weather. Her own people kept to the tent. Whoever else had business
in the yard made common cause and cursed the girl for making the
disturbance, frightening camels, horses, asses and themselves. And
she ignored them all, unless it was on purpose that she brought her
stallion's heels too close for safety to the most abusive.

It was only for us two that she had any kind of friendly interest;
she kept looking up at us and laughing as she caught our eyes, bringing
her mount uprearing just beneath us several times. She was pretty
as the peep o' morning, with long, black wavy hair all loose about
her shoulders, and as light on the horse as the foam he tossed about,
although master of him without a second's doubt of it.

When she had had enough of riding--long before we were tired of the
spectacle--she shouted with a voice like a mellow bell. One of the
gipsies ran out and led away the sweating stallion, and she disappeared
into the tent throwing us a laugh over her shoulder.

"D'you suppose those gipsies are really of that Armenian's party?"
Will wondered aloud. "Now, if she were going to Zeitoon--!"

Feeling as he did, I mocked at him to hide my feelings, and we hung
about for another hour in hope of seeing her again, but she kept close.
I don't doubt she watched us through a hole in the tent. We would
have sat there alert in our chairs until evening only Fred sent a
note down to say he was well enough to leave the hospital.

We found him with his beard trimmed neatly and his fevered eyes all
bright again, sitting talking to the nurse on the veranda about a
niece of hers--Gloria Vanderman.