e any fun. Nobody but old Legionnaires who've seen
a lot of service have got that tip."

Because of Four Eyes' hints the story went round that St. George and
Garcia had been sent off on special reconnaissance duty. And the Legion
marched as only the Legion can, with its heavy kit, its wonderful tricks
to cure footsore feet, its fierce individual desire to bear more fatigue
than is human to endure, its wild gayety, its moods of sullen brooding.
For a while it expected to see St. George and Garcia appear as suddenly
and mysteriously as they had disappeared. But they did not come back.
And days and nights passed by; so at last, as the Legion drew nearer to
El Gadhari, the absent pair were talked of no more. There was much to
think of and to suffer, and it was not strange if they were
half-forgotten except by two men: one who knew the secret and one who
pretended to know: Colonel DeLisle and Four Eyes.

* * * * *

When Corporal St. George arrived at the oasis town of Djazerta he had
with him in his small caravan no other man in the uniform of the Legion.
He had only camel-drivers in white or brown burnouses, nomads who live
in tents, and whose womenfolk go unveiled without losing the respect of
men. They had come from the black tents outside Touggourt, all but one,
who joined the party after it had started, following on a fast camel. He
was a dark-faced man like the rest, and wore such garments as the others
wore, only less shabby than theirs, and none but the leader knew him or
why he had come. The Arab fashion of covering the body heavily, and
especially of protecting the mouth in days of heat as well as cold, was
observed religiously by this tall, grave person. The one woman of the
band, Khadra, wife of the chief camel-driver, wondered if the stranger
had any disfigurement; but her husband smiled a superior smile,
remarking that women have room in their minds only for curiosity about
what can never concern them. As for the newcomer, he was as other men,
though not as pleasant a companion as some. According to his own
account, he had been born in Djazerta, though he had lived in many
places and learned French and Spanish in order to make money as an
interpreter.

When the caravan reached Djazerta they found the oasis town indulging in
festivities because of the marriage of the Agha's daughter. The
customary week of feasting and rejoicing was at its height, but, to the
disappointment of e