and two bandoliers. However, it was highly unlikely I
would have a chance to use the rifle, which is an awkward weapon
at close quarters when surrounded.

But hidden under my coat I had two repeating-pistols and a knife.
Since a man can't prevent himself from making plans when there is
nothing else to think about, I made up my mind finally in case of
trouble to let them take the rifle and the knife; they might then
suppose me to be disarmed. After that, if the trouble should be
due to Ayisha's treason, I would execute her, and shoot myself in
the head with the same pistol rather than submit to torture.

At the end of the first mile I drew alongside Ali Baba and passed
him my second pistol. It did not seem any of my business to
advise him what to do with it beyond hiding it under his clothes.
The old rascal's eyes glittered as his hand closed on it, and
it seemed to me he understood; and so he did, but not what
I intended.

I never got the pistol back. He understood that a fool and his
repeater are soon parted. When I asked him for it afterward he
vowed he had lost it, and called his son Mujrim in addition to
Allah and Mohammed and all the saints to witness that he spoke
virgin truth, and, moreover, that he never lied, and would rather
die ten times over than play a trick on me. I have heard since
that he has become a very good shot with a repeating-pistol, but
has difficulty in stealing suitable ammunition.

Ayisha wasted no breath on conversation on the way, but whipped
her camel to its utmost speed after the first mile, so that we
had our work cut out to keep up with her. It is aggravating to
ride a big beast and try in vain to overtake a little one; but
she had been born to the game, and there wasn't a man in the
party who could have won a race against her, whichever of the
animals she rode; for the camel knows quicker than a horse
whether his rider understands the art or not. And art it is, as
surely as painting or music--art that can be tediously learned in
a degree, but must be born in you if you are ever to excel at it.

The desert was all red sand now and dreary beyond human power to
imagine. The clouds of dust we kicked up followed us, and even
the cloths we kept across our mouths and nostrils did not keep it
out. You felt like a mummy riding a race in hell, and how the
camels managed to breathe I can't guess. The sun on our right
hand was just at the angle where it struck your eyes under
the _kuffiyi.