ANTIOCH TO ALEPPO 



appeared as diffident as if they had never seen 

 it. The father, it appeared, had gone off now 

 to get buyers to come and see his grain, which 

 he said represented the year's crop. I was 

 anxious to see the return of this old agricul- 

 turahst of a type so different from the farmers 

 I had known so intimately in the west. Pres- 

 ently the old Bedouin, with two buyers, re- 

 turned. The latter seemed to understand each 

 other. They lifted the grain in their hands, ex- 

 amined it minutely, and then slightingly threw 



it back. 



The old farmer grabbed up handfuls and 

 winnowed them to show its excellence, but the 

 buyers feigned they were going away disgust- 

 ed. At last the old man made a tearful appeal 

 and the bargain comedy was well on. The old 

 man asked the buyers to place their own value 

 on the grain ; it was the last crop he would ever 

 raise ; he was in rags, he pleaded, and he was 

 only asking a pittance to encourage his sons 

 to go on where he was now leaving off. A 

 more dramatic appeal was never made to a 

 jury. But it fell on deaf ears. I was ready 

 to buy the crop and give it back to him, had I 

 been nearer home. But it was a poor place to 

 show money, so I swallowed my feelings while 



[65] 



