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If he escaped from the iron hoofs of the Sheikh's horse, if the weight did not crush the life out of his small body, there was a fair chance; for to escape unhurt from the Dosah is to prove yourself for ever a good Mussulman, who has undergone the final test and is saved evermore by the promise of the Prophet.
His chaplain sent what messages were necessary to Damascus; His servants, themselves ignorant of His dignity, dealt with the secular world so far as was required, and the utmost that seemed to be known to His few neighbours was that there lived in the late Sheikh's little house on the hill an eccentric European with a telegraph office.
Even the sheikh's wife and daughters performed their part, with our assistance. The men were in the meantime bringing in the baggage camels which, kneeling down, were rapidly loaded.
Obeying the sheikh's commands, we let his frogship watch on; but I suspect that he must have had an uneasy time of it, while the animals of the caravan were drinking up his water till every drop was exhausted. As we travelled on, we frequently came in sight of other Arab tribes, but though moving in the same direction we never pitched our tents near each other.
I did as she wished; and, taking a basket which contained her valuables, she advanced with trembling steps towards one of the tents. Two figures stood at the entrance: one was a gigantic negro, with about as ugly and sinister an expression of countenance as I ever saw; the other was a veiled woman, whom I concluded to be the sheikh's wife.
The beautiful Coria, the youngest of the sheikh's daughters, showed me at first many marks of her esteem; but my refusal to embrace their religion, even for her sake, changed her love into hatred, and she became my most bitter persecutor. At length we heard that we were approaching a town, which we hoped might prove to be at no great distance from the borders of Algiers.
Passing by the old village of Mbuiga, which I occupied on my former expedition, we entered some huts on the western flank of the Mbuiga district; and here, finding a coast-man, a great friend of the little sheikh's, willing to take back to Zanzibar anything we might give him, a halt was made, and I drew up my reports.
Then the professor and Sam began to put together the breakfast things, Ibrahim stood respectfully by as if awaiting the wise man's orders, and the Sheikh's followers stood about, feeding and watering the camels.
At noon, when the sun began to be felt, went out to see Bel Kasem, and was pleased to hear that Khanouhen would compound with me, and receive five or six dollars in cash, instead of the present. The sugar and cloves, beads and looking-glasses were not to be returned, but to be left for the Sheikh's ladies.
The Fallaheen having taken their families home, our tent-flaps were up, and only the stars looked in stars swarming like fireflies in the blue cup of a hanging flower; but Anthony would speak of nothing more intimate than the Mountain of the Golden Pyramid, or his tiresome sheikh's tomb.
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