FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29  
30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   >>   >|  
arayan Singh took delight in the brat's iniquities, seeing precocious intelligence where other folk denounced hereditary vice. I had a scar on my thumb where the little beast had bitten me on one occasion when I did not dare yell or retaliate, and, along with the majority, I condemned him cordially. "Who's his friend?" asked Grim. "Abdullah." Now Abdullah was worse than Suliman. He had no friends at all, anywhere, that anybody knew of. Possibly nine years old, he had picked up all the evil that a boy can learn behind the lines of a beaten Turkish army officered by Germans--which is almost the absolute of evil--and had added that to natural depravity. "Let Abdullah come," said Grim. "But beat Suliman first of all for weeping. Don't hit him with your hand, Narayan Singh, for that might hurt his feelings. Use a stick, and give him a grown man's beating." _"Atcha, sahib."_ Two minutes later yells like a hungry bobcat's gave notice to whom it might concern that the Sikh was carrying out the letter of his orders. It was good music. Nevertheless, quite a little of the prospect was spoiled for me by the thought of keeping company with those two Jerusalem guttersnipes. I would have remonstrated, only for conviction, born of experience, that passengers shouldn't try to run the ship. "What shall I pack?" I asked. "Nothing," Grim answered. "Stick a toothbrush in your pocket. I've got soap, but you'll have small chance to use it." "You said I can't go as a white man." "True. We'll fix you up at Hebron. The Arabs have scads of proverbs," he answered, lighting a cigarette with a gesture peculiar to him at times when he is using words to hide his thoughts. "One of the best is: `Conceal thy tenets, thy treasure, and thy traveling.' "The Hebron road is not the road to Petra. We're going to joy-ride in the wrong direction, and leave Jerusalem guessing." Five minutes later Grim and I were on the back seat of a Ford car, bowling along the Hebron road under the glorious gray walls of Jerusalem; Narayan Singh and the two brats were enjoying our dust in another car behind us. There being no luggage there was nothing to excite passing curiosity, and we were not even envied by the officers condemned to dull routine work in the city. Grim was all smiles now, as he always is when he can leave the alleged delights of civilization and meet life where he likes it--out of bounds. He was still wearing his major's unifor
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29  
30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Hebron

 

Jerusalem

 

Abdullah

 

answered

 

Narayan

 
minutes
 

condemned

 

Suliman

 

delights

 

alleged


civilization
 

peculiar

 

gesture

 

cigarette

 

smiles

 

proverbs

 

lighting

 
unifor
 

Nothing

 

wearing


bounds

 

chance

 

toothbrush

 

pocket

 

shouldn

 

direction

 
passing
 
excite
 

guessing

 
glorious

luggage

 

bowling

 

curiosity

 
Conceal
 

officers

 

routine

 

thoughts

 

tenets

 
treasure
 

traveling


envied

 

enjoying

 

Possibly

 

friends

 

cordially

 

friend

 
officered
 
Germans
 

Turkish

 

beaten