(ir. xviii.] A Last Scare. 59 



me to listen to Avhat lie had to say, and then in- 

 formed me in a whisper that had news had arrived 

 from the desert. A young Tudmm^i had just re- 

 turned from a truffle-hunting expedition, and had 

 been robbed and stripped by a party of Roala 

 whom he had been unlucky enough to meet. Iljn 

 Shaalan, the Koala Sheykh, was marching in force 

 ao-ainst the Sebaa, and it would be most dano'erous 

 for us to 2:0 out at this moment. I did not know 

 what to make of this story, for Hassan is by way 

 of being in our interests, and has even talked of 

 going with us ; but Wilfrid, as soon as he heard it, 

 pronounced it to be nonsense, and told Hassan to 

 bring the young man that we might question him. 



AVe had not lono- to wait before Hassan made his 

 appearance, followed by a rather stupid-looking 

 youth. A very few questions sufficed to show that 

 the tale had been got up for the occasion, and the 

 answers w^ere so absurd, that JMohammed from the 

 very first lost control of himself and burst into a 

 loud peal of laughter. The laughter was catching, 

 and soon the whole circle of listeners had joined in 

 it, including the youth himself, wdio, wdien some- 

 Ijody took hold of his very respectable mashlahlb 

 (cloak), asking if that was the cloak the Roala had 

 robbed him of, no longer attempted to deny that 

 the whole story was a romance. What Hassan's 

 object was we could not discover, but he evidently 

 wished to prevent our starting to-morrow. 



