sobel hissed menacingly at him. "A strip tease you want,
yet. You'll see me in a haik and like it, wise guy."

"Shucks," Abe grinned.

Crawford looked critically at the clothing of Jake and Cliff. "I suppose
you'll do in western stuff," he said. "After all, this El Hassan is
supposed to be the voice of the future. A lot of his potential followers
will already be wearing shirts and pants. Don't look _too_ civilized,
though."

When Isobel returned, Crawford briefed his seven followers. They were to
operate in teams of two. One of his men, complete with quarterstaff
would accompany each of the others. Abe with Jake, Bey with Cliff, and
he'd be with Isobel. Elmer and Kenny would be the other twosome, and,
both armed with quarterstaffs would be troubleshooters.

"We're playing it off the cuff," he said. "Do what comes naturally to
get this thing under control. If you run into each other, co-operate, of
course. If there's trouble, use your wrist radios." He looked at Abe and
Bey. "I know you two are packing guns underneath those _gandouras_. I
hope you know enough not to use them."

Abe and Bey looked innocent.

Homer turned and led the way into the truck. "O.K., let's get going."

VII

Driving into town over the dusty, pocked road, Homer gave the newcomers
to his group more background on the care and control of the genus _mob_.
He was obviously speaking through considerable experience.

"Using these quarterstaffs brings to mind some of the other supposedly
innoxious devices used by police authorities in controlling unruly
demonstrations," he said. "Some of them are beauties. For instance, I
was in Tangier when the Moroccans put on their revolution against the
French and for the return of the Sultan. The rumor went through town
that the mob was going to storm the French Consulate the next day.
During the night, the French brought in elements of the Foreign Legion
and entrenched the consulate grounds. But their commander had another
problem. Journalists were all over town and so were tourists. Tangier
was still supposedly an international zone and the French were in no
position to slaughter the citizens. So they brought in some special
equipment. One item was a vehicle that looked quite a bit like a
gasoline truck, but was filled with water and armored against thrown
cobblestones and such. On the roof of the cabin was what looked
something like a fifty caliber but which was actually a hose which shot
water a