"'Im! My lady!" replied the native, eyes and white teeth flashing as
he essayed in his best Anglo-French to please the beautiful foreigner
who so graciously spoke to him. "'Im? Oh, 'im! is Hahmed the Camel
King. 'Im provide the camels for Government 'Camels Corpse,'" pointing
to the Camelry Corps, where perspiring Tommies and a seething mass of
brown beasts were literally raising the dust on the other side of the
railroad. "'Im," he continued, "is ze great man, from far away over ze
Canal from ze greates' and best part of South Arabia. Is rich, oh!
rich! Oh! so very rich--_riche comme le diable, Madame_. Is master of
many villages, many peoples, but is 'ow say, my lady--_est
étrange_--and feared. 'Is word is ze law and 'is arm is ze iron and 'e
can also shoot ze fly on ze top of Cheops!"

The man paused, literally from want of breath.

"He is evidently a very fine man," said Jill, it must be confessed a
little disappointedly, having expected something a little less ordinary
in the way of history, "but I can't say I see anything strange about it
all!"

The dragoman, slightly downcast by the lack of enthusiasm on the part
of his audience, took in a huge quantity of the absolutely stifling air
and started afresh.

"Oh! _mais, Madame_, ze strange zing is zat wiz all 'is rich, all 'is
camel, all 'is 'ouse--ah! I forgot zat is 'is Ismailiah 'ouse,"
pointing a long, brown finger to a huge pink edifice, standing like a
huge pink birthday cake under the blazing sun on the edge of the
town--"'e 'as no woman--no not an one--not wife--not lady--zere is
tales of one wife long ago over zere," pointing vaguely in the