uch disadvantageous conditions.

Here, as throughout the campaign, it was a continual source of pride to
see the way in which our soldiers behaved to the natives. I never heard of
a case in which man, woman, or child was wrongfully treated. Minor
offenses were sometimes committed, but these were quickly righted. No
doubt there were isolated instances of wrong-doing, for in such a large
army there are bound to be degenerate individuals from whose conduct it is
unfair to judge the whole.

That night we encamped in the outskirts of Tuz, not far from the Turkish
aerodrome. Next morning one of the batteries was ordered to reconnoitre as
far as the town--pursuing a different route than that taken on the
previous day. The commanding officer asked me to go along because of my
knowledge of Arabic. The road followed the telegraph-lines, and part of
the time that was the only way in which we could distinguish it from the
surrounding country. Of course, the map was hopelessly incorrect. The
villages were not even rightly named. A great deal of reconnoitring was
called for, and in one village we had to knock the corner off a mud house
to enable us to make a sharp right-angle turn. The natives were in pitiful
condition. The Turks had not only taken all their crops, but even the
grain that should be reserved to sow for the following year. The sheep had
been killed in the lambing season, so the flocks were sadly depleted. Such
standing grain as there was left looked flourishing. The wheat waved above
the cars.

As we came out of a deep, broad ravine that had caused us much delay and
difficulty, we caught sight of an attractive town situated on a steep,
flat-topped hill. Upon drawing near, a fine-looking, white-bearded Arab
rode up on a small gray mare. He said that he was the head man of the
town; that he hated the Turks, and would like to be of any assistance
possible to us. I asked him if the enemy had evacuated Tauq. He replied
that they had. I then asked him if he were positive about it. He offered
to accompany us to prove it. The trail was so bad that we could not go
fast, and he rode along beside us at a hand-gallop.

When we came to the river in front of the town we found that it was
impossible to get the armored cars across. The Turks had evidently fallen
back, but not far, for they were dropping in shells with regularity. Our
Arab friend told us that there was a bridge six miles up-stream, but it
was too late for us to atte