Talbot Mundy

“ No desert responds to the inquisitive folk who camp on its edge and demand to be told; but it will tell you all it knows if you keep quiet and govern yourself in accordance with its moods. The men who live in the desert are of the same pattern—fierce, hot, cold, intolerant, cruel, secretive, given to covering their tracks, and yet not without oases that are better than much fine gold to the man who knows how to. find them. They enjoy a proverb better than some other men like promises.
“Allah marks the flight of birds. Shall He not decree a train’s journey?” said Grim. ”

“ Go with these men, Ayisha, and tell those swine at El-Maan that I say the train shall pass unharmed as far as this point. Moreover I say that none may trespass. What shall take place here is my affair. The range of my rifle is the measure of the line across which none may come.
“Stay with them, Ayisha, until the train leaves El-Maan. Then you may leave your camel and return hither on the train. ”

“ When men meet in the desert it is only those from the West who are in any hurry to betray their business. There being an infinity of time, that man is a liar who proclaims a shortage of it. “Will the sun not rise tomorrow?” asks the East.
Grim stood like a statue; and, judging by my own feelings, who had nothing at all to do but look on, I should say that was a test of strength.
“Last week the train was punctual at El-Maan—three hours after sunrise,” said the spokesman at last. ”

“ Ayisha wasted no breath on conversation on the way, but whipped her camel to its utmost speed after the first mile, so that we had our work cut out to keep up with her. It’s aggravating to ride a big beast and try in vain to overtake a little one; but she had been born to the game, and there wasn’t a man in the party who could have won a race against her, whichever of the animals she rode; for the camel knows quicker than a horse whether his rider understands the art or not. ”

“ I would have given, and would give now, most of what I own for that man’s ability to pass such curt, comprehensive judgment without reservation, equivocation or hesitation. I rather suspect that it can only be learned by sticking to your job when the rest of the world has been fooled into thinking it is making history out of talk and treason. ”

“ I never found out whether my guess was right or not, and never left off rating that engine-driver in any case as one of the world’s heroes. I’ve a notion there is a book that might be written about him and his train.
A POLISHED black dot in the distance soon increased into the flattened egg-shaped rock, and then we saw Grim standing on the track with all his men. That is the safest place to stop a train from, because you avoid a broadside from the car-windows. True to his word the driver came to a standstill, and Grim came up to speak with him just as I jumped off. ”

“ They shook their heads.
“O Lord of the Desert,” he said after a minute, “none has heard of this decree. Your honor’s messenger may have failed or have fallen into bad hands on the way. Word has not come that you reserve this train for your own profit. There will be fifty men at El-Maan now waiting to slay certain passengers and plunder others.”
Grim had evidently made up his mind and had set full sail on the course indicated. I confess I shuddered at the prospect; but I never saw a man look more pleased than Ali Baba, and Narayan Singh’s face betrayed militant admiration. ”

“ Ayisha had handed over her mount to Ali Baba and entered the caboose, ignoring the protests of the uniformed conductor who, having not much faith in fortune, did not care whom he offended. But he might as well have insulted a camel as Ayisha, for all he would have gained by it.
My friend the engine-driver blew the whistle; somebody on the platform tooted a silly little horn; a signal descended in the near distance and we started just as I caught sight of Mujrim coming to take my camel. ”

“ EVERY detail of a man’s bearing is watched carefully in that land. Every action has its value. The etiquette of the desert is more strict, and more dangerous to neglect, than that of palaces, although it is simpler and more to the point, being based on the instinct of self-preservation. ”

“ They who slay will claim the booty.
“Or does your honor intend to arrive afterward and claim a share, leaving the labor to those who seek labor? In that case we crave permission to join your honor’s party. It may be we can help enforce your honor’s just demands, and be recompensed accordingly?”
“Wallahi!” Grim answered after a long pause. “Who sets himself to plunder trains without my leave? Have I been such short time in Petra that men doubt who rules here? Have I not said the train shall pass El-Maan and come thus far? Who dares challenge me? Do I wait here for nothing? ”

“ Old Ali Baba worked his camel closer, and because an Arab must boast at every opportunity, began to whisper in my ear.
“Wallahi! Was I not wise? It was I who told her if she wanted our Jimgrim she should tell the world she is his wife, and he the veritable Ali Higg! It takes an old man’s tongue to guide the cleverest woman!”
THE train screamed then in the distance, and a Syrian station agent in tattered khaki uniform went through the wholly unnecessary process of letting down a signal. We got off the track and rode our camels round on to the platform. ”

“ It bewildered them to be harangued so confidently by a woman—they who were used to watching women carry loads. There was something revolutionary about it that took their breath away, and swept their own determination into limbo. ”

“ Partly the primitive love of power, partly the animal instinct to subject and oppress—pride on top of that, and something of sex, too, glorying in giving orders to the self-styled sterner members—drove her to increasing frenzy. ”