ou."

The smith seemed taken aback. "Verily, El Hassan has stated that the
product of the labor of the slave is accursed."

"El Hassan! Who is El Hassan and why should the work of a slave be
accursed?"

One of the tribesmen said, "I have heard of this El Hassan. Rumors of
his teachings spread through the land. He is to lead us all, Tuareg,
Arab and Sudanese, until we are all as rich as Roumas."

Omar said, "It is well known that the Roumas and especially the
Americans are all rich as Emirs but none of them ever possess slaves.
The bedouin have slaves but fail to prosper. Verily, the product of the
labor of the slave is accursed."

"Madness," Moussa-ag-Amastan muttered. "If you do not let our slave
women do your tasks, then they will remain undone. No Tuareg woman will
work."

* * * * *

But the headman of his clan was wrong.

The smiths remained four days in all, and the abundance of their
products was too much. What verbal battles might have taken place in the
tent of Moussa-ag-Amastan, and in those of his followers, the smiths
couldn't know, but Tuareg women are not dominated by their men. On the
second day, three Tuareg women applied for the position of servants, at
surprisingly high pay. Envy ran roughshod when they later displayed the
textiles and utensils they purchased with their wages.

Nor could the aged Tuareg chief prevent in the evening discussions
between the men, a thorough pursuing of the new ideas sweeping through
the Ahaggar. Though these strangers proclaimed themselves lowly
Enaden--itinerant desert smiths--they were obviously not to be dismissed
as a caste little higher than Haratin serfs. Even the first night they
were invited to the tent of Moussa-ag-Amastan to share the dinner of
shorba soup, cous cous and the edible paste _kaboosh_, made of cheese,
butter and spices. It was an adequate desert meal, meat being eaten not
more than a few times a year by such as the Taitoq Tuareg who couldn't
afford to consume the animals upon which they lived.

After mint tea, one of the younger Tarqui leaned forward. He said, "You
have brought strange news, oh Enaden of wealth, and we would know more.
We of the Ahaggar hear little from outside."

Moussa-ag-Amastan scowled at his clansman, for his presumption, but Omar
answered, his voice sincere and carrying conviction. "The world moves
fast, men of the desert, and the things that were verily true even
yesterday, have cha