82 THE SECRET OF SAHARA: KUFARA 



infinitely lazy, shirking all work, stealing everything he 

 could lay his hands on. The other was big, brutal and 

 stupid with something of the nature of a kindly bulldog. 

 He would occasionally return us dates or flour, saying, 

 "We have enough. Why do you not eat yourselves?" 

 We thought he might be turned into a good servant 

 eventually, for he did not mind cooking and washing up. 

 The point of view of both was that they were soldiers and 

 not servants. They were prepared to fight, but not to 

 work. As a matter of fact a caravan guarded by blacks 

 is rarely attacked, as the Beduins know it will generally 

 be defended to the last inch. 



When first the rumour spread through Jedabia that 

 a rich woman was travelhng into the interior and a guard 

 of sorts became necessary, Sayed Rida instantly offered 

 some of his soldier slaves. Not till after we left the little 

 mud belad on the edge of the world did we grasp all the 

 threads of the situation we left behind. It had been a 

 cunning woof of plot and counter-plot from the moment 

 when the aged ekhwan, Haji Fetater, had vowed on the 

 "Fatha" to take the Enghshwoman safely to the Holy 

 Oasis, to the night of our desperate flight without other 

 guard than Mohammed and Yusuf. From the very day 

 we first spoke tentatively of our journey among the 

 Ulema of Jedabia, one ekhwan, fanatical and terror- 

 stricken, had been strongly opposed to it. He success- 

 fully dissuaded Haji Fetater from accompanying us. 

 "You are too old," he said. "You will die on the road. 

 AVhere is your dignity? Is this travelling with a Nasrani 

 to be your last action on earth? Heaven forbid!" As 

 the ancient man was over eighty we were not sorry to 

 hear of his change of front. 



Another ekhwan was suggested, but as he asked for 

 forty men to protect us, among whom only ten were to 

 be blacks, our suspicions were aroused and we refused his 



