CHAPTER V. 



ARABIA. 



Your visits to Arabia must have been very inter- 

 esting, Count! Have you been there often? 



"Ah, yes, madam, many times. I have lived 

 among the Arabs in their tents for months at a time, 

 travelling with them in their journeyingsfrom place 

 to place; penetrating into the very depths of the 

 desert, and longing with them for the sight of an 

 oasis after the intense heat of the day." 



Then you speak their language? 



"That goes without saying, and many of their 

 dialects also, which are important to know." 



Had you any special object beyond the love of 

 travel, to induce you to spend so much time with 

 them, and were they always friendly? 



*' To me they were always friendly, for the reason 

 that some of their remote ancestors were mine also, 

 and with them nothing is so strong as the ties of 

 blood. Their pride of race is one of their strongest 

 characteristics, since they can trace back their ances- 

 try for thousands of years. For aliens and strangers 

 they have a certain contemptuous pity, as not belong- 

 ing to them, as well as much distrust and suspicion." 



I have heard the old adage, " In the desert no one 

 meets a friend. " 



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