possible was done to reinforce the upper bridge, but it was hourly
expected to give way under the strain of the whirling yellow waters. The
old Arab rivermen said that they could tell by the color just which of the
tributaries were in spate. When they saw or thought they saw a new
admixture, they would shake their heads and say: "Such and such a river
is now also in flood--the Tigris will rise still further."

On the night of April 24 we at length got our orders and at six o'clock
the following morning we set out, prepared to run through to Ain Leilah.
The country was indeed changed since I passed through six weeks before.
The desert had blossomed. We ran through miles and miles of clover; the
sweet smell seemed so wholesomely American, recalling home and family, and
the meadows of Long Island. The brilliant red poppies were more in keeping
with the country; and we passed by Indian cavalry reinforcements with the
scarlet flowers stuck in their black hair and twined in the head-stalls of
the horses.

As we approached the hills they looked less bleak--a soft green clothed
the hollows, and the little oasis of Ain Leilah no longer stood out in the
same marked contrast as when last I visited it. The roads were in good
shape, and we reached camp at four in the afternoon. I took one of the
tenders and set off to look up some old friends in the regiments near by.
As I passed a group of Arabs that had just finished work on the roads, I
noticed that they were playing a game that was new to me. A stake was
driven into the ground, with a horsehair rope ten or twelve feet in length
attached to it. An old man had hold of the end of the rope. About the
stake were piled some clothes, and the Arabs were standing around in a
circle just out of reach of the man with the rope. The object was to dart
in and snatch up something from the heap without the old man who was on
guard catching you. They were enjoying themselves hugely--the oldest