whom it may be said as of the sons of Ishmael, that every man's hand
is against his neighbour. The vendetta, a result of the _lex talionis_
of "eye for eye and tooth for tooth," flourishes still. No youth is
supposed to have attained full manhood until he has slain his man, and
excuses are seldom lacking. The greatest insult that can be offered to
an enemy is to tell him that his father died in bed--even greater than
the imputation of evil character to his maternal relatives.

Some years ago I had in my service a lad of about thirteen, one
of several Reefians whom I had about me for the practice of their
language. Two or three years later, on returning to Morocco, I met him
one day on the market.

"I am so glad to see you," he said; "I want you to help me buy some
guns."

"What for?"

"Well, my father's dead; may God have mercy on him!"

"How did he die?"

"God knows."

"But what has that to do with the gun?"

"You see, we must kill my three uncles, I and my two brothers, and we
want three guns."

"What! Did they kill your father?"