped about on the ghastly desert tracks since Biskra, but though she was not quite sure if all her bones were whole, she did not feel in the least tired; and even if she did, the memory of the Gorge of El Kantara would alone be enough to make up for it. "Anything new?" asked Nevill.
Alfred Waring, the extra man who had come instead of Claude Heath, had run over to Biskra to see some old friends, and Charmian and Susan Fleet were at the Hôtel St. George at Mustapha Supérieur. Charmian was not very well. The passage from Marseilles had been rough, and she had suffered. As she had never before seen Algiers she had got out of the expedition to Bou-Saada.
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