It was El Ayed who was the discordant element.
The other two Arabs, being consins, had always got
on well together until he appeared upon the scene.
But immediately upon his arrival he seemed to set
everyone by the ears.
Each of my three Arabs wanted to have that
tent arranged according to his own ideas, and swore
lustily at the other two for not falling in with them.
El Haj wished to have it stuffed into one of the Tcer-
ratas. Aissa insisted upon packing it over the
hump of one of El Ayed’s camels; while El Ayed
himself swore that nothing on earth would induce
him to have the clumsy bundle on his camels at all,
and was determined to place it upon Aissa’s.
After shouting and wrangling with each other
for some time they finally turned to me to settle the
dispute, which I did by telling them to load the
heavier baggage in our Tcerratas on to El Ayed’s
camels and to arrange the tent as a sort of cushion
for me to sit upon, over the hump of Aissa’s beast.
But, of course, they none of them were satisfied, all
three of them sulked for the greater part of the
morning, only coming out of their gloom occasionally
to snap a few snarling remarks at each other. It
was El Ayed’s fault, of course. I began to doubt,
after all, whether he was going to prove the treasure
which I had at first hoped.
CHAPTER IX
T h e r e was a great sameness in the desert between
Biskra and Tougourt, but between Tougourt and
Wargla the scenery was more same than ever.
There were always the same sandy soil, the same
small bushes, the same level horizon, the same
desert larks, the same hawks and ravens, and the
same little lizards scuttling about the sand. It was
very monotonous. The animals we saw were few,
but there were clearly plenty about, for the soft
desert sand testified to the recent passing of many
nocturnal beasts. Now we crossed the huge, doglike
track of a hyena, now the smaller though similar
ones of a jackal,, Sometimes the little triangular
footprints of a gazelle appeared, or the large, fowllike
marks left by a bustard. The ground was
covered with the footprints of smaller animals. A
line of double dots at long intervals showed where
the jerboa rat had hopped kangaroo-wise over the
ground; while lizards, snakes, and the small desert
rats and birds, had passed and repassed in all
directions.
Shortly after leaving our camp we were overtaken
by a smart, well-dressed Arab riding on a
mule. He was one of those singularly handsome
men who are not infrequently to be met with among