s tongue again, and freed himself from his
sons after he had drank about a quart of water.

"That Ibrahim ben Ah was puzzled," he said. "Allah! But the fool
asked questions; and by the Prophet's beard I lied in answer to
him! Ho! What a string of lies! Who was I but a sheikh from
El-Kalil bringing word to Ali Higg of the movements of a British
force! In what way did I become the friend of Ali Higg? Was I not
always his friend! Was it not I who fed him when he first escaped
from Egypt! Ho-ho-ho! Have I not been working for a year to
gather men for him in El-Kalil! Have I not made purchases in
El-Kalil and El-Kudz for his wife Ayisha! _Il hamdulillah!_ My
tongue was ready! May the lies rot the belly of the fool
who ate them!

"But that was not all. He wanted to know other things--as, for
instance, whether the other force of forty men is still at large,
and if so who shall protect the women in Petra.

"'For,' quoth he, `by Allah, there are men in the neighborhood
who have felt our Ali's heel, and who would not scruple to wreak
vengeance if his back were altogether turned. Convey him my
respectful homage, and bid him look to his rear,' said Ibrahim
ben Ah."

At that Grim called to Narayan Singh, who came down the
goat-track like a landslide. You mustn't whistle your man in
those parts, or the Arabs will say the devil has defiled
your mouth.

"Ask Jael Higg to come here."

"A word first, Jimgrim sahib! While I watched, those women
talked. Jael, the older one, offered Ayisha forgiveness if she
would obey henceforth; but Ayisha gave her only hard words,
saying that in a day or so it will be seen whose cock crows
loudest. So Jael called to two of the men who have been with
Ayisha all this time, and they squatted in the mouth of her cave.
As it was very dark I crept quite close and listened. She bade
them watch their chance and run to Ali Higg.

"'If he is ill and angry, never mind,' she said. `If he beats
you, never mind. He will reward you afterward. Bid him, as he
values life,' she said, `call in those forty men whom he would
send to punish the Beni Aroun people. Tell him I am a prisoner,
but those forty are enough to turn the tables until Ibrahim ben
Ah can come. A camel must leave in a hurry for Ibrahim ben Ah at
the oasis, and bring him and all the men back to straighten
this affair.'

"She promised them money and promotion for success, and sure
death for failure!"

"Good!" said Grim, turning to me. "You se