AN IMPORTANT CEREMONY 



smoking fifty cigarettes, and drinking as many 

 cups of coffee, we were served with some of 

 that red sticky lemonade, or syrup, which 

 seemed to completely close our throats. 



All this time the Governor sat on an old 

 dais, trying so hard to be dignified that it was 

 almost humorous. A row of men against the 

 opposite wall of the room seemed to be mem- 

 bers of his cabinet, or advisory board, and thev 

 were mostly very fat men. 



As we started to leave one of the fat men 

 whispered something to Sheikh Ali, and after 

 we were outside I noticed that the big hand- 

 some Sheikh had been detained. Haffez came 

 to me with a peculiar twinkle in his eye and 

 told me that apparently we had gotten into a 

 queer situation. Sheikh Ali, it seems, had 

 been "wanted" for murder in Membig for a 

 number of years, and as this was the first time 

 he had been to the town for more than eight 

 years, he had been detained. Haffez wanted 

 me to go back to the Governor and tell him 

 that as Sheikh Ali was my guest it would 

 not be fair to arrest him now. In other words 

 I was to inform his Excellency that his fingers 

 were crossed and that he ought to turn Ali 



[133] 



