MY QUEST OF THE ARAB HORSE 



Ameene felt that it was up to me to say 

 something. Too tired to stand, almost too 

 weak to talk from the heat, hunger and thirst, 

 still I leaned toward the interpreter, and asked 

 him to tell Akmet Haff ez and the Anezeh, that 

 while I had been born in the far western part 

 of what he called "Americ," I had realized, 

 ever since a small boy, that I was just as much 

 of an Arab as any in the desert and that now 

 that I had seen the Anezeh tribe, I felt I had 

 been one of its members all my life. I thanked 

 Akmet Haffez for bringing me to such a peo- 

 ple, for it was the supreme moment of my life. 



Without hesitation, this old man reached 

 across the camel's saddle and with a voice full 

 of emotion said : 



"No, the day is ours, not yours; ever since 

 the Anezeh became a tribe we have known that 

 one of us was missing. Now you have come 

 and the number is complete. To-day we cele- 

 brate the gathering of the entire tribe." 



And thus was I received by the Anezeh. 



[104] 



