MY QUEST OF THE ARAB HORSE 



sleep he sat up and pressed the button on a 

 small pocket electric lamp, and swept the in- 

 vading hordes onto the floor as fresh recruits to 

 tackle me. I had previously left my so- 

 called bed for the floor. Daylight finally came, 

 and it marked the dawn of a new world's rec- 

 ord for me. It was the longest and worst 

 night I had ever put in. I dressed and got 

 Baedeker and was not surprised at the way he 

 describes the people of Antioch — "The popu- 

 lation, consisting of Greeks and Syrian ele- 

 ments are of a restless character." 



When JMoore woke up I read that sentence 

 to him and suggested that we should probably 

 always remember what it was that made them 

 restless. The sun hadn't risen yet, but I found 

 my way down to the stables and the yards be- 

 low. As early as it was, the town and the 

 markets were astir. For a long time I watched 

 the curious bargaining. 



For instance, just about sun-up, an old Arab 

 and two sons came into the yard with a very 

 old donkey, which must have been laden with 

 ?iYe or six hundred pounds of some kind of 

 dusty grain. The feeble old Arab left imme- 

 diately and went away into the town. The 

 sons spread out the grain for exhibition, but 



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