going through the languid, undulating movements
of an Arab dance on the trampled earthen floor.
The palms and nails of her hands were dyed
red with henna. Her tattooed cheeks and chin
were stained with saffron, and her eyelids and brows
were pencilled with thick black kohol. The dress
that she wore, of rose-coloured satin embroidered
with gold and flowers in coloured silks, was set off by
an enormous silver buckle which fastened her girdle.
G-oldchains and strings of gold coins hung from
her head and round her neck. Gold and silver bangles
jingled on her arms, and altogether she presented a
most gorgeous, if somewhat barbaric, appearance.
The proprietor of the cafe came forward to
receive us, hustled some Arabs from their seats to
make room for us, and took our orders for coffee.
Two men sitting next to me were playing
damwah—the Arab draughts. At the conclusion of
the play one of them begged a cigarette from me,
and in return offered to initiate me into the mysteries
of the game.
The board was a little table about six inches
high, with a drawer underneath to contain the men.
These were conical-shaped pieces, which, but for
the fact that they were all alike, bore rather a strong
resemblance to chessmen. The game was played
in the same manner as the English draughts, except
that there was no huffing, and that a piece, when
crowned, moved and took after the manner of a
bishop at chess.
While we were engaged with the damwah, two
men who were playing cards in another part of the
café fell out over some point in the game and began
to wrangle.
Their voices rapidly grew louder and fiercer until
at last one with a snarl hurled himself upon his
opponent, seized him by the throat, and began to
strangle him, snarling all the time like a dog when
he fights.
They were separated before they could get their
knives to work or do each other much harm. The
proprietor of the café, aided by one or two other
Arabs, dragged the aggressor to the ground, disarmed
him, and bundled him, frantically struggling
and screaming with impotent rage, out into the
street.
The dance went on through all this shindy, and
no one except those in the immediate neighbourhood
of the fight paid much attention to the
incident.
Suddenly the girl who had been dancing stopped
in front of Alssa, smiled sweetly upon him, and
dropped the handkerchief which she had been
waving about during her dance across his shoulder.
‘ She only wants some money for dancing,’ A'issa
explained. ‘ Give me a franc, please.’
I gave him the franc; the girl when she saw it
dropped on her knees before him. Alssa licked the
money to make it stick, and pressed it against her
forehead.
The girl rose to her feet with the coin on her
face, and continued her dance for a few steps. She
then stopped in front of another Arab and dropped
her handkerchief across his shoulder. And so she
G