"The report lies, that is all!" he answered. Then suddenly he beat
on his chest with clenched fist. "There is spirit here! There is
spirit in Zeitoon! No Osmanli dare molest my people! Come to Zeitoon
to shoot bear, boar, antelope! I will show you! I will prove my words!"

"Were those six jingaan in the common room your men?" I asked him,
and he laughed as suddenly as he had stormed, like a teacher at a
child's mistake.

"Jingaan is a bad word," he said. "I might kill a man who named me
that--depending on the man. My brother I would kill for it--a stranger
perhaps not. Those men are Zingarri, who detest to sleep between
brick walls. They have a tent pitched in the yard."

"Are they your men?"

"Zingarri are no man's men."

The denial carried no conviction.

"Is there nothing but hunting at Zeitoon?" Will demanded.

"Is that not much? In addition the place itself is wonderful--a
mountain in a mist, with houses clinging to the flanks of it, and
scenery to burst the heart!"

"What else?" I asked. "No ancient buildings?"

He changed his tactics instantly.