Her manners had shocked me. I left her to arrange herself in her
lettica, and I made myself as comfortable as I could in my own.
These vehicles, which have no wheels, are carried by two mules--one
before and one behind. This kind of litter, or chaise, is of ancient
origin. I had often seen representations of similar ones in the
French MSS. of the fourteenth century. I had no idea then that one
of those vehicles would be at a future day placed at my own disposal.
We must never be too sure of anything.

For three hours the mules sounded their little bells, and thumped
the calcined ground with their hoofs. On either hand there slowly
defiled by us the barren monstrous shapes of a nature totally African.

Half-way we made a halt to allow our animals to recover breath.

Madame Trepof came to me on the road, took my arm, and drew me a
little away from the party. Then, very suddenly, she said to me in
a tone of voice I had never heard before:

"Do not think that I am a wicked woman. My George knows that I am a
good mother."

We walked side by side for a moment in silence. She looked up, and
I saw that she was crying.

"Madame," I said to her, "look at this soil which has been burned
and cracked by five long months of fiery heat. A little white lily
has sprung up from it."