oks, at any rate, are meant for some one else? Tell
me who that some one is."

"Allah!" she exploded "May I not buy what I will, if I pay
for it?"

But that was a false move. You can't upset the young British
officer by storming at him. De Crespigny smiled, and came back at
her with his next question suddenly.

"Are not those things for the wife of Ali Higg, and are you not
from Petra?"

"If you know so surely whence I come, why do you ask me?"

"Are you a slave?"

"Allah!"

"How many wives has Ali Higg?"

"How should I know?"

"Because I think you are one of his wives. Is that not so?"

"I am Ayisha. I claim Your Honor's protection."

That was no false move. It was so nearly a checkmate that de
Crespigny went to the sideboard for the silver box of cigarettes,
to offer her one and gain time for thought.

Ever since the days of Ruth, and no doubt long before that, it
has been the first law of the desert that man or woman claiming
protection can no longer be treated as an enemy. It is possibly
the earliest form of freemasonry, and it survives.

Arab history is full of instances of a warrior laying down his
life for an enemy who has claimed protection from him. And young
de Crespigny was ruler of the most unruly city in the Near East
because he understood better than most men how to respect Arab
prejudices. Ayisha accepted a cigarette, fitted it into a long
amber tube, and watched him.

"Very well," he said at last. "If I protect you you must answer
questions. Are you Ali Higg's wife?"

"Have I Your Honor's promise of protection?"

"Yes. Are you Ali Higg's wife?"

"I am his second wife."

"Thought so! And you've been sent to make purchases for
number one?"

She nodded.

"How do you propose to convey all these things back to Petra?"

"Surely it is not difficult now that I am promised Your
Honor's protection!"

"My district extends half-way to Beersheba and to the eastward as
far as the shore of the Dead Sea--no farther," said de Crespigny.

"I can wait. I must wait for the purchases from Jerusalem. Sooner
or later there will be a caravan across the desert to El-Maan. I
have two servants here to make inquiries for me."

"Yes, and two more who went to Jerusalem. Four men. Tell me this,
Princess Ayisha: how came Ali Higg to trust you, alone with four
men, on such a long and difficult journey?"

"Is he not my lord?"

"But the men?"

"Is he not also their lord? And he holds their wives and