PLANS FOR THE FLIGHT 25 



Kufara, isn't it? It is marked so in our maps." "No! 

 Xo!" replied our informant impatiently. "Taiserbo is 

 gareeb, gareeb [near]. You can go there easily. It is 

 not important. There is no sikka [way]. Kufara is 

 much farther on. The dangerous part is after Taiserbo. 

 If you go to Buseima you may have to fight." 



Thereafter we began a laborious, systematic campaign 

 to correct the impression of a rich Christian woman. I 

 discarded my hat for the Sayed's beautiful kufiya. Early 

 and late I could be heard reciting verses of the Koran. 

 I already knew all the obligatory prayers, and took care 

 to perform them minutely. Moreover, we used to 

 wander through the Beduin camps which fringed Jeda- 

 bia, talking to the women and gradually gaining their 

 confidence. At first we were regarded with the ut- 

 most suspicion, which gradually relaxed as we gave 

 them Moslem salutations and told them how happy we 

 were to be living an Arab life among Arabs. If a sheikh, 

 a Haji, came to us, I used to mxUrmur the "Shehada" to 

 him: "Ash hadu ilia lUaha ill Allah wa ash hadu inna 

 ^lohanmiedan rasul Allah," upon which he generally 

 blessed me warmly. After a few days I was greeted 

 enthusiastically and introduced to the solemn-faced babies 

 adorned with silver amulets and taught how to bake flat, 

 hea\y bread in mud ovens. 



It is amazing how perfect is the wdreless telegraphy 

 system of the desert. One night, dining with Sayed 

 Rida, I remarked that I was so glad there was no electric 

 light and that I liked the local colouring and primitive 

 lighting effect in Arab houses. This was translated into 

 the bazaar into, "She is a JMoslem. She hates all Euro- 

 pean things. She wants to keep the old customs as our 

 fathers had them." 



We knew our campaign had succeeded on the eighth 

 day, when, after the chief spy, despairing of getting a 



