rather reticent upon the subject, and I could not get
anything very definite from him. I could not find
out whether this mysterious star was some comet or
only a meteor of an unusual size. Whatever it was,
his faith in its baneful influence was very great
indeed.
I did not put much faith in this portent myself,
and told him that I could not see that, even if war
between France and Morocco did occur, that it
would have much effect upon us.
But that was not his difficulty. The French, it
seemed, were requisitioning through the Raids an
enormous number of camels for the purpose of
carrying stores to Twat, and he had left three
camels at Biskra which he was terribly afraid would
be taken.
‘ What am I to do ? ’ he asked. ‘ There is only
my wife. She cannot arrange anything. I am
away, and the Kaid is sure to take them. He has
orders to send five thousand. If I were there I
would take them and hide them in the desert. But
I am not, and as I am away they are sure to be
taken. Then, if they are killed, the camel-drivers
will not trouble to bring back their ears, and so I
shall get no G-overnment compensation; and, even
if they are not killed, they will be so badly treated
that they will be good for nothing afterwards. Oh !
I wish I had stayed at Biskra. If my camels are
taken, my wife will not be able to sleep for
crying.’
Aissa was in a terrible state of perplexity. His
three camels represented a very large proportion of
his worldly goods, and if they were taken the loss
would be a very serious one to him.
He had once told me that he had a cousin who
was a secretary in the Bureau Arabe at Tougourt,
and, as it struck me that he might be a man who
would probably know the ropes a bit, I suggested
that on the morrow he should talk matters over
with him, and see if they could not find between
them some solution of the difficulty.
In the meantime there was an hour or two
before bedtime which promised to hang rather
heavily upon our hands. I inquired of Aissa how
the Arab population spent their evenings. He
shrugged his shoulders, and answered with a dreary
laugh, for the thought of his camels still weighed
upon his mind.
‘ Why, they sleep.’
That seemed to be the normal occupation of
a large portion of the population of Tougourt,
and did not sound a very cheerful form of entertainment.
‘ But is there no place where they amuse themselves
in the evenings ? ’
Aissa thought for a moment before answering.
‘ Well,’ he said, ‘ there is a big cafe, where the
music is, if you care to go there. It is at the other
side of the town.’
This certainly promised amusement, if nothing
else, and we decided at once to go.
El Haj went back to the fire near which he
had been sitting to pick up his stick, and then
Aissa, with a recommendation to me to keep hold of